United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

J. I. Case Co. v. Labor Board, 321 U.S. 332 (1944)

J. I. Case Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

No. 67

Argued January 3, 1944

Decided February 28, 1944

321 U.S. 332

Syllabus

1. In view of the continuing character of the obligation imposed on the employer by the order of the National Labor Relations Board, the subsequent expiration of the contracts in question and the employer's entry into a collective bargaining agreement did not render the case moot. P. 321 U. S. 334.

2. That an employer has individual contracts of employment, covering wages, hours and working conditions, with a majority of his employees, which contracts were valid when made and are unexpired, does not preclude exercise by the employees of their right under the National Labor Relations Act to choose a representative for collective bargaining, nor warrant refusal by the employer to bargain with such representative in respect of terms covered by the individual contracts. P. 321 U. S. 339.

The relation in general of individual contracts to collective bargaining is discussed.

3. The Board has no power to adjudicate the validity or effect of the contracts here in question, except as to their effect on matters within its jurisdiction. P. 321 U. S. 340.

4. Since the desist order literally goes beyond what the Board intended, its language is modified accordingly. P. 321 U. S. 341.

134 F.2d 70 modified and affirmed.

Certiorari, 320 U.S. 210, to review a decree which granted enforcement of an order of the National Labor Relations Board, 42 N.L.R.B. 85.

Page 321 U. S. 333