Dofflemyer v. National Labor Relations Board. National Labor Relations Board v. Dofflemyer

The petitioners ask us to set aside an order of the National Labor Relations Board, and the Board in turn seeks enforcement. The order proceeds on a finding that an employee of petitioners, one Flossie Baty, who worked as a packer in petitioners’ grape packing shed, was discharged because her sou had participated in concert with some other employees in a walkout following an unsuccessful wage demand. Petitioners contend that Mrs. Baty was not discharged but merely quit through sympathy with those who walked off the job. However, their main contention, and the only one we shall notice, is that their activities are agricultural and as such beyond the jurisdiction of the Board.

The petitioners, who were proceeded against individually and as copartners, are W. Todd Dofflemyer, his brother Lewis L. Dofflemyer, and the former’s son, Robert T. Dofflemyer. As partners under the name of Dofflemyer Bros, they own and operate a packing shed and storage plant. Here they pack and store grapes grown on adjoining lands, some 80 acres in extent, which they own and operate individually or in partnership. Petitioners do not serve others but pack and ship only the product of their own lands.

The…