Allen v. Grand Central Aircraft Co.

At the start of the Korean War, Congress enacted the Defense Production Act of 1950, creating a system of wage and price controls. The president created the Wage Stabilization Board (the board) (plaintiff) to enforce the wage controls, and the board created the National Enforcement Commission (the commission) to determine whether wage violations identified by the board had actually occurred. Grand Central Aircraft Co. (Grand Central) (defendant) produced and repaired aircraft. The board filed a complaint with the commission against Grand Central, alleging that Grand Central had enacted an unlawful wage increase. Before a hearing a held, Grand Central filed a lawsuit in federal district court to enjoin the hearing, arguing that the president was not authorized by the Defense Production Act to create the board to enforce wage controls. Grand Central asserted that the power to enforce the Defense Production Act was instead vested in federal district courts. To support its claim for injunctive relief, Grand Central argued that it would suffer irreparable harm if it was forced to go through the proposed hearing before the commission. The district court enjoined the hearing. The board appealed, arguing that a hearing had to be held before Grand Central could claim that it had suffered irreparable harm. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.