From: "Joseph M. Reagle Jr." <reagle@rpcp.mit.edu>
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 1996 03:06:02 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Court rules faxes are not binding
Message-ID: <2.2.32.19960822150702.0072b21c@206.33.128.129>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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>	CINCINNATI, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- A federal appellate court in Cincinnati  
>ruled this week that faxes are not necessarily legally binding if the 
>receiving party does not know the communication is coming. 
>	The case stemmed from a 1991-92 strike by 200 Clow Water System Co.  
>workers who were represented by the United Steelworkers. 
>	The court ruled the Coshocton company, a division of McWane Inc., did  
>not violate federal labor law when it hired replacement workers after 
>the union transmitted an unconditional fax offer to return to work in 
>February 1992. 
>	The union sent its offer by fax at 4:35 p.m. on a Friday, 25 minutes  
>before the plant closed for the day. The intended recipient claimed he 
>checked for any communications at 4:30, and when he saw there weren't 
>any, went home. 
>	On Saturday, Clow hired 80 replacement workers.  
>	The National Labor Relations Board later held that actual knowledge  
>of the fax was not required. The board said the parties had communicated 
>by facsimile during their negotiations, and that the facsimile was sent 
>and received. 
>	But the appellate court said the union had sent only four facsimile  
>transmissions during 13 months of negotiations. 
>	``All of these facsimiles contained contract proposals -- a  
>communication intended to be examined and considered, not a 
>communication having legal import in and of itself,'' the court said, 
>ordering the NLRB ruling against Clow must be re-evaluated. 
>	The court said facsimile and electronic mail are becoming  
>increasingly common forms of business communication, however, both 
>parties must agree to the use of such media and must be notified when 
>messages are sent. 
>	``The critical part of this case is that (the fax) was sent only 25  
>minutes before the plant closed,'' David Peck, a lawyer with Taft, 
>Stettinius & Hollister, the law firm that represented Clow, told United 
>Press International Wednesday. ``Normal courtesy is to call first and 
>again after to confirm that a fax has been received.'' 
>	The union claimed Clow committed an unfair labor practice by  
>permanently replacing economic strikers after the union made an 
>unconditional offer, as required by federal law, to return to work. 
>	But the court said the fax transmission itself wasn't the issue.  
>	``The key to this case is simply fair notice,'' the court said in its  
>decision. ``If the parties did not agree to the method of communication 
>utilized, and if there is no pattern of conduct reflecting acquiescence 
>to the method of communication utilized, we will not impute notice of 
>the communication to the recipient. 
>	``Communication by facsimile has simplified and streamlined the way  
>in which business in conducted in this country,'' the court added. 
>``This technological advance provides a valuable service and benefit, 
>and our holding should not be taken as an indication that parties should 
>not use facsimiles to conduct their affairs.'' 
>--	 
>		   C O P Y R I G H T * R E M I N D E R 	
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_______________________
Regards,            Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. 
		    -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Joseph  Reagle      http://rpcp.mit.edu/~reagle/home.html
reagle@mit.edu      E0 D5 B2 05 B6 12 DA 65  BE 4D E3 C1 6A 66 25 4E