Local Joint Exec. Bd. v. Nationwide Downtowner Motor Inns
United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri
229 F. Supp. 413 (1964)
- Written by Katrina Sumner, JD
Facts
A union, Local Joint Executive Board (the union) (plaintiff), sued Nationwide Downtowner Motor Inns (Nationwide) (defendant), seeking specific performance of a contract signed by Nationwide’s general manager, John Nichols, Jr. The contract, referred to as the green contract, was an agreement for labor using a document typically used by the union and members of the local hotel association. After Nichols signed the green contract, Nationwide’s vice president informed Nichols that he lacked authorization to have entered into a collective-bargaining agreement such as the green contract. However, as general manager, Nichols had been tasked with getting Nationwide operational as soon as the facilities were finished. Nichols had been given authority to provide union-level compensation and to join the local association of hotels, which had a master agreement with the union, on Nationwide’s behalf. Nationwide failed to perform under the contract, and the union filed suit against Nationwide. Nationwide argued that it did not have to honor the contract, because Nichols did not have the authority to enter into the contract. Nationwide argued that Nichols did not have apparent authority and asserted that he lacked inherent agency power. Nationwide argued that even if Nichols had authority, the signing of an agreement as unique as a collective-bargaining agreement was outside the scope of Nichols’s apparent authority.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Gibson, C.J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 804,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.