NLRB v. Hearst Publications, was an administrative law case heard before the United States Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...

. The case concerned the meaning of the term "employees" in the National Labor Relations Act

National Labor Relations Act

The National Labor Relations Act or Wagner Act , is a 1935 United States federal law that limits the means with which employers may react to workers in the private sector who create labor unions , engage in collective bargaining, and take part in strikes and other forms of concerted activity in...

.

Background

Hearst Publications

Hearst Corporation

The Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...

, the publishers of four daily Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 newspapers, refused to bargain collectively with their newsboy

Newsboy

-Personal nicknames:* "Newsboy", a horse-racing tipster writing in The Daily Mirror* Jeremy Wells, a television personality-Other uses:* Newsvendor model, a demand forecasting model from operations research,...

s. The newsboys filed petitions with the National Labor Relations Board

National Labor Relations Board

The National Labor Relations Board is an independent agency of the United States government charged with conducting elections for labor union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices. Unfair labor practices may involve union-related situations or instances of...

 for certification as a local union. The NLRB found that the newsboys were full-time employees within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act and ordered Hearst to cease violating the Act and bargain with the newsboys. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Alaska* District of Arizona...

 refused to enforce the order, reasoning that the newsboys were independent contractor

Independent contractor

An independent contractor is a natural person, business, or corporation that provides goods or services to another entity under terms specified in a contract or within a verbal agreement. Unlike an employee, an independent contractor does not work regularly for an employer but works as and when...

s, rather than employees.

Decision of the Court

Justice Rutledge, delivering the opinion of the court, ruled that the NLRB's interpretation of the Act was not erroneous. The court held that when an administrative agency engages in "specific application of a broad statutory term in a proceeding in which the agency administering the statute must determine it initially, the reviewing court's function is limited." The newsboys were employees within the meaning of the Act, with whom Hearst was required to collectively bargain.

Dissent

Justice Roberts, dissenting, wrote that "the question of who is an employee, so as to make the statute applicable to him, is a question of the meaning of the Act and, therefore, is a judicial and not an administrative question."

External links