Opinion · Supreme Court of the United States

Nathanson v. National Labor Relations Board

Nathanson v. Nat’l Labor Rels. Bd., 344 U.S. 25 (1952)

Type
Opinion
Court
Supreme Court of the United States
Jurisdiction
Federal
Date
1952-11-10
Topic
general

How later courts describe this case

  • holding that “if one claimant is to be preferred over others, the purpose should be clear from the statute”
  • holding that a back wage claim in favor of the NLRB was not entitled to priority over other estate creditors
  • stating that “if one claimant is to be preferred over others, the purpose should be clear from the statute”
  • explaining that a court must refuse to treat as an included debt “a claim which the United States is collecting for the benefit of a private party”
  • holding that the NLRB was a creditor within the meaning of the Code because it had been granted the power to enforce the National Labor Relations Act, even though a back pay award was made to individual workers, not to the Government
  • explaining that courts cannot prefer one creditor over another unless specifically directed to do so; “if one claimant is to be preferred over others, the purpose should be clear from the statute.”
  • rejecting the argument that the government’s abiding interest in eliminating unfair labor practices warranted stretching the statute to secure a preference in payment for backpay awards
  • holding NLRB qualified as a creditor under the Bankruptcy Act, and had standing to pursue an action against an employer for back pay owed to its employees, stating that the NLRB was the "public agent chosen by Congress to enforce the National Labor Relations Act”

Citator

UpLaw has not yet analyzed Nathanson v. National Labor Relations Board. The absence of a flag is not a finding that it is good law.

Cited by
330 opinions

Headnotes

  1. Bankruptcy Law — Creditors — Labor Law The National Labor Relations Board is a "creditor" as respects back-pay awards within the meaning of the Bankruptcy Act, because the Board is the public agent chosen by Congress to enforce the National Labor Relations Act, a back-pay order is a reparation order designed to vindicate public policy by making employees whole for losses from an unfair labor practice, and the Board is the only party entitled to enforce the Act and thus claims the amount of back pay as agent for the injured employees. 344 U.S. at 26-27
  2. Bankruptcy Law — Claims A back-pay award is a provable claim in bankruptcy as a debt founded upon an "implied" contract under § 63(a)(4) of the Bankruptcy Act, because it is an indebtedness arising out of an obligation imposed by statute as an incident fixed by law to the employer-employee relationship, and a liability based on quasi-contract is one on an "implied" contract within that provision. 344 U.S. at 27
  3. Bankruptcy Law — Priority A claim enforced by a federal agency is not a debt due to the United States within the meaning of R. S. § 3466, and is not entitled to priority under § 64(a)(5) of the Bankruptcy Act, where the claim is collected for the benefit of private parties rather than to assure public revenue; the priority statute being designed to secure adequate revenue for public burdens, it cannot be extended to a claim the United States collects for a private party's benefit. 344 U.S. at 27-28
  4. Bankruptcy Law — Priority The extension of federal priority to a claim for Indian moneys rests on the status of the Indians as wards of the United States and the Government's continuing responsibility to protect their interests, and that reasoning does not extend to give priority to a claim the United States collects for the benefit of private parties, such as wage claimants who are not wards of the Federal Government. 344 U.S. at 28
  5. Bankruptcy Law — Priority Back-pay awards enforced by the National Labor Relations Board are entitled to the same priority that wage claims enjoy under § 64(a)(2) of the Bankruptcy Act, and no greater priority, because the Bankruptcy Act limits wage priority to $600 per claimant for wages earned within three months before the commencement of proceedings, and granting a preferred priority to one class of wage claimants irrespective of amount or time of accrual would depart from that statutory policy and from the Act's theme of equality of distribution. 344 U.S. at 28-29
  6. Labor & Employment Law — Administrative Remedial Authority The fixing and computation of the amount of a back-pay award is a function confided solely to the National Labor Relations Board as an administrative matter, and where an enforcement order issues without the amount having been computed, the Board works out the details of the back pay due, which may require determining projected earnings, actual interim earnings, whether the employee wilfully incurred losses, whether the back-pay period terminated upon offers of reinstatement or withdrawal from the labor market, and whether the employee received equivalent employment. 344 U.S. at 29-30
  7. Bankruptcy Law — Administrative Reference Although the bankruptcy court normally supervises the liquidation of claims, that rule is not inexorable and a sound discretion may remit a particular controversy to another tribunal; where the matter in controversy has been entrusted by Congress to an administrative agency, the bankruptcy court normally should stay its hand pending an administrative decision, and wise administration demands that the bankruptcy court accommodate itself to the administrative process and refer the liquidation of the claim to the agency, giving it a reasonable time for an administrative determination. 344 U.S. at 30
NATHANSONv. LABOR BOARD,344 U.S. 25(1952)
73 S.Ct. 80
NATHANSON, TRUSTEE IN BANKRUPTCY,v. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD.
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT.
No. 33.
Argued October 23, 1952.
Decided November 10, 1952.
The National Labor Relations Board ordered a company to pay certain employees back pay. After an involuntary petition in bankruptcy had been filed against the company, the Court of Appeals decreed enforcement of the Board's order. The Board filed in the bankruptcy proceeding a proof of claim for the back pay.Held:
1. The Board is a "creditor" as respects the back-pay awards, within the meaning of the Bankruptcy Act. Pp. 26-27.
2. The Board's back-pay order is a provable claim in bankruptcy — as a debt founded upon an "implied" contract within the meaning of § 63(a)(4) of the Bankruptcy Act. P. 27.
3. The Board's claim is not a debt due to the United States within the meaning of R. S. § 3466, and it is not entitled to priority under § 64(a)(5) of the Bankruptcy Act, though it is entitled to such priority as wage claims enjoy under § 64(a)(2).Bramwellv.U.S. Fidelity Co.,269 U.S. 483, distinguished. Pp. 27-29.
4. Computation of the amount of the back-pay award was properly referred to the Board by the bankruptcy court. Pp. 29-30.
(a) The fixing of the back pay is one of the functions confided to the Board as an administrative matter. Pp. 29-30.
(b) Wise administration demands that the bankruptcy court accommodate itself to the administrative process and refer to the Board the liquidation of the claim, giving the Board a reasonable time for its administrative determination. P. 30.
194 F.2d 248, reversed.
A proof of claim filed by the National Labor Relations
Board, based on a back-pay award against the bankrupt,
was disallowed by the referee in bankruptcy. The District
Court set aside the disallowance.100 F. Supp. 489.
The Court of Appeals affirmed.194 F.2d 248. This
Page 26
Court granted certiorari.343 U.S. 962.Reversed and
remanded, p. 31.
Joseph Krugerargued the cause for petitioner. With him on the brief wereAlan J. DimondandHenryFriedman.Mozart G. Ratnerargued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief wereActing Solicitor GeneralStern, George J. Bott, David P. Findling, Owsley VoseandIrving M. Herman.
MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS delivered the opinion of the Court.
Respondent, the National Labor Relations Board, issued a complaint against the present bankrupt company alleging unfair labor practices, and, after appropriate proceedings, ordered the bankrupt to pay certain employees back pay which they had lost on account of an unfair labor practice of the bankrupt. Before the order was enforced by the Court of Appeals an involuntary petition had been filed against the company. Thereafter the Court of Appeals entered its decree, enforcing the Board's order. In due course the Board filed a proof of claim for the back pay which was disallowed by the referee. The District Court set aside the disallowance.100 F. Supp. 489. The Court of Appeals affirmed (194 F.2d 248) holding that the Board's order is a provable claim in bankruptcy, that the Board can liquidate the claim, and that it is entitled to priority as a debt owing to the United States under § 64(a)(5) of the Act. The petition for certiorari was granted because of a conflict on the question of priority between that decision andLabor Boardv.Killoren,122 F.2d 609, decided by the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.Page 27

We think the Board is a creditor as respects the back pay awards, within the meaning of the Bankruptcy Act.1The Board is the public agent chosen by Congress to enforce the National Labor Relations Act.AmalgamatedWorkersv.Edison Co.,309 U.S. 261,269. A back pay order is a reparation order designed to vindicate the public policy of the statute by making the employees whole for losses suffered on account of an unfair labor practice.Phelps Dodge Corp. v.Labor Board,313 U.S. 177,197. Congress has made the Board the only party entitled to enforce the Act. A back pay order is a command to pay an amount owed the Board as agent for the injured employees. The Board is therefore a claimant in the amount of the back pay.

The claim is provable as a debt founded upon an "implied" contract within the meaning of § 63(a)(4) of the Bankruptcy Act.2It is an indebtedness arising out of an obligation imposed by statute — an incident fixed by law to the employer-employee relationship. A liability based on quasi-contract is one on an "implied" contract within the meaning of § 63(a)(4) of the Bankruptcy Act. SeeBrownv.O'Keefe,300 U.S. 598,606-607.

We do not, however, agree with the lower court that this claim, enforceable by the Board, is a debt due to the United States within the meaning of R. S. § 3466, and therefore entitled to priority under § 64(a)(5) of the Bankruptcy Act. It does not follow that because the Board is an agency of the United States, any debt owed it is a debt owing the United States within the meaning of R. S. § 3466. The priority granted by that statutePage 28was designed "to secure an adequate revenue to sustain the public burthens and discharge the public debts." SeeUnited Statesv.State Bank, 6 Pet. 29, 35. There is no function here of assuring the public revenue. The beneficiaries of the claims are private persons as was the receiver inAmerican Surety Co. v.Akron SavingsBank,212 U.S. 557.

It is true thatBramwellv.U.S. Fidelity Co.,269 U.S. 483, extended the priority to a claim of the United States for Indian moneys. But that case rests on the status of the Indians as wards of the United States (seeBowlingv.United States,233 U.S. 528) and the continuing responsibility which it has for the protection of their interests. SeeUnited Statesv.Rickert,188 U.S. 432,444;Board of Commissionersv.Seber,318 U.S. 705. We cannot extend that reasoning so as to give priority to a claim which the United States is collecting for the benefit of a private party. SeeAmerican Surety Co. v.AkronSavings Bank, supra. The beneficiaries here are not wards of the Federal Government; they are wage claimants who were discriminated against by their employer. The Board has eliminated the discrimination by the back pay order; and enforcement of its order has been directed by the Court of Appeals. The full sanction of the National Labor Relations Act has therefore been placed behind the order. The Board argues that the interest of the United States in eradicating unfair labor practices is so great that the back pay order should be given the additional sanction of priority in payment. Whether that should be done is a legislative decision. The contest now is no longer between employees and management but between various classes of creditors. The policy of the National Labor Relations Act is fully served by recognizing the claim for back pay as one to be paid from the estate. The question whether it should be paid in preference to other creditors is a question to be answered fromPage 29the Bankruptcy Act. When Congress came to claims for unpaid wages it did not grant all of them priority. It limited the priority to $600 for each claimant and even then only allowed it as respects wages earned within three months before the date of the commencement of the proceedings. § 64(a)(2). We would depart from that policy if we granted the priority to one class of wage claimants irrespective of the amount of the claim or the time of its accrual. The theme of the Bankruptcy Act is "equality of distribution" (Sampsellv.Imperial PaperCorp.,313 U.S. 215,219); and if one claimant is to be preferred over others, the purpose should be clear from the statute. We can find in the Bankruptcy Act no warrant for giving these back pay awards any different treatment than other wage claims enjoy.

The trustee claims that the liquidation of the back pay award should not have been referred to the Board. Section 10(c) of the National Labor Relations Act authorizes the Board, once an unfair labor practice has been found, to require,inter alia, the person who committed it to "take such affirmative action, including reinstatement of employees with or without back pay, as will effectuate the policies of this Act." The fixing of the back pay is one of the functions confided solely to the Board. At the time an order of the Board is enforced the amount of back pay is often not computed. Once an enforcement order issues the Board must work out the details of the back pay that is due and the reinstatement of employees that has been directed. This may be done by negotiation; or it may have to be done in a proceeding before the Board. The computation of the amount due may not be a simple matter. It may require, in addition to the projection of earnings which the employee would have enjoyed had he not been discharged and the computation of actual interim earnings, the determination whether the employee wilfully incurredPage 30losses, whether the back pay period should be terminated because of offers of reinstatement or the withdrawal of the employee from the labor market, whether the employee received equivalent employment, and the like. SeePhelps Dodge Corp. v.Labor Board, supra, 190et seq. Congress made the relation of remedy to policy an administrative matter, subject to limited judicial review, and chose the Board as its agent for the purpose.

The bankruptcy court normally supervises the liquidation of claims. SeeGardnerv.New Jersey,329 U.S. 565,573. But the rule is not inexorable. A sound discretion may indicate that a particular controversy should be remitted to another tribunal for litigation. SeeThompsonv.Magnolia Co.,309 U.S. 478,483. And where the matter in controversy has been entrusted by Congress to an administrative agency, the bankruptcy court normally should stay its hand pending an administrative decision. That was our ruling inSmithv.Hoboken R. Co.,328 U.S. 123, andThompsonv.Texas M. R. Co.,328 U.S. 134, where we directed the reorganization court to await administrative rulings by the Interstate Commerce Commission before adjudicating the controversies before it. Like considerations are relevant here. It is the Board, not the referee in bankruptcy nor the court, that has been entrusted by Congress with authority to determine what measures will remedy the unfair labor practices. We think wise administration therefore demands that the bankruptcy court accommodate itself to the administrative process and refer to the Board the liquidation of the claim, giving the Board a reasonable time for its administrative determination.

In summary, we agree with the Court of Appeals that the claim was provable by the Board and that the computation of the amount of the award was properly referred to the Board. But since we disagree with the rulingPage 31on the priority of the claim we reverse the judgment and remand the cause for proceedings in conformity with this opinion.It is so ordered.
MR. JUSTICE JACKSON, with whom MR. JUSTICE BLACK joins, dissenting.
I think we should affirm the judgment below. I agree that the claim is one which can be proved in bankruptcy by the United States. The same reasoning which enables the Government to assert the claim would seem to enable it to assert the priority.

The claims which the United States asserts herein are something more than merely private indebtedness. The debtor's liability, enforceable only by the Government, is one of the most important sanctions to effectuate the policy of the National Labor Relations Act. That is one, at least, of the reasons why Congress did not see fit to leave prosecution of these usually small claims to scattered and often impecunious individual wage earners in a multiplicity of actions.

I see nothing in the policy of the Bankruptcy Act which precludes these claims, allowed in the Government's right and in its name, from sharing in the Government's general priority. Title 11, § 104(a) sets up five levels of priority: first is administration expenses; second, wages not to exceed $600 to each claimant which have been earned within three months before commencement of bankruptcy proceedings; third, certain costs and expenses not material here; fourth, taxes legally due and owing by the bankrupt to the United States, or any state or any subdivision thereof; fifth, debts owing to any person, including the United States, who under its laws is entitled to priority.

It can hardly be questioned that Labor Board awards constitute wages or their equivalent, but beneficiaries ofPage 32these awards rarely can comply with the three-months time limitation for wage priority because of the lag occasioned by Labor Board proceedings to establish the unlawfulness of their discharge by the employer. If they could do so, their claims would doubtless take the second priority and be paid in preference to everything except administration expenses.

The judgment below denies these claims second priority but admits them to the fifth class. Ahead of them, in the fourth class, are all taxes owing to the United States and to any state or subdivision, and this obviously is the priority intended to protect the federal revenues. Only after all revenue requirements are thus satisfied does the judgment below allow these claims to be paid. The Bankruptcy Act in this fifth category certainly contemplates a class of Government claims not arising out of taxation. It does not seem to me inappropriate to consider the relation of the Government to the wronged laborer established by the Labor Relations Act as analogous to the Government's wardship toward Indians, found to warrant invocation of its priority inBramwellv.UnitedStates Fidelity Co.,269 U.S. 483. The slogan "equality of distribution" can have little meaning when we are considering a section of a statute designed to establish inequality by a series of priorities. To protect the bankrupt's estate against inequalities caused by the unlawful preferences attempted by the bankrupt is one thing; to invoke such a "theme" to level out priorities created by statute is another.

While the legislation is not as complete or clear as one would like, supplying the rule for conflicts unanticipated by Congress is a large part of our work and I think the courts below have arrived at a practical solution of this question that accomplishes the purposes both of the Bankruptcy Act and the National Labor Relations Act. I would therefore affirm.Page 33
  1. Page 27 "`Creditor' shall include anyone who owns a debt, demand, or claim provable in bankruptcy, and may include his duly authorized agent, attorney, or proxy." 11 U.S.C. § 1 (11). ↩
  2. Page 27 "Debts of the bankrupt may be proved and allowed against his estate which are founded upon . . . (4) an open account, or a contract express or implied." § 63(a)(4);11 U.S.C. § 103(a)(4). ↩