## Facts

- Apex Hosiery Company manufactured hosiery at a Philadelphia plant and sold and shipped products in interstate commerce.
- Union officials and workers conducted an organizing campaign at the plant that culminated in a sit-down strike and occupation of the premises.
- The strike halted production and temporarily prevented shipment of Apex’s hosiery.
- Apex alleged the strike involved coercive and destructive conduct associated with the work stoppage.
- Apex sued union officials and participants under the Sherman Act, seeking treble damages based on an alleged conspiracy restraining interstate commerce.

## Issues

1. Whether a sit-down strike and plant occupation that stops production and blocks interstate shipment of the employer’s goods can constitute a “conspiracy in restraint of trade” under the Sherman Act.
2. Whether union activity undertaken for labor objectives may fall within the Sherman Act when it substantially interferes with interstate commerce.

## Decision

- The Third Circuit concluded that the alleged union conduct could fall within the Sherman Act because it directly restrained interstate commerce in Apex’s hosiery.
- The court treated interference with the flow of goods in interstate channels as sufficient to support an antitrust restraint theory, despite the labor character of the dispute.
- The court’s ruling permitted Apex’s antitrust damages theory to go forward on the view that obstructing interstate shipments could constitute an actionable restraint of trade.

## Legal Principles

- A combination that directly interferes with interstate movement of goods may be treated as a restraint of trade for Sherman Act purposes, even if the conduct arises from a labor dispute.
- Labor-related motives do not automatically remove conduct from Sherman Act scrutiny when the alleged effect is substantial interference with interstate commerce.
- Private antitrust plaintiffs may seek treble damages when they plausibly allege injury caused by an actionable restraint of trade affecting interstate commerce.

## Conclusion

The Third Circuit construed the Sherman Act broadly to reach union strike conduct that halted production and obstructed interstate shipments, allowing an employer to pursue treble damages on a restraint-of-commerce theory even though the dispute was directed at labor objectives.


Apex Hosiery Co. v. Leader, 102 F.2d 702 (3d Cir. 1939)