41 U.S.C. § 39
Section 39 · Hearings on Walsh-Healey provisions by Secretary of Labor; witness fees; failure to obey order; punishment
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 32 court decisions — leading case Cudahy Packing Co. v. Holland (1942)
Most recently applied in Merck & Cie v. Gnosis S.P.A. (April 2016)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Upon his own motion or on application of any person affected by any ruling of any agency of the United States in relation to any proposal or contract involving any of the provisions of sections 35 to 45 of this title, and on complaint of a breach or violation of any representation or stipulation as provided in said sections, the Secretary of Labor, or an impartial representative designated by him, shall have the power to hold hearings and to issue orders requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of evidence under oath. Witnesses shall be paid the same fees and mileage that are paid witnesses in the courts of the United States. In case of contumacy, failure, or refusal of any person to obey such an order, any District Court of the United States or of any Territory or possession within the jurisdiction of which the inquiry is carried on, or within the jurisdiction of which said person who is guilty of contumacy, failure, or refusal is found, or resides or transacts business, upon the application by the Secretary of Labor or representative designated by him, shall have jurisdiction to issue to such person an order requiring such person to appear before him or representative designated by him, to produce evidence if, as, and when so ordered, and to give testimony relating to the matter under investigation or in question; and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by said court as a contempt thereof; and shall make findings of fact after notice and hearing, which findings shall be conclusive upon all agencies of the United States, and if supported by the preponderance of the evidence, shall be conclusive in any court of the United States; and the Secretary of Labor or authorized representative shall have the power, and is authorized, to make such decisions, based upon findings of fact, as are deemed to be necessary to enforce the provisions of sections 35 to 45 of this title.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
As originally enacted, the words “, or the district court of the United States for the District of Columbia,” were set out following “Territory or possession”. Act June 25, 1948, as amended by act May 24, 1949, substituted “United States District Court for the District of Columbia” for “district court of the United States for the District of Columbia”. The words “United States District Court for the District of Columbia” have been deleted entirely as superfluous in view of section 132(a) of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure, which states that “There shall be in each judicial district a district court which shall be a court of record known as the United States District Court for the district”, and section 88 of title 28 which states that “the District of Columbia constitutes one judicial district”.
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
Findings by the Court, see rule 52, Title 28, Appendix, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Subpoena, see rule 45.
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
Contempt, see rule 42, Title 18, Appendix, Crimes and Criminal Procedure.
Subpoena, see rule 17.
Cross References
Criminal contempt, see sections 401, 402, 3285, 3691 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure.
Exemptions and exceptions to section 35 of this title, see note set out under that section.
Per diem and mileage of witnesses, see section 1821 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.