In what may be the final chapter in a construction case that started 20 years ago, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled in favor of contractor BE&K Construction Co. and against organized labor. In a 3–2 decision issued Sept. 29, NLRB ruled that filing a “reasonably based” lawsuit does not violate the National Labor Relations Act, even if the suit could be viewed as retaliatory. One of the legal battle’s many stops was at the U.S. Supreme Court, which issued a 2002 ruling that laid the groundwork for NLRB’s decision.
Writing for the majority, NLRB’s Republican members, Chairman Robert J. Battista, Peter C. Schaumber and Peter N. Kirsanow, said that “the filing and maintenance of a reasonably based lawsuit does not violate the [NLRA], regardless of whether the lawsuit is ongoing or is completed and regardless of the motive for initiating the lawsuit.”