Sun-Land Nurseries, Inc., a California Corporation v. Southern California District Council of Laborers

Sun-Land Nurseries, Inc. (Sun-Land) appeals from the district court’s judgment that certain hot cargo agreements fall within the construction industry proviso to section 8(e) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), 29 U.S.C. § 158 (e), and that therefore those agreements are automatically exempt from antitrust scrutiny under sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1 , 2. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

I

Sun-Land is a landscaping company to which general contractors may subcontract work on major construction projects. The present dispute arose after the Teamsters Local 420 (Teamsters) terminated its representation of Sun-Land’s employees either because of an internal power struggle or in the hope of improving its relations with the Southern California District Council of Laborers (Laborers). Toyota Landscape Co. v. Building Material & Dump Truck Drivers Local No. 420, 726 F.2d 525, 527, 529 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 105 S.Ct. 104 , 83 L.Ed.2d 49 (1984) {Toyota). Sun-Land brought suit against the Teamsters, and we ultimately held that the termination constituted a violation of the collective…