Superior Court of San Francisco

Procedural Posture

Defendants, labor organization and officers, appealed an order from the Superior Court of San Francisco (California), which granted a writ of mandate directing defendants to admit plaintiff projectionists to full journeyman membership and an injunction to restrain defendants from interfering with the projectionists' employment.
 
Overview: code of civil procedure section 1162

The projectionists sought a writ of mandate compelling defendants to admit them to membership and an injunction to restrain defendants from preventing their employment in defendants' jurisdiction. The lower court granted the relief and defendants appealed alleging, inter alia, that the lower court erred because the projectionists failed to show that they were willing to comply with defendants' requirements or that such requirements were unreasonable. The court reversed the judgment holding that the projectionists failed to carry their burden of proving that they were entitled to membership and that the same was closed to them arbitrarily. The court found that defendants had the right to reject persons who refused to abide by any reasonable regulation and that in order to secure membership, the projectionists had to apply on an official form or submit a transfer card, which the projectionists admitted they failed to do. The court determined that a finding that defendants told the projectionists it was useless to apply was insufficient to entitle the projectionists to judgment because they failed to prove compliance with application terms and did not offer to so comply.
 
Outcome
The court reversed a judgment mandating defendants to admit the projectionists as members and enjoining defendants from interfering with the projectionists' employment within defendants' jurisdiction.