Government & Civic Employees Organizing Committee v. Windsor

In 1953, the Alabama Legislature enacted a statute (Ala. Laws 1953, No. 720) which provides that any public employee who joins or participates in a “labor union or labor organization” forfeits the “rights, benefits, or privileges which he enjoys as a result of his public employment.” Section 1 defines a “labor union or labor organization” to include an organization of employees whose purpose is to deal with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, or conditions of employment. Teachers, certain employees of the State Docks Board and city and county employees, however, are exempted from…