Labor Contract Formation, Tenuous Torts, and the Realpolitik of Justice Sotomayor on the 50th Anniversary of the Steelworkers Trilogy: Granite Rock v. Teamsters

Abstract

Since its passage in 1947, the Supreme Court has understood Section 301(a) of the Labor-Management Relations Act as a Congressional mandate to create a body of federal common law regulating private sector labor management disputes arising out of collective bargaining agreements. In light of this established labor law jurisprudence and the 50th anniversary of the landmark Steel Workers Trilogy, this past Term Granite Rock v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters opted for stability, declining to recognize a federal tort claim arising under Section 301(a). The Court was anything but definitive, deeming it premature to consider the tort dimension. This article focuses especially on why the Court should have taken the opportunity to define whether Section 301(a)’s scope extended to tort claims.