TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Paul Burch on Jun 1, 2023

The U.S. Supreme Court voted 8-1 today to overturn a decision by the Washington Supreme Court that said a lawsuit filed by concrete company Glacier Northwest Inc. against a local affiliate of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters was preempted by the National Labor Relations Act, reported Reuters. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for the majority, said the union’s failure to protect the company’s property before striking "posed a risk of foreseeable, aggravated and imminent harm to Glacier's trucks." Glacier is seeking to bypass federal labor law and sue the union in state court for the destruction of property caused by striking workers. The Biden administration had urged the justices to reverse the lower court's decision, allowing Glacier Northwest's lawsuit to proceed.