Supreme Court of the United States
Drake Bakeries Incorporated v. Local 50, American Bakery & Confectionery Workers International, Afl-Cio
June 18, 1962370 U.S. 254
Summary
The Court held that the employer's claim for damages arising from an alleged union strike was subject to arbitration under the collective bargaining agreement's comprehensive grievance and arbitration clause. The alleged strike did not automatically excuse the employer from arbitrating because the agreement did not exclude strike-damage claims and the arbitration promise had not been repudiated. The action was therefore properly stayed pending arbitration, without eliminating the employer's potential right to recover damages. Mr. Justice Harlan, dissenting, would have held that the employer was entitled to pursue its statutory court remedy because the agreement and record did not show an intent to submit strike damages to arbitration.
Holding
- Whether the employer's damages claim was arbitrable. The employer's claim for damages from an alleged strike was within the arbitration clause because the clause covered all complaints, disputes, grievances, acts, conduct, and relations between the parties, directly or indirectly, without excluding employer claims or strike-damage claims.
- Whether the alleged no-strike breach excused arbitration. The alleged violation of the no-strike clause did not automatically excuse the employer from arbitrating its damages claim or establish waiver, estoppel, or repudiation of the arbitration promise.
- Whether the dispute should remain stayed pending arbitration. The District Court properly stayed the damages action until the employer's claim was arbitrated; arbitration would not deprive the company of any damages to which it might be entitled.
- Whether the union proceeded with sufficient dispatch to obtain a stay. The union was not in default and was entitled to the stay because it promptly asserted its right to arbitrate when the company filed the action two days after the alleged strike.
Docket 598