Labor Board v. E. C. Atkins & Co., 331 U.S. 398 (1947)

National Labor Relations Board v. E. C. Atkins & Co.

No. 419

Argued March 7, 10, 1947
Decided May 19, 1947
331 U.S. 398

CERTIORARI TO THE CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT

Syllabus

1. The determination of the National Labor Relations Board that, in the circumstances of this case, certain guards at a private plant of the respondent engaged in war production, though employed in accordance with a requirement of the War Department and enrolled as civilian auxiliaries to the military police of the United States Army subject to Army Regulations, were "employees" of respondent within the meaning of § 2(3) of the National Labor Relations Act was justified by the evidence and the law, and the cease and desist order based thereon should have been enforced by the Circuit Court of Appeals. Pp. 414-415.

2. A determination of the Board that rank and file plant guards are "employees" under the Act may, in an appropriate case, be legally justified, since they bear essentially the same relation to management as maintenance and production employees. Pp. 404-405.

3. A proceeding to enforce a cease and desist order of the National Labor Relations Board, based upon a finding that the employer had committed an unfair labor practice by refusing to recognize and bargain with a union selected by private plant guards while they were serving as civilian auxiliaries of the military police of the Army, held not to have been rendered moot by the subsequent demilitariiation of the guards. P. 402.

4. A determination by the National Labor Relations Board of whether one is an "employee" within the coverage of the National Labor Relations Act must be accepted by the reviewing courts if it has a reasonable basis in the evidence and is not inconsistent with the law. Labor Board v. Hearst Publications, 322 U.S. 111. P. 403.

5. In defining and applying the terms "employer" and "employee," as used in the National Labor Relations Act, the Board is not confined to the technical and traditional concepts of "employer" and "employee," but is free to take account of the more relevant economic and statutory considerations. P. 403.

155 F.2d 567 reversed.

An order of the National Labor Relations Board, 56 N.L.R.B. 1056, issued under the National Labor Relations Act, was denied enforcement by the Circuit Court of Appeals. 155 F.2d 567. (A previous judgment, 147 F.2d 730, had been vacated and the case remanded by this Court, 325 U.S. 838.) This Court granted certiorari. 329 U.S. 710. Reversed, p. 415.