Supreme Court Says Labor Unions Cannot Destroy Employer Property Without Consequences

The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a decision that said labor unions cannot intentionally destroy employer property without consequences.

As the California Policy Center explained, the case, Glacier Northwest v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local Union 174, concerned a lawsuit brought by concrete company Glacier Northwest against the local Teamsters Union in Washington state. When Glacier drivers who were members of Local Union 174 had walked off the job to strike, the company was left to figure out how to get the concrete out of the trucks before it dried. Though Glacier successfully offloaded the concrete, the company sued the union in state court for tort damages for the lost product.

At issue in the case was whether this lawsuit was lawful or whether the matter should instead be considered a labor dispute under the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which oversees collective bargaining and enforces the National Labor Relations Act (NRLA).

In the nearly unanimous 8-1 decision, the court held the NLRA does not preempt state tort law, meaning companies can seek damages for the intentional destruction of their property even during labor disputes. In the majority ruling, the court noted that while the NLRA protects the right to strike “this right is not absolute.”

The majority also said NLRA “does not shield strikers who fail to take ‘reasonable precautions’ to protect their employer’s property from foreseeable, aggravated, and imminent danger due to the sudden cessation of work.”