## Facts

- Glacier Northwest, Inc., a Washington ready-mix concrete supplier, employed drivers represented by Teamsters Local 174.
- After the collective-bargaining agreement expired, negotiations were contentious.
- Ready-mix concrete is perishable; if not timely unloaded, it can harden, risking damage to trucks and loss of product.
- The union called a strike at a time it allegedly knew Glacier was actively mixing, loading, and delivering concrete.
- Glacier alleged the union instructed drivers to disregard directions to complete deliveries and that at least sixteen drivers returned with fully loaded trucks.
- Glacier managers took emergency steps to unload the concrete to prevent truck damage; trucks were protected, but the day’s concrete hardened and was lost.
- Glacier brought Washington tort claims (including conversion and trespass to chattels) alleging intentional property destruction and failure to take reasonable precautions to protect its property.
- Washington courts ultimately dismissed the property-damage claims as preempted by the NLRA under Garmon; the U.S. Supreme Court reversed and remanded.

## Issues

1. Whether the NLRA, under Garmon preemption, bars state tort claims against a union for property loss tied to the timing and manner of a strike when the conduct is asserted to be “arguably protected” by NLRA § 7.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court reversed the Washington Supreme Court (8–1) and remanded.
- Accepting the complaint’s allegations at the pleading stage, the Court held the union’s conduct was not even arguably protected by NLRA § 7.
- Because the conduct was not arguably protected, Garmon preemption did not require dismissal, and Glacier’s state tort suit could proceed.
- The Court did not decide the merits of Glacier’s tort claims and did not resolve any related proceedings before the NLRB.

## Legal Principles

- Under Garmon, state-law claims are preempted when challenged conduct is arguably protected by NLRA § 7 or arguably prohibited by NLRA § 8, reserving primary authority to the NLRB.
- The right to strike is protected by § 7 but is not absolute; concerted activity that fails to take reasonable precautions against foreseeable, imminent harm to employer property may fall outside § 7 protection.
- State tort remedies are not preempted where the pleaded conduct involves affirmative endangerment of employer property, rather than ordinary economic pressure or incidental loss associated with a work stoppage.
- At the pleading stage, courts may determine that alleged strike conduct is clearly unprotected and therefore outside Garmon’s “arguably protected” threshold.

## Conclusion

The Court held that the NLRA did not preempt Glacier’s state tort claims because the union’s alleged strike tactics created foreseeable, imminent risks to employer property without reasonable precautions, placing the conduct outside even arguable § 7 protection and allowing the state suit to go forward.


Glacier Nw., Inc. v. Teamsters Loc. Union No. 174, 143 S. Ct. 1404 (2023)