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32 A.B.A. J. Lab. & Emp. L. 157 (2016-2017)
Labor and Employment Decisions from the Supreme Court's 2015-2016 Term

handle is hein.journals/lablaw32 and id is 177 raw text is: 157 Labor and Employment Decisions from the Supreme Court's 2015-2016 Term Thomas C. Goldstein* Introduction The Court's October 2015 Term provided several important labor and employment rulings, including two cliffhangers that remain unre- solved. This Article reviews these decisions. Part I describes two highly anticipated cases-an agency shop case and an employer-mandated contraceptive case-that the Court did not decide on the merits. Part II discusses Heffernan v. City of Paterson,1 a First Amendment retaliation case concerning an employer's mistaken belief that an employee en- gaged in political activity. Part III examines the procedural decisions of the Court's 2015 Term. Part IV discusses the Court's ERISA-related holdings. The Article concludes by anticipating issues the Court will ad- dress in its 2016-2017 Term. I. The Court's Unresolved Decisions The most anticipated decision of the 2015 Term, Friedrichs v. Cal- ifornia Teachers Ass'n,2 turned out to be uneventful. In Freidrichs, the Court was poised to decide whether to overturn Abood v. Detroit Board of Education,3 which held public sector unions could collect dues from workers represented by a union, even if not themselves union mem- bers.4 Unions rely on these agency shop arrangements to fund costly bargaining and contract grievance processes.5 After oral argument, it appeared a five-Justice majority was prepared to overrule Abood and hold public sector agency shop arrangements violated the First * Thomas C. Goldstein is a partner of Goldstein & Russell, P.C. and an appellate advocate. He is best known as one of the nation's most experienced Supreme Court prac- titioners. Mr. Goldstein has taught Supreme Court Litigation at Harvard Law School since 2004 and previously taught the course at Stanford Law School for nearly a decade. Mr. Goldstein is also the co-founder and publisher of SCOTUSblog, one of the most widely read Supreme Court blogs. 1. 136 S. Ct. 1412 (2016). 2. 136 S. Ct. 1083 (2016) (Mem.). 3. 431 U.S. 209 (1977). 4. Id. at 212. 5. Id. at 221-22.

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