What is the Conley case?

Answer 1

The case was Conley vs Gibson decided by the Supreme Court in the 1950s. Black workers had been fired and replaced by whites. The blacks brought a lawsuit against their union claiming the union had done nothing to protect them. A lawsuit is initiated with what are called "pleadings." The union argued the black plaintiff's pleadings were not a complete enough statement of their complaint, so their lawsuit should be thrown out. The requirement for a pleading says it should be a "short and plain statement of the claim." The Court ruled that a thorough explanation of the particulars of a complaint was not required and the blacks pleadings met the requirement, thus ruled in favor of the plaintiff and against the union.

NOTE: The current court has modified this ruling tightening the requirement for pleadings.