Labor and Employment Law Commons^™

Corporations - Officers And Directors - Indemnification Of Expenses Incurred In Defense Of Contract Of Employment, John P. Williams

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, Sorenson, contracted with defendant, Overland Corporation, to become one of its directors, and the contract was approved by Overland's stockholders. After he began to serve as a director, Sorenson was made a party defendant to a stockholder's derivative suit attacking the propriety of his contract of employment with Overland. The derivative suit terminated in favor of Sorenson and he then brought an action for reimbursement of the counsel fees incurred by him in defending the stockholder's action. Plaintiff's action was under a corporate by-law providing that the corporation shall indemnify directors and officers against expenses incurred by them in …

Preparation And Presentation Of An Arbitration Case, Joseph S. Murphy

Vanderbilt Law Review

This article deals primarily with the preparation and presentation of a case in labor arbitration. However, much of what is said here is equally applicable to the preparation and presentation of a commercial case. It is clear that the comments with regard to documents, witnesses, orderly presentation, and the like are basically the same whether one is arguing that a construction contract has been breached and that the fault lies with the contractor who was guilty of delayed construction, or whether one is defending against a charge of vio- lation of an overtime clause dealing with equal distribution. In each …

Agency - Liability Of Principal For Termination Of Agents Employment, William G. Mateer S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In the summer of 1949, appellant entered into an oral contract for an indefinite time with the appellee whereby the former was granted an exclusive wholesale distributorship of appellee's farm and garden equipment. A four-year period followed in which appellant increased the number of dealers in appellee's product from four or five in 1949 to over one hundred in 1953. In the latter part of 1952 appellant contemplated an enlargement of its facilities which would require it to enter upon a fifteen-year lease. Since the lessor desired some assurances as to the duration of appellant's franchise, appellant wrote to appellee …

Labor Law - Labor-Management Relations Act - Strike During Life Of Contract Under A Reopening Provision, Dudley Chapman

Michigan Law Review

A collective bargaining agreement between Lion Oil Company and the union provided that if either party should desire to amend, notice should be served on the other, but not before August 24, 1951. The contract could be terminated by giving sixty days notice to terminate if agreement could not be reached within the sixty days following notice to amend. The contract did not contain a no-strike clause. The union gave notice on August 24, 1951 of its desire to amend, and having reached no agreement, struck on April 30, 1952 without having served notice to terminate. Both parties agreed that …

Labor Law - Lmra - Status Of A Walkout Prompted By Health Reasons In The Face Of A No-Strike Clause, Robert E. Hammell S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The employer and the union were covered by a contract which contained a no-strike clause. In spite of this agreement, buffers in the employer's plant walked off their jobs when a blower in the buffing room failed to carry away dust and cool the area properly. The trial examiner found that the walkout was a protected concerted activity and not a strike, and that the employer had therefore committed an unfair labor practice by refusing to permit the buffers to return to their jobs when the blower had been repaired. On exceptions taken to these findings, the NLRB reviewed and …

Labor Law - Lmra - Validity Under Federal Act Of State Right To Work Statute Interpreted To Bar Exclusive Bargaining Rights Clause, Edward W. Powers S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff employer, operator of a retail food store, refused to sign a contract with a union representing the only two butchers then employed by him on the ground that acceptance of a clause in the contract making the union the exclusive bargaining representative of all butchers in his establishment would violate the state right to work statute. The two butchers went on strike and began picketing the employer's establishment. The employer thereupon hired a non-union butcher and sought to have the picketing enjoined. The state district court denied the injunction. On certiorari to the state supreme court, held, reversed, …

Labor Law - Lmra - Strike Without Compliance With Arbitration Clause Of Collective Agreement As Unprotected Concerted Activity, Hazen V. Hatch S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A dispute arose over the working hours and assignment of one of the employer's truck drivers. The employer suggested to the union that they refer the question to an arbitration panel for adjudication. The collective bargaining agreement provided that the panel was to be the exclusive means of settling all such matters, but the agreement did not contain a specific no-strike clause. The union refused to arbitrate and ordered a strike. Subsequently, the employer discharged twenty of the strikers and then refused to reinstate them at the termination of the strike. The union claimed that the strike was a protected …

International Law - United Nations - Administrative Tribunals As Adjudicators Of Disputes Arising Out Of Employment Contracts With International Organizations, Edward W. Powers S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A crucial though relatively unpublicized problem arising from the creation of international organizations is that of establishing and maintaining the staff or secretariat needed to perform the administrative functions of these organizations. Such a staff must possess not only the competence and integrity of a national civil service, but also an international loyalty or outlook which includes " ... an awareness . . . of the needs, emotions, and prejudices of the peoples of differently-circumstanced countries ... [and] a capacity for weighing these frequently imponderable elements in a judicial manner· before reaching any decision to which they are relevant."

Contracts - Restraint On Employee's Rights To Enter Competing Business - Partial Enforcement Of Restraint Indivisible By Its Own Terms, William R. Jentes S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A provision in defendant's employment contract stated that if he ceased to be employed by plaintiff for any reason, he would not "for a period of ten years thereafter" enter into a competing business. The trial court denied plaintiff's request for injunctive relief against defendant's violation of this restriction. On appeal, held, reversed, one justice dissenting. An employer can obtain partial enforcement for a reasonable time of an employee's agreement not to enter into a competing business, even though the restraint as agreed upon by the parties is unreasonable and is not made divisible by its own terms. Fullerton …

Labor Law - Collective Bargaining- Compulsory Retirement As Discharge "Without Cause" Under Collective Bargaining Agreement, Douglas Peck S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff-employee was informed by the defendant, his employer, that his employment would be terminated because he had attained the age of sixty-five and it was the policy of the defendant to retire such employees. There was evidence indicating that this policy had been in practice uniformly for several years, but it was not incorporated in the collective bargaining agreement between defendant and plaintiff's union. Plaintiff sued for damages for violation of his rights under the collective agreement. Held, judgment for plaintiff. The legal and practical effect of compulsory retirement is the same as a discharge, and plaintiff's employment was …

Labor Law - Lmra - Stock Purchase Plan As Subject Of Compulsory Collective Bargaining, Edward W. Powers

Michigan Law Review

An employer unilaterally instituted a stock purchase plan, membership in which was voluntary and open to regular employees who had at least one year of service and were at least thirty years of age. Members, through authorized payroll deductions, were to contribute monthly not less than five dollars but not more than five percent of their earnings. The employer contributed monthly an amount equal to fifty percent of each member contribution and annually an amount dependent upon the ratio of profits to invested capital, up to a combined total of seventy-five percent of the members' contributions. Member contributions were kept …

Labor Law - Right To Unemployment Compensation As Affected By Union-Management Retirement Agreement, Lawrence N. Ravick S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Under what circumstances has an employee "voluntarily" left work so as to disqualify him from receiving benefits under an unemployment compensation act? This general question has troubled the courts for a considerable time and has presented itself in a variety of fact situations, e.g., leaving work because of labor disputes and for personal reasons. The courts' interpretation of the meaning of "voluntarily" has generally been influenced by numerous considerations such as the policy behind unemployment compensation, the specific terminology of the statute involved, and the procedure for financing the plans. The specific problem with which this comment deals is summarized …

Labor Law - Labor-Management Relations Act - Effect Of Section 8(D) On The Right To Strike, Lawrence W. Sperling

Michigan Law Review

A union gave notice of its desire to modify the existing collective bargaining agreement sixty days before the date when, according to the terms of the contract, modification would be allowed. Eight months later, but prior to the termination date of the contract, the union called a strike. After several weeks the employees returned to work but the employer refused to reinstate them on the ground that they had struck before the expiration date of the contract in contravention of section 8(d) of the amended National Labor Relations Act and had thereby lost their employees status. On petition to the …

Labor Law--Labor-Management Relations Act--Disparagement Of Employer's Product As Protected Concerted Activity, George B. Berridge S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

When contract negotiations between an employer, a Charlotte, North Carolina TV station, and a local union representing the station's technicians reached an impasse, the technicians remained on the job but circulated handbills attacking the inferior quality of the employer's programs. These handbills, which were distributed throughout Charlotte as well as on a picket line which the technicians maintained during their off-duty hours, were signed simply "WBT Technicians" and made no reference to the labor dispute. The company discharged the technicians, whereupon the union filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board charging a violation of sections 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(3) …

Taft-Hartley Sections 301 And 303 Procedural Aspects, Joseph F. Dirisio, Joseph Martin Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

The motives and purposes behind the binate Sections 301 and 303, no less than other sections of the Taft-Hartley Act,' are mixed and ambiguous. Foremost, however, seems the notion that Congress intended to create new federal rights, contract and tort, enforceable nationally in a federal forum. In broad terms, where the required relationship to interstate commerce exists, Section 301 permits suits by either employers or unions for violation of collective bargaining agreements; Section 303 permits those injured by certain boycotts and unlawful combinations to bring suit-- in both cases, the forum provided is the district court of the United States. …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Contracts--Ceiling Price Legislation--Effect upon Performance

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Evidence--Declarations against Interest--Third-Party Confessions

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Family Law--Loss of Consortium of the Parent--Right of Child to Recover Against a Negligent Defendant

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Federal Procedure--Statutory Construction--Meaning of "Mentally Incompetent"

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Income Taxation--Surrender of Lease--Capital Gain to Lessee

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Income Taxation--Taxable Stock Dividend--Treasury Stock Held for Investment

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Judgment--Suit to Vacate--Insufficient Allegations of Cruelty Void Divorce Decree

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Labor Law--Filing Requirements--Noncompliance at Time Charges Filed

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Municipal Corporations--Liability for Negligence--Operation of Swimming Pool for Profit

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Process--Constructive Service--Tort Action Arising Without State

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Torts--Res Ipsa Loquitur--Application To Disappearing Airplane

Independent Contractor--Liability Of The Employer In West Virginia, J. L. A.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Promissory Estoppel: Principle From Precedents: Ii, Benjamin F. Boye

Michigan Law Review

It is ancient learning that a person is free to refuse to accept an appointment as agent but that "acceptance must be followed by execution or prompt resignation." Though such was the law of the Romans of Justinian's time, it has taken our courts many years to reach the same conclusion. Indeed, it was not until the Restatement of Agency was published in 1933 that the basis of liability of one who gratuitously undertook to act as agent for another was expressed in approximately the same form.

Book Reviews, George H. Pickar, Edward L. Barrett Jr., Rudolph Heitz, Charles E. Corker, Warren M. Ballard, W. F. Zacharias, Stefan A. Riesenfeld, Julius Cohen, Charles A. Reynard, Robert Kingsley, Jacob D. Hyman, James Lake, Arthur W. Stokes, Francis A. Allen, Paul A. Freund, Richard W. Jennings, Joseph E. Goodbar, Kenneth Redden, James A. Rahl, Charles L. B. Lowndes

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Arbitrability Under Collective Bargaining Agreements, Clyde H. Brockett Jr., William Merlin

Vanderbilt Law Review

Under many collective bargaining contracts calling for arbitration of disputes, sooner or later a question has arisen whether the arbitrator has authority and power to arbitrate a particular issue. While this is obviously an oversimplification, it is a statement of the problem of arbitrability. Involuntary arbitration of labor disputes the question of the "scope of arbitration" may arise in either of two situations: (1) in the formulation of new contracts; or (2) in the disposition of grievances under existing contracts. This Note will consider only arbitration of the latter type.

Master And Servant--Recovery For Silicosis Under Boiler Inspection Act And Federal Employers' Liability Act, W. M. T.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Trade Regulation--Monopolies--Status Of Requirements Contracts Under The Clayton Act, T. W. C.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Book Notes, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

BOOK NOTES

The Law of Trusts

By Ralph A. Newman

Brooklyn: The Foundation Press, Inc., 1949. Pp. xi, 452. $4.50

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Estate Planning

By Joseph Trachtman

New York: Practicing Law Institute. 1949 Edition. Paper bound. Pp. i, 170. $2.00

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BOOKS RECEIVED

The Case of General Yamashita

By A. Frank Reel

Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1949. Pp. v, 324. $4.00

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Cases and Materials on Commercial Law

By Hugh W. Babb and Carl B. Everberg

Brooklyn: The Foundation Press, Inc., 1949. Pp. iii, 963. $6.00

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Cases and Materials on Law and Accounting

By Donald Schapiro and Ralph Wienshienk …

Contracts-Duration Of Indefinite Employment Contracts That Specify Period Of Pay, Paul E. Anderson S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Normally a contract which does not express a time for performance is treated as enforceable. The courts interpret it to require that performance be completed within a reasonable time, basing their conclusion on a presumption of the intention of the parties. However, in the area of employment contracts, an exception to the reasonable time rule has developed. An indefinite contract for services is generally held to be terminable at will. The questions that come to mind are two: What is" the basis for the unique treatment of employment contracts? What are the manifestations of intent that will defeat application of …

Labor Law - "Channeling" The Duty To Bargain - Effect Of Violation Of "No-Strike" Clause In Existing Agreement, John F. Buchman S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Employer and union had an existing collective agreement which provided detailed procedures for adjusting grievances, including arbitration as the final step, and contained a no-strike clause. Disputes arose concerning action taken by the employer affecting working schedules, overtime work, and other conditions of employment without consulting the union; and disciplinary measures were taken against certain employees in pursuance of the new working rules. The union finally called a strike, without filing grievances according to the contract procedure on the disputes which were the immediate causes of the strike. The employer discontinued hearings on two pending grievances and refused to negotiate …

Labor Law-Torts-Liability Of Labor Union For Inducing Breach Of Contract, Ira M. Price, Ii S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

During the past fifteen years the law as a whole has moved rapidly in the direction of favoring union activity. A labor policy expressed in numerous federal and state laws and important judicial decisions has generally recognized and protected in the courts the workers' right to be free from employer interference, to strike, to engage in peaceful picketing, and to conduct primary boycotts. Within this liberalizing judicial concept of the rights of labor, the present status of the action against labor unions for inducing breach of contract presents an interesting study of the tenacity of an early common law theory …

Labor Law-Fair Labor Standards Act-Determination Of "Regular Rate" For Computation Of Overtime Pay, John A. Huston S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Previous to the enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Act, respondent had paid its employees monthly salaries for work schedules which fluctuated from week to week according to the demands of business. After the effective date of the act, respondent sought to comply with section 7 (a), requiring the payment of one. and one half times the "regular rate" of compensation for hours worked above the statutory maximum, by adopting new employment contracts which guaranteed weekly salaries equivalent to the former compensation and fixed an hourly rate which, multiplied by the maximum hours permitted by the act and by one …

De Minimis Non Curat Lex, Max L. Veech, Charles R. Moon

Michigan Law Review

An age-old maxim often applied but infrequently rationalized is that of de minimus non curat lex. In the recent case of Steve Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Company, the United States Supreme Court focused attention upon the doctrine by ruling that it should be applied in determining whether "walking time" and other "preliminary activities" constitute "work" for which employees are entitled to compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. The so-called "portal-to-portal" problems which have arisen as a result of the last mentioned ruling make timely a discussion of the origin, meaning, function and application of …

Patents - Validity Of Contracts To Assign Employee's Future Inventions To Employer, Lloyd M. Forster

Michigan Law Review

The relative rights of employer and employee to the fruits of the employee's inventive genius have become increasingly important. In deciding these rights the courts have shown a marked tendency to favor the employee, possibly to compensate for the superior bargaining power of the employer. They have been anxious to limit the rights in the employer implied by the relationship of the parties. Contractual ambiguities have been construed in favor of the employee to a far greater extent than is called for by the rule of construction against the party drawing the contract. Unusual rights in the employer must be …

Labor Law - Right Of Employee To Sue On Collective Bargaining Contract Between Employer And Union, David Davidoff

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, a theatre owner, in March, 1939, entered into a collective bargaining contract with a local union by the terms of which he agreed to hire only union operators, to pay them a specified wage, and to give them two weeks' notice of their discharge, or two weeks' salary in lieu thereof, should he decide to go out of business. Plaintiff, a union member, was employed by the defendant from March, 1939, until he was discharged in December, 1939. It appeared that this discharge was occasioned by defendant's sale of his theatre and retirement from the business. Plaintiff sued for …