Arroyo v. United States, 359 U.S. 419 (1959)

Arroyo v. United States

No. 246

Argued March 2, 1959
Decided May 4, 1959
359 U.S. 419

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT

Syllabus

Section 302(b) of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, makes it unlawful for a representative of any employees subject to the Act "to receive or accept . . . from the employer of such employees any money . . ."; but § 302(c) makes this prohibition inapplicable

(5) with respect to money . . . paid to a trust fund established by such representative, for the sole and exclusive benefit of the employees of such employer. . . .

Employers of members of a union represented by petitioner issued and delivered to petitioner checks intended and designated as contributions to a union welfare fund of the kind described in § 302(c), but petitioner appropriated the funds to his own use.

Held: Petitioner’s conduct was reprehensible and immoral, and may be assumed to have violated local criminal law, but it did not constitute a violation of § 302(b) of the Act. Pp. 420-427.

(a) On the record in this case, it is clear that what petitioner received were checks "paid to a trust fund" within the meaning of § 302(c)(5), and therefore, the receipt of such checks was not a violation of § 302(b). Pp. 421-424.

(b) Its legislative history shows that § 302(b) was not intended to duplicate state criminal laws, but was concerned with corruption of collective bargaining through bribery of employee representatives by employers, with extortion by employee representatives and with possible abuse by union officers of the power that they might achieve if welfare funds were left to their sole control. Pp. 424-427.

256 F.2d 549 reversed.