Wachter v. Grogan

CLEMENS, Commissioner.

Plaintiff Anthony J. Wachter claimed that the defendant Union had maliciously expelled him. He sued the Union for actual and punitive damages, and the jury gave him a $12,700 verdict. On the Union’s after-trial motion for judgment the trial court decided it did not have jurisdiction over the subject matter and entered judgment for the Union. Wachter appeals.

Here, the decisive issue is whether Wach-ter’s claim comes within the Labor Management Relations Act — and, hence, within the exclusive jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board. That issue turns on whether…