Page:Glacier Northwest v. Teamsters.pdf/28

Rh claims for conduct that is protected by the NLRA. See Brown v. Hotel Employees, 468 U. S. 491, 503 (1984). But “if the Board decides that the conduct is not protected,” the state court may proceed to “entertain the litigation.” Davis, 476 U. S., at 397.

With these general principles in mind, I now turn to the particulars of this case.

This suit arises out of a union-organized strike. Petitioner Glacier Northwest is a concrete-delivery company, and respondent International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 174 (Union) represents Glacier’s concrete-delivery truckdrivers. After the drivers went on strike, Glacier sent disciplinary letters to some of the drivers. The Union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Board, alleging that the disciplinary letters were unlawful retaliation against the drivers for engaging in strike conduct that is protected by the NLRA.

Glacier then filed a complaint in Washington state court, alleging that the Union engaged in tortious conduct when it instructed the drivers to strike at a time when there was wet concrete in some of the company’s delivery trucks. In response, the Union filed another Board charge, maintaining that Glacier’s lawsuit constituted additional unlawful retaliation.