Loewe v. Lawlor, 208 US 274 (1908)

The Danbury Hatter Case is the popular name for Loewe v. Lawlor, (1908), a Lochner-era US Supreme Court case that undermined labor unions' attempts at influencing working conditions during the United States' Second industrial Revolution, which ran from approximately 1897-1937.

In 1902, hat manufacturer Dietrich Loewe of Danbury, Connecticut, made news by refusing to recognize the Hatter's Union that was attempting to organize labor in his town. Most of the union members went on strike, hoping to extract higher wages from Loewe. When Loewe reopened the factory with non-union workers, the Hatter's union organized a boycott of Loewe's hats that spread to other states.

Loewe filed suit against the union for restraint of trade in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. The US Supreme Court issued an injunction against the union in 1908, and later fined them treble damages (1915) for their actions.

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