Western Distributing Co. D/B/A Western-Davis Company, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

McKAY, Circuit Judge.

This is a case in which the National Labor Relations Board seeks to impose a duty to bargain on an employer who doubts he has one. Although the issues are not as sharply drawn as we would prefer, we discern in the record and in the briefs sufficient reason to deny enforcement of the NLRB’s order.

On April 1,1977, Davis Brothers, Inc. and Western Distributing Company agreed to “the equivalent of a merger” between the latter and the liquor division of Davis Brothers. Both concerns distributed wines and liquors in Colorado, serving essentially the same clientele. Davis…