Sheet Metal Workers' International Assn. et al. v. LYNN (488 U.S. 347)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 18, 1989 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 488 U.S. 347 · 109 S. Ct. 639
- Decided
- January 18, 1989
- Term
- October Term 1988
- Vote
- 8–0
- Majority author
- Justice Marshall
- Issue area
- Unions
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court. In Finnegan v. Leu, 456 U. S. 431 (1982), we held that the discharge of a union’s appointed business agents by the union president, following his election over the incumbent for whom the business agents had campaigned, did not violate the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA or Act), 73 Stat. 519, 29 U. S. C. § 401 et seq. The question presented in this case is whether the removal of an elected business agent, in retaliation for statements he made at a union meeting in opposition to a dues increase sought by the union trustee, violated the LMRDA. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the LMRDA protected the business agent from removal under these circumstances. We granted certiorari to address this important issue concerning the internal governance of labor unions, 485 U. S. 958 (1988), and now affirm. I In June 1981, respondent Edward Lynn was elected to a 3-year term as a business representative of petitioner Local 75 of the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association (Local), an affiliate of petitioner Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association (International). Lynn was instrumental in organizing fellow members of the Local who were concerned about a financial crisis plaguing the Local. These members, who called themselves the Sheet Metal Club Local 75 (Club),published…
Excerpt of a 24,892-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.