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Sure-Tan, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

467 U.S. 883 (1984)

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Sure-Tan, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

United States Supreme Court
467 U.S. 883 (1984)

  • Written by Tammy Boggs, JD

Facts

Employees of Sure-Tan, Inc. (defendant) elected a leather-workers’ union (the union) (plaintiff) to represent employees in collective bargaining. Most of the employees were present illegally in the United States without proper documents that authorized them to work. The president of Sure-Tan, John Surak, was hostile toward and cursed at employees who voted in support of the union. After the union was certified as the employees’ collective-bargaining representative, Surak, who had known for months that most employees were illegal aliens, sent a letter to the federal immigration agency (INS) requesting the agency perform an immigration-status check. In response to Surak’s letter, INS agents soon conducted the immigration-status check, arrested five employees, and accepted the employees’ decision to depart the country in lieu of deportation. The National Labor Relations Board found that Sure-Tan had violated the National Labor Relations Act by requesting an INS investigation on the undocumented-alien employees solely because they had supported the union. The court of appeals affirmed, concluding that Sure-Tan violated the act by constructively discharging the employees. The matter came before the Supreme Court, which was called on to decide whether the act applied to undocumented aliens.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (O’Connor, J.)

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Casebooks

Labor Law

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