May Department Stores Co., Doing Business as Famous-Barr Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

Summary

The Court affirmed enforcement of the Board’s order but modified the decree concerning the breadth of its cease-and-desist provisions. It upheld the Board’s designation of a small departmental unit, the certification of the joint council named on the ballot, and the finding that the employer’s unilateral wage application and related announcements violated the Act. The Court held that the decree should prohibit interference with the certified representative’s efforts to bargain, rather than broadly enjoin every unfair labor practice affecting the employees. Justice Rutledge, concurring in part, would have treated the case as involving only a refusal to bargain and would have eliminated relief based on the wage-related conduct.