Duquesne Univ. of the Holy Spirit v. NLRB

Duquesne Univ. of the Holy Spirit v. NLRB

Opinion

 [*826]   [**60]  Griffith, Circuit Judge: The National Labor Relations [***2]  Board ordered Duquesne University, a Catholic school in Pennsylvania, to bargain with a union representing the school's adjunct faculty. Duquesne petitions for review, arguing that its religious mission places it beyond the Board's jurisdiction. We agree.

Duquesne was founded in 1878 by the priests and brothers of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, a Catholic religious order also known as the Spiritans. Today, Duquesne is organized as a non-profit corporation led by the Spiritans, who have exclusive authority over the university's mission and the appointment of its board of trustees, president, and officers.

Duquesne describes itself as a "Catholic University in the Spiritan Tradition." J.A. 70. That tradition, Duquesne explains, endeavors to "preach the Gospel to those who have never heard it, or to those who have barely heard it, with particular attention . . . to young people, and to our educational works." J.A. 297. As the university's mission statement puts it, "Duquesne serves God by serving students." J.A. 70.

Approximately 6,500 undergraduate and 3,000 graduate students attend Duquesne. They are taught by various types of faculty: tenured, tenure-track, non-tenure-track, executive, [***3]  visiting, emeritus, and part-time adjuncts. Adjunct faculty members are hired for one semester at a time, and each may teach up to six credit hours per semester. In total, adjunct faculty teach approximately 44% of all credit hours in the Core Curriculum, which is what Duquesne calls its general-education requirements. The Core Curriculum includes courses in math, writing, science, philosophy, theology, and ethics.

 [*827]   [**61]  In 2012, some of the adjuncts sought to unionize. The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Allied-Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO-CLC (the "Union") petitioned the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or the "Board") to certify it as the exclusive bargaining representative for the adjunct faculty in Duquesne's liberal arts college. At the time of the election, there were approximately eighty-eight such adjuncts in the proposed bargaining unit, and a majority voted for the Union. Duquesne ultimately asked the Board to vacate the election and dismiss the Union's petition. Relying on the Supreme Court's decision in NLRB v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago, 440 U.S. 490, 99 S. Ct. 1313, 59 L. Ed. 2d 533 (1979), and our decision in University of Great Falls v. NLRB, 278 F.3d 1335, 349 U.S. App. D.C. 386 (D.C. Cir. 2002), Duquesne argued that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)—when read in light of the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment—does [***4]  not authorize the Board to exercise jurisdiction in this matter.

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