NORTH DADE PLUMBING, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, AND M. W. PHILLIPS, JR., APPELLANTS,
v.
GENE BOWEN, MICHAEL CONITECHIO, H. G. COOPING, GRADY DUGAN, JOHN H. DUGAN, W. E. MERRITT, HARRY L. QUINN, AND PLUMBERS LOCAL UNION 519, AFL-CIO, AN UNINCORPORATED LABOR ORGANIZATION, APPELLEES
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North Dade Plumbing and its owner appealed the transfer of a union discrimination suit from equity to the law side of the court for damages. The Florida District Court of Appeal held that the National Labor Relations Board has exclusive jurisdiction over alleged discriminatory conduct arguably within the Taft-Hartley Act, and therefore state courts lack jurisdiction to award damages for such conduct.
State courts lack jurisdiction to award damages for conduct that is arguably within the scope of Sections 7 or 8 of the Taft-Hartley Act when the National Labor Relations Board has not yet adjudicated the status of the conduct in question.
“since the National Labor Relations Board had not adjudicated the status of the conduct for which the state sought to give a remedy in damages and since the activity was arguably within the compass of § 7 or § 8 of the Taft-Hartley Act, 29 U.S. C.A. §§ 157, 158, the state had no jurisdiction to award damages”
Establishes the two-part test for federal preemption: NLRB must not have adjudicated the conduct AND the activity must be arguably within the Taft-Hartley Act
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceEmployees of North Dade Plumbing, Inc. sued their former employer and sought an injunction against discrimination based on union affiliation, plus com…
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This case arose in the circuit court where -appellees, as plaintiffs, sued North Dade Plumbing, Inc., their former employer, and prayed for an injunction restraining said employer from discriminating against them .because of their union affiliation. The employees also prayed for compensatory and punitive damages. The chancellor found that the courts of this state had no jurisdiction in equity to entertain the complaint, 'because it was a matter exclusively within the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board. No attack is made upon this portion of the order.
The chancellor further provided in the . order dismissing the complaint that it was granted “ * * * reserving and granting to plaintiffs the right to transfer the action to the law side of this court and seek damages at law, if they so elect.” Pursuant to this reservation and a motion of the plaintiffs the chancellor entered an order transferring the cause to the law side. It is this last order from which the appeal is taken. The immediate question is whether there is a residual jurisdiction left in the state courts to determine damages after Congress has preempted the labor relations issue. Upon this question the United States Supreme Court has recently, in San Diego Building Trades Council etc. v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236, 79 S.Ct. 773, 3 L.Ed.2d 775, decided a very similar case.1 It was held that since the National Labor Relations Board had not adjudicated the status of the conduct for which the state sought to give a remedy in damages and since the activity was arguably within the compass of § 7 or § 8 of the Taft-Hartley Act, 29 U.S. C.A. §§ 157, 158, the state had no jurisdiction to award damages. The State of California had attempted to award damages against a union for premature picketing. Here the state is asked to award damages for alleged discrimination against union members. We think the same reasoning applies in each instance. In each case the National Labor Relations Board has not adjudicated the status of the conduct of which complaint is made and such activity is commended to be within the compass of the act. Therefore the transfer to the law side in the instant case was error. The chancellor should have entered a decree dismissing the cause. The decree appealed is reversed and the cause remanded for the entry of an order in accordance with the view expressed in this opinion.
Reversed.
HORTON, C. J., and CARROLL, CHAS., J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Alberta Schermerhorn v. Local 1625 OF the Retail Clerks Int'l Ass'n, AFL-CIO, 141 So. 2d 269 (Fla. 1962)…Ia.App.1958, 111 So. 2d 462; International Ladies Garment W. U. v. Sherry Mfg. Co., Fla. App.1959, 115 So. 2d 27; International Hod Carriers’, etc. v. Heftier Const. Co., Fla.App.1959, 116 So. 2d 30; North Dade Plumbing, Inc. v. Bowen, FIa.App.1960, 116 So. 2d 790; I International] B[roth.] of E[lec.] W[orkers] Local 349 v. Shires, Fla.App.1960, 123 So. 2d 259; Casteel v. United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Join., Fla.App.1960, 125 So. 2d 123; Wood, Wire & Metal Lathers International Union v. Babcock Co., supr…
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Wood v. Babcock Co., 132 So. 2d 16 (Fla. 3d DCA 1961)…11 So. 2d 462; International Ladies Garment Workers Union, etc. v. Sherry, Mfg. Co., Fla.App.1959, 115 So. 2d 27; International Hod Carriers’, etc. v. Heftler Const. Co., Fla.App.1959, 116 So. 2d 30; North Dade Plumbing, Inc. v. Bowen, Fla.App.1960, 116 So. 2d 790; International Brotherhood of Elec. Workers, Local #349 v. Shires, Fla.App.1960, 123 So. 2d 259; Oasteel v. United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Join., Fla.App. 1960, 125 So. 2d 123.…
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United Steel Workers OF Am., AFL-CIO v. Nubar Tool & Eng'g Co., Inc., 148 So. 2d 45 (Fla. 2d DCA 1962)…from the N.L.R.B. regarding its jurisdiction in a given situation. 29 U.S. C.A.Appx. § 109.39 et seq. Other cases supporting our conclusion that Florida adheres to the so called Garmon doctrine are North Dade Plumbing, Inc. v. Bowen, Fla.App.1960, 116 So. 2d 790; Wood, Wire & Metal Lathers Intern. Union, etc. v. Babcock Co., Fla.App.1961, 132 So. 2d 16. Having concluded that most of the activities enjoined by the lower court were arguably protected or prohibited by the national act or neither, we hold that…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- San Diego Bldg. Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236 (U.S. 1959)
- United Constr. Workers v. Laburnum Constr. Corp., 347 U.S. 656 (U.S. 1954)
- Int'l Union v. Russell, 356 U.S. 634 (U.S. 1958)