INTERNATIONAL HOD CARRIERS', BUILDING AND COMMON LABORERS' UNION LOCAL 478-AFL-CIO, ET AL., APPELLANTS,
v.
HEFTLER CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, A NEW JERSEY CORPORATION, ADMITTED TO DO BUSINESS IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The Florida Supreme Court declined jurisdiction over an appeal by unions challenging a permanent injunction against their strike and boycott activities, holding that the trial court's factual finding that the defendant contractor was not engaged in interstate commerce did not constitute a constitutional construction necessary to invoke the Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction.
The Court lacked jurisdiction because the trial judge's decree did not construe or interpret a controlling provision of the Federal Constitution; rather, the judge made a factual finding that interstate commerce was not affected, which rendered any constitutional construction unnecessary. The appellate rule permitting direct Supreme Court review requires an actual judicial construction of a constitutional provision, not merely a ruling that invokes constitutional principles.
“Before this Court will take jurisdiction of a case on the ground that a final judgment or decree has construed a controlling provision of the Florida or Federal Constitution, at least four procedural pre-requisites must be established by the party affirmatively seeking to invoke our jurisdiction.”
Establishes the strict procedural requirements for invoking the Court's jurisdiction in constitutional cases
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe unions conducted a strike and boycott against Heftler Construction Company's Carol City project to force the contractor to stop using a non-union …
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The appellant unions are seeking a reversal of a final decree permanently enjoining them from striking or boycotting the ap-pellee’s project at Carol City, Florida. Said decree also held the appellee entitled to recover compensatory and exemplary damages.
*850On the present state of the record, we are compelled to dispose of this case on jurisdictional grounds.
The appellee, Heftier Construction Co., the general contractor at the “Carol City” construction project, filed a complaint in the Circuit Court of Dade County in which it sought damages and an injunction against the appellants for conducting an alleged illegal strike and boycott against the appel-lee’s project. The alleged purpose of this activity was to force the appellee to stop doing business with a non-union supplier of concrete. On March 20, 1958, a hearing was held before Circuit Court Judge Robert H. Anderson at which time he denied the appellants’ Motion to Dismiss which attacked the sufficiency of the complaint and the court’s jurisdiction over the subject matter. Judge Anderson, after a hearing, granted the appellee’s petition for temporary injunction. On interlocutory appeal, the District Court of Appeal, Third District, per curiam affirmed this order, 103 So.2d 884.
The appellants then filed their answer which denied all the essential allegations of the complaint and asserted as a defense that the Circuit Court lacked jurisdiction over the subject matter of this suit on the ground that the Federal Government had pre-empted the field of labor activity in cases in which interstate commerce is involved or affected. It was the appellants’ contention that the National Labor Relations Board has exclusive jurisdiction in the instant case.
It is uncontroverted that none of the striking union men are employees of the appellee and that no labor dispute exists between the appellants, their officers, employees, agents or members and the ap-pellee corporation.
Once the issues were made it became apparent that both parties were in agreement that the prime question was whether or not the appellee’s activities affected interstate commerce. Both sides were of the opinion that if the appellee’s project did in fact affect interstate commerce the State Court would not have jurisdiction.
On the basis of this agreement the Court permitted the appellants to use the entire time of the July 28th and August 28th hearings to offer evidence in support of their contention that the appellee’s project affected interstate commerce. The appellants were further permitted to introduce into evidence five depositions on September 25, 1958. The exhibits offered by the appellants on the subject of the appellee’s alleged interstate activities became so voluminous that the Court permitted said exhibits to be audited by a Certified Public Accountant. The exhibits so audited were incorporated into a document entitled, “Recapitulation of Evidence Introduced Relating to Interstate Commerce Issue”, and this document was introduced into evidence and examined by the Court. Based upon the evidence thus before the Court, Judge Anderson in granting the permanent injunction and holding the appellee is entitled to damages found in part:
“1. That the Court has jurisdiction of the parties and the subject matter of this suit; and
* # * * * *
“8. That the Plaintiff is not engaged in interstate commerce and, further, that no showing has been made in this cause that the Plaintiff’s activities or the strike or boycott had any impact or effect upon interstate commerce.”
On the day he issued his final decree, Judge Anderson also filed a “Memorandum” in which he expressed his personal views on the wisdom of the opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States in the now famous Guss case.1 Although we are prone to agree with the learned Judge’s condemnation of the “no-man’s land” doctrine as being offensive to “the time honored philosophy of the law that ‘there is no wrong without a remedy’ ”, his memoran*851dum, which is not part of the Trial Court’s judgment or decree, cannot be properly a part of our consideration of this case.2
The appellants take the position that this Court has jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 2.1, subd. a(5) (a), Florida Appellate Rules, 31 F.S.A., which provides that “appeals from trial court may be taken directly to the Supreme Court * * * from final judgments or decrees passing directly upon the validity of a state statute or a federal statute or treaty, or construing a controlling provision of the Florida or Federal Constitution * * 3
Before answering the appellants’ principal argument, we consider it appropriate to dispose of their Assignment of Error in which they assert: “The Court erred in misconstruing the validity of 29 USC Section 160(a) in respect to lack of jurisdiction of the Court.” This contention is without merit. A careful perusal of the record discloses that the validity of 29 U.S. C.A. § 160(a) was never decided by the Court. Section 160(a) gives the National Labor Relations Board power to prevent any person from engaging in any unfair labor practice affecting commerce. The final decree clearly discloses that the chancellor was aware that if the appellee’s project involved or affected interstate commerce, the State Courts of Florida would not have jurisdiction. Under the pleadings and evidence before the Circuit Court the validity of 29 U.S.C.A. § 160(a) was not in issue; therefore, said Court could not and did not pass directly upon its validity.
The primary contention of the appellants is that this Court has jurisdiction because the Trial Court erred in misconstruing Article I, Section 8 and Article VI of the United States Constitution. Article I, Section 8 grants Congress the power to regulate commerce among the several States and Article VI contains the so-called Supremacy clause.4
Before this Court will take jurisdiction of a case on the ground that a final judgment or decree has construed a controlling provision of the Florida or Federal Constitution, at least four procedural pre*852requisites must be established by the party affirmatively seeking to invoke our jurisdiction. They are:
1. The constitutional question must have been raised at the first opportunity,
2. The constitutional provision claimed to have been violated must have been designated specifically either by explicit reference to the article and section or by quotation of the provision,
3. The facts showing the violation must have been stated, and
4. The constitutional question must have been preserved throughout for review. This requirement contemplates adequate coverage of the constitutional question in the appellate briefs.
Although the appellants have attempted to meet the procedural requirements for raising a constitutional question; nevertheless, in the instant case because the chancellor’s decree did not undertake to “construe” a controlling provision of the Federal Constitution, we cannot take jurisdiction.
By his final decree the chancellor held the appellee was not engaged in interstate commerce and that there was no showing that the appellee or the strike or boycott had any impact or effect upon interstate commerce. This finding of fact rendered it unnecessary for the chancellor to construe or interpret a constitutional provision.
This case is almost identical to the situations presented in the Milligan and Carmazi cases.5 Here, as there, the order of the Trial Judge fails to reveal a judicial construction or interpretation of either the State or Federal Constitution. Absent such construction, there is no basis for the exercise of our jurisdiction.
For the above-stated reasons we do not accept jurisdiction of this case. The Notice of Appeal and all other papers filed herein shall be, at the expiration of five days from the filing of this opinion, transferred to the District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District, pursuant to Rule 2.1, subd. a(5) (d), Florida Appellate Rules.
It is so ordered.
TERRELL, C. J., and THOMAS, THORNAL and O’CONNELL, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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N. Am. Co. v. Green, 120 So. 2d 603 (Fla. 1959)…he law is treated rather obliquely by the appellant in its brief filed here and even more indirectly by the appellee. See International Hod Carriers’ Building and Common Laborers’ Union [*612] Local 478—AFL-CIO v. Heftler Construction Company, Fla., 112 So. 2d 848. The cause of this dissent springs from the manner of dealing with the litigation after it came to this court on the wings of a ruling specifically stamping the act a valid one. I simply cannot agree that because the organic law vouchsafes to a li…
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Carol City Utils., Inc. v. Dade Cnty., 183 So. 2d 227 (Fla. 3d DCA 1966)…s is the case here, it is already plain that such a ground existed and was acted upon by the lower Court, even if erroneously, this Court ought to refer the cause to the District Court “In International Hod Carriers v. Heftler Const. Co., Fla.1959, 112 So. 2d 848, 852, the Supreme Court declined jurisdiction and transferred the case to the District Court under Rule 2.1(a) (5) (d), because the findings of the Chancellor rendered it unnecessary to construe or interpret a constitutional provision. This is the c…
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Int'l HOD Carriers' Bldg. & Common Laborers' Union Local 478-AFL-CIO v. Heftler Constr. Co., 116 So. 2d 30 (Fla. 3d DCA 1959)…ntiff was not engaged in interstate commerce and made the injunction permanent. The defendants appealed to the Florida Supreme Court but jurisdiction was declined as no constitutional question was involved and the case was transferred to this court, 112 So. 2d 848. It will be convenient to refer to the parties as they were in the trial court. It is obvious and uncontroverted that the secondary boycott found to exist is an unfair labor practice as defined by the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 158…
Authorities Cited
- Guss v. Utah Labor Relations Bd., 353 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1957)
- Int'l HOD Carriers' v. Heftler Constr. Co., 103 So. 2d 884 (Fla. 3d DCA 1958)
- August M. Carmazi and Lester M. Muhn v. Bd. OF Cnty. Comm'rs OF Dade Cnty., 104 So. 2d 727 (Fla. 1958)