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Craig Hukill
T he Supreme Court began its 1990-91 term without Justice William Brennan, who resigned in July after sitting on the High Court for nearly 34 years. Justice Brennan, who served longer than all but four Justices in the Court's history, was replaced by Federal Appeals Court Judge David Souter. Judge Souter was confirmed overwhelmingly by the U.S. Senate on October 9 and was sworn in as the 105th Justice of the Supreme Court.
Along with a new Justice, the 1990-91 term brought cases presenting a wide variety labor-related issues. By the time the Court adjourns next summer, cases involving the safety, health, and civil rights of workers, the right of unions to limit the distribution of union election campaign literature, the right of employees to sue their employers for employment contract violations, and many others will be briefed, argued, and considered. What follows are summaries of the issues in these and other important cases.1
Labor-management relations
On October 10, 1990, the Court heard arguments in Groves
v. Ring Screw Works,2 a case in which
the court must interpret section 301 of the Labor Management
Relations Act.3
This Federal law permits a worker to sue his or
her employer in Federal court for violating the terms of a
collective bargaining agreement. One exception to this right to
sue is where the collective bargaining agreement between the
union and the company provides an exclusive process for resolving
contract grievances. In this case, the agreed-upon process must
be used.4
This excerpt is from an article published in the January 1991 issue of the Monthly Labor Review. The full text of the article is available in Adobe Acrobat's Portable Document Format (PDF). See How to view a PDF file for more information.
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Footnotes
1 As its term progresses, the Court is expected to agree
to hear additional cases. Some of these cases undoubtedly will
raise issues that are of interest to those who follow labor law
developments. For example, shortly after this article was
submitted for publication, the Court agreed to hear Litton
Financial Printing Div. v. NLRB, 893 F.2d 1128 (9th Cir.
1990), cert. granted, 59 U.S.L.W. 3362 (U.S. Nov 13,
1990) (No. 90-285), which raises the issue of whether
8(a)(5)(1988), requires an employer to abide by expired
collective bargaining agreement provisions, and Pauley v.
Bethenergy Mines, Inc., 890 F.2d 1295 (3d Cir. 1989), cert.
granted, 59 U.S.L.W. 3325 (U.S. Oct. 29, 1990) (No. 1714),
which raises complex questions pertaining to the Black Lung
Benefits Act, 30 U.S.C. 901 (1988). The Court also has agreed
recently to decide whether a Missouri State constitutional
provision requiring appointed judges to retire at 70 violates
either the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. 621
(1988), or the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constipation.
See Gregory v Ashcroft, 898 F.2d 598 (8th Cir. 1990),cert.granted,
59 U.S.L.W. 3391 (U.S. Nov. 26, 1990) (No. 90-50)
2 882 F.2d 1081 (6th Cir. 1989), cert. granted, 110 S. Ct. 1469 (1990) (No. 89-1166). Shortly before this article went to press, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in this case which reversed the appellate courts decision. See 59 U.S.L.W. 4043 (U.S. Dec. 10, 1990).
3 29 U.S.C. 185 (1988)
4 See Republic Steel Corp. v Maddox, 379 U.S. 650 (1965)
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