Endicott Johnson Corp. v. Perkins

Summary

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Jackson, affirmed the judgment requiring enforcement of the Secretary of Labor's subpoena. Determining whether employees in the contractor's separate component-manufacturing plants were covered by the Walsh-Healey Act and government contracts was primarily the Secretary's responsibility. The District Court could neither decide coverage itself nor condition enforcement on the Secretary's deciding coverage before obtaining relevant payroll evidence. Justice Murphy dissented, joined by Justice Roberts, arguing that a court asked to enforce an administrative subpoena should first satisfy itself that probable cause supports the agency's assertion of statutory coverage.