Find Court Cases > Lechmere Inc. v. NLRB

Lechmere Inc. v. NLRB

Case Date: 11/12/1991
Docket No: none

Facts of the Case 

Lechmere owned and operated a large retail store in a shopping plaza. Nonemployee union organizers campaigned to organize the store employees by entering the company's parking lot and placing handbills on car windshields. Lechmere prohibited solicitation and literature distribution on its property. The union organizers persisted in their leafleting campaign despite continued objections from Lechmere. The union filed an unfair labor practice charge against Lechmere. An NLRB judge ruled in the union's favor.

Question 

May nonemployee union organizers trespass on private property to solicit union support?

Argument Lechmere Inc. v. NLRB - Oral ArgumentFull Transcript Text  Download MP3Lechmere Inc. v. NLRB - Opinion AnnouncementFull Transcript Text  Download MP3 Conclusion  Decision: 6 votes for Lechmere Inc., 3 vote(s) against Legal provision: National Labor Relations, as amended

No, reasoned Justice Clarence Thomas, except in situations where inaccessibility makes communication through normal channels ineffective. There were alternatives short of trespass, such as signs, mailings, and newspaper ads. (Thomas's defense of private property rights may offer a clue to his budding jurisprudence.)