Local 1330, United Steel Workers v. United States Steel Corp.

United States Steel Corporation (defendant) planned to close two unprofitable Youngstown, Ohio mills, and in an effort to avoid closure, company representatives encouraged workers to boost productivity and profitability; the workers made those efforts, but the mills still weren't profitable under normal accounting standards. Steelworkers' unions, the local Congressman, and Ohio's Attorney General (plaintiffs) sued to force United States Steel to keep the mills open, arguing on a promissory estoppel theory that workers had relied on a promise to keep the mills running if they made the mills profitable - profitability the plaintiffs claimed had actually been achieved using a non-standard accounting method. The district court rejected the promissory estoppel claim, and the plaintiffs appealed.