WINIFRED D. MORIO, REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF THE SECOND REGION OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, FOR AND ON BEHALF OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, PETITIONER-APPELLEE,
v.
THE NORTH AMERICAN SOCCER LEAGUE AND ITS CONSTITUENT MEMBER CLUBS, RESPONDENT-APPELLANTS

2d Cir. | 1980-10-06
Nos. 418, Docket 80-6165
Before KAUFMAN and TIMBERS, Circuit Judges, NICKERSON, District Judge.
632 F.2d 217 United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1980) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.


Holding

The court held that the remedies imposed, including revocation of unilateral changes and authorization for the Union to rescind contract provisions, were just and proper and within the trial court's discretion.


Facts & Procedural History

The North American Soccer League's (League) practices threatened to render the N.L.R.B.'s processes ineffective. The Union's prestige was eroded by th…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM:

[*218] PER CURIAM:

We affirm on Judge Motley’s thorough findings of fact and conclusions of law, 80 Civ. 4332 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 18, 1980).

For the purpose of clarifying our holding, we note that the remedies imposed in this case-the revocation of certain unilateral changes in employment conditions and authorization for the North American Soccer League Players Association (Union) to rescind, at their option, any or all provisions of any current player contract, except for the “exclusive rights” provisions-is not without precedent. This form of relief was “just and proper”, 29 U.S.C. § 1600) (1976), and within the trial court’s discretion, Kaynard v. Palby Lingerie, Inc., 625 F. 2d 1047, 1051 (2d Cir. 1980).

There was sufficient evidence that the North American Soccer League’s (League) practices threatened “to render the N.L.R.B.’s processes ‘totally ineffective’ by precluding a meaningful final remedy.” Kaynard v. Mego Corp., 633 F. 2d 1026 at-(2d Cir. 1980), citing Seeler v. Trading Port, Inc., 517 F. 2d 33 (2d Cir. 1975).

The Union’s prestige and legitimacy with its members has been severely eroded by the League’s conduct during the past two years. Although the League finally approached the bargaining table in August 1980, in compliance with the Fifth Circuit’s recent order to bargain in a related case,1 this injunction frees the Union from the severe contractual restraints imposed by the allegedly unlawful actions of the League, and thereby prevents the frustration of the remedial purposes of the Act.

Aggressive remedial relief is necessary in appropriate labor cases. We have granted an injunction ordering an employer to bargain with a union that did not win an election. Seeler, supra. The Union in this case, of course, prevailed in a representation election conducted more than two years ago. And, the Board in unfair labor practices proceedings has frequently voided contracts negotiated by the employer with individual employees.

J. I. Case Co. v.

N. L.

R. B., 321 U.S. 332, 64 S.Ct. 576, 88 L.Ed. 762 (1944); National Licorice Co. v.

N. L.

R. B., 309 U.S. 350, 60 S.Ct. 569, 84 L.Ed. 799 (1940); KXTV, 139 N.L.R.B. 93 (1962); Cascade Employers Association, 126 N.L.R.B. 1014 (1960). Unilateral changes in the conditions of employment also have been rescinded by the Board. Fibreboard Paper Prod. Corp. v.

N. L.

R. B., 379 U.S. 203, 85 S.Ct. 398, 13 L.Ed.2d 233 (1964).

Where, as in this case, an equity court has “reasonable cause” to believe that particularly flagrant unfair labor practices have been committed, the court’s fashioning of those remedies typically framed by the Board in an unfair labor practice proceeding is “just and proper,” even though a final decision by the Board is pending. Although a court does not have an “absolute duty” to confer such far-reaching relief, Hecht v. Bowles, 321 U.S. 321, 329, 64 S.Ct. 587, 591, 88 L.Ed. 754 (1944), “legislative provisions calling for equitable relief to prevent violations of a statute require the courts to act in accordance with traditional equity practice, ‘as conditioned by the necessities of public interest which Congress has sought to protect.’ ” Seeler, supra, 517 F. 2d at 39-40, citing Hecht Co. v. Bowles, supra, 321 U.S. at 329-30, 64 S.Ct. at 591-92; cf. Danielson v. Joint Board of Coat, Suit and Allied Garment Workers Union, 494 F. 2d 1230, 1240-41 (2d Cir. 1974) (holding the criteria for equitable relief articulated in Hecht applicable to § 10(j)).

Finally, since the Regional Director’s petition for temporary relief is affirmed, the League’s motion for a stay of the injunction pending appeal is denied.

. North American Soccer League v. N.L.R.B., 613 F. 2d 1379 (5th Cir. 1980), cert. denied, U.S. ......, 101 S.Ct. 267, - L.Ed.2d (1980).


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw