United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Leedom v. International Union, 352 U.S. 145 (1956)

Leedom v. International Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers

No. 57

Argued November 14, 1956

Decided December 10, 1956

352 U.S. 145

Syllabus

Section 9(h) of the National Labor Relations Act provides that the Board shall make no investigation nor issue any complaint on behalf of a union unless there is on file with the Board a non-Communist affidavit of each officer of the union and of any national or international labor organization of which it is an affiliate, and that "[t]he provisions of section 35A of the Criminal Code shall be applicable in respect to such affidavits."

Held: the criminal sanction is the exclusive remedy for the filing of a false affidavit under this section, and the Board may not take administrative action and, on a finding that a false affidavit has been filed, enter an order withholding from the union the benefits of the Act until it is satisfied that the union has complied. Pp. 352 U. S. 146-151.

(a) Labor Board v. Highland Park Co., 341 U. S. 322, and Labor Board v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co., 350 U. S. 264, distinguished. P. 352 U. S. 149.

(b) The language of § 9(h) and its legislative history preclude an additional sanction which, in practical effect, would run against the members of the union, not their guilty officers. Pp. 352 U. S. 149-151.

96 U.S.App.D.C. 416, 226 F.2d 780, affirmed.

Page 352 U. S. 146