McClimon v. International Union

**Worker Loses Case Against Union and Employer for Not Following Internal Appeal Process** This case involved a worker named McClimon who had a dispute with both his union (International Union) and his employer (Deere & Company). McClimon believed his contract had been breached and filed a lawsuit against both parties. The court ruled against McClimon and sided with the union and employer. The main reason for this decision was that McClimon had not first gone through his union's internal appeals process before taking his case to court. The court found that McClimon failed to "exhaust" (complete) the union's own complaint procedures, which workers are typically required to do before filing a lawsuit. The court also determined that none of the special exceptions that would allow someone to skip the internal process applied to McClimon's situation. **What this means for workers:** If you're a union member with a workplace dispute, you generally must work through your union's internal complaint and appeals system first before you can take legal action in court. This process exists to give unions a chance to resolve problems internally. Only in rare circumstances can workers bypass these internal procedures and go straight to court.