Ashland Hospital Corp. v. Service Employees International Union

**Hospital Loses Case Against Union Over Phone Campaign** Ashland Hospital Corporation sued the Service Employees International Union over a phone campaign where the union encouraged residents to call the hospital. The campaign resulted in hundreds of calls being transferred to the hospital. The hospital claimed this violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which limits certain types of automated calls. The court ruled in favor of the union. The judges found that the calls reaching the hospital were made by actual people, not automated systems, so they didn't violate the TCPA. Additionally, the calls weren't directly targeting the hospital's emergency lines, which would have been more problematic. This decision matters for workers because it protects unions' ability to organize phone campaigns as part of labor disputes. When unions encourage community members to contact employers about workplace issues, those campaigns can continue as long as real people are making the calls. The ruling shows that employers can't easily shut down union-organized public pressure campaigns by claiming they violate telephone protection laws. This preserves an important tool that unions use to build community support during contract negotiations or other workplace disputes.