The Roberts Court's Hostility to Labor.

• Date: 01 August 2018
• Author: Blum, Bill

Since John Roberts was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 2005, the court has been hard on labor unions and the rights of working people. Here are some examples:

Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. (2007): Set a time limit of 180 days for bringing civil rights lawsuits for sex discrimination complaints in federal court. The ruling was effectively repealed by the 2009 Fair Pay Act.

Davenport v. Washington Education Association (2007): Allowed states to require unions to obtain affirmative consent before spending nonmember public employees' fees on political activities, rather than refunding fees retroactively to objecting non-members on request.

14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett (2009): Upheld a provision in a collective bargaining agreement that required union members to arbitrate age-discrimination claims.

Wal-Mart v. Dukes (2011): Declined to certify a class-action, pay-discrimination case brought on behalf of 1.5 million female employees, establishing a standard that makes it more difficult to bring class actions over wages in federal court.

Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores (2014): Declared that privately held for-profit corporations are "persons" engaged in the "exercise of religion" and may deny health insurance coverage for contraception to female employees.

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar...