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FISHGOLD V. SULLIVAN DRYDOCK & REPAIR CORP., 328 U. S. 275 (1946) - US SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE
US Supreme Court Decisions On-Line> Volume 328 > FISHGOLD V. SULLIVAN DRYDOCK & REPAIR CORP., 328 U. S. 275 (1946)
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After serving in the Army and receiving an honorable discharge, petitioner was reinstated in his former position pursuant to § 8(a) of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. Subsequently, when there was not enough work to keep all employees busy, he was laid off temporarily on nine days while nonveterans with higher shop seniorities were permitted to work, but he was given work when enough became available. He sued for a declaratory judgment as to his rights under the Act, and to obtain compensation for the days that he was laid off. The union intervened and alleged in its answer that the employer's action was in accordance with the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement, chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Petitioner sued under 8(e) of the Selective Training and Service Act to obtain a declaratory judgment as to his chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Petitioner is an employee of the Sullivan Drydock & Repair Corporation. He entered its employ in 1942, and chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
worked for it at a shipyard until he was inducted into the Army in 1943. He served in the Army a little over a year, and was honorably discharged and received a certificate to that effect. He had worked for the corporation as a welder, and, after his tour of duty in the Army ended, he was still qualified to perform the duties of a welder. Within forty days of his discharge, he applied to the corporation, as was his right under the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, 54 Stat. 885, 50 U.S.C.Appendix, § 301 et seq., for restoration to his former position, [Footnote 1] He was reemployed as a welder on August 25, 1944. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
As work at the shipyard decreased, men would be laid off. The men selected by the foremen, on the basis of ability and seniority, to be laid off would report to a department head for reassignment on the basis of their relative seniority when work became available. On each of nine days in the spring of 1945, petitioner was laid off although other welders, not veterans of the recent war, possessing the same or similar skill as petitioner, were given work on those days. These men were preferred because they had a higher shop seniority than petitioner. The decision to lay off petitioner followed a decision of an arbitrator who ruled that the seniority provisions of the collective bargaining agreement, which we have quoted, required it, and chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Thereupon, petitioner brought this suit pursuant to § 8(e) of the Act [Footnote 3] to obtain a declaratory judgment as to his rights under the Act and to obtain compensation for the days he was not allowed to work. The corporation answered, justifying its action by the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement and the decision of the arbitrator. The union was permitted to intervene. [Footnote 4] It alleged in its answer that the action of the corporation was warranted by the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement, and was not in violation of the Act. The District Court refused the declaratory judgment requested, chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
I. We are met at the outset with the claim that the union had no appealable interest in the judgment entered by the District Court, and accordingly that the Circuit Court of Appeals lacked jurisdiction to entertain it. It is pointed out that a money judgment was entered only against the corporation, and that no relief was granted against the union. It is therefore argued that the judgment did not affect any substantive right of the union, and that, at most, the union had merely an interest in the outcome of litigation which might establish a precedent adverse to it. Boston Tow Boat Co. v. United States, 321 U. S. 632. It is also pointed out that the statutory guarantee against discharge without cause for one year [Footnote 5] had chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
It is suggested, however, that the result of what we do is to free the union and the employer from costs, and burden Fishgold with them. There are several answers to that. The allowance of costs has no bearing on what chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
These guarantees are contained in § 8 of the Act, [Footnote 8] and extend to a veteran, honorably discharged and still qualified to perform the duties of his old position. (1) He has a stated period of time in which to apply for reemployment. [Footnote 9] § 8(b). He is not pressed for a decision immediately on his discharge, but has the opportunity to make plans for the future and readjust himself to civilian life. (2) He must be restored to his former position "or to a position of like seniority, status, and pay." § 8(b)(A), (B). He is thus protected against receiving a job inferior to that which he had before entering the armed services. (3) He shall be "restored without loss of seniority," and be considered "as having been on furlough or leave of absence" during the period of his service for his country, with all of the insurance and other benefits accruing to employees on furlough or leave of absence. § 8(c). Thus, he does not step back on the seniority escalator at the point he stepped off. He steps back on at the precise chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
We can find no support for petitioner's position in the provision of § 8(b) which restores him to his former position or to a "position of like seniority." Nor can we find it in § 8(c), which directs that he "shall be so restored without loss of seniority." As we have said, these provisions guarantee the veteran against loss of position or loss of seniority by reason of his absence. He acquires not only the same seniority he had; his service in the armed services is counted as service in the plant, so that he does not lose ground by reason of his absence. But we would distort the language of these provisions if we read it as granting the veteran an increase in seniority over what he would have had if he had never entered the armed services. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Discharge normally means termination of the employment relationship or loss of a position. [Footnote 10] In common parlance and in industrial parlance, a person who has been laid off by operation of a seniority system and put on a waiting list for reassignment would hardly be considered chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The "position" to which the veteran is restored is the "position" which he left plus cumulated seniority. Certainly he would not have been discharged from such position chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The construction which we have given "discharged" does not rob that guarantee of vitality. As the Circuit Court of Appeals observed, where there is a closed shop agreement, the union would normally afford its members protection against termination of their employment status without cause. But, in many situations, the guarantee against dismissal without cause for one year is of great chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
It is said, however, that, when Congress amended § 8 of the Act in 1944, [Footnote 13] (58 Stat. 798) and extended the Act in 1945 without any change in § 8(c) (59 Stat. 166), it was apprised of an administrative interpretation of § 8(c) that chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
But a different construction was given to § 8(c) by the National War Labor Board in its handling of disputes arising out of the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements. [Footnote 16] The Board read the Act as we read it. The ruling of the Director may be resorted to for guidance. See Skidmore v. Swift & Co., 323 U. S. 134, 323 U. S. 140; Mabee v. White Plains Pub. Co., 327 U. S. 178. But his rulings are not made in adversary proceedings, and are not entitled to the weight which is accorded interpretations by administrative agencies entrusted with the responsibility of making inter partes decisions. Skidmore v. Swift & Co., supra, p. 323 U. S. 139. The history and language of the Act would need be far less clear for us to give his rulings persuasive weight. Moreover, as the Circuit Court of Appeals pointed out, the contrariety of administrative rulings [Footnote 17] lends less credence to the contention that Congress, by the amendment in 1944 and the extension in 1945, showed a preference for one over the other. In view of the language of the Act and the nature of the chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The case is therefore closely analogous to one where the interest of an intervenor in property involved in the litigation was adjudicated. Dexter Horton Nat. Bank v. Hawkins, 190 F.9d 4; United States v. Northwestern Development Co., 203 F.9d 0.
I believe we should reverse the judgment of the Circuit Court of Appeals and remand the cause to it with directions to dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction because the Union was not a proper party to appeal. The money judgment was in favor of Fishgold and against the Sullivan Dry Dock and Repair Company. Had the Company paid the judgment, I see no way in which the Union would have been "aggrieved." The only reason advanced by the Court for holding that the Union was "aggrieved" is that, had the District Court judgment remained on the books, the judicially formulated doctrine of res adjudicata would have barred the Union in any future proceedings from challenging the District Court's application of the federal statute to the particular collective bargaining agreement. A fair application of res judicata bars a party in a second litigation only if that proceeding involves the same issues as the first litigation between the same adverse parties or privies. This means that res judicata could bar the Union only in a new proceeding between it and Fishgold or his privies. But there is no possibility of such litigation, since the seniority right which the District Court held Fishgold had under the statute had, under its provisions, expired by the time the Union appealed. Res judicata would not have barred the Union in a proceeding between it and any other party, since no other party was chanroblesvirtualawlibrary