CNH Industrial N.V. v. Reese

Holding: The Supreme Court has long held that collective-bargaining agreements must be interpreted “according to ordinary principles of contract law,” as stated in M&G Polymers USA v. Tackett. A contract is not ambiguous unless it is subject to more than one reasonable interpretation, and the inferences made by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit under its own precedent, International Union, United Auto, Aerospace, & Agricultural Implement Workers of America v. Yard-Man Inc., cannot generate a reasonable interpretation because they are not “ordinary principles of contract law.” The only reasonable interpretation of the 1998 agreement between retirees and their former employer is that the health care benefits expired when the collective-bargaining agreement expired in May 2004.

Judgment: Reversed and remanded in a per curiam opinion on February 20, 2018.