Be & K Construction Company v. National Labor Relations Board et al. (536 U.S. 516)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 24, 2002 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 536 U.S. 516 · 122 S. Ct. 2390
- Decided
- June 24, 2002
- Term
- October Term 2001
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice O'Connor
- Issue area
- Unions
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice O’Connor delivered the opinion of the Court. Petitioner sued respondent unions, claiming that their lobbying, litigation, and other concerted activities violated federal labor law and antitrust law. After petitioner lost on or withdrew each of its elaims, the National Labor Relations Board decided petitioner had violated federal labor law by prosecuting an unsuccessful suit with a retaliatory motive. The Court of Appeals affirmed. Because we find the Board lacked authority to assess liability using this standard, we reverse and remand. I Petitioner, an industrial general contractor, received a contract to modernize a California steel mill near the beginning of 1987. 246 F. 3d 619, 621 (CA6 2001). According to petitioner, various unions attempted to delay the project because petitioner’s employees were nonunion. Ibid. That September, petitioner and the mill operator filed suit against those unions in the District Court for the Northern District of California. App. to Pet. for Cert. 33a. The suit was based on the following basic allegations: First, the unions had lobbied for adoption and enforcement of an emissions standard, despite having no real concern the project would harm the environment. 246 F. 3d, at 621. Second, the unions had handbilled and picketed at petitioner’s site — and also encouraged strikes among the employees of petitioner’s subcontractors — without…
Excerpt of a 35,428-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.