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 La- >or, 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…