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Debartolo Corp Vs Gulf Coast Trades Counc - Citation 106618 - Court Judgment | LegalCrystal
Debartolo Corp. Vs. Gulf Coast Trades Counc. - Court Judgment
LegalCrystal Citation legalcrystal.com/106618
Decided On Apr-20-1988
Case Number 485 U.S. 568
Appellant Debartolo Corp.
Respondent Gulf Coast Trades Counc.
debartolo corp. v. gulf coast trades counc. - 485 u.s. 568 (1988) u.s. supreme court debartolo corp. v. gulf coast trades counc., 485 u.s. 568 (1988) edward j. debartolo corp. v. florida gulf coast building & construction trades council no. 86-1461 argued january 20, 1988 decided april 20, 1988 485 u.s. 568 certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the eleventh circuit syllabus because a construction company building a department store for a tenant at petitioner's shopping mall allegedly paid substandard wages and fringe benefits, respondent union peacefully distributed handbills at the mall's entrances (but did not picket or otherwise patrol), urging customers not to shop at any of the mall's.....
DeBartolo Corp. v. Gulf Coast Trades Counc. - 485 U.S. 568 (1988)
U.S. Supreme Court DeBartolo Corp. v. Gulf Coast Trades Counc., 485 U.S. 568 (1988)
Because a construction company building a department store for a tenant at petitioner's shopping mall allegedly paid substandard wages and fringe benefits, respondent union peacefully distributed handbills at the mall's entrances (but did not picket or otherwise patrol), urging customers not to shop at any of the mall's stores until petitioner promised that all mall construction would be done by contractors paying fair wages. A complaint based on petitioner's charge that respondent had committed an unfair labor practice under § 8(b)(4) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) was dismissed by the National Labor Relations Board (Board), which concluded that the handbilling was protected by § 8 (b)(4)'s proviso exempting nonpicketing publicity intended to inform the customers of a distributor of goods that the goods were produced by an employer involved in a labor dispute. The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed. But this Court reversed on the ground that the publicity proviso did not apply, since petitioner and the other mall tenants did not distribute the construction company's products, and remanded for a determination whether § 8(b)(4) had been violated, and, if so, whether the handbilling was protected by the First Amendment. Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. v. NLRB, 463 U. S. 147 . On remand, the Board held that the handbilling violated § 8(b)(4)(ii)(B) -- which forbids a union to "threaten, coerce, or restrain" any person to cease doing business with another person -- but declined to consider First Amendment questions. Because it had serious doubts about § 8(b)(4)'s constitutionality under the Board's interpretation, the Court of Appeals below applied NLRB v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago, 440 U. S. 490 , and ruled that neither the statute's language nor its legislative history revealed a clear congressional intent to proscribe such handbilling. Consequently, construing the section as not prohibiting consumer publicity, the court denied enforcement of the Board's order.
Held: The Court of Appeals did not err in construing § 8(b)(4) as not reaching respondent's handbilling. That construction makes it unnecessary to pass upon the serious First Amendment questions that would be raised by the Board's interpretation. Pp. 485 U. S. 574 -588.
(a) Although the Board's NLRA interpretations are normally entitled to deference, where, as here, an otherwise acceptable construction would raise serious constitutional problems, Catholic Bishop requires courts to construe the statute to avoid such problems unless such construction is plainly contrary to Congress' intent. Pp. 485 U. S. 574 -578.
(b) Section 8(b)(4) does not contain any clear expression of congressional intent to proscribe respondent's handbilling. Contrary to the Board's interpretation, such handbilling need not be held to "coerce" mall customers or secondary employers within the meaning of § 8(b) (4)(ii)(B), since there was no violence, picketing, patrolling, or other intimidating conduct, but only an attempt to persuade customers not to shop in the mall. Cf. NLRB v. Fruit Packers, 377 U. S. 58 . NLRB v. Retail Store Employees, 447 U. S. 607 , distinguished. Moreover, the fact that handbilling and other nonpicketing consumer appeals not involving a distributor are outside the publicity proviso's protection does not require the conclusion that such appeals must be considered coercive under § 8(b)(4)(ii). It was this very issue on which this Court earlier remanded this case. The proviso need not be treated as establishing an exception to an otherwise all-encompassing prohibition on publicity, but may more reasonably be read as providing protection for a type of communication that might otherwise be considered coercive, even though other forms of publicity would not be so considered. Nor does the legislative history contain any clear indication that Congress intended § 8(b)(4)(ii) to proscribe peaceful handbilling, unaccompanied by picketing, urging a consumer boycott of a neutral employer. Pp. 485 U. S. 578 -588.
"until the Mall's owner publicly promises that all construction at the Mall will be done using contractors who pay their employees fair wages and fringe benefits. [ Footnote 1 ]"
Labor Relations Act (NLRA), 61 Stat. 141, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 158(b)(4). [ Footnote 2 ] The Board's General Counsel issued a complaint, but the Board eventually dismissed it, concluding that the handbilling was protected by the publicity proviso of § 8(b)(4). Florida Gulf Coast Bldg. & Constr. Trades Council,
252 N.L.R.B. 702 (1980). The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the Board, 662 F.2d 264 (1981), but this Court reversed in Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. v. NLRB, 463 U. S. 147 (1983). There, we concluded that the handbilling did not fall within the proviso's limited scope of exempting "publicity intended to inform the public that the primary employer's product is distributed by' the secondary employer" because DeBartolo and the other tenants, as opposed to Wilson, did not distribute products of High. Id. at 463 U. S. 155 -157. Since there had not been a determination below whether the union's handbilling fell within the prohibition of § 8(b)(4), and, if so, whether it was protected by the First Amendment, we remanded the case.
The Board, the agency entrusted by Congress with the authority to administer the NLRA, has the "special function of applying the general provisions of the Act to the complexities of industrial life." NLRB v. Erie Resistor Corp., 373 U. S. 221 , 373 U. S. 236 (1963); see Pattern Makers v. NLRB, 473 U. S. 95 , 473 U. S. 114 (1985); NLRB v. Steelworkers, 357 U. S. 357 , 357 U. S. 362 -363 (1958). Here, the Board has construed § 8(b)(4) of the Act to cover handbilling at a mall entrance urging potential customers not to trade with any retailers in the mall, in order to exert pressure on the proprietor of the mall to influence a particular mall tenant not to do business with a nonunion construction contractor. That statutory interpretation by the Board would normally be entitled to deference unless that construction were clearly contrary to the intent of Congress. Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U. S. 837 , 467 U. S. 842 -843, and n. 9 (1984).
Another rule of statutory construction, however, is pertinent here: where an otherwise acceptable construction of a statute would raise serious constitutional problems, the Court will construe the statute to avoid such problems unless such construction is plainly contrary to the intent of Congress. Catholic Bishop, supra, at 440 U. S. 499 -501, 440 U. S. 504 . This cardinal principle has its roots in Chief Justice Marshall's opinion for the Court in Murray v. The Charming Betsy, 2 Cranch 64, 6 U. S. 118 (1804), and has for so long been applied by this Court that it is beyond debate. E.g., Catholic Bishop, supra, at 440 U. S. 500 -501; Machinists v. Street, 367 U. S. 740 , 367 U. S. 749 -750 (1961); Crowell v. Benson, 285 U. S. 22 , 285 U. S. 62 (1932); Lucas v. Alexander, 279 U. S. 573 , 279 U. S. 577 (1929); Panama R. Co. v. Johnson, 264 U. S. 375 , 264 U. S. 390 (1924); United States ex rel. Attorney General v. Delaware & Hudson Co., 213 U. S. 366 , 213 U. S. 407 -408 (1909); Parsons v. Bedford, 3 Pet. 433, 28 U. S. 448 -449 (1830) (Story, J.). As was stated in Hooper v. California, 155 U. S. 648 , 155 U. S. 657 (1895), "[t]he elementary rule is that every reasonable construction must be resorted to in order to save a statute from unconstitutionality." This approach not only reflects the prudential concern that constitutional issues not be needlessly confronted, but also recognizes that Congress, like this Court, is bound by and swears an oath to uphold the Constitution. The courts will therefore not lightly assume that Congress intended to infringe constitutionally protected liberties or usurp power constitutionally forbidden it. See Grenada County Supervisors v. Brogden, 112 U. S. 261 , 112 U. S. 269 (1884).
That a labor union is the leafletter and that a labor dispute was involved does not foreclose this analysis. We do not suggest that communications by labor unions are never of the commercial speech variety, and thereby entitled to a lesser degree of constitutional protection. The handbills involved here, however, do not appear to be typical commercial speech, such as advertising the price of a product or arguing its merits, for they pressed the benefits of unionism to the community and the dangers of inadequate wages to the economy and the standard of living of the populace. Of course, commercial speech itself is protected by the First Amendment, Virginia Pharmacy Bd. v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc., 425 U. S. 748 , 425 U. S. 762 (1976), and however these handbills are to be classified, the Court of Appeals was plainly correct in holding that the Board's construction would require deciding serious constitutional issues. See Consolidated Edison Co. v. Public Service Comm'n of N.Y., 447 U. S. 530 , 447 U. S. 534 -535, 447 U. S. 537 (1980); Smith v. Daily Mail Publishing Co., 443 U. S. 97 , 443 U. S. 102 -103 (1979); Organization for a Better Austin v. Keefe, 402 U. S. 415 , 402 U. S. 419 -420 (1971).
In NLRB v. Drivers, 362 U. S. 274 , 362 U. S. 284 (1960), for example, the Court rejected the Board's interpretation of the phrase "restrain or coerce" to include peaceful recognitional picketing and stated:
That examination of the legislative history failed to yield the requisite "clearest indication." Similarly, in NLRB v. Fruit Packers, 377 U. S. 58 , 377 U. S. 63 (1964) ( Tree Fruits ), we disagreed with the Board's determination that § 8(b)(4)(ii)(B) prohibited all consumer picketing at a secondary establishment, no matter the economic consequences of that picketing, because our examination of the legislative history led us to
Id. at 377 U. S. 62 -63; see id. at 377 U. S. 67 , 71. Because there was not the required "clearest indication in the legislative history," we rejected the Board's interpretation that limited expressive activities. Again, in Catholic Bishop, we independently determined whether the Board's jurisdiction extended to parochial schools in the face of a substantial First Amendment challenge, although the Board itself had previously considered the First Amendment challenge and presumably interpreted the statute cognizable of those limits. 440 U.S. at 4 440 U. S. 97 -499.
The case turns on whether handbilling such as involved here must be held to "threaten, coerce, or restrain any person" to cease doing business with another, within the meaning of § 8(b)(4)(ii)(B). We note first that "induc[ing] or encourag[ing]" employees of the secondary employer to strike is proscribed by § 8(b)(4)(i). But more than mere persuasion is necessary to prove a violation of § 8(b)(4)(ii)(B): that section requires a showing of threats, coercion, or restraints. Those words, we have said, are "nonspecific, indeed vague," and should be interpreted with "caution," and not given a "broad sweep," Drivers, supra, at 362 U. S. 290 ; and, in applying § 8(b)(1)(A), they were not to be construed to reach peaceful recognitional picketing. Neither is there any necessity to construe such language to reach the handbills involved in this case. There is no suggestion that the leaflets had any coercive effect on customers of the mall. There was no violence, picketing, or patrolling, and only an attempt to persuade customers not to shop in the mall.
273 N.L.R.B. at 1432, n. 6. [ Footnote 3 ] Our decision in Tree Fruits, however, makes untenable the notion that any kind of handbilling, picketing, or other appeals to a secondary employer to cease doing business with the employer involved in the labor dispute is "coercion" within the meaning of § 8(b)(4)(ii)(B) if it has some economic impact on the neutral. In that case, the union picketed a secondary employer, a retailer, asking the public not to buy a product produced by the primary employer. We held that the impact of this picketing was not coercion within the meaning of § 8(b)(4) even though, if the appeal succeeded, the retailer would lose revenue. [ Footnote 4 ]
NLRB v. Retail Store Employees, 447 U. S. 607 (1980) ( Safeco ), in turn, held that consumer picketing urging a general boycott of a secondary employer aimed at causing him to sever relations with the union's real antagonist was coercive and forbidden by § 8(b)(4). It is urged that Safeco rules this
case because the union sought a general boycott of all tenants in the mall. But "picketing is qualitatively different from other modes of communication,'" Babbitt v. Farm Workers, 442 U. S. 289 , 442 U. S. 311 , n. 17 (1979) (quoting Hughes v. Superior Court, 339 U. S. 460 , 339 U. S. 465 (1950)), and Safeco noted that the picketing there actually threatened the neutral with ruin or substantial loss. As JUSTICE STEVENS pointed out in his concurrence in Safeco, 447 U.S. at 447 U. S. 619 , picketing is "a mixture of conduct and communication," and the conduct element "often provides the most persuasive deterrent to third persons about to enter a business establishment." Handbills containing the same message, he observed, are "much less effective than labor picketing," because they "depend entirely on the persuasive force of the idea." Ibid. Similarly, the Court stated in Hughes v. Superior Court, supra, at 339 U. S. 465 :
463 U.S. at 463 U. S. 155 . We also indicated that, if the handbilling were protected by the proviso, the distribution requirement would be without substantial practical effect. Id. at 463 U. S. 157 . But we obviously did not there conclude or indicate that the handbills were covered by § 8(b)(4)(ii)(B), for we remanded the case on this very issue. Id. at 157-158. [ Footnote 5 ]
" Provided further, That for the purposes of this paragraph (4) only, nothing contained in such paragraph shall be construed to prohibit publicity, other than picketing, for the purpose of truthfully advising the public, including consumers and members of a labor organization, that a product or products are produced by an employer with whom the labor organization has a primary dispute and are distributed by another employer, as long as such publicity does not have an effect of inducing any individual employed by any person other than the primary employer in the course of his employment to refuse to pick up, deliver, or transport any goods, or not to perform any services, at the establishment of the employer engaged in such distribution."
proviso protects might have been considered to be coercive, even if other forms of publicity would not be. Section 8(b)(4), with its proviso, may thus be read as not covering nonpicketing publicity, including appeals to customers of a retailer as they approach the store, urging a complete boycott of the retailer because he handles products produced by nonunion shops. [ Footnote 6 ]
The Board's reading of § 8(b)(4) would make an unfair labor practice out of any kind of publicity or communication to the public urging a consumer boycott of employers other than those the proviso specifically deals with. [ Footnote 7 ] On the facts of this case, newspaper, radio, and television appeals not to patronize the mall would be prohibited; and it would be an unfair labor practice for unions in their own meetings to urge their members not to shop in the mall. Nor could a union's handbills simply urge not shopping at a department store because it is using a nonunion contractor, although the union could safely ask the store's customers not to buy there because it is selling mattresses not carrying the union label. It is difficult, to say the least, to fathom why Congress would consider appeals urging a boycott of a distributor of a nonunion product to be more deserving of protection than nonpicketing persuasion of customers of other neutral employers such as that involved in this case.
105 Cong.Rec. 15540, 2 Leg.Hist. 1576. [ Footnote 8 ] The views of opponents of a bill with respect to its meaning, however, are not persuasive:
Tree Fruits, 377 U.S. at 377 U. S. 66 (quoting Schwegmann Bros. v. Calvert Distillers Corp., 341 U. S. 384 , 341 U. S. 394 -395 (1951)). Without more, the interpretation put on the words "threaten, coerce, or restrain" by those opposed to the amendment hardly settles the matter.
the House provision prohibiting secondary consumer picketing was adopted, but "with clarification that other forms of publicity are not prohibited." 105 Cong.Rec. 18706, Leg.Hist. 1454 (Sen. Goldwater); 105 Cong.Rec. 18022, Leg.Hist. 1712 (Rep. Griffin). [ Footnote 9 ] The clarification referred to was the second proviso to § 8(b)(4). See supra at 485 U. S. 581 -582. The Court of Appeals held that, although the proviso was itself confined to advising the customers of an employer that the latter was distributing a product of another employer with whom the union had a labor dispute, the legislative history did not foreclose understanding the proviso as a clarification of the meaning of § 8(b)(4), rather than an exception to a general ban on consumer publicity. We agree with this view.
" PLEASE DON'T SHOP AT EAST LAKE SQUARE MALL PLEASE"
The Board points out that Tree Fruits indicates urging customer boycotts can be coercion within the meaning of § 8(b)(4). See 377 U.S. at 377 U. S. 72 . But the Court was there talking about picketing, and not mere handbilling.
The Board's reliance on pre-1959 cases interpreting the phrase "restrain or coerce" in § 8(b)(1) -- and similar wording in § 8(a)(1) -- to support its interpretation of the phrase "threaten, coerce, or restrain" in § 8(b) (4)(ii)(B) is misplaced. The Board had interpreted "restrain or coerce" to prohibit peaceful picketing calling attention to a labor dispute, but this Court held in NLRB v. Drivers, 362 U. S. 274 , 362 U. S. 290 (1960), that those words, as used in § 8(b)(1)(A), reached only violent conduct, and did not even include peaceful picketing. See supra at 485 U. S. 577 . Furthermore, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had rejected the Board's holding that the circulation of "We Do Not Patronize" lists was coercive. NLRB v. International Assn. of Machinists, 263 F.2d 796 (1959), cert. denied, 362 U.S. 940 (1960). The Board suggests that NLRB v. United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum & Plastic Workers, 269 F.2d 694, 701 (CA4 1959), rev'd, 362 U. S. 329 (1960), is to the contrary, but the opinion in that case focused on handbilling combined with picketing; and it was the Ninth Circuit case that was later referred to on the Senate floor in reference to nonpicketing appeals. See n 8, infra.