Court Sides with Haley in Anti-Union Case

The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday agreed with a lower court ruling, handing S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley and Catherine Templeton, then head of the state's labor department, a victory in a case brought by the International Association of Machinists and AFL-CIO over anti-union remarks they made.

The two labor groups brought suit against Haley and Templeton for numerous remarks critical of and hostile to unions, however the court found the rhetoric did not lead to any actions.

"The statements alleged by the unions contain nothing that we could plausibly interpret as indicating imminence," the judges wrote. "Most of the statements do not reference action at all. ... Even the statements that include an indication of action, however - for example, Haley's statement that Appellees are 'going to fight the unions' - are far too broad and nebulous to allow us to interpret them as intimating imminent action."

Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey released the following statement from the Governor about the case:

“The efforts of union bosses to silence our free speech and stop us from standing up for our workers and businesses have failed – and we’re going to continue to make it very clear: unions are not needed, not wanted and not welcome in South Carolina.”

Representatives for the AFL-CIO and the International Association of Machinists were not immediately available for comment.