Supreme Court of the United States

International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (uaw-Cio) V…

May 26, 1958356 U.S. 634

Summary

The Court held that federal labor law did not preempt an employee's Alabama tort action seeking compensatory and punitive damages from a union whose violent mass picketing prevented him from reaching work. The National Labor Relations Board's discretionary authority to award back pay was not an exclusive substitute for state-law damages, and the state remedy did not conflict with federally established rights or duties. Chief Justice Warren, joined by Justice Douglas, dissented, concluding that state damages would duplicate or undermine the federal labor-regulation scheme.

Holding

  • State-court jurisdiction over the tort action. Federal labor law did not preempt the state court's jurisdiction over Russell's common-law tort action for damages caused by violent mass picketing and threats that prevented him from working.
  • Recovery of lost wages despite possible Board back-pay authority. The possibility that the Board could award back pay did not make its remedy exclusive or preempt a state tort action seeking lost wages.
  • State authority to award punitive damages. Federal labor law did not preempt the state court's authority to award punitive damages for the union's willful and malicious tortious conduct.

Docket 21

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