Source: https://m.openjurist.org/373/us/690
Timestamp: 2020-04-07 07:25:13
Document Index: 565757778

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 7', '§ 8', '§ 8', '§ 8', '§ 8', '§ 8', '§ 8', 'Art. 5207', '§ 157', '§ 301', '§ 303', '§ 185']

373 US 690 Local 100 of United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices v. H N Borden | OpenJurist
373 U.S. 690 - Local 100 of United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices v. H N Borden
373 US 690 Local 100 of United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices v. H N Borden
83 S.Ct. 1423
10 L.Ed.2d 638
LOCAL 100 OF the UNITED ASSOCIATION OF JOURNEYMEN AND APPRENTICES, Petitioner,
H. N. BORDEN.
L. N. D. Wells, Jr., Dallas, Tex., for petitioner.
Subsequently, he brought the present suit against the Dallas local, petitioner here, and the parent International,1 seeking damages under state law for the refusal to refer him to Farwell. He alleged that the actions of the defendants constituted a willful, malicious, and discriminatory interference with his right to contract and to pursue a lawful occupation; that the defendants had breached a promise, implicit in the membership arrangement, not to discriminate unfairly or to deny any member the right to work; and that the defendants had violated certain state statutory provisions.2
This Court held in San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236, 79 S.Ct. 773, 3 L.Ed.2d 775, that in the absence of an overriding state interest such as that involved in the maintenance of domestic peace, state courts must defer to the exclusive competence of the National Labor Relations Board in cases in which the activity that is the subject matter of the litigation is arguably subject to the protections of § 7 or the prohibitions of § 8 of the National Labor Relations Act.3 This relinquishment of state jurisdiction, the Court stated, is essential 'if the danger of state interference with national policy is to be averted,' 359 U.S., at 245, 79 S.Ct., at 780 and is as necessary in a suit for damages as in a suit seeking equitable relief. Thus the first inquiry, in any case in which a claim of federal preemption is raised, must be whether the conduct called into question may reasonably be asserted to be subject to Labor Board cognizance.
In the present case, respondent contends that no such assertion can be made, but we disagree.4 The facts as alleged in the complaint, and as found by the jury, are that the Dallas union business agent, with the ultimate approval of the local union itself, refused to refer the respondent to a particular job for which he had been sought, and that this refusal resulted in an inability to obtain the employment. Notwithstanding the state court's contrary view, if it is assumed that the refusal and the resulting inability to obtain employment were in some way based on respondent's actual or believed failure to comply with internal union rules, it is certainly 'arguable' that the union's conduct violated § 8(b)(1)(A), by restraining or coercing Borden in the exercise of his protected right to refrain from observing those rules, and § 8(b)(2), by causing an employer to discriminate against Borden in violation of § 8(a)(3).5 See, e.g., Radio Officers' Union, etc. v. National Labor Relations Board, 347 U.S. 17, 74 S.Ct. 323, 98 L.Ed. 455; Local 568, Hotel Employees, 141 N.L.R.B. No. 29; International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 524 A—B, 141 N.L.R.B. No. 57. As established in the Radio Officers case, the 'membership' referred to in § 8(a)(3) and thus incorporated in § 8(b)(2) is broad enough to embrace participation in union activities and maintenance of good standing as well as mere adhesion to a labor organization. 347 U.S., at 39—42, 74 S.Ct., at 335—336. And there is a substantial possibility in this case that Borden's failure to live up to the internal rule prohibiting the solicitation of work from any contractor6 was precisely the reason why clearance was denied. Indeed this may well have been the meaning of the business agent's remark, testified to by Borden himself, that 'you have come in here wrong, you have come in here with a job in your pocket.'
We need not and should not now consider whether the petitioner's activity in this case was federally protected or prohibited, on any of the theories suggested above or on some different basis.7 It is sufficient for present purposes to find, as we do, that it is reasonably 'arguable' that the matter comes within the Board's jurisdiction.
Respondent urges that even if the union's interference with his employment is a matter that the Board could have dealt with, the state courts are still not deprived of jurisdiction in this case under the principles declared in International Assn. of Machinists v. Gonzales, 356 U.S. 617, 78 S.Ct. 923, 2 L.Ed.2d 1018. Gonzales was a suit against a labor union by an individual who claimed that he had been expelled in violation of his contractual rights and who was seeking restoration of membership. He also sought consequential damages flowing from the expulsion, including loss of wages resulting from loss of employment and compensation for physical and mental suffering. It was recognized in that case that restoration of union membership was a remedy that the Board could not afford and indeed that the internal affairs of unions were not in themselves a matter wthin the Board's competence.8
The distinction the Court draws between this case and Gonzales—that in Gonzales the lawsuit focused on purely internal union matters—is not one that a court can intelligently apply in the myriad of cases in the field. This lawsuit started with a quarrel between respondent and his union, concerning the scope of membership rights in the union, as did Gonzales; and it is with those rights that this litigation is concerned, as was Gonzales. And, as here, it was conceded in Gonzales that the conduct complained of might well amount to an unfair labor practice within the Labor Board's jurisdiction. Because of these similarities, and because the Court is clearly right in saying '(i)t is not the label affixed to the cause of action under state law that controls the determination of the relationship between state and federal jurisdiction,' I am able to find no support for the Court's distinction of Gonzales in the fact that it was primarily an 'equitable' case where damages were allowed only to 'fill out' the union member's remedy. Cf. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 1, 2, and 54(c).
San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, supra, involved a controversy between union and employer in the classical case for National Labor Board jurisdiction. Suits for damages by individual employees against the union or the employer fall in the category of Moore v. Illinois Central R. Co., 312 U.S. 630, 61 S.Ct. 754, 85 L.Ed. 1089. As a matter of policy, there is much to be said for allowing the individual employee recourse to conventional litigation in his home-town tribunal for redress of grievances. Washington, D.C., and its administrative agencies—and even regional offices—are often distant and remote and expensive to reach. Under today's holding the member who has a real dispute with his union may go without a remedy.*
See, e.g., San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, supra; Guss v. Utah Labor Board, 353 U.S. 1, 77 S.Ct. 598, 1 L.Ed.2d 601. When the basic dispute is between a union and an employer, any hiatus that might exist in the jurisdictional balance that has been struck can be filled by resort to economic power. But when the union member has a dispute with his union, he has no power on which to rely. If Gonzales—written in the spirit of Moore—is to survive, this judgment should be affirmed.
Tex.Civ.Stat.Ann., 1962, Art. 5207a—'Right to bargain freely * * *'—was cited by Borden in his complaint. This statute, however, was not relied upon by the courts below as supporting recovery, and its effect need not be considered here.
49 Stat. 452, as amended, 29 U.S.C. §§ 157, 158. We do not deal here with suits brought in state courts under § 301 or § 303 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 61 Stat. 156, 158, 29 U.S.C. §§ 185, 187, which are governed by federal law and to which different principles are applicable. See, e.g., Smith v. Evening News Assn., 371 U.S. 195, 83 S.Ct. 267, 9 L.Ed.2d 246.