Ralphs Grocery Co. v. U. Food and Commercial Workers Union CA5

Filed 4/10/13 Ralphs Grocery Co. v. U. Food and Commercial Workers Union CA5

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

RALPHS GROCERY COMPANY, F058716 Plaintiff and Appellant, (Super. Ct. No. 09CECG00349) v.

UNITED FOOD AND COMMERCIAL OPINION WORKERS UNION LOCAL 8,

Defendant and Respondent.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Fresno County. Donald R. Franson, Jr., Judge. Morrison & Foerster, Miriam A. Vogel, Timothy F. Ryan, and Tritia M. Murata for Plaintiff and Appellant. Littler Mendelson, William J. Emanuel, Natalie Rainforth for Employers Group, California Grocers Association, and California Hospital Association as Amici Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Appellant. Davis, Cowell & Bowe, Elizabeth A. Lawrence, Andrew J. Kahn, Sarah Grossman-Swenson, and Paul L. More for Defendant and Respondent. Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Manuel M. Medeiros, Solicitor General, J. Matthew Rodriguez, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Louis Verdugo, Jr., Assistant

Attorney General, Angela Sierra and Antonette Benita Cordero, Deputy Attorneys General, for Attorney General Edmund G. Brown, Jr., as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Respondent. Altshuler Berzon, Stephen P. Berzon, Scott A. Kronland, and P. Casey Pitts for Service Employees International Union as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Respondent. -ooOoo- This is an appeal from an order denying appellant’s request for a preliminary injunction. An order denying a preliminary injunction is appealable. (Code Civ. Proc., § 904.1, subd. (a)(6); see Right Site Coalition v. Los Angeles Unified School Dist. (2008) 160 Cal.App.4th 336, 338, fn. 1.) Appellant, plaintiff Ralphs Grocery Company, contends two California laws protecting labor picketing violate constitutional protections of free speech. HISTORY Appellant operates a large grocery store in Fresno under the name Foods Co. The store is in a commercial shopping center and the store entrance is separated from the center’s parking lot by a narrow sidewalk. The employees of the Fresno Foods Co store are not employed under a union contract. Beginning in October 2008, non-employee representatives of respondent, defendant United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 8, began an informational picket line in front of the Foods Co store. Although the record is not fully developed on this point, it appears the picketing involved carrying placards, distributing leaflets, and attempting to engage Foods Co shoppers in conversations to inform them that Foods Co workers did not receive the benefits they would under a union contract. In addition, there were allegations of confrontations between picketers and store employees and of occasional aggressive efforts by picketers to give handbills to customers who were not willing to receive them.