## Facts

- Unions petitioned the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to represent lay teachers at Catholic secondary schools operated by the Catholic Bishop of Chicago and the Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend.
- The schools objected that the NLRB lacked statutory jurisdiction and that applying the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) would create First Amendment problems under the Religion Clauses.
- The NLRB asserted jurisdiction using its policy distinguishing “completely religious” schools from those deemed “religiously associated,” certified the unions, and issued cease-and-desist orders when the schools refused to bargain.
- The Seventh Circuit denied enforcement, concluding the Board’s “completely religious” approach was unworkable and that the Religion Clauses foreclosed jurisdiction.
- The Supreme Court granted certiorari to determine whether the NLRA authorizes NLRB jurisdiction over lay teachers in church-operated schools.

## Issues

1. Whether the NLRA authorizes NLRB jurisdiction over lay teachers employed by church-operated schools that provide both secular and religious instruction.
2. Whether construing the NLRA to confer such jurisdiction would raise serious First Amendment concerns, warranting application of the constitutional-avoidance canon.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court affirmed the denial of enforcement of the NLRB’s orders.
- The Court held that church-operated schools teaching both secular and religious subjects are not within the jurisdiction conferred by the NLRA.
- The Court resolved the case on statutory grounds and did not issue a definitive constitutional ruling.
- The Court found that NLRB jurisdiction would create a significant risk of entanglement by requiring governmental inquiry into matters connected to the schools’ religious mission.
- The Court concluded that neither the NLRA’s text nor its legislative history showed an affirmative congressional intent to include church-operated schools, and the Court would not interpret the statute to force resolution of sensitive Religion Clauses questions absent a clear statement.

## Legal Principles

- Courts will not construe a statute to reach conduct that raises serious constitutional questions unless Congress clearly expressed an intent to do so.
- Absent a clear congressional statement, the NLRA does not extend NLRB jurisdiction to lay teachers in church-operated elementary and secondary schools that provide religious instruction.
- Government-administered collective-bargaining oversight in a religious school setting risks excessive entanglement where employment terms and disputes may be tied to religious doctrine, curriculum, or mission.
- Administrative standards requiring the government to classify institutions by degree of religiosity risk constitutionally problematic inquiry and are not a sufficient basis to infer statutory coverage.

## Conclusion

The Court refused to interpret the NLRA to authorize NLRB regulation of lay-teacher labor relations in church-operated schools without a clear congressional directive, relying on constitutional avoidance given the serious risk of Religion Clauses entanglement from ongoing labor-board supervision in a religious educational setting.


Nat'l Lab. Rels. Bd. v. Cath. Bishop of Chi., 440 U.S. 490 (1979)