1 - National Labor Relations Board

XI
Special and Miscellaneous
Litigation
Miscellaneous court litigation during fiscal 1969 included cases
involving the Board's authority to decline to assert jurisdiction
over a category of employers ; the scope of the obligation of the
Board to investigate petitions for a representation election ; the
rights of private parties to the issuance of subpenas during
the investigative stage of a representation or unfair labor practice
case; the power of a court to enforce a Board subpena at
the request of a private party ; the issuance on the petition of
the Board of injunctions against State court proceedings ; and
the status of a collective-bargaining agreement and of a backpay
order by the Board, in bankruptcy proceedings instituted against
the employer involved.
A. Judicial Review of Board Proceedings
Petitions filed during the past year by parties to Board proceedings
seeking to invoke the equity powers of a Federal district
court to restrain or compel Board action at various stages
of representation or unfair labor practice proceedings were opposed
by the Board primarily on the ground that the court was
without jurisdiction to grant the relief sought. The plaintiffs'
efforts were usually directed to establishing that the Board action
was within the doctrine of Leedom v. Kyne, 1 pursuant to which
the court may intervene when the Board has violated an express
mandate of the Act, or that of Fay v. Douds, 2 permitting intervention
upon a showing that the Board action has deprived the
plaintiff of a constitutional right.
1. Board Discretion in Exercise of Jurisdiction
In one case, 3 the district court held that it had jurisdiction
to hear and determine complaint allegations that the Board, by
1 358 U.S. 184 (1958).
2 172 F.2d 720 (C.A. 2, 1949).
3 Council 19, American Fed. of State, County, & Municipal Employees v. N L.R.B., 296 F.Supp.
1100 (D.C.III.)
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