Opinion

National Labor Relations Board v. Kingwood Mining Company

  • 404 F.2d 348
  • 69 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2934
  • 1968 U.S. App. LEXIS 4668
Court
Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Filed
Dec 2, 1968
Status
Published
On the bench
Haynsworth, Boreman, Winter
Cited by
3 cases
Authority
More cited than 68.2%

The opinion

PER CURIAM:

The National Labor Relations Board found that the Kingwood Mining Company engaged in certain unfair labor practices in violation of § 8(a) (1) of the National Labor Relations Act. 29 U.S.C.A. § 158 (a) (1). It issued a cease and desist order and required the posting of appropriate notices.

Substantial, though as to the threats sharply disputed, evidence supports the findings of improper surveillance and improper threats to employees. Since that is the limit of our inquiry, the Board’s order, generally, is entitled to enforcement.

The company, however, complains of the breadth of the order. The trial examiner proposed an order requiring the company,

inter alia,

to cease and desist from “[i]n

any like or related manner

interfering with, restraining, or coercing its employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in Section 7 of the Act.” (Emphasis added.) The Board enlarged the final order to require the company to cease and desist from “[i]n

any other manner

interfering with, restraining, or coercing its employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in Section 7 of the Act.” (Emphasis added.) The claimed violations were neither numerous nor pervasive, and the company complains that violations having no resemblance to those found by the Board come under the proscription of the final order. Upon oral argument the Board urged enforcement of the broad order on the ground that it .would institute contempt proceedings only if there were violations similar to the earlier threats or an actual execution of those threats. The Board argued that it would not pursue unrelated alleged violations of Section 7 rights in a contempt proceeding.

We think this argument fails for the reason stated in NLRB v. Simplex Time Recorder Co., 1 Cir., 401 F.2d 547 .

*350

“[T]he Board asks for despotic powers on the ground that it is benevolent. This is not the principle; a party, and the court as well, must be able to rely on the order itself.” The broad order encom-pases activities which, as the Board concedes, should not expose the company to a contempt citation. Accordingly, we order enforcement of the recommended order of the trial examiner in lieu of the Board’s broader one. In so doing, we understand that “like or related” violations will include later execution of the threats or similar ones.

Order modified in part and enforced.

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.