In the case of National Labor Relations Board v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago et al., 1978, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) did not have jurisdiction over church-operated schools. The NLRB had claimed authority to intervene in labor disputes between these religious institutions and their employees based on its interpretation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). However, several Catholic high schools argued this violated their First Amendment rights by entangling government with religion. The Supreme Court agreed with them, stating that if Congress intended for such a significant intrusion into religious liberty through NLRA, it would have clearly stated so in legislation. Therefore, without explicit congressional approval granting NLRB power over parochial school labor relations - which could potentially infringe upon free exercise or establishment clauses - they lacked jurisdiction.

In the dissenting opinion for the case of National Labor Relations Board v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago et al., Justice Brennan, joined by Justices White and Marshall, argued that there was no constitutional issue to be avoided in this case. They contended that applying labor laws to religious schools did not violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause or Free Exercise Clause. The majority had interpreted Congress' silence on whether these laws applied to religious institutions as an intention not to include them; however, the dissenters believed this interpretation was incorrect and unsupported by legislative history or precedent. Instead, they asserted that Congress intended a broad application of labor laws and did not exclude any particular group without explicit mention. Furthermore, they disagreed with the majority’s view about potential excessive entanglement between church and state if NLRB jurisdiction were allowed over teachers in parochial schools since it would only involve secular matters like wages or hours worked rather than doctrinal issues.