The U.S. Supreme Court case of Lynn L. Breininger v. Sheet Metal Workers International Association Local Union No. 6, in 1989, centered on the issue of whether a union's hiring hall practices violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against nonunion workers based on their lack of union membership status. The plaintiff, Lynn L. Breininger claimed that he was denied employment opportunities because he was not a member of the defendant union and alleged this constituted discrimination under federal law which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin but does not explicitly mention union membership as a protected category. The court ruled in favor of Breininger stating that even though Title VII does not specifically address discrimination based on non-union status it still applies if such discrimination has an adverse impact on one or more protected categories under Title VII (race/color/religion/sex/national origin). In this case however no evidence showed any disparate impact so while his claim could be legally valid there were no grounds for it factually.

In the dissenting opinion for Lynn L. Breininger v. Sheet Metal Workers International Association Local Union No. 6, Justice White argued that the majority's decision to allow a union member to sue his union under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act was incorrect and inconsistent with previous rulings by the Court. He contended that unions should not be considered employers under Title VII unless they have significant control over employment opportunities, which he believed was not demonstrated in this case. Furthermore, he expressed concern about potential negative impacts on labor relations if unions were held liable as employers in discrimination cases without clear evidence of their control over hiring decisions or job assignments.