Bayside Enterprises, Inc., et al. v. National Labor Relations Board

Decided January 11, 1977. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 75-1267 · 429 U.S. 298 (1977) · Cited 113 times

Holding

The drivers are "employees" within the coverage of the NLRA, not agricultural laborers, their status being determined by the character of the work that they perform for their employer, which work is not incidental to any of their employer's (petitioners') agricultural activities, the feed-mill operation being nonagricultural and the storage and use of feed on the independent farms being agricultural activity performed by the independent farmers not by petitioners.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• National Labor Relations Board v. Hearst Publications, Inc. · 322 U.S. 111 (1944)
• Universal Camera Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board · 340 U.S. 474 (1951)
• Rochester Telephone Corp. v. United States · 307 U.S. 125 (1939)
• National Labor Relations Board v. United Insurance Co. of America · 390 U.S. 254 (1968)
• South Chicago Coal & Dock Co. v. Bassett · 309 U.S. 251 (1940)
• Parker v. Motor Boat Sales, Inc. · 314 U.S. 244 (1942)
• Farmers Reservoir & Irrigation Co. v. McComb · 337 U.S. 755 (1949)
• Maneja v. Waialua Agricultural Co. · 349 U.S. 254 (1955)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Holly Farms Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board · 517 U.S. 392 (1996)
• United States v. Rutherford · 442 U.S. 544 (1979)
• National Labor Relations Board v. City Disposal Systems, Inc. · 465 U.S. 822 (1984)
• NLRB v. Pipefitters · 429 U.S. 507 (1977)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1977). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).