A little over a month after a federal appeals court heard arguments over whether to uphold Judge Susan Richard Nelson’s decision to end the lockout, a decision has been made, once again, in favor of the owners.
The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled on Friday that Judge Nelson’s decision to lift the lockout violated the Norris-LaGuardia Act, which prohibits court decisions that interfere with labor negotiations or strikes--thereby allowing the lockout to continue. The ruling was published in a 34-page document on the Eighth Circuit’s website today.
“We conclude that the injunction did not conform to the provisions of the Norris-LaGuardia Act. . . and we therefore vacate the district court’s order,” the appeals court’s ruling said, per the Washington Post.
Upon hearing the initial arguments in the case on June 3, Judge Kermit Bye urged both sides to work toward a deal outside of court--basically hinting that neither side would like the ruling, and that, if at all possible, that the court would like to avoid having to do so in this case. This makes the timing of the somewhat unsurprising ruling fairly surprising as, judging by reports, the two sides are indeed closing in on an agreement.
The appeals court had previously issued two stays of the injunction granted by Judge Nelson, allowing the lockout to continue before a final ruling was made.
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