M&G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett

M&G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided January 26, 2015
Full case name	M&G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett
Citations	574 U.S. 427 ( more )
Holding
The interpretation of collective bargaining agreements must follow ordinary contract principles when that interpretation does not conflict with federal labor policy.
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts Associate Justices Antonin Scalia  · Anthony Kennedy Clarence Thomas  · Ruth Bader Ginsburg Stephen Breyer  · Samuel Alito Sonia Sotomayor  · Elena Kagan
Case opinions
Majority	Thomas, joined by unanimous
Concurrence	Ginsburg, joined by Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan

M&G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett, 574 U.S. 427(2015), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that the interpretation of collective-bargaining agreements must follow ordinary contract principles when that interpretation does not conflict with federal labor policy. ^[1]

Background

When M&G Polymers USA, LLC (M&G), purchased the Point Pleasant Polyester Plant in 2000, it entered a collective-bargaining agreement and related Pension, Insurance, and Service Award Agreement (P & I agreement) with the plant workers' union. The P & I agreement provided that certain retirees, along with their surviving spouses and dependents, would "receive a full Company contribution towards the cost of [health care] benefits"; that such benefits would be provided "for the duration of [the] Agreement"; and that the agreement would be subject to renegotiation in three years.

Following the expiration of those agreements, M&G announced that it would require retirees to contribute to the cost of their health care benefits. The retirees, on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated, sued M&G and related entities, alleging that the P & I agreement created a vested right to lifetime contribution-free health care benefits. One of these retirees was Hobert Freel Tackett.

The federal District Court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim, but the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed based on the reasoning of its earlier decision in International Union, United Auto, Aerospace, & Agricultural Implement Workers of Am. v. Yard-Man, Inc.. On remand, the District Court ruled in favor of the retirees, and the Sixth Circuit affirmed.

Opinion of the court

The Supreme Court issued an opinion on January 26, 2015. ^[1]

References

1. M&G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett, 574 U.S. 427 (2015).

External links

• Text of M&G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett, 574 U.S. 427(2015) is available from: Cornell Findlaw Justia

This article incorporates written opinion of a United States federal court. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the text is in the public domain .