Shannahan v. United States, 303 U.S. 596 (1938)

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Shannahan v. United States, 303 U.S. 596 (1938)

No. 502

Argued February 28, March 1, 1938
Decided April 4, 1938
303 U.S. 596

APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA

Syllabus

The Railway Labor Act confers upon the National Mediation Board certain duties respecting mediation or arbitration of labor controversies on railroad carriers subject to the Interstate Commerce Act, with the proviso that the term "carrier" shall not include any street, interurban, or suburban electric railway not operating as a part of a general steam railroad system of transportation, etc., and directs the Interstate Commerce Commission, upon request of the Mediation Board or upon complaint of any party interested, to determine after hearing whether any line operated by electric power falls within the proviso.

Held:

1. That a decision of the Commission finding a railway not to be a street, interurban, or suburban electric railway within the meaning of the proviso was not an "order," either in form or in substance, but a determination of fact, negative in character, and not enforceable by the Commission or by the Board. Therefore it was not reviewable under the Urgent Deficiencies Act of 1913. P. 599.

2. The argument that the decision is reviewable as an "order" under the Urgent Deficiencies Act because it fixes the status of the carrier as subject to obligations of the Railway Labor Act, willful failure to comply with which is made a misdemeanor, is considered and rejected. P. 601.

20 F.Supp. 1002 affirmed.

Appeal from a decree of a three-judge District Court dismissing for want of jurisdiction a bill to set aside an alleged order of the Interstate Commerce Commission.