McLaughlin Secretary of Labor v. Service Employees Union, Afl-Cio, Local 280

The Secretary of Labor (Secretary) appeals from portions of the final judgment in this matter granting the application of the Service Employees Union, AFL-CIO, Local 280 (Local 280), requesting a protective order. We must decide whether a district court may restrict an administrative agency’s discretion concerning a con-gressionally authorized investigation of a union’s records in the absence of any evidence that issuance of a protective order is necessary to protect the first amendment rights of the Union and its members. We reverse those portions of the protective order appealed by the Secretary.

I

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The district court did not conduct an evi-dentiary hearing in this matter. The facts were presented to the court through declarations filed by the parties.

On March 31, 1986, a member of Local 280 contacted Steven Stecher, an investigator in the Los Angeles area Office of Labor Management Standards, Department of Labor, to report the misuse of credit cards by union officers. The union member informed Stecher that an investigation by a five-member committee found that the union’s credit cards were misused, financial records were blacked out, and other relevant…