Hoke Company, Inc. And Alley-Cassetty Coal Company v. Tennessee Valley Authority

BOYCE F. MARTIN, Jr., Circuit Judge,

concurring specially.

Although I concur in the result, I write separately to express my disagreement with the majority’s analysis of Hoke’s claim that the Tennessee Valley Authority violated Hoke’s employees’ first amendment right to freedom of association. I have two problems with the majority’s handling of the issue.

First, I do not believe that the interests of Hoke’s non-unionized employees are sufficiently similar to the company’s interests so as to justify departing from the general rule that a party may not rest its claim for relief on the legal rights…