Petition for a Writ of Certiorari — United States Steel Corp. v. United Mine Workers of America

Supreme Court brief1972

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OCTOBER TERM, 1971

UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION e¢ al.,

Petitioners

Vv.

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA et al.,

Respondents

PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

and APPENDICES

NICHOLAS UNKOVIC

LEONARD L. SCHEINHOLTZ

HARLEY N. TRICE II

REED SMITH SHAW & McCLAYy

747 Union Trust Building

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219

Counsel for Petitioners, United

States Steel Curporation, ~ Jones

& Laughlin Steel Corporation and

Bethlehem Mines Corporation

CLYDE W. ARMSTRONG

RALPH T. DESTEFANO

THORP, REED & ARMSTRONG

2900 Grant Building

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219

Counsel for Petitioner, -

Republic Steel Corporation

SMITH BROS... LAW PRINTERS. 620 SECOND AVENUE. PITTSBURGH. PA. 15219

hints | APR 29 1st?

INTHE © edt Stata Tats ROK J8_CLeEs

Supreme Court of the Unit i

acme PAGE

ana rapier nde megan ae Ra oaion oi 2

Ne ea ere ny <a as 2

QUESTIONS PRESENTED ..... Pear pawn eae ee 2

STATUTES AND RULES INVOLVED ........... 3

STATEMENT OF THE CASE ................. ceo ee

REASONS FOR GRANTING WRIT .............. 10

I ee cn eee, eis 20

antag ne when ea 21

TABLE OF CITATIONS

CASES

Atomic Oil Co. of Oklahoma, Inc. v. Bardahl Oil

Company, 419 F.2d 1097 (10th Cir. 1969) .... 16

Bethlehem Mines Corporation, et al. v. United Mine

Workers, et al., F.2d —— (3rd Cir. 1972),

PE NE aos oo or ee Pe es 9n.6

Boys Markets v. Retail Clerks Union, Local 770,

ee a ee AE eae ec eo eae hak 10-12

Duke Power Co. v. Greenwood County, 25 F.Supp. .

gg a ye ee 14n.8

‘Elgin J. & E. Ry. Co. v. Brotherhood of Railroad

- Trainmen, 196 F.Supp. 158 (N.D. il. ELD.

1961), 302 F.2d 540 (7th Cir. 1962) ...... 17: n. 10

Friend v. United States, 388 F.2d 579 (D.C. Cir.

RRR RR atin, Se ence 13

International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union v.

Donnelly Garment Co., 147 F.2d-246 (8th Cir.

1945) cert. denied, 325 U.S. 852 (1945).....

Ri ep Rate Cae rene! cle rage™ hater 13-15 & 17-18

Janssen v. Shown, 53 F.2d 608 (9th Cir. 1931) .... 12

Lawrence v. St. Louis-San Francisco R. Co., 278 U.S.

Se Not ee a as ee

vi

il

Index.

CASES _ PAGE

Madison Shipping Corp. v. National Maritime Union,

204 F.Supp. 22 (E.D. Pa. 1962) ........ 12&14n.8

. Meeker v. Stuart, 298 F.2d 902 (D.C. Cir. 1961),

affirming 188 F.Supp. 272 (D.D.C. 1960) ..... 12

Monolith Portland Mid. Co. v. Reconstruction F.

Corp., 128 F.Supp. 824 (S.D. Cal. 1955) ....14n.8

Pacific Maritime Ass’n. v. International Longshore.

& W.U., 454 F.2d 262 (9th Cir. 1971) ........ 13

Powelton Civic Home Own. Ass’n. v. Department of

H. & U. Dev., 284 F.Supp. 809 (E.D. Pa. 1968) 14n.8

Sinclair Refining Co. v. Atkinson, 370 U.S. 195

LARS a RNa aeE cme: ini Moni Neath ee eta

Teamster Local 174 v. Lucas Flour Co., 369 U.S.

ee ee hn EU Lt a ar eat E 11 |

United Motors Service v. Tropic-aire, 57 F.2d 479

GG EDS kp cc hon bh each eee ks 15-16

United States v. Concentrated Phosphate Export

Ass’n., Inc., 393 U.S. 199 (1968) ............ 13

United States Steel Corporation, et al. v. United

Mine Workers of America, et al., 317 7 <ee.

eee Cee Pe SE bik ances eines 3

United States Steel Corporation, et al. v. United -

Mine Workers of America, et al., —— F.2d

[a ee: GED. EA aks cae nea ca ea ees 3

West v. Zurhorst, 425 F.2d 919 (2nd Cir. 1970) .... 16

ili

Index.

STATUTES AND RULES : _ PAGE

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

Federal Rule 65(c) ......-------- 5, 9, 13, 15 & 16

Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947, as

amended, 61 Stat. 156, 29 U.S.C. §185(a) ....

Oe ee ON eae Sk Nea ak ee a 4,10-11, 14 &15

Norris-LaGuardia Act, 47 Stat. 70,

29 U.S.C. §101 et seq. ...... 6-8, 10-12, 14-15 & 17-19

OTHER AUTHORITIES

72 Cong. Rec. 4630 (1932) (Remarks of Senator

ee erie cree rose ee ee oe eee 19

7 Moore’s Federal Practice, 165.09, p. 1657 (2nd ed.

BE eC ey rains aaa eee bee 15 n. 9

In THE

Supreme Court of the United States

OCTOBER TERM, 1971

UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION et al.,

Petitioners

Vv.

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA et al.,

Respondents

PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS .

FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT .

United States Steel Corporation, Jones & Laughlin

Steel Corporation, Bethlehem Mines Corporation, and

Republic Steel’ Corporation, petitioners, respectfully

pray that a writ of certiorari issue to review the deci-

sion of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third

Circuit entered in the above-entitled consolidated cases.

on February 3, 1972, in which the court reversed the

District Court’s order which had denied respondents’!

motion for award of reasonable costs, expenses and at-

torneys’ fees.

1. Respondents are individually designated in the

caption of the opinion of the Court of Appeals set forth

in Appendix B, infra, pp. 26-30.

Questions Presented.

OPINIONS BELOW

The opinion of the District Court for the Western

District of Pennsylvania, entered September 30, 1970,

is reported at 317 F.Supp. 1070 (Appendix A, infra, pp.

21-25). The opinion of the United States Court of’ Ap-

peals for the Third Circuit (Appendix B, infra, pp. 26-

53) is reported at ——— F.2d -——, and was filed on Feb-

ruary 3, 1972.

JURISDICTION

The judgment of the Court of Appeals ( Appendix C,

infra, p. 54) was entered on February 3, 1972.

The jurisdiction of this Court is invoked under 28

U.S.C. § 1254 (1).

The jurisdiction of the District Court was by virtue

of 29 U.S.C. § 185.

QUESTIONS PRESENTED

Four employers sought and obtained preliminary

injunctions under § 301 of the Labor-Management Rela-

tions Act of 1947, as amended (29 U.S.C. § 185) to en-

join a strike over an arbitrable dispute. They posted in-)

junction bonds pursuant to Federal Rule 65 (c) totalling

$4,000 conditioned to pay “costs and damages” incurred

by any party found to have been wrongfully enjoined.

The preliminary injunction was reversed and remanded

for a hearing de novo on the merits. At that hearing, the

injunction proceedings were, by agreement of the par-

ties, continued indefinitely because the work stoppage

Statutes and Rules Involved.

had ended. Thereafter, the defendant unions filed a mo-

tion for reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses under

§ 7 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act (29 U.S.C. § 107). The

amount of such attorneys’ fees and expenses substan-

tially exceeded the aggregate amount of the injunction

bonds. The questions presented for determination are:

1. Whether the bond provisions of £ 7 of Norris-

LaGuardia, which provide for the payment of reasonable

attorneys’ fees and expenses, are applicable where an in-

junction is sought and obtained unfler § 301 to enjoin a.

strike over an arbitrable dispute;

2. Whether any recovery may be had on an injunc-

tion bond when there has been no decision on the merits

as to the employers’ right to injunctive relief;

3. Whether attorneys’ fees are recoverable on a’

bond posted in a § 301 injunction action Pursuant to Fed-

eral Rule 65 (c) and conditioned only to pay “costs and

damages” ; and

4. Whether employers who: obtain an injunction

under § 301 may be held liable for an amount in excess

of that specified in the bonds posted pursuant to Fed-

eral Rule 65 (c) and approved by the District Court.

STATUTES AND RULES INVOLVED

The statutory provisions and rules involved are:

Section 7 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act, 47 Stat. 71, 29

U.S.C. Section 107; Section 301 of the Labor-Manage-

ment Relations Act of 1947, as amended, 61 Stat. 156, 29

U.S.C. Section 185(a); and Federal Rule of Civil Pro-

cedure 65 (c). They are printed in Appendix D, infra,

pp. 55-57.

Statement of the Case.

| STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On June 22, 1970, petitioners, United States Steel

Corporation, Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation, and

Bethlehem Mines Corporation? filed actions under Sec-

tion 301 of the Labor-Management Relations Act of

1947, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 185 (the “Act”), to enjoin

the respondents from engaging in work stoppages over

disputes which were subject to resolution through the

Settlement of Local and District Disputes procedure of

the National Bituminous Coal Wage Agreement of 1968.

After a hearing on petitioners’ applications for pre-

liminary injunctions, the District Court by orders dated

June 24, 1970 (R. 35a, 39a and 48a)* as amended on

’ June 25, 1970 (R. 37a, 46, 49a and 51a), preliminarily en-

joined the respondents from engaging in, or continuing

to engage in, work stoppages at petitioners’ mines; from

picketing, or in any other manner interfering with the

orderly resumption of, or continuation of, operations;

and directed respondents, their officers, representatives

and members to utilize the Settlement of Local and Dis-

trict Disputes procedure of the labor agreement for the

resolution of any grievances, differences or local trouble

at petitioners’ mines. Each of the four orders further

provided that “Bond in the amount of $1,000 has been

approved and filed with the Court by plaintiff.” ( R. 38a,

47a, 50a and 52a).

2. On June 25, 1970, petitioner Republic Steel Cor-

poration filed a similar action under Section 301 seek- ©

ing the same relief.

3. All references to the appendix filed by wer]

ents in the Court of Appeals are designated “R.

et’ oo Sere

Statement of the Case.

Each of the petitioners filed a bond pursuant to

Rule 65(c) of the Federai Rules of Civil Procedure, the

condition of the bond being that “the plaintiff shall be

liable to the defendants for such costs and damages, not

exceeding the sum of $1,000.00, as defendants or any

other person may sustain by reason of the Preliminary

Injunction, if the Court finally decides that plaintiff is

not entitled thereto.”* No complaint was made by the

respondents to the District Court as to the conditions or

the amount of the bond.

Respondents filed immediate appeals from the

orders granting the preliminary injunctions, and on

June 30, 1970, the United States Court of Appeals for the

Third Circuit summarily reversed and remanded these

cases to the District Court “without prejudice to a re-

quest for a hearing de novo on the application for a pre-

liminary injunction” (R. 7la). The court stated that it

was taking this action “because we find that the parties

were effectively denied the opportunity to develop their

respective positions by erroneous rulings of the[Dis-

trict] Court” (R. 66a), and emphasized that “we have

not reached the issue of the merits of the request for a

preliminary injunction” (R. 71a).

On July 9, 1970, pursuant to the order of remand,

the District Court commenced a de novo hearing on peti-

tioners’ application for a preliminary injunction, and on

the following day, based upon certain representations

4. See R. 40a for the injunction bond given in Civil

Action No. 70-725; the bonds given by petitioners gnd

approved by the District Court in Civil Action Nos. 70-

724, 70-727 and 70-728 are identical in every material re-

spect.

Statement of the Case.

and stipulations of counsel for the respective parties,5

the District Court entered an order continuing the hear-

ing until further notice by the court (R. 76a).

On August 14, 1970, respondents filed their Motion

for Award of Reasonabie Costs, Expenses, and Attor-

neys’ Fees (R. 78a). After a hearing, the District Court

in an opinion dated September 30, 1970, denied the mo-

tion (R. 139a). The court concluded that insofar as the

motion related to expenses and attorneys’ fees incurred

in connection with the appeal, the order of the Court of

Appeals prescribing that each party was to bear its own

costs was dispositive of the question of costs on appeal

(R. 142a). The District Court also concluded that the

requests for costs, expenses and attorneys’ fees incurred

by the respondents in opposing the requests for the pre-

liminary injunction in the District Court should be

denied as being prematurely made, since there had been

pol Tay “no final determination of respendents' claims for injunc-

tive relief (R. 142a). These conclusions by the District

Court made it unnecessary for the court to decide

whether the terms of Section 7 of the Norris-LaGuardia .

Act, 29 U.S.C. § 107, requiring security for reasonable at-

torneys’ fees and legal expenses must be read into a bond

filed precedent to the issuance of an injunction against

5. These stipulations were that to the knowledge

of the defendants no picketing, work stoppage or strike

existed at the time, and none was known to be antici-

pated in the immediate future, and that the plaintiffs, in

good faith, would utilize their best efforts to comply

with the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of

1969 and counsel for the respective defendants would

counsel the officers and members of the defendant ”

unions to refrain from any work stoppage or picketing

at plaintiffs’ mines (R. 76a).

Statement of the Case.

concerted activity alleged to be in violation of a collec-

tive bargaining agreement (R. 143a).

On October 21, 1970, respondents appealed from the

order of the District Court denying their motion for

costs, expenses and attorneys’ fees. Thereafter, on De-

cember 10, 1970, petitioners filed a motion to dismiss the

appeals on the ground that the order, which denied re-

spondents’ motion without prejudice as premature, was

not a final order. On January 12, 1971, the Court of Ap-

peals denied petitioners’ motion to dismiss without opin-

ion.

In its opinion of February 3,,.1972, reversing the

decision of the District Court, the Court of Appeals

treated the stipulation continuing the hearing on the

application for a preliminary injunction as ending the

lawsuit for all practical purposes because the work stop-

pages complained of had ceased (Appendix B, p. 33).

It did so, even though answers and counterclaims were

subsequently filed by certain of the respondents and the

case will eventually come up for final hearing (R. 6a,

14a, 23a, 33a).

The Court of Appeals held that the bond provisions

of § 7 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act, that a plaintiff shall

file an undertaking for loss, expense, or damage, includ-

ing costs, together with a reasonable attorneys’ fee be-

fore a preliminary injunction can issue in a labor dis-

pute, apply in a federal court even when, as here, the

injunction is sought under § 301 of the Labor-Manage-

ment Relations Act of 1947. as amended (Appendix B,

p. 40). The Court of Appeals further held that if, in a

labor dispute, the plaintiff seeking a preliminary injunc-

tion tenders, and the district court approves, a bond

Statement of the Case.

conditioned for “costs and damages”, that undertaking

must be construed to include all the elements of damage

which are recoverable under § 7 of Norris-LaGuardia, in-

cluding attorneys’ fees (Appendix B, p. 43). Finally,

the Court of Appeals held (with one judge dissenting)

that in any case involving a labor dispute, including an

action for an injunction sought under § 301, the liability

of the plaintiffs, though not of the surety, for loss, ex-

pense or damage, including attorneys’ fees, under $7 of

Norris-LaGuardia, must be fixed by the district court

without regard to any limitation in the injunction bond

( Appendix B, p. 50).

Judge Kalodner, while concurring in the reversal of

the District Court’s order, dissented from the majority’s

direction to the District Court to enter a judgment

against petitioners in the injunction proceedings for an

amount in excess of that stipulated in the injunction

bonds. In the dissenting judge’s view, when defendants

seek recovery of their reasonable attorneys’ fees and ex-

penses in the same proceedings in which the preliminary

injunctions were improvidently issued, they are limited

in their recovery, by virtue of § 7(e) of Norris-LaGuar-

dia; to the amounts specified in the injunction bonds

(Appendix B, p. 51) ; and he termed the majority’s con-

struction of § 7(e) in permitting recovery in the same

proceedings of an amount in excess of the injunction

bonds as “impermissible judicial legislation” (Appen-

dix B, p. 53).

The effect of the majority’s decision was to hold

petitioners liable under § 7 of Norris-LaGuardia to re-

spondents and certain other parties to the litigation not

Statement of the Case.

involved in this petition for certiorari® for approxi-

mately $11,350 in attorneys’ fees and expenses, even

though there has never been a decision on the merits

that petitioners were not entitled to the injunctive relief

they sought under § 301, and even though the bonds they

posted under Federal Rule 65(c) were conditioned only

to pay “costs and damages”, and the aggregate amount

of the injunction bonds was only $4,000.

6. On February 28, 1972, the same panel, in a per

curiam opinion (with Judge Kalodner again concurring

in part and dissenting in part), reached the same con-

clusions with respect to the remaining parties to this

litigation. Bethlehem Mines Corporation, et al. v. United

Mine Workers, et al., F.2d , 79 LRRM 2816.

Petitioners also intend to file a petition for certiorari

with respect to this decision by the Court of Appeals.

c $Y

10

Reasons for Granting Writ.

REASONS FOR GRANTING WRIT

1. This case raises an important question of fed-

eral law which has not been, but should be, settled by

this Court. In Boys Markets v. Retail Clerks Union, Lo-

cal 770, 398 U.S. 235 (1970), this Court held that, not-

withstanding the anti-injunction provisions of § 4 of

the Norris-LaGuardia Act, a federal court has jurisdic-

tion under § 301(a) of the Labor-Management Relations

Act of 1947, as amended, to enjoin a strike over an ar-

bitrable grievance. The present case involves the unde-

cided question as to whether the bond provision -of § 7

of the Norris-LaGuardia Act applies to an action

brought under § 301(a) in which an employer seeks and

obtains a preliminary injunction barring a strike over

an arbitrable grievance.

In reaching the conclusion in Boys Markets that the

literal terms of § 4 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act must

be accommodated to the subsequently enacted provisions

of § 301(a) of the Labor-Management Relations Act of

1947, as amended, this Court pointed out that the Nor-

ris-LaGuardia Act “was responsive to a situation totally

different from that which exists today” (398 U.S. at

250). However, this Court emphasized that its holding

was a narrow one, dealing “only with the situation in

which a collective bargaining contract contains a man-

datory grievance adjustment or arbitration procedure”

(398 U.S. at 253), and it adopted from the dissenting

opinion in Sinclair Refining Co. v. Atkinson, 370 US.

195 (1962), certain guidelines to be followed by a fed-

eral court in determining whether an injunction would

be appropriate despite the Norris-LaGuardia Act.

11

Reasons for Granting Writ.

While this Court, in Boys Markets, was dealing

specifically with $4 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act, the

same rationale is applicable to the bond provision con-

tained in § 7 of that Act. If the district court, on the

basis of the principles adopted in Boys Markets, de-

termines that the case is one in which an injunction

would be appropriate despite Norris-LaGuardia, that

Act—and this includes § 7 — has no application.

The Court of Appeals improperly interpreted Boys

Markets as relating only to § 4 of the Norris-LaGuardia

Act and to no other provision of that Act, and er-

roneously concluded that every other provision of Nor-

ris-LaGuardia applies to a § 301 injunction action, even

though it recognized that “some of the specific findings

of fact required by § 7 are inappropriate in a $301 case”

(Appendix B, p. 39). |

One of the principal factors which prompted this

Court to reverse Sinclair was its desire to re-establish

the federal policy of labor law uniformity under § 301

expressed in Teamster Local 174 v. Lucas Flour Co., 369

U.S. 95 (1962). The decision of the Court of Appeals in

this case offends that policy of uniformity.

Section 7 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act provides

that an employer obtaining an injunction must post a

bond to compensate the union for any loss, expense or

damage caused by the improvident or erroneous issu-

ance of the injunction, including attorneys’ fees incurred

in defending against the injunction. While, as this

Court noted in Boys Markets (398 U.S. at p. 247, n. 15),

one half of the states have enacted so-called “little

Norris-LaGuardia Acts’, only eight of them have bond

provisions expressly requiring the payment of attor-

12

Reasons for Granting Writ.

neys’ fees as in § 7 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act.? Thus,

tho dooiaian. Kf tha Courtr Vi taeppedm wlli scive ‘vw re-

create the very lack of uniformity found offensive in

Boys Markets and, at least in those states which do not

have bond provisions similar to $7 of Norris-LaGuardia,

will undoubtedly cause a return to the use of removal

proceedings under 28 U.S.C. $1441 and to maneuvering

from one court to another which will, again, “frustrate

any relative uniformity in the enforcement of arbitra-

tion agreements” (398 U.S. at 246). F

2. In deciding that the respondents were entitled

to recover on the injunction bonds even though there

has not been a decision on the merits as to petitioners’

right to injunctive relief, the Court of Appeals decided

a federal question in a way which substantially con-

flicts with the decision of this Court in Lawrence v. St.

Louis-San Francisco R. Co., 278 U.S. 228 (1929), and

with the decisions of the Courts of Appeal for the

Ninth and District of Columbia Circuits in Janssen v.

Shown, 53 F.2d 608 (9th Cir. 1931), and Meeker v.

Stuart, 298 F.2d 902 (D.C. Cir. 1961), affirming 188

F.Supp. 272 (D.D.C. 1960). These cases all hold that

there can be no recovery of damages caused by the is-

suance of a preliminary injunction, even if set aside,

unless final judgment after trial is in favor of the party

who has been enjoined. See, also, Madison Shipping

Corp. v. National Maritime Union, 204 F.Supp. 22 (E.D.

Pa. 1962).

- %. See Hawaii Rev. Laws, Act 200, §7, L. (1963);

Mass. Laws Ann., ch. 214, $9A (1955); Minn. Stat. Ann.,

No. 13A, $185.13 (1966); N.J. Stat. Ann., 2A, Ch. 15,

$52 (1952); N.Y. Consol. Laws, Lab. $807.3 (McKinney

Supp. 1965) ; Nth. Dak. Cent. Code Ann., Vol. 7, 34-08-08

(1961); Pa. Stat. Ann., tit. 43, §206 (j) (1964); and

Utah Code Ann., 34-19-5 (1971).

. 13

Reasons for Granting Writ.

The Court of Appeals improperly concluded that

the effect of the stipulation of July 10, 1970, continu-

ing the hearing on petitioners’ application for a pre-

liminary injunction, was to end the lawsuit because by

then the work stoppage complained of had ceased. In

essence, then, the Court of Appeals treated the case as .

being moot. It is well settled, however, that an issue re-

mains “live” unless subsequent events make it absolute-

ly clear that the alleged wrongful behavior could not

reasonably be expected to recur: United States v. Con-

centrated Phosphate Export Ass’n., Inc., 393 U.S. 199,

203 (1968); Pacific Maritime Ass’n v. International

Longshore. & W. U., 454 F.2d 262 (9th Cir. 1971) ; Friend

v. United States, 388 F.2d 579, 581 (D.C.:.Cir. 1967).

Moreover, the fact that answers and counterclaims

have been filed by respondents after the renewed hear-

ing on the application for a preliminary injunction was

continued indefinitely demonstrates beyond any ques-

tion that the lawsuit has not ended.

3. The decision of the Court of Appeals permitting

. respondents to recover for attorneys’ fees and expenses,

a liability not specified in the injunction bond, is in di-

rect conflict with the decision of the Eighth Circuit in

International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union v. Don-

nelly Garment Co., 147 F.2d 246 (8th Cir. 1945) cert.

denied, 325 U.S. 852 (1945).

In the present case, the injunction: bonds were

posted by petitioners pursuant to Federal Rule 65(c)

and, in conformity with the requirements of this rule,

were conditioned to pay “costs and damages” incurred

by any party found to have been wrongfully enjoined.

The District Court did not require, and the bonds did

not contain, any undertaking to pay reasonable at-

14

Reasons for Granting Writ.

torneys’ fees and expenses as provided in $ 7 of the Nor-

ris-LaGuardia Act, and no objection was raised by re-

spondents to the terms and conditions of the bond. Nev-

ertheless, the Court of Appeals, contrary to the de-

cision of the Eighth Circuit in Donnelly, supra, * con-

cluded that the provisions of £ 7 of the Norris-LaGuar-

dia Act must be read into a bond filed in a § 301 injunc-

tion action, and held that respondents were, therefore,

entitled to recover attorneys’ fees and expenses under

the injunction bond. The Third Circuit expressly de-

clined to follow and apply the Eighth Circuit’s decision

in the Donnelly case, because, in its view, which it ar-

rived at by tortured and erroneous reasoning, Donnelly

and other cases which have followed it “are based upon

a misinterpretation in Heiser [v. Woodruff, 128 F.2d

178 (10th Cir. 1942) ] of the holdings of Tullock v. Mul-

vane [184 U.S. 497 (1902)] and Oelrichs v. Spain [82

U.S. 211 (1872)]". The Court of Appeals cites no au-

thority for its holding that a bond posted in a § 301

injunction action conditioned to pay “costs and dam-

ages” must be construed to include liability for attor-

neys’ fees and expenses by virtue of § 7 of the Norris-

8. The Court of Appeals also recognized that its

decision conflicted with Madison Shipping Corp. v. Na-

tional Maritime Union, 204 F.Supp. 22 (E.D. Pa. 1962),

and Duke Power Co. v. Greenwood County, 25 F.Supp.

419 \W.DS.C. 1938). See, also, Powelton Civic Home

Owners Ass'n. v. H.E.W., 284 F.Supp. 809 (E.D Pa.

1968). and Monolith Portland Midwest Co. v. Reconstruc-

tion Finance Corp., 128 F.Supp. 824,878 (S.D. Cal. 1955),

which the Court of Appeals regarded as not being in

point on the interpretation of the bond, while conceding

that they support the proposition that attorneys’ fees

are not ordinarily an element of damages in the federal

courts (Appendix B, p. 42, n. 5).

15

Reasons for Granting Writ.

LaGuardia Act, and there is none. It is appropriate for

this Court to resolve the conflict between the Third and

the Eighth Circuit on this important issue, since the de-

cision on this question will materially affect the type

of bond to be given in every £ 301 suit for injunctive re-

lief in a federal court.

4. The decision of the Court of Appeals is also in

direct conflict with the decision of the Eighth Circuit

on the issue of whether respondents are entitled to re-

cover an amount in excess of that specified in the in-

junction bonds. These bonds were posted pursuant to

federal Rule 65 (c) and approved by the District Court.

No effort was ever made by respondents to obtain an

increase in the amount of these bonds. In spite of this.

the Court of Appeals concluded that petitioners were

liable to respondents for an amount substantially in ex-

cess of the limits of the bonds which had been posted.

The Court of Appeals again recognized that its de-

cision on this question was in conflict with the decision

of the Eighth Circuit in International Ladies Garment

Workers’ Union v. Donnelly Garment Co., supra, and

with an earlier decision of the Eighth Circuit in United

Motors Service v. Tropic-aire, 57 F.2d 479 (8th Cir.

1932), which the Third Circuit expressly declined to

follow on the grounds that the Eighth Circuit had “mis-

apprehended the holdings of the Supreme Court cases on

which it relied” (Appendix B, p. 44). The Donnelly

case holds that the monetary amount of an injunction

bond, whether posted pursuant to Federal Rule 65 (c)

r $ 7 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act, is the limit of a

9 7 Moore’s Federal Practice, "65.09. p. 1657 (2nd

ed..-1971).

16

Reasons for Granting Writ.

plaintiff's liability and the measure of a defendant’s pro-

tection for the wrongful issuance of an injunction. The

United Motors Service case is to the same effect as toa

bond posted under Federal Rule 65 (c) as is West v.

Zurhorst.425 F.2d 919 (2nd Cir. 1970), and Atomic Oil

Co. of Oklahoma, Inc. v. Bardahl Oil Company, 419 F.2d

1097 (10th Cir. 1969).

The Third Circuit, asserting that no Supreme Court

authority had been called to its attention holding that

the liability of a plaintiff who has been improperly

granted an injunction is limited to the amount of the

bond he furnished, found the authority of the Eighth

Cireuit in Donnelly on this issue “unpersuasive” ( Ap-

pendix B, pp. 46-47).

The reasoning of the Third Circuit in reaching the

conclusion that respondents are not limited to the

amount of injunction bonds is far more unpersuasive. It

Starts with the wholly unfounded assertion that the

Donnelly approach “would rule out any liability for

wrongfully obtaining an injunction in any case where

the court did not require the posting of a bond”: ( Appen-

dix B. p. 47). What the Court of Appeals completely

overlooked is the fact that no injunction issued under

Federal Rule 65 is effective unless and until an injunc-

tion bond is posted pursuant to Federal Rule 65/c). As

the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit aptly ob-

served in Atomic Oil Co. of Oklahoma, Inc. v. Bardahl

Oil Company, 419 F.2d 1097, 1100 (10th Cir. 1969) :

“Rule 65(c) states in mandatory language that the giv-

ing of security is an absolute condition precedent to the

issuance of a preliminary injunction.”

.

17

Reasons for Granting Writ.

Moreover, the Court of Appeals’ effort to distin-

guish the holdings of the cases upon which Donnelly re-

lied is itself erroneous. Thus, Lawrence v. St. Louis-San

Francisco R. Co., 278 U.S. 228 (1929), is not a state

court proceeding as the Court of Appeals asserts (Ap-

pendix B, pp. #@), but involved a preliminary injunction

issued by a federal court.1°

Therefore, the decision of the Third Circuit holding

petitioners liable for an amount in excess of that speci-

fied in the injunction bonds posted pursuant to Federal

Rule 65(c) has created a serious conflict on a highly

important question which this Court should resolve.

5. Quite apart from the conflict in the circuits cre-

ated by the holding that petitioners are liable for an

amount in excess of the injunction bonds, the basis upon

which the Court of Appeals arrived at this result in-

volves a serious misinterpretation of the language of $ 7

of the Norris-LaGuardia Act and of the intent of Con-

gress in adopting the bond provision. The key language

is that “[n]o temporary restraining order or temporary

injunction shall be issued except on condition that com-

plainant shall first file an undertaking with adequate

10. Similarly, the Court of Appeals misread Elqin

J.& E. Ry. Co. v. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, 302

F.2d 540 (7th Cir. 1962), as standing for the proposition

that the plaintiff's liability under § 7 of Norris-LaGuar-

dia is open ended. It came to this conclusion because its

reading of the circuit court and district court opinions

did not disclose whether a bond was filed or, if so, in

what amount. Actually, as the opinion of the district

court clearly shows, the plaintiff there did post an in-

junction bond which provided the basis for recovery:

Elgin J. & E. Ry Co. v. Brotherhood of Railroad Train-

men, 196 F.Supp. 158, 167 (N.D. Ill. E.D. 1961).

18

Reasons for Granting Writ.

security in an amount to be fixed by the court sufficient

to recompense those enjoined from any loss, expense or

damage caused by the improvident or erroneous issuance

of such order or injunction, including all reasonable

costs (together with a reasonable attorney’s fee) and

expense of defense against the order... .” (Appendix

D, p. 56).

The Court of Appeals erroneously interpreted this

language to mean that the court is to fix the amount of

“adequate security” but not the extent of the complain-

ant’s “undertaking”’. This construction of § 7 leaves the

plaintiff's liability completely open ended and is in di-

rect conflict with the Eighth Circuit’s decision in Don-

nelly that even under § 7 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act

the liability of the plaintiff is limited to the penal sum of

the injunction bond.

Properly read, the quoted language from § 7 means

that the complainant must file “an undertaking . . . in an

amount to be fixed by the court’, and the words “with

adequate security” are intended to modify the word

“undertaking”. So interpreted, the injunction bond is the

limit of the plaintiff's liability.

This construction is not only consistent with the

plain language of § 7 but is also supported by the legis-

lative history of the Act. Thus, Wisconsin Senator John

J. Blaine, one of the authors of the Act, in reporting on

the bill to the Senate on February 24, 1932, stated:

“.. Finally, before such an order may be issued the

* complainants must furnish a bond sufficient to in-

demnify the defendants against any loss and ex-

pense, including costs and attorneys fees, resulting

19

Reasons for Granting Writ.

from the issuance of the temporary restraining

order if it is not sustained after a hearing.” 72 Cong.

Rec. 4630 (1932) (Remarks of Senator Blaine).

There is not the slightest suggestion in the legisla-

tive history of § 7 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act that Con-

gress intended the plaintiff's liability on the “under-

taking” to be open ended. As dissenting Judge Kalodner

so aptly pointed out, the majority’s construction of £ 7

as permitting the respondents to recover in full their at-

torneys’ fees and expenses in the same proceedings in

which the injunction bonds were issued, even though

. they substantially exceed the aggregate amounts of the

posted injunction bonds, is nothing more than imper-

missible judicial legislation, which clearly transgresses

the procedural scheme of § 7.

Conclusion.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, it is respectfully sub-

mitted that this petition for a writ of certiorari should

be granted.

NICHOLAS UNKOVIC

LEONARD L. SCHEINHOLTZ

HARLEY N. TRIcE II

REED SMITH SHAW & McCLay

747 Union Trust Building

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219

Counsel for Petitioners, United

States Steel Corporation, Jones

& Laughlin Steel Corporation and

Bethlehem Mines Corporation

CLYDE W. ARMSTRONG

RALPH T. DESTEFANO

THORP, REED & ARMSTRONG

2900 Grant Building

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219

Counsel for Petitioner, Republic

Steel Corporation

21

APPENDIX A

IN THE

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Civil Action

UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION, Nos.

et al. L 70-724 .

v. [= "70-725

UNITED MINE WORKERS, et al. 70-727

70-728

Opinion

In these consolidated civil actions, the immediate

' matters before the Court are Motions for defendants for

an award of reasonable costs, expenses and attorney

fees. One group of attorneys have entered their ap-

pearances on behalf of the defendant Union, all of its

Districts and Locals, and all of the individual defend-

ants. The second group have entered their appearances

in Civil Action 70-724 on. behalf of Local 1248, in Civil

Action 70-725 on behalf of Local 762, in Civil Action 70-

727 on behalf of Local 762 and individual defendants

Monborne and Krawitz, and in Civil Action 70-728 on

behalf of defendant Trbovich. The defendants seek only

. thosé costs, expenses and attorney fees incurred in op-

possing plaintiffs’ requests for preliminary injunctions

in this Court on June 23, 24 and 25, 1970 and in appeal-

ing to the Circuit Court of Appeals from the Order of

this Court dated June 25, 1970, granting the preliminary

relief sought. !

1. By stipulation, the parties have agreed that

costs and expenses have been advanced by Mr. Engle in

Appendiz A.

The Court has conducted a hearing upon the Mo-

tions and considered the briefs and arguments of coun-

sel. It is concluded that the Motions should be denied.

The actions sought to invoke the Court’s jurisdic-

tion under § 301 of the Labor Management Relations

Act of 1947, as amended, 29 U.S.C. $185. Plaintiffs re-

quested preliminary injunctive relief compelling the

defendants to cease from engaging in a work stoppage

or picketing and to submit to the Settlement of Local

and District Disputes provision of the National Bitumi-

nous Coal Wage Agreement of 1968.

Consolidated evidentiary hearing were conducted, |

arguments heard and briefs submitted during all of

which time the aforementioned counsel represented the

defendants. The Court entered Orders granting the-plain-

tiffs’ prayers for preliminary injunctions against all of

the defendants named therein, and approved bonds in

the amount of one thousand dollars, each conditioned as

follows:

“NOW, the condition of this obligation is such,

that the plaintiff shall be liable to the defendants

for such costs and damages, not exceeding the sum

of $1,000.00, as defendants or any other person may

sustain by reason of the Preliminary Injunction, if

the Court finally decides that plaintiff is not en-

titled thereto.” .

Subsequent to the original decree, the Court en-

tered a modifying order so as to exclude from the terms

the amount of $730.94 and that reasonable attorney fees

for services rendered by Mr. Engle are $3,380.00; by Mr.

Owens, $1,120.00; by Mr. Joseph A. Yablonski, $3,580.00;

by Mrs. Feldman, $1,640.00, and by. Mr. Kenneth J. Ya-

blonski, $900.00.

23

Appendix A.

of the preliminary injunctions the cofendant Interna-

tional Union.

In granting the preliminary injunctions it was con-

cluded that the collective bargaining agreement pro-

vided a procedure, ultimately resulting in arbitration,

which the parties to the agreement contemplated would

be utilized to resolve a dispute of the nature in question.

Appeals from the Orders granting preliminary in-

junctions were perfected by all counsel for the defend-

ants and the Court of Appeals reversed and remanded.

In its Memorandum the Court stated:

“We therefore summarily reverse and remand these

cases to the district court without prejudice to a

request for a hearing de novo on the application for

a preliminary injunction. We emphasize that we

have not reached the issue of the merits of the re-

quest for a preliminary injunction.” (Emphasis

supplied. )

After remand, the plaintiffs requested a de novo

hearing upon the applications for preliminary injunc-

tions. The hearing was conducted and the parties stipu-

lated to an indefinite continuance of the hearing upon

conditions agreed to by the parties.

The question presented is whether the defendants

are entitled to costs, expenses and reasonable attorney

fees incurred in opposing the requests for preliminary

injunctions in this Court and in prosecuting their suc-

cessful appeals. |

The Order of the Court of Appeals prescribes that

each party is to bear its own costs. This determination

is dispositive of the question of costs on appeal and can-

24

Appendiz A.

_ not be reconsidered here. It is also proper to infer from

the aforementioned Order that each party is to bear his

or its own expenses and attorney fees incurred on ap-

peal. :

There remains for consideration defendant’s re-

quests for costs, expenses and attorney fees incurred by ;

the defendants in opposing the requests for prelimi-

nary injunctions in this Court. I conclude this request is

prematurely made. It is the generally followed federal

rule that there can be no recovery of damages caused by

a preliminary injunction even if set aside, unless final

judgment after trial is in favor of the party who has

been enjoined. Madison Shipping Corp. v. National Mari-

time Union, 204 F. Supp.-22, 23 (E. D. Pa. 1962) ; Meek-

er v. Stuart, 188 F. Supp. 272, 276 (D. D. C. 1960),

aff'd, 289 F. 902 (D. C. Cir. 1961), and cases cited

therein; 3 Barron & Holtzoff, Fed. Prac. & Proced.

§ 1435 (1958).

There has been no final determination of plaintiffs’

claims for injunctive relief. The Court of Appeals ex-

pressly reversed the trial court on procedural grounds

alone and did not reach or consider the merits of the

lower court’s decrees. Due to the agreement and stipu-

lation of counsel for the parties, the merits of plaintiff’s

requests have not been reached by this Court. In the

present posture of the case, the requests for both pre-

liminary and final injunctive relief remain pending be-

fore the Court. Absent any final determination upon the

merits of the requests for injunctive relief, defendants

are not entitled to recover. 2

This conclusion now made renders it unnecessary

for the Court to decide whether the terms of Section 7 of

ee |

25

Appendix A.

the Norris LaGuardia Act, 29 U.S. C. A. § 107, requir-

ing security for reasonable attorney’s fees and legal ex-

penses, must be read into a bond filed precedent to the

issuance of an injunction against concerted activity al-

leged to be in violation of a collective bargaining agree-

ment.

An appropriate Order is entered.

Order.

Now, this 30th day of September 1970, defendants’

Motions for costs, expenses and attorney fees are here-

by denied without prejudice to their right to re-submit

similar motions should the outcome of the proceedings

warrant the same.

/s/ WALLACE S. GOURLEY, SDJ,

Senior District Judge. |

Appendix B.

APPENDIX B

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

Nos. 19,454 through 19,458

UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION

v.

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA; DISTRICT

4, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA; DIS-

TRICT 5, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERI-

CA; UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

LOCAL NO. 6321; UNITED MINE WORKERS OF

AMERICA LOCAL NO. 1248

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

Appellant in 19,454

DISTRICT 4, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF

AMERICA

Appellant in 19,455

DISTRICT 5, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF

AMERICA

Appellant in 19,456

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

LOCAL NO. 6321

Appellant in 19,457

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

LOCAL NO. 1248

Appellant in 19,458

Appendiz B.

Nos. 19,459 through 19,465

JONES & LAUGHLIN STEEL CORPORATION

v.

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA; DISTRICT

4, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA; DIS-

TRICT 5, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERI-

CA; UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

LOCAL NO. 2399; UNITED MINE WORKERS OF

AMERICA LOCAL NO. 762; UNITED MINE

WORKERS OF AMERICA LOCAL NO. 6159:

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA LOCAL

NO. 6330 .

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

. Appellant in 19,459

DISTRICT 4, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF

AMERICA

Appellant in 19,460

DISTRICT 5, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF

AMERICA

Appellant in 19,461

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

LOCAL NO. 2399

Appellant in 19,462

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

LOCAL NO. 762

Appellant in 19,463

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

LOCAL NO. 6159

Appellant in 19,464

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

LOCAL NO. 6330

Appellant in 19,465

Appendiz B.

Nos. 19,466 through 19,476

BETHLEHEM MINES CORPORATION

v.

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA; DISTRICT

2, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA,

OWEN F. SLAGEL, President; UNITED MINE

WORKERS OF AMERICA LOCAL NO. 1386,

CHARLES KRAWETZ, President; UNITED MINE

WORKERS OF AMERICA LOCAL NO. 850, ED-

WARD F. MONBORNE, President; UNITED

MINE. WORKERS OF AMERICA LOCAL NO.

1368, THOMAS WATSON, President; UNITED

MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA LOCAL NO.

6394, JOSEPH T. MUCKO, JR. President;

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA LOCAL

NO. 6411, ROBERT C. BROWN, President; DIS-

TRICT 5, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERI-

CA, MICHAEL BUDZANOSKI, President;

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA LOCAL

NO. 1190, CHARLES WASHLACK, President;

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA LOCAL

NO. 2874, STANLEY C. WERSTLER, President;

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA LOCAL

NO. 1197, JOHN A. DZIAK, President

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

Appellant in 19,466

DISTRICT 2, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF

AMERICA. OWEN F. SLAGEL, President,

Appellant in 19 467

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

LOCAL NO. 1386, CHARLES KRAWETZ.

President. Appellant in 19,468

TTT

Appendiz B.

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

LOCAL NO. 850, EDWARD F. MONBORNE,

President,

Appellant in 19,469

- UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

LOCAL NO. 1368, THOMAS WATSON,

President,

Appellant in 19,470

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

‘ LOCAL NO. 6394, JOSEPH T. MUCKO, JR.

President,

Appellant in 19,471

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

LOCAL NO. 6411, ROBERT C. BROWN,

President,

Appellant in 19,472

DISTRICT 5, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF

AMERICA, MICHAEL BUDZANOSKI,

President,

Appellant in 19,473

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

LOCAL NO. 1190, CHARLES WASHLACK,

President,

Appellant in 19,474

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

LOCAL NO. 2874, STANLEY C. WERST-

LER, President,

Appellant in 19,475

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

LOCAL NO. 1197, JOHN A. DZIAK,

President,

Appellant in 19,476

30

Appendix B.

Nos. 19,477 through 19,481

REPUBLIC STEEL CORPORATION

v.

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA; DISTRICT

4, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA; DIS-

TRICT 5, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERI-

CA; UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

LOCAL NO. 9873; UNITED MINE WORKERS OF

AMERICA LOCAL NO. 688

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

Appellant in 19,477

DISTRICT 4, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF

AMERICA

| Appellant in 19,478

DISTRICT 5, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF

AMERICA

Appellant in 19,479

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

LOCAL NO. 9873

Appellant in 19,480

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA

LOCAL NO. 688

Appellant in 19,481

APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES District COURT

FoR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Argued December 1, 1971

Before Seitz, Chief Judge, KALODNER and GIBBONS,

Circuit Judges

Appendiz B.

Opinion of the Court |

(Filed February 3, 1972)

GIBBONS, Circuit Judge.

Appellants, labor unions and individual union mem-

bers, appeal from the order of the district court denying

their motion for costs, expenses, and attorney's fees.

United States Steel Corp. v. United Mine Workers of

America, 317 F. Supp. 1070 (W.D. Pa. 1970). The dispute

had its genesis in actions filed by the appellees, United

States Steel Corporation, Jones & Laughlin Steel Corpo-

ration, Bethlehem Mines Corporation and Republic Steel

Corporation seeking injunctions against work stoppages

which they alleged were in violation of union contracts

containing “Settlement of Local and District Disputes”

grievance-arbitration procedures. The steel companies

contended that by virtue of £301 of the Labor-Manage-

ment Relations Act of 1947, 29 U.S.C. £185 (1971), the

work stoppages should be enjoined pending resolution

of the underlying disputes through the contract griev-

ance arbitration procedures. After a two-day hearing

the district court entered an order in each case granting

a preliminary injunction. Each order contained the lan-

guage:

“Bond in the amount of $1,000.00 has been ap-

proved and filed with the Court by plaintiff.”

A separate bond, identical in form, was filed by each

plaintiff. The condition of the bond was in each case as

follows:

“WHEREAS, plaintiff has applied for a Prelimi-

nary Injunction against defendants, enjoining and

restraining them from the commission of certain

acts, as more particularly described in the Com-

Appendiz B.

plaint; NOW, the condition of this obligation is

such, that the plaintiff shall be liable to the de-

fendants for such costs and damages, not exceed-

ing the sum of $1,000.00, as defendants or any

other person may sustain by reason of the Prelimi-

nary Injunction, if the Court finally decides that

plaintiff is not entitled thereto.”

Neither the orders granting preliminary injunction nor

the bond in any case made reference to the authority

under which the court required that the bond be posted.

The record discloses no opportunity for the defendants

to examine the bond prior to its approval and filing.

The applications for preliminary injunctions were

strenuously opposed by the defendants who contended

that the work stoppage did not fall within the coverage

of the contract grievance-arbitration provisions. When

the orders were entered defendants promptly appealed.

On their motion we summarily reversed. Bethlehem

Mine Corporation v. United Mine Workers of America,

No. 19,040 (3rd Cir., filed July 2, 1970). That reversal

was on the ground that the district court because of an

erroneous view of the applicable law had effectively de-

nied the parties the opportunity to develop their respec-

tive positions in the abbreviated hearing which it con-

ducted. The preliminary injunction was, therefore, im-

providently granted. We remanded “without prejudice to

a request for a hearing de novo on the application for a

preliminary injunction.” The order on remand specified,

“Each side to bear its own costs.”

After remand the plaintiffs renewed their request

for a preliminary injunction and the district court set

the matter down for a de novo hearing commencing July

~ eae

33

Appendix B.

9, 1970. Instead of proceeding with the hearing, how-

ever, the parties with the approval of the district court

entered into a stipulation providing:

“At the hearing, counsel for the respective defend-

ants have represented to the Court that, to their

knowledge, no picketing, work stoppage or strike

exists at present and none is known to be antici-

pated in the immediate future. Also, counsel for the

respective parties have agreed to an indefinite con-

tinuance of the hearing upon the oral stipulation

that plaintiff, in good faith, will utilize its best ef-

forts to comply with the Federal Coal Mine Health

and Safety Act of 1969 and that-counsel for the re-

spective defendants, based upon the conditions in

the mines as they are known to exist at present, will

counsel the officers and membership of defendant-

unions to refrain from any work stoppage or picket-

ing at plaintiffs’ mines.

NOW, THEREFORE, this 10th day of July, 1970,

in accordance with the represenations and stipula-

tions of counsel, it is hereby Ordered that the hear-

ing upon plaintiffs’ application for preliminary in-

junction be continued until further notice by the

Court.”

The effect of this stipulation, although it purported to

continue the hearing on plaintiffs’ application for a pre-

liminary injunction, was to end the lawsut for all prac-

tical purposes. By then the work stoppages complained

of had ceased.

On August 14, 1970 the defendants moved for the

award of reasonable costs, expenses and atttorneys’

fees. This claim was based upon $7 of the Norris-La-

Guardia Act, 29 U.S.C. $107 (1971) which in relevant

part provides:

34

Appendix B.

“No temporary restraining order or temporary in-

junction shall be issued except on condition that

complainant shall first file an undertaking with

adequate security in an amount to be fixed by the

court sufficient to recompense those enjoined for

any loss, expense, or damage caused by the im-

provident or erroneous issuance of such order or

injunction, including all reasonable costs (together

with a reasonable attorney’s fee) and expense of

defense against the order or against the granting

of any injunctive relief sought in the same pro-

ceeding and subsequently denied by the court.

The undertaking mentioned in this section shall be

understood to signify an agreement entered into by

the complainant and the surety upon which a de-

cree may be rendered in the same suit or proceeding

against said complainant and surety, upon a hear-

ing to assess damages of which hearing complain-

ant and surety shall have reasonable notice, the

said complainant and surety submitting themselves

to the jurisdiction of the court for that purpose. But

nothing in this section contained shall deprive any

party having a claim or cause of action under or

upon such undertaking from electing to pursue his

ordinary remedy by suit at law or in equity.”

At the hearing on this motion the parties stipulated the

amount of expenses incurred and the reasonable value

of legal services rendered in opposing the preliminary

injunctions and in procuring their reversal by this

court.! The stipulated fees and expenses exceed $11,350.

1. The parties have agreed that Mr. Engle ad-

variced expenses of $730.94 and that a reasonable at-

35

Appendix B.

00. The four bonds total $4,000.00. The district court de-

nied the motion in its entirety “without prejudice to [de-

fendants’] right to re-submit similar motions should

the outcome of the proceedings warrant the same.” This

appeal followed.

The appellees moved before this court to dismiss

the appeal on the ground that it was interlocutory. An-

other panel denied that motion without opinion, ap-

parently on the ground that the order appealed from, al-

though in form interlocutory, was in practical effect

final on the issue here presented since no further pro-

ceedings would take place in the district court and was

therefore appealable under the “collateral order” doc-

trine. See Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp., 337

U.S. 541 (1949); Green v. Singer Co., No. 71-1835 (3rd

Cir., filed Nov. 2, 1971). Thus we must treat the appeal

as a final decision denying defendants’ motion for costs,

expenses and attorneys’ fees.

Since the reasonableness of the requested amounts

has been stipulated the only question before us is whe-

ther on legal grounds the district court properly refused

to make an award. Appellees advance several legal con-

tentions in support of that conclusion.

First, appellees contend that because they brought

suit under $301 of the Labor-Management Relations Act

the procedural provisions of ‘7 of the Norris-LaGuardia

Act are inapplicable. They urge that there is no warrant

in law outside $7 for the award of coursel fees incurred

in setting aside an injunction improvidently issued. As

torney’s fee for his services is $3,380.00; for Mr. Owens,

$1,120.00; for Mr. Joseph Yablonski, $3,580.00; for Mrs.

toe $1,640.00; and for Mr. Kenneth J. Yablonski,

900.00.

36 :

Appendix B.

— for the gene that $7 is e ap-

ee

398 US. 235 (1970).

Appellees read far too much into the Boys Markets

opinion. In expressly overruling its earlier decision in

Sinclair Refining Co. v. Atkinson, 370 U.S. 195 (1962),

and in approving the analysis of the Sinclair dissent,

the Supreme Court worked out a careful and narrow ac-

commodation between the earlier Norris-LaGuardia

Act and the later Labor-Management Relations Act. It

held only that the express prohibitions against certain

specific injunctions contained in $4 of Norris-LaGuardia,

29 U.S.C. £104, were deemed not to bar injunctions

necessary to accomplish the purposes of the Labor-Man-

agement Relations Act through contract arbitration.

The Court very carefully in Part V of the opinion, 398

U.S. at 253-55, made clear that it was dealing only with

the prohibition of $4 of Norris-LaGuardia, and then only

in cases where the court first holds that a strike is over

a grievance which both parties are contractually bound

to arbitrate. The opinion says nothing about the proce-

dural steps which must be taken in making that de-

termination or about the safeguards which must sur-

round the issuance of a preliminary injunction.

The thrust of $4 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act is

quite different from that of §7. The former is a list of

injunctive orders which the federal district courts are

flatly prohibited from entering. The latter is essentially

a procedural section. It prohibits the entry of an injunc-

tion growing out of a labor dispute

“except after hearing the testimony of witnesses

in open court (with opportunity for cross-examina-

tion) in support of the allegations of a complaint

37

Appendix B.

made under oath, and testimony in opposition

Tnereto, 1i offered .. .

~ Such hearing shall be held after due and personal

notice .. .” 29 U.S.C. § 107.

Certainly the requirements of a verified complaint, no-

tice and a hearing in opén court in no way conflict with

the policies of the Labor-Management Relations Act. In-

deed Feb. R. Civ. P. 65(a) requires as much in any event,

Sims v. Greene, 161 F.2d 87 (3rd Cir. 1947), though that

was not so when Norris-LaGuardia was passed since the

federal rules had not yet been enacted. It was the failure

to afford a hearing comporting either with $7 or with

Rule 65(a) which led to the summary reversal of the

preliminary injunction when this case was first before

- we

It may be argued that some of the specific findings

of fact required by §72 are inappropriate for a §301

2. “... and except after findings of fact by the

court, to the effect—

(a) That unlawful acts have been threatened

and will be committed unless restrained or have

been committed and will be continued’ unless re-

Strained, but no injunction or temporary restrain-

ing order shall be issued on account of any threat

or unlawful act excepting against the person or per-

sons, association, or organization making the threat

or committing the unlawful act or actually author-

izing or ratifying the same after actual knowledge

thereof;

(b) That substantial and irreparable injury

to complainant’s property will follow:

(c) That as to each item of relief granted

greater injury will be inflicted upon complainant by

Sinclair dissent.* The finding “(t)hat the public officers

fendants by the granting of relief;

(d) That complainant has no adequate reme-

dy at law; and

i ie) That the public officers charged with the

ty to com t's property are unable

sa Centilne to denis chemise decal

29 U.S.C. £107.

3. PO ym yng we Bh yh 4

have that effect; and the should be

ordered to arbitrate, as a of his ob-

an

,

of equity — whether breaches . Se

and will continue, cr have been threatened

will be committed; whether they have caused

or will cause irreparable to the em-

ployer; and whether the will suffer

more from the denial of an than will

the union from its issuance.’ 370 U.S., at 228.

|

|

39

Appendiz B.

are unable or unwilling to furnish adequate protection,”

‘7(e), 29 US.C. £107(e), probably would not be appro-

priate in a $301 case. But this does not mean that the

entire section is inapplicable. It means only that as

with $4 of Norris-LaGuardia £7 must be accommodated

to the policy underlying £301.

For such an accommodation it is unnecessary to

hold inapplicable to £301 cases those parts of {7 dealing

with undertakings for loss, expense, or damage caused

by the improvident or erroneous issuance of an injunc-

tion. It might be argued that by holding those parts of

$7 applicable to £301 suits in the federal courts, we will

impose a chilling effect on the resort by employers to

the courts for enforcement of contract grievance-arbi-

tration clauses. We hardly think so. Ir most cases the

contract will be so clear ome way or the other and the

likelihood of damage to the union from a preliminary

injunction requiring resort to contract arbitration so

slight that the imposition of a {7 undertaking for loss,

expense or damage caused by improvident or erroncous

issuance will impose no significant burdén. Fen. R. Crv.

P. 65(c) imposes an injunction bond requirement in any

case and the only difference between a Rule 65(c) bond

and one issued pursuant to {7 that the appellees have

called to our attention is that the latter includes as an

element of damage a reasonable attorneys’ fee. That at-

torneys’ fee would be paid only if the preliminary in-

junction is found to have been improvidently or er-

roneously issued, that is, where the Court did not hold

& proper hearing or failed to make the factual determi-

nations mandated by Part V of the Boys Markets opin-

ion or where the court erroneously issued a preliminary

injunction over a labor dispute not covered by the con-

40

Appendiz B.

tract grievance-arbitration provision. In any of these

circumstances no necessary accommodation between the

policies of Norris-LaGuardia and of the Labor-Man-

agement Relations Act requires that the union be de-

prived of the award of counsel fees under §7.

Appellees also suggest that if we recognize a lia-

bility for attorneys’ fees in the circumstances of this

case we will be creating a conflict between labor law in

the state courts and labor law in the federal courts

which the Supreme Court in Boys Markets sought to

avoid. This is not so in cases in which a preliminary in-

junction should properly have issued under {301 since

attorneys’ fees in those cases will not be awarded. As

to cases where a preliminary injunction should not have

issued, the recognition in Boys Markets that the Norris-

LaGuardia Act is still in force may in many states‘

result in different law being applied depending on the

state or federal forum. But that is what Congress in-

tended when Norris-LaGuardia was passed and, as the

Supreme Court makes clear in Boys Markets, {301 of

4. Though not in all states, New Jersey and Penn-

for example, in their counterparts of the Nor-

Ann ££206(f), 206(i), 206 (3).

41

Appendiz B.

Next appellees contend that even assuming the ap-

plicability of $7 there may be no recovery here because

the bond which was given was improper in form and in

the absence of a proper bond the defendants have suf-

fered damnum absque injuria. There is authority for

appellees’ position. International Ladies’ Garment

Workers’ Union v. Donnelly Garment Co., 147 F.2d 246

(8th Cir. 1945), cert denied, 325 U.S. 852 (1945).

Analysis of appellees’ position requires a subdivi-

sion into several questions.

1. Does the bond which was filed, properly con-

Strued, exclude liability for attorneys’ fees?

2. If the bond, properly construed, does not ex-

clude liability for attorneys’ fees, is the lia-

bility of the principal, as distinguished from

the surety, limited to the amount of the bond?

3. If the bond, properly construed, is simply in-

applicable to liability under §7, does that sec-

tion impose liability on the plaintiffs by its

own operation in the absence of a bond?

The Donnelly case, which is the only authority more or

less directly in point, answers each of these questions

in appellees’ favor. Donnelly possibly may be distin-

guished on the basis of the Eighth Circuit's finding that

“. .. it is beyond question that the bonds in this case

were not required by the court nor given by the plain-

tiffs pursuant to the provisions of the Norris-LaGuardia

Act.” 147 F.2d at 253. Here there is nothing in the rec-

ord specifying on what authority the bonds were re-

quired and the district court did not reach that question.

Appellees contend that the language of the undertaking

“shall be liable to the defendants for such costs and

P

42

Appendiz B.

damages” of necessity excludes liability for attorneys’

fees. Besides the Donnelly case they cite for this propo-

sition Madison Shipping Corp.’v. National Maritime

Union, 204 F. Supp. 22 (E.D.Pa. 1962) and Duke Power

Co. v. Greenwood County, 25 F. Supp. 419 (W-.D.S.C.

1938)5 The authority relied upon in Madison Shipping

is the Donnelly case. Duke Power relies upon the same

federal authorities as does Donnelly. None of those au-

thorities stands for the proposition that the word “dam-

ages” in a bond cannot include attorneys’ fees. Rather,

they stand for the proposition that as a matter of fed-

eral common law attorneys’ fees are not a recoverable

element of damages.

The case relied upon by the Donnelly and Madison

courts and most often cited for the proposition that an

injunction bond for costs and damages will not support a

recovery of attorneys’ fees is Heiser v. Woodruff, 128

F.2d 178 (10th Cir. 1942). Heiser relied upon Tullock v.

Mulvane, 184 U.S. 497 (1902), and Oelrichs v. Spain, 82

US. 211 (1872). These cases make it clear that the is-

sue is not the meaning of the word “damages” in the

bond but whether as a matter of federal law attorneys’

fees are ever recoverable as an element of damages. Tul-

lock v. Mulvane, which involved a suit for specific per-

formance, recognizes that if Kansas law were to be ap-

plied the bond would have sustained the award of at-

5. Appellees also cite Powelton Civic Home Own-

ers Ass’n. v. H.E.W., 284 F. Supp. 809 (E.D.Pa. 1968) ;

Monolith Portland Midwest Co. v. Reconstruction Fi-

nance Corp, 128 F. Supp. 824, 878 (S.D.Cal. 1955). These

cases are not in point on the interpretation of the bond,

even though they do support the proposition that attor-

neys’ fees are not ordinarily an element of damages in

the federal courts

43

Appendiz B.

torneys’ fees. Accepting Tullock v. Mulvane and Oelrichs

v. Spain as correct statements of the federal common

law with respect to the recovery of attorneys’ fees as an

element of damages whether or not a bond has been

given, it is obvious that the federal common law was

changed for labor disputes when Congress enacted $7

of the Norris-LaGuardia Act. Thus the fact that the

bond did not track the language of ‘7 exactly should

not be dispositive. Whatever the law is in other cases,

in a labor dispute attorneys’ fees incurred in defending

against an application for an injunction which should

not have been granted are a recoverable element of dam-

ages. If in a labor dispute the plaintiff seeking a pre-

liminary injunction tenders and the court approves a

bond for “costs and damages” that undertaking should

be construed to include all the elements of damage which

are recoverable under ‘7. Since International Ladies’

Garment Workers’ Union v. Donnelly Garment Co., su-

pra, and Madison Shipping Corp. v. National Maritime

Union, supra, are based upon a misinterpretation in

Heiser of the holdings of Tullock v. Mulvane and Oel-

rich v. Spain, we decline to follow these authorities in-

sofar as they hold that the injunction bond for costs

and damages may not be so construed.

This brings us to the question whether recovery

should be limited to the amount of the bond. Here, again,

appellees take comfort in the Donnelly case, which says:

“The weight of authority in the Federal courts is

that a recovery in excess of the maximum amount

stipulated in a judicial bond is not permissible.

United Motor Service, Inc. v. Tropic Aire, Inc., 8

Cir. 57 F.2d 479, 482, reviewing the prior decisions

of this court and other Federal courts. And see

—-s

Appendiz B.

Russel v. Farley, 105 U.S. 433, 437, 26 L.Ed. 1060;

Meyers v. Block, 120 U.S. 206, 211, 7 S.Ct. 525, 30

L.Ed. 642; Lawrence v. St. Louis-San Francisco

R.Co., 278 U.S. 228, 233, 147 F.2d at 253.

We can_put to one side the surety’s liability, for entirely

different legal principles operate to limit its liability

to the amount of its undertaking. Restatement of Se-

curity £195 (1941). The obligation of the principal, the

plaintiff seeking injunctive relief, raises a different is-

sue, and again the Eighth Circuit both in Donnelly and

in United Motors Service v. Tropic-Aire, 57 F.2d 479

(1932), misapprehended the holdings of the Supreme

Court cases on which it relied.

It was once very much in doubt whether an equity

court could ever award damages. That doubt remained

in England until the passage of the Chancery Amend-

ment Act in 1858, commonly called Lord Cairn’s Act, St.

21 & 22 Vict. c. 27, granting to the court of chancery

jurisdiction to award damages in order to give com-

plete relief in a case otherwise properly within its jur-

isdiction. See 1 J. Pomeroy, Equity Jurisprudence

£237(e) (5th ed. 1941). The same doubt about the power

of an English equity court to award damages existed

in the United States. In Bein v. Heath, 53 US. (12

Howard) 168, 178-79 (1851), Chief Justice Taney wrote:

“A court proceeding, according to the rules of

equity, cannot give a judgment against the obligors

in an injunction bond when it dissolves the injunc-

tion. It merely orders the dissolution, leaving the

obligee to proceed at law against the sureties, if he

sustains damage from the delay occasioned by the

injunction.”

45

Appendix B.

Russell v. Farley, 105 U.S. (15 Otto) 433, 445 (1881),

referring to Bein v. Heath, supra, rejected Chief Justice

Taney’s dictum, Saying:

“Other cases are referred to by counsel of the appel-

lants to sustain their position, but upon a careful

examination we are not Satisfied that they furnish

any good authority for disaffirming the power of

the court having possession of the case, in the ab-

Sence of any statute to the contrary, to have the

damages assessed under its own direction. This is

the ordinary course in the Court of Chancery in

England, by whose practice the courts of the United

States are governed, and seems to be in accordance

with sound principle.”

The holding of Russell v. Farley, then, is that a court of

equity can, in order to give complete relief, enter judg-

ment on an injunction bond. The case also contains a

dictum which has been fairly frequently cited for the

proposition that the bond is the only source of the de-

fendant’s liability.

“Where no bond or undertaking has been required,

‘it is clear that the court has no power to award

damages sustained by either party in consequence

of the litigation, except by making such a decree in

reference to the costs of suit as it may deem equit-

able and just.” 105 U.S. (15 Otto) at 437.

In United Motors Service v. Tropic-Aire, 57 F.2d at 482,

the Eighth Circuit treated this dictum as a statement

that in the absence of a bond mo court could award

damages for wrongfully obtaining an injunction. But in

the context of Russel v. Farley it seems clear that no

more was intended than to suggest that such an award

was not within the jurisdiction of a court of equity.

ae a

46

Appendiz B.

Both in Donnelly and in United Motors Service ref-

erence is made to Minneapolis, St. P. & 8. Ste. M. Ry. v..

Washburn Lignite Coal Co., 254 U.S. 370 (1920). United

Motors Service, 57 F.2d at 483, refers to Minneapolis, St.

P. & 8. Ste. M. Ry. v. Washburn Lignite Coal Co. as hold-

ing that in the absence of a bond damage arising from

an injunction is damnum absque injuria. Actually the

case holds no such thing. It dismisses a writ of error

from the Supreme Court of North Dakota because of an

adequate state ground of decision. The reference to the

injunction bond is to the state court’s application, or

more properly misapplication, of the dictum in Russell v.

Farley, supra. ue

Both Donnelly and United Motors Service cite Law-

rence v. St. Louis-S. Fran. Ry., 278 U.S. 228 (1929). The

holding in Lawrence is that the court need not enter-

tain an action to recover on the bond prior to the hear-

ing on a permanent injunction. There is a one sentence

dictum, citing Russell v. Farley, supra, and Minneapolis,

St. P. & 8S. Ste. M. Ry. v. Washburn Lignite Coal Co.,

supra, “If it had not, when entering the interlocutory de-

cree, required that the bond be given, no damages could

have been recovered on the dissolution of the injunction.”

278 U.S. at 233. No signicance can be attached to this dic-

tum since it, like the reference in the Minneapolis Ry.

case, refers to a proceeding in a state court and herice,

in all likelihood, to a matter of state court equity prac-

tice similar to the question of federal court equity prac-

tice involved in Russell v. Farley, supra.

No Supreme Court authority which has been called

to our attention holds that the liability of a plaintiff

who has been improperly granted an injunction is lim-

ited to the amount of the bond he has furnished, and we

io.

TTS

47

Appendiz B.

find the authority of International Ladies’ Garment

Workers’ Union v. Donnelly Garment Co., supra, on this

e.g., Benz v. Compania Naviera Hidalgo 8.A., 205 F.2d

944, 948 (9th Cir. 1953) ; 42 Am. Jur. 2d Injunctions $359

(1969) ; 43 C.J.S. Injunctions £281 (1945). This rule is

an aspect of the more general rule that no action lies

tion, 423 F.2d 188, 195 (2nd Cir. 1969) ; Soffos v. Eaton,

‘152 F.2d 682 (D.C. Cir. 1945) ; Melvin v. Pence, 130 F.2d

423 (D.C. Cir. 1942) ; American Optometric Association

v. Ritholz 101 F.2d 883 (7th Cir. 1939); Peckham

v. Union Finance Co., 48 F.2a 1016 (D.C. Cir. 1931) :

Mayflower Industries v. Thor Corp., 15 N.J. Super. 139,

192, 83 A.2d 246, 252 (Ch. Div. 1951): F. Harper & F.

James, The Law of Torts $4.8 at 326 (1956). Probably

the possibility of a recovery against a plaintiff who had

proceeded without probable cause was the reason why

Congress added the last sentence of $7 of the Norris-

LaGuardia Act, 29 U.S.C. $107:

“But nothing in this section contained shall deprive

any party having a claim or cause of action under

or upon such undertaking from electing to pursue

his ordinary remedy by suit at law or in equity.”

48

Appendiz B.

Thus the civil action for proceeding maliciously without

probable cause still exists in labor dispute cases.

The question, then, is how far Congress intended

to go beyond the remedy which existed at common law.

Section 7 does say that an amount shall “be fixed by the

court,” but in the context this language seems to modify

the words “adequate security” rather than the word

“undertaking.” Read thus, the amount to be fixed by

the ¢ourt refers to the limit of liability of a surety or

the amount of collateral security required in the ab-

sende of a surety. The plaintiff's required undertaking

‘would then read “sufficient to recompense those en-

' joined for any loss, expense, or damage .. . including all

reasonable costs (together with a reasonable attorney's

fee) and expenses of defense against the order. . .”.

Such a reading would permit recovery against the plain-

tiff in excess of the amount fixed in the bond. The

language “‘{n]o temporary injunction shall be issued ex-

cept on condition” seems to make the undertaking to

recompense for damage an implied condition of every ~

labor dispute injunction. Such a reading would permit

recovery even in the absence of a bond. One district

court considering that issue, wrote: —

“While the statute provides for a bond, and, while

it is manifestly true that the bond did not comply

with the provisions of the statute, it might be that

the labor unions, or, parties, would be entitled to

their expenses, and attorney’s fees, in accordance

with this statute, even though no bond were given,

but the statute does not so say. A liberal construc-

tion though should be allowed to. accomplish its

purpose. It could hardly mean that expenses were

to be ‘allowed, only, if the bond were given.” Hous-

49

Appendix B.

ton & North Texas M. F. Lines v. Local 745, Team-

sters, 27 F. Supp. 262 (N.D.Tex. 1939).

The quote is a dictum only, and a similar dictum,

citing the Houston & North Texas M. F. Lines case ap-

pears in Jamaica Lodge 2188, Railway Clerks v. Rail- ’

way Express Agency, Inc., 200 F.Supp. 253, 254 (E.D.

N.Y. 1961). In Elgin J. &€ E. Ry. Co. v. Brotherhood of

Railroad Trainmen, 302 F.2d 540, 545 (7th Cir. 1962) the

court affirmed the award of expenses and attorneys’

fees. Neither the Seventh Circuit opinion nor that of

the district court, 196 F.Supp. 158 (N.D.Ill. 1961) dis-

close whether a bond was filed or if so in what amount.

The district court reserved decision for the purpose of

fixing the amount of the award until after the mandate

on any appeal should issue. Thus the Elgin case may be

interpreted as recognizing that the plaintiff's liability

under $7 is open ended.

Several considerations lead us to the conclusion

that the liability of the plaintiff for loss, expense or

damage under $7 was not intended by Congress to be

restricted solely to the amount of whatever bond the

court may have required. These are:

(1) the language of the statute to which we have

referred above;

(2) the fact that the statute changed the substan-

tive law with respect to the recoverability of

attorneys’ fees;

(3) the fact that the statute recognizes a liability

for resort to the civil process in cases where an

action for malicious prosecution would not lie;

and

(4). the remedial purpose intended by Congress.

Appendiz B.

The fourth consideration is particularly compeiling. The

enactment of the Norris-LaGuardia Act reflected a

judgment that at least in the period prior to 1932 the

judges of federal district courts were entirely too willing

to accede to requests by employers for injunctions

against labor unions. See Boys Markets, Inc. v. Local

770, Clerks Union, 398 U.S. at 250-51; F. Frankfurter

& N. Greene, The Labor Injunction (1930). It is hardly

logical to read $7 so that the extent of the new liability

for loss, expense, or damage which it created would de-

pend entirely on the unbridled discretion of these same

district court judges against whom the whole statute

was directed. Yet that is the very result of the Donnelly

decision. The atmosphere of the federal courts in labor

cases may well have changed since 1932, but cages

has not seen fit to amend §7.

We hold, then, that in any case involving a labor

dispute the liability of the plaintiff, though not of any

surety, for loss expense or damage, including attorneys’

fees, under $7 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act shall be

fixed by the court without regard to any limitation in

an injunction bond. Since in each of the instant cases a

bond ‘was filed we are not required to decide what the re-

sult should be in case where no undertaking was filed.

The amount of expenses and of reasonable attor-

neys’ fees have been stipulated. The record does not

disclose whether the stipulated &mounts of expenses in-

cluded statutory costs on appeal in the prior appeal. In

that appeal we held that each party should bear its

own statutory costs. These amounts should not be in-

cluded in the judgment.

The order of the district court will be reversed and

the cases remanded to the district court for the entry

Pe ett teed ee ee ee ee

51

Appendix B.

of a judgment awarding the stipulated attorneys’ fees

and the stipulated expenses except for statutory costs -

on the prior appeal.

KALODNER, Circuit Judge, concurring in part and dis-

senting in part:

I agree with the reversal of the District Court’s

Order.

I disagree, however, with the majority’s direction

to the District Court to enter a judgment in the instant

proceedings, awarding the stipulated attorneys’ fees

and expenses, except for statutory costs on the prior

appeal.

In my opinion, since the defendants below have

elected to seek recovery of their reasonable attorneys’

fees and expenses in the same proceedings in which the ©

preliminary injunctions were improvidently issued they

are for that reason limited in their recovery to the

amounts specified in the injunction bonds posted in

these proceedings, under Section 7(e) of the Norris-

LaGuardia Act. 29 U.S.C.A. § 107 (e).

Section 7(e) provides in relevant part:

. No temporary restraining order or temporary

injunction shall be issued except on condition that

complainant shall first file an undertaking with ade-

- quate security in an amount to be fixed by the court

sufficient to recompense those enjoined for any

loss, expense, or damage caused by the improvident

or erroneous issuance of such order or injunction,

including all reasonable costs (together with a rea-

sonable attorney’s fee) and expense of defense

against the order or against the granting of any in-

52

Appendix B.

junctive relief sought in the same proceeding and

subsequently denied by the court.

“The .undertaking mentioned in this eostien

shall be understood to signify an agreement entered

into by the complainant and the surety upon which

a decree may be rendered in the same suit or pro-

ceeding against said complainant and surety, upon

a hearing to assess damages of which hearing com-

plainant and surety shall have reasonable notice,

the said complainant and surety submitting them-

selves to the jurisdiction of the court for that pur-

pose. But nothing in this section contained shall de-

prive any party having a claim or cause of action

under or upon such undertaking from electing to

pursue his ordinary remedy by suit at law or in

equity. Mar. 23, 1932, c. 90, $7, 47 Stat. 71.” (em-

phasis supplied ).

The cited provisions plainly spell out two separate

and independent procedures for recovery of reasonable

attorneys’ fees and expenses incurred by a party against

whom a temporary injunction has been improvidently

granted; he may elect to have recourse against the in-

junction bond in the same proceeding in which it was

posted, or he may independently elect “to pursue his

ordinary remedy by suit at law or in equity” for his re-

covery. It is a reasonable assumption that Congress,

cognizant of the well-settled general rule that the lia-

bility:on an injunction bond is limited by its face

amount, legislated the provision affording a right of in-

dependent suit for recovery of permissible attorneys’

fees and expenses in order to insure full reimbursement

of such fees and expenses.!

1. The majority speculates that “[p]robably the

MS ear Lae ae os . —_—

Sa LE LOPE EUAN ii

53

There is no warrant for such a construction, and it

can only be described as impermissible judicial legisla-

tion. The majority has failed to cite any case which even °

I would reverse the District Court’s Order with di-

. bonds posted by the plaintiffs, in the event that the

defendants do not choose to exercise their right to with-

draw their pending Motion for allowance of the stipu-

lated attorneys’ fees and expenses.’

A True Copy:

Teste:

Clerk of the United States Court of Appeals

for the Third Circuit.

proceeded without probable Cause was the reason why

Congress added the last sentence of §7 of the Norris-

LaGuardia Act, 29 U.S.C. $107.”

The ready answer to such speculation is that 87(e)

provides that recovery of reasonable attorneys’ fees and

expenses arises, without more, when there has been an

“improvident or erroneous” issuance of a temporary re-

straining order, and accordingly, lack of “probable

cause” is an irrelevant consideration.

Appendiz C.

APPENDIX C

ON APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES

DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT

OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Present: SEITZ, Chief Judge and KALODNER and GIBBONS,

Circuit Judges

Judgment

These causes came on to be heard on the records |

from the United States District Court for the Western

District of Pennsylvania and were argued by counsel.

On consideration whereof, it is now here ordered

and adjudged by this Court that the order of the said

District Court, filed September 30, 1970, be, and the

.Same is hereby reversed, and the causes remanded to the

said District Court for the entry of judgment awarding

. the stipulated attorneys’ fees and the stipulated ex-

penses except for statutory costs on the prior appeal, in

accordance with the opinion of this Court. Costs taxed

against appellees.

ATTEST:

THOMAS P. QuINN

Clerk

_ February 3, 1972

Appendix D.

APPENDIX D

Statutes Involved

Section 7 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act (47 Stat. 71, 29

U.S.C. §107) reads as follows:

No court of the United States shall have jurisdic-

tion to issue a temporary or permanent injunction in

any case involving or growing out of a labor dispute, as

defined in this chapter, except after hearing the testi-

mony of witnesses in open court (with opportunity for

cross-examination) in support of the allegations of a

complaint made under oath, and testimony in opposition

thereto, if offered, and except after findings of fact by

the court, to the effect— ; 7 4,2

(a) That unlawful acts have been threatened and

will be committed unless restrained or have been com-

mitted and will be continued unless restrained, but no

injunction or temporary restraining order shall be is-

sued on account of any threat or unlawful act excepting

against the person or persons, association, or organiza-

tion making the threat or committing the unlawful act

or actually authorizing or ratifying the same after ac-

tual knowledge thereof; :

(b) That substantial and irreparable injury to

complainant’s property will follow;

(c) That as to each item of relief granted greater

injury will be inflicted upon complainant by the denial

of relief than will be inflicted upon defendants by the

granting of relief; a

(d) That complainant has no adequate remedy at

law; and

06 :

Appendix D.

(e) That the public officers charged with the duty

to protect complainant’s property are unable or unwill-

ing to furnish adequate protection.

' - Such hearing shall be held after due and personal

notice thereof has been given, in such manner as the

court shall direct, to all known persons against whom

relief is sought, and also to the chief of those public of-

ficials of the county and city within which the unlawful

, acts have been threatened or committed charged with

the duty to protect complainant’s property: Provided,

however, That if a complainant shall also allege that,

unless a temporary restraining order shall be issued

without notice, a substantial and irreparable injury to

complainant’s property will be unavoidable, such ‘a tem-

porary restraining order may be issued upon testimony

under oath, sufficient, if sustained, to justify the court

in issuing a temporary injunction upon a hearing after ~ .

notice. Such a temporary restraining order shall be ef-

fective for no longer than five days and shall become

void at the expiration of said five days. No temporary re-

straining order or temporary injunction shall be issued

except on condition that complainant shall first file an

undertaking with adequate security in an amount to be

fixed by the court sufficient to recompense those en-

joined for any loss, expense, or damage caused by the

improvident or erroneous issuance of such order or in-

junction, including all reasonabletosts (together with a

reasonable attorney’s fee) and expense of defense

‘against the order or against the granting of any in-

junctive relief sought in the same proceeding and sub-

sequently denied by the court.

The undertaking mentioned in this Section shall be

understood to signify an agreement entered into by the

57

Appendix D.

complainant and the surety upon which a decree may be

rendered in the same suit or proceeding against said

complainant and surety, upon a hearing to assess dam-

‘ages of which hearing complainant and surety shall

have reasonable notice, the said complainant and surety

submitting themselves to the jurisdiction of the court

for that purpose. But nothing in this section contained

shall deprive any party having a claim or cause of action

under or upon such undertaking from electing to pursue .

his ordinary remedy by suit at law or in equity.

Section 301 (a) of the Labor-Management Relations Act

of 1947 (61 Stat. 156, 29 U.S.C. § 185 (a)) reads ag fol-

lows: . ;

(a) Suits for violation of contracts between an..

employer and a labor organization representing employ-

_ees in an industry affecting commerce as defined in this

chapter, or between any such labor organizations, may

be brought in any district court of the United States

having jurisdiction of the parties, without respect to the

amount in controversy or without regard to the citzen-

- Ship of the parties.

Rule 65(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure reads

as follows:

(c) Security. No restraining order or preliminary

injunction shall issue except upon the giving of security

by the applicant, in such sum as the court deems proper,

for the payment of such costs and damages as may be

incurred or suffered by any party who is found to have

been wrongfully enjoined or restrained. No such security

shall be required of the United States or of an officer

or agency thereof.

The provisions of Rule 65.1 apply to a surety upon a

bond or undertaking under this rule.

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.

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