Sewell Manufacturing Co.

138 N.L.R.B. 66 (1962)

From our private database of 46,500+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Sewell Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board
138 N.L.R.B. 66 (1962)

Facts

Sewell Manufacturing Company (Sewell) (defendant) was an employer in rural Georgia. In 1961, two weeks before a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election to determine whether a union could represent Sewell’s employees as their bargaining representative, Sewell mailed employees (1) a picture of a Black man dancing with a White woman, with a caption indicating that the union pushed for and endorsed federal antidiscrimination efforts, (2) a copy of a newspaper article with a large photograph of a White man—identified as a union leader—dancing with a Black woman, above an article identifying “race mixing” as an issue surrounding the election, and (3) other racially inflammatory material. The union petitioned the NLRB to set aside the election because of Sewell’s preelection mailings, but the NLRB’s regional director refused. The director noted that the NLRB had repeatedly refused to condone employers’ appeals to religious and racial prejudices but found that the items disseminated by Sewell had not exceeded permissible levels of preelection propaganda. The director cited a previous NLRB decision in which the NLRB had held that mentioning racial issues during an election campaign was not per se improper and had allowed an employer to send employees a letter describing a union as being strongly pro-integration because the letter was temperate in tone and factually correct. The union appealed the director’s decision.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning ()

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 832,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 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.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,500 briefs - keyed to 994 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership