NLRB v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp.
| National Labor Relations Board v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corporation | |
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| Argued January 12–13, 1939 Decided February 27, 1939 |
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| Full case name | National Labor Relations Board v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corporation |
| Citations | 306 U.S. 240 (more)
59 S. Ct. 490; 83 L. Ed. 627; 1939 U.S. LEXIS 1092; 1 Lab. Cas. (CCH) P17,042; 123 A.L.R. 599; 4 L.R.R.M. 515
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| Prior history | On appeal from the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit |
| Holding | |
| National Labor Relations Act does not confer authority to order an employer to reinstate workers fired after illegal activity, even if the employer's own illegal actions triggered that activity. | |
| Court membership | |
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| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Hughes, joined by McReynolds, Butler, Roberts |
| Concurrence | Stone |
| Dissent | Reed, joined by Black |
| Frankfurter took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
| Laws applied | |
| National Labor Relations Act | |
National Labor Relations Board v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corporation, 306 U.S. 240 (1939), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the National Labor Relations Board had no authority to order an employer to reinstate workers fired after a sit-down strike, even if the employer's illegal actions triggered that strike.
In the summer of 1936, workers at Fansteel Metallurgical Corporation's plant near Chicago, Illinois, attempted to form a union. Fansteel infiltrated a labor spy into the union, who committed espionage against the union. Although the union attempted to meet several times with the plant superintendent to negotiate a contract, each time the employer refused. The employer established a company union in an attempt to weaken support for the independent union, but this failed. On February 17, 1937, the frustrated union announced a sit-down strike and seized a portion of the plant. The employer won an injunction ordering the union men to vacate the premises, which they ignored. An attempt by sheriff's deputies to eject the men on February 19 failed, but a second attempt on February 26 was successful. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) held on March 14, 1938, that Fansteel had to reinstate 90 of the workers because the company had violated the Act first (precipitating the sit-down strike).
Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes wrote the decision for the majority, joined by Associate Justices James Clark McReynolds, Pierce Butler, and Owen Roberts. Hughes held that a sit-down strike was "good cause" for discharging the workers, and that the National Labor Relations Act did not give the NLRB the authority to force an employer to rehire workers who had violated the law. The majority also held that the NLRB could not order an employer to bargain with the union in the absence of evidence that the union has the support of a majority of the workers, even though the employer has engaged in illegal activity which may have undermined that pro-union support.
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