Emporium Capwell Co. v. Western Addition Community Organization et al.

Decided February 18, 1975. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 73-696 · 420 U.S. 50 (1975) · Cited 173 times

Holding

Though national labor policy accords the highest priority to nondiscriminatory employment practices, the NLRA does not protect concerted activity by minority employees to bargain with their employer over issues of employment discrimination, thus bypassing their exclusive bargaining representative.

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 8–1.

“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.

• Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co. · 415 U.S. 36 (1974)
• Steele v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad · 323 U.S. 192 (1944)
• Vaca v. Sipes · 386 U.S. 171 (1967)
• United Steelworkers v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co. · 363 U.S. 574 (1960)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co. · 388 U.S. 175 (1967)
• McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green · 411 U.S. 792 (1973)
• Universal Camera Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board · 340 U.S. 474 (1951)
• Textile Workers v. Lincoln Mills of Ala. · 353 U.S. 448 (1957)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. · 301 U.S. 1 (1937)
• Republic Steel Corp. v. Maddox · 379 U.S. 650 (1965)
• Ford Motor Co. v. Huffman · 345 U.S. 330 (1953)
• Allied Chemical & Alkali Workers of America, Local Union No. 1 v. Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. · 404 U.S. 157 (1971)
• J. I. Case Co. v. National Labor Relations Board · 321 U.S. 332 (1944)
• Mastro Plastics Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board · 350 U.S. 270 (1956)
• Gateway Coal Co. v. United Mine Workers · 414 U.S. 368 (1974)
• Wallace Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board · 323 U.S. 248 (1944)
• New Negro Alliance v. Sanitary Grocery Co. · 303 U.S. 552 (1938)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Local Union No. 1229, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers · 346 U.S. 464 (1953)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Magnavox Co. of Tennessee · 415 U.S. 322 (1974)

Cited by

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

• Abood v. Detroit Board of Education · 431 U.S. 209 (1977)
• 14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett · 556 U.S. 247 (2009)
• Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc. · 421 U.S. 454 (1975)
• Barrentine v. Arkansas-Best Freight System, Inc. · 450 U.S. 728 (1981)
• American Tobacco Co. v. Patterson · 456 U.S. 63 (1982)
• International Union of Electrical, Radio & MacHine Workers v. Robbins & Myers, Inc. · 429 U.S. 229 (1976)
• National Labor Relations Board v. City Disposal Systems, Inc. · 465 U.S. 822 (1984)
• Pattern Makers' League v. National Labor Relations Board · 473 U.S. 95 (1985)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1975). 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).