Opinion

Hourihan v. National Labor Relations Board

  • 201 F.2d 187
Court
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
Filed
Apr 6, 1953
Status
Published
Author
Prettyman
On the bench
Prettyman, Bazelon, Washington
Cited by
49 cases
Authority
More cited than 97.8%

The opinion

PRETTYMAN, Circuit Judge.

Appellant brought a. civil action in the District Court praying for a writ of

mandamus

against the National Labor Relations Board, its Chairman, “and/or” its General Counsel. The gist of his petition was that he had been discharged by his employer in violation of Section 8 of the Labor Management Relations Act,

1

that he had filed charges against his employer, that the Regional Director and thereafter the General Counsel had refused to issue' a complaint, and that the Board had refused ' to overrule the General Counsel or to issue any order in the matter. He prayed that the court direct the Board to issue a’final order, which would be appealable and would thus permit him to get a judicial review of the proceedings inaugurated by his charges. The District Court dismissed the petition on the grounds that it had no jurisdiction over the subject matter and that the petition failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.

Section 3(d) of the Labor Management Relations Act

2

provides that the General Counsel of the Board “shall have final authority, on behalf of the Board, in respect of the investigation of charges and issuance of complaints under section 10”. The Board cannot issue an order until the General 'Counsel issues a complaint. A court has no power to order the General Counsel to issue a complaint

3

and no power to require the Board to issue an order in a matter which is not before the Board.

Appellant seeks to make out a case of abuse of discretion. In his recitation of the facts, presented in the affidavit attached to his petition, he said that the Regional Director acted upon perjured affidavits and that no investigation was made by the Regional Director or by agents of the Board. However, he said that he gave the Regional Director the names of three agents of the company responsible for firing him and that two of these agents (the other being in the hospital) went to the Board office and thereafter filed affidavits, which affidavits petitioner says were perjured. Upon the case thus made out in the petition, depending as it did upon an evaluation of evidence, the issuance of a complaint lay within the discretion conferred upon the General Counsel by the statute.

4

Affirmed.

1

. 61 Stat. 140 (1947), as amended, 29 U. S.C.A. § 158.

2

. 61 Stat. 139 (1947), 29 U.S.C.A. § 153 (d).

3

. General Drivers, Etc., Local 888, A. F. of L. v. National Labor Relations Board, 10 Cir., 1950, 179 F.2d 492 ; Lincourt v. National Labor Relations Board, 1 Cir., 1948, 170 F.2d 306 .

4

. We need not here canvass whether, and if so under what circumstances, a court can correct an abuse of discretion by the General Counsel in failing to issue a complaint. Compare Jacobsen v. National Labor Relations Board, 3 Cir., 1941, 120 F.2d 96, 100 ; Att’y Gen. Man. Ad. Proc. Act 94-95 (1947); Davis, Administrative Law 160-167, 846-848 (1951).

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.