ADMINISTRATIVE LAW - DOCTRINE OF PRIOR RESORT - RESORT TO THE RAILWAY ADJUSTMENT BOARD BEFORE COURT SUIT

In 1937 the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, a party to a collective bargaining agreement which protected the seniority rights of the company's employees, rehired one of its old employees and put his name on the seniority list ahead of those of the plaintiffs, who were hired in 1924. For breach of the agreement the plaintiffs brought suit in the Georgia court without first applying for relief to the National Railway Adjustment Board, which has jurisdiction over disputes relating to the interpretation and application of such agreements. Held, that the jurisdiction of the board does not prevent recourse to the courts in the first instance. Evans v. Louisville & Nashville R.R., (Ga.

1940) 12 S. E. (2d) 611.