Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 174, 598 U.S. 771 (2023) was a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States related to federal labor law, concerning the power of employers to sue labor unions regarding destruction of employer property following a strike. In an 8–1 decision, the Court acknowledged that the right to strike is not absolute, and concluded that the National Labor Relations Act did not preempt lawsuits filed against the union, thus allowing litigation to continue.
Background Glacier Northwest delivers concrete to customers in the State of Washington using ready-mix trucks with rotating drums that prevent the concrete from hardening during transit. Concrete is highly perishable, and even concrete in a rotating drum will eventually harden, causing significant damage to the vehicle. Glacier's truck drivers are members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 174. After a collective-bargaining agreement between Glacier and the Union expired, the Union called for a work stoppage on a morning it knew the company was in the midst of mixing substantial amounts of concrete, loading batches into ready-mix trucks, and making deliveries. The Union directed drivers to ignore Glacier's instructions to finish deliveries in progress. At least 16 drivers who had already set out for deliveries returned with fully loaded trucks. By initiating emergency maneuvers to offload the concrete, Glacier prevented significant damage to its trucks, but all the concrete mixed that day hardened and became useless. Glacier sued the Union for damages in state court, claiming that the Union intentionally destroyed the company's concrete and that this conduct amounted to common-law conversion and trespass to chattels. The Union moved to dismiss Glacier's tort claims on the ground that the National Labor Relations Act preempted them. While a federal law generally preempts state law when the two conflict, the NLRA preempts state law even when the two only arguably conflict. In the Union's view, the NLRA—which protects employees’ rights “to selforganization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations,...and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection”—at least arguably protected the drivers’ conduct, so the State lacked the power to hold the Union accountable for any of the strike's consequences. The Washington Supreme Court agreed with the Union, reasoning that “the NLRA preempts Glacier’s tort claims related to the loss of its concrete product because that loss was incidental to a strike arguably protected by federal law.”
Supreme Court
Amicus briefs A number of organizations filed amicus briefs, or "friend of the court" filings, in the case when it came before the Supreme Court. Among the organizations that filed amicus briefs in support of the plaintiff, Glacier, were the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, the Landmark Legal Foundation, the United States Chamber of Commerce, and the Buckeye Institute. Amicus briefs in support of the defendant, by contrast, included UNITE HERE International, SMART International, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, and the AFL-CIO.
Opinion of the Court On June 1, 2023, the Supreme Court reversed and remanded the judgment of the Washington Supreme Court in an 8–1 vote, finding that the NLRA does not preempt claims for intentional destruction of property. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the controlling majority opinion, joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Kavanaugh. The majority found that the union's "actions not only resulted in the destruction of all the concrete Glacier had prepared that day; they also posed a risk of foreseeable, aggravated, and imminent harm to Glacier’s trucks. Because the Union took affirmative steps to endanger Glacier’s property rather than reasonable precautions to mitigate that risk, the NLRA does not arguably protect its conduct," the decision said. Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Thomas and Gorsuch, concurred in the judgment. Justice Thomas, joined by Justice Gorsuch, also filed an opinion concurring in the judgment. These justices agreed with the majority that the conduct of the union was not protected—but would have resolved the case on broader grounds. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson filed the sole dissenting opinion. Jackson argued that the Court "fails, in multiple respects, to heed Congress’s intent with respect to the Board's primary role in adjudicating labor disputes." Jackson also added that the decision will likely create confusion for the lower courts and "risk the erosion of the right to strike."
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