Cite as: 511 U. S. 571 (1994)
Ginsburg, J., dissenting
In contrast to its exclusion of supervisors, the Act expressly includes "professional employees" within its protections.1 Section 2(12) defines "professional employee" as one whose work is "predominantly intellectual and varied in character," involves "the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment in its performance," produces a result that "cannot be standardized in relation to a given period of time," and requires knowledge "in a field of science or learning customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction and study in an institution of higher learning or a hospital." 29 U. S. C. § 152(12)(a).2
The categories "supervisor" and "professional" necessarily overlap. Individuals within the overlap zone—those who are both "supervisor" and "professional"—are excluded from the Act's coverage. For that reason, the scope accorded the Act's term "supervisor" determines the extent to which professionals are covered. If the term "supervisor" is construed broadly, to reach everyone with any authority to use "independent judgment" to assign and "responsibly . . . direct" the work of other employees, then most professionals would be supervisors, for most have some authority to assign and direct others' work. If the term "supervisor" is understood that broadly, however, Congress' inclusion of professionals within the Act's protections would effectively be nullified.
The separation of "supervisors," excluded from the Act's compass, from "professionals," sheltered by the Act, is a task Congress committed to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) in the first instance. The Board's attempt
1 See § 152(12) (defining "professional employee"); § 159(b) (limiting National Labor Relations Board's discretion to place professional and nonprofessional employees in the same bargaining unit).
2 The definition of "professional employee" further includes persons who have completed the required course of study and are "performing related work under the supervision of a professional person" in order finally to qualify as a professional. § 152(12)(b).
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