Cliffs, USW cite First Amendment in USS/Nippon litigation; seek case dismissal

Recall that USS and Nippon filed two lawsuits after former President Joe Biden blocked the companies’ merger. Biden’s move came after a Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) review highlighting the deal’s alleged threat to national security.

This week, U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel filed opening briefs in the first lawsuit against the US government.

The second lawsuit targets Cliffs, Goncalves, and McCall, claiming they illegally coordinated to undermine the USS/Nippon deal. This is the suit Cliffs and USW are seeking to have dismissed.

USS and Nippon allege that, by speaking out strongly against the merger, Goncalves and McCall and the USW, by extension, violated federal antitrust laws and Pennsylvania tort laws.

However, the union sees this differently: The suit is “a frivolous and unsubstantiated attack on our union simply for exercising our First Amendment rights,” it said on Wednesday.

In their suit brief, Cliffs and Goncalves also call for the case’s dismissal on First Amendment grounds. They also say the lawsuit lacks any direct evidence of a conspiracy between the Cleveland-based steelmaker and Pittsburgh-based union, as has been alleged by USS and Nippon.

“It is both our right and our responsibility to speak out against the kinds of mergers that U.S. Steel and Nippon were proposing – a sale that would have hurt both our members and our national security. This includes lobbying our elected officials at all level of government and is a fundamental protection for all Americans,” USW added.