N.Y. LAB Law § 807 — New York Code / Act LAB / Article 22-A / Section 807
Injunctions issued in labor disputes
Status: in_force

§ 807. Injunctions issued in labor disputes. 1. No court nor any judge\nor judges thereof shall have jurisdiction to issue any restraining order\nor a temporary or permanent injunction in any case involving or growing\nout of a labor dispute, as hereinafter defined, except after a hearing,\nand except after findings of all the following facts by the court or\njudge or judges thereof to be filed in the record of the case:\n  (a) That unlawful acts have or a breach of any contract not contrary\nto public policy has been threatened or committed and that such acts or\nbreach will be executed or continued unless restrained;\n  (b) That substantial and irreparable injury to complainant's property\nwill follow unless the relief requested is granted;\n  (c) That as to each item of relief granted greater injury will be\ninflicted upon complainant by the denial thereof than will be inflicted\nupon defendants by the granting thereof;\n  (d) That complainant has no adequate remedy at law;\n  (e) That the public officers charged with the duty to protect\ncomplainant's property have failed or are unable to furnish adequate\nprotection; and\n  (f) That no item of relief granted prohibits directly or indirectly\nany person or persons from doing, whether singly or in concert, any of\nthe following acts:\n  (1) Ceasing or refusing to perform any work or to remain in any\nrelation of employment;\n  (2) Becoming or remaining a member of any labor organization or of any\nemployer organization, regardless of any agreement, undertaking or\npromise;\n  (3) Paying or giving to, or withholding from, any person any strike or\nunemployment benefits or insurance or other moneys or things of value;\n  (4) By all lawful means aiding any person who is being proceeded\nagainst in, or is prosecuting any action or suit in any court of the\nUnited States or of any state;\n  (5) Giving publicity to and obtaining or communicating information\nregarding the existence of, or the facts involved in, any dispute,\nwhether by advertising, speaking, picketing, patrolling any public\nstreet or any place where any person or persons may lawfully be, or by\nany other method not involving fraud, violence or breach of the peace;\n  (6) Ceasing to patronize or to employ any person or persons;\n  (7) Assembling peaceably to do or to organize to do any of the acts\nheretofore specified or to promote lawful interests;\n  (8) Advising or notifying any person or persons of any intention to do\nany of the acts heretofore specified;\n  (9) Agreeing with other persons to do or not to do any of the acts\nheretofore specified;\n  (10) Advising, urging or inducing without fraud, violence or threat\nthereof, others to do the acts heretofore specified;\n  (11) Doing in concert of any or all of the acts heretofore specified\non the ground that the persons engaged therein constitute an unlawful\ncombination or conspiracy or on any other grounds whatsoever.\n  2. Such hearings shall be held only after a verified complaint\nspecifying in detail the time, place and the nature of the acts\ncomplained of and the names of the persons alleged to have committed the\nsame or participated therein have been served and after due and personal\nnotice, in such manner as the court shall direct, has been given to all\nknown persons against whom relief is sought and also to the public\nofficers charged with the duty to protect the complainant's property.\nThe hearing shall consist of the taking of testimony in open court with\nopportunity for cross-examination and testimony in opposition thereto,\nif offered, and no affidavits shall be received in support of any of the\nallegations of the complaint.\n  Provided, however, that a court or a judge thereof may issue a\nrestraining order without requiring a verified bill of particulars and\nonly upon such notice as to the court or judge appears adequate to\nafford an opportunity to those who are to be affected by such\nrestraining order to appear in opposition to the application therefor,\nif each of the following conditions is met:\n  (a) There is a labor dispute which directly and immediately involves:\n  (i) The production on a farm of milk, fruits, berries, vegetables or\nother farm produce; or\n  (ii) The shipment of any such product from the farm where it was\nproduced; or\n  (iii) The first storage of any such product after shipment from the\nfarm where it was produced; or\n  (iv) The first processing by canning or freezing of fruits, berries or\nvegetables; and\n  (b) The plaintiff is a producer of such product; and\n  (c) Such product is in a perishable condition; and\n  (d) The verified complaint and other testimony submitted by the\nplaintiff, under oath, if sustained, would be sufficient not only to\njustify the court in issuing a temporary injunction upon a hearing after\nnotice in accordance with the provisions of this section, but also to\nshow that the plaintiff will be irreparably damaged unless a restraining\norder is issued; and\n  (e) The court or judge, before issuing the restraining order, makes a\ndecision to be filed in the record of the case in which he finds\nspecifically that each of the facts called for by subdivision one above\nof this section has been established prima facie by the weight of the\nevidence submitted in support of the application for the restraining\norder and in opposition thereto.\n  Any such restraining order shall be effective for no longer than five\ndays and shall become void and not be subject to renewal at the\nexpiration of said five days.\n  3. No temporary injunction or restraining order shall be issued except\non condition that plaintiff shall first file a minimum undertaking of\none thousand dollars. Where an injunction or restraining order is sought\nagainst more than a single individual, the court on the hearing shall\nmake a finding of the number of individuals sought to be enjoined and\nthe undertaking shall be increased by the sum of twenty dollars for each\nadditional member of a local or national body sought to be enjoined. The\nmaximum undertaking which may be required shall not exceed ten thousand\ndollars. The undertaking shall be sufficient to recompense those\nenjoined for any loss, expense or damage caused by the improvident or\nimproper issuance of such injunction, including all reasonable costs\n(together with reasonable attorney's fees), and expense against the\ngranting of any injunctive relief sought in the same proceeding and\nsubsequently denied by the court. The undertaking herein mentioned shall\nconstitute an agreement on the part of the plaintiff and the surety upon\nwhich a judgment may be entered in the same action or proceeding against\nsaid plaintiff and surety. The filing of the undertaking shall be deemed\nan appearance by the surety for that purpose. But nothing herein\ncontained shall deprive any party having a claim or cause of action\nunder or upon such undertaking from electing to pursue his ordinary\nremedy by suit at law or in equity.\n  4. No injunctive relief shall be granted to any plaintiff who has\nfailed to plead and prove compliance with all obligations imposed by law\nwhich are involved in the labor dispute in question, or who has failed\nto allege and prove that he has made every reasonable effort to settle\nsuch dispute either by negotiation or with the aid of any machinery of\nmediation or voluntary arbitration, provided for by law or contract\nbetween the parties.\n  5. No injunctive relief shall be granted except to prohibit such\nspecific act or acts as may be expressly complained of in the complaint\nand the bill of particulars filed in such case and expressly included in\nthe findings of fact made and filed by the court. Such injunctive relief\nshall be binding only upon the parties to the suit, their agents,\nservants, employees, or those in active concert or participation with\nthem and who shall by personal service or otherwise have received actual\nnotice of the same.\n  6. No officer or member of any association or organization, and no\nassociation or organization participating or interested in a labor\ndispute (as these terms are herein defined) shall be held responsible or\nliable in any civil action at law or suit in equity, or in any criminal\nprosecution, for the unlawful acts of individual officers, members, or\nagents, except upon proof by the weight of evidence and without the aid\nof any presumptions of law or fact, of (a) the doing of such acts by\npersons who are officers, members or agents of any such association or\norganization, and (b) actual participation in, or actual authorization\nof, such acts, or ratification of such acts after actual knowledge\nthereof by such association or organization.\n  7. Every temporary injunction and restraining order shall by its terms\nexpire within such time after entry as the court or judge may fix, not\nto exceed ten days, unless the plaintiff is ready by the expiration of\nthat period to proceed to trial and shall pay the necessary calendar and\ntrial fees.\n  8. No permanent injunction shall remain in force for more than six\nmonths from the date on which the judgment is signed, provided, however,\nthat the duration of the injunction may be extended for another six\nmonths, if after a further hearing initiated and conducted in the same\nmanner as the original hearing the court shall determine that the\ninjunction shall be continued or modified in accordance with the\nfindings of facts on the subsequent hearing.\n  9. Whenever any court or judge or judges thereof shall issue or deny\nany temporary injunction in a case involving or growing out of a labor\ndispute the stenographer shall furnish to the clerk within ten days the\noriginal transcript of the minutes after fees therefor have been paid.\nImmediately upon receiving such minutes the clerk shall cause notice of\nthat fact to be sent to the attorney for the appellant, or to the\nappellant if he has not appeared by attorney. The appellant or his\nattorney shall then procure the case to be settled on written notice of\nat least three days to the clerk and to the attorney for the respondent\nor to the respondent if he has not appeared by attorney, returnable\nbefore the justice who tried the case. The clerk must thereupon make a\nreturn to the appellate court, which must contain the summons,\npleadings, evidence and judgment or final order and all other necessary\npapers and proceedings and have annexed thereto the opinion of the\ncourt, if any, and the notice of appeal. The justice before whom the\ncase was tried shall within five days from the date of the submission to\nhim of the case on appeal, settle the case and endorse his settlement on\nthe return. The clerk must thereupon cause the return to be filed with\nthe clerk of the appellate court. After a justice is out of office he\nmay settle the case in any action or proceeding tried before him and may\nbe compelled by the appellate court to do so. Upon the filing of such\nrecord in the appropriate appellate court the appeal shall be heard with\nthe greatest possible expedition, giving the proceeding precedence over\nall other matters except older matters of the same character.\n  10. When used in this section, and for the purpose of this section:\n(a) A case shall be held to involve or to grow out of a labor dispute\nwhen the case involves persons who are engaged in the same industry,\ntrade, craft or occupation, or who are employees of one employer; or who\nare members of the same or an affiliated organization of employers or\nemployees; whether such dispute is between one or more employers or\nassociations of employers and one or more employees or associations of\nemployees; between one or more employers or associations of employers\nand one or more employers or associations of employers; or between one\nor more employees or associations of employees and one or more employees\nor associations of employees; or when the case involves any conflicting\nor competing interests in a "labor dispute" (as hereinafter defined) of\n"persons participating or interested" therein (as hereinafter defined).\n  (b) A person or association shall be held to be a person participating\nor interested in a labor dispute if relief is sought against him or it\nand if he or it is engaged in the industry, trade, craft or occupation\nin which such dispute occurs, or is a member, officer or agent of any\nassociation of employers or employees engaged in such industry, trade,\ncraft or occupation.\n  (c) The term "labor dispute" includes any controversy concerning terms\nor conditions of employment, or concerning the association or\nrepresentation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing\nor seeking to arrange terms or conditions of employment, or concerning\nemployment relations, or any other controversy arising out of the\nrespective interests of employer and employee, regardless of whether or\nnot the disputants stand in the relation of employer and employee.\n