Brief: Labor Board correctly found that ILA union bosses violated dissenter’s rights and should be held to a “heightened” standard for abuse of power

Wilmington, DE, Philadelphia, PA (October 5, 2026) – National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys filed a brief in the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of Stanford Fowler, a port worker who was the victim of union officials’ years-long campaign of abuse that included threats and loss of referrals from the union-controlled hiring hall.

The case started when Fowler, who worked at the Port of Wilmington in Delaware, filed an unfair labor practice charge at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in August, 2021. Fowler argued that he had been illegally blacklisted by International Longshoreman’s Association (ILA) Local 1694 union officials after voicing concerns to the ILA International about work assignment practices after a merger of several ILA locals.

Following the issuance of a complaint by the NLRB General Counsel, an NLRB Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ruled largely in Fowler’s favor, and a subsequent unanimous decision from a bipartisan panel of NLRB Members affirmed the ALJ’s findings and even extended them farther, ruling that the union officials’ actions had violated federal law in several respects. In its decision, the NLRB ordered the union to provide Fowler with back pay covering the past five years to remedy his loss of work due to the union bosses’ discrimination.

Rather than accept responsibility for their unlawful actions, ILA Local 1694 bosses instructed their lawyers to appeal the Board’s decision to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. They even attempted to block Fowler from participating in the defense of his Labor Board victory, but those arguments were overruled and the Court specifically allowed Fowler to participate as an Intervenor to ensure the Board’s decision stands.

Foundation Calls for Court to Reject Local 1694’s Misleading Brief, Fully Enforce NLRB’s Decision

The Foundation staff attorneys’ brief argues that the ALJ and NLRB were “correct in determining that Local 1694 violated the [National Labor Relations Act] and the duty of fair representation” by threatening and coercing Fowler for dissenting, interfering with his ability to gain employment, banning him from the port, and telling him that gaining further work through its hiring hall would be futile. The brief urges the Court to ignore the union’s smokescreen of arguments that attempt to distract from the real issues.

The brief points out that Local 1694’s defense “omits much more than it presents.” Among these omissions were the failure of Local 1694 President and Vice President to show up at the hearing as witnesses, even though both were explicitly mentioned in the complaint. Furthermore, the Foundation attorneys’ brief calls out the union’s lawyers for relying on previous NLRB decisions that were reversed and denied enforcement by two appellate courts.

The brief argues, under Breininger v. Sheet Metal Workers Int’l, that when a union chooses to operate a hiring hall it is assuming an “employer’s role” and “its responsibility to exercise that power fairly increases rather than decreases.” Fowler urges the Court to apply a strict and “heightened” standard of fairness found in two earlier Foundation-won cases, Jacoby v. NLRB and Lucas v. NLRB, which both applied the heightened standard of fairness.

The brief observes that applying this heightened standard would “both clarify the state of the law in this circuit and prevent Local 1694 and other hiring halls from attempting to avoid liability by asserting ‘mere negligence’ as an affirmative defense to their patently discriminatory conduct.”

“We are proud to help Mr. Fowler as he defends his NLRB victory at the court of appeals. We are also gratified that we overcame the union’s underhanded attempt to block him from even participating in the appeal of his own legal case,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Union bosses must be held accountable when they use their control over hiring halls to retaliate against those who exercise their rights under federal law.

“This case, like our prior Foundation victories in Lucas and Jacoby, show why hiring halls are easily abused by unscrupulous unions, and they should be banned or at least strictly monitored,” added Mix. “Mr. Fowler’s livelihood was threatened by ILA officials’ actions, and we are proud to help him defend his NLRB victory against their illegal actions.”

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.