Watsonville Canning & Frozen Food Co. v. Superior Court

When a labor dispute between Watsonville Canning and Frozen Food Co., Inc., and Local 912 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters culminated in a strike by members of Local 912, Watsonville Canning obtained a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction which among other things prohibited Local 912 from resorting to violence. Subsequently Watsonville Canning initiated contempt proceedings against Local 912 and several individuals (collectively Local 912) for alleged violations of the court orders. Local 912 demurred; respondent superior court sustained the demurrers in part, finding that two subparagraphs of the underlying injunctive orders were “unconstitutionally broad.” By petition for a peremptory writ of mandate in the first instance, Watsonville Canning seeks review of respondent court’s order. We conclude that the demurrers should have been overruled.

Respondent court issued a total of four injunctive orders relevant to the contempt proceeding: The temporary restraining order (dated Sept. 9, 1985), the initial preliminary injunction (filed Sept. 20), and two modified preliminary injunctions (filed Oct. 17 and Nov. 18). The two subparagraphs in…