Carroll College, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

**Carroll College v. National Labor Relations Board (2009)** This case involved Carroll College, a Catholic institution in Montana, and whether federal labor law applied to the school. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) had ruled that the college's employees could form unions and that the school had to follow federal labor relations rules. Carroll College disagreed, arguing that as a religious institution, it should be exempt from these federal labor laws. The Court of Appeals sided with Carroll College and overturned the NLRB's decision. The court applied what's called the "Catholic Bishop doctrine" and determined that Carroll College met all the requirements to be considered exempt from federal labor oversight. Specifically, the court found that the college satisfied the three-part test used for religious schools, meaning federal agencies cannot regulate its labor relations. **What this means for workers:** Employees at religious colleges and universities may have fewer federal labor law protections than workers at secular institutions. If your workplace is deemed a religious institution under this standard, you might not have the same rights to form unions or file complaints with the NLRB that workers at non-religious employers typically enjoy.