In a decision that reverses existing case law on employee use of employer email, the National Labor Relations Board (with two members filing separate dissents) has decided that under certain circumstances employees do have the right to use and employer’s email to engage in protected communications under the National Labor
Social Media Policies
NLRB Says On-Line Planning For Insubordination Is Not Protected Concerted Activity
By Ronald Meisburg on
In Richmond District Neighborhood Center, Case 20-CA-091748 (Oct. 28, 2014), the Board upheld an Administrative Law Judge’s ruling that a conversation between two employees, who were involved with student programming at the neighborhood center, was not protected under the NLRA. During the course of their Facebook exchange, which included obscenity-laced…
Reading the NLRB Signs at the Triple Play Sports Bar
By Ronald Meisburg on
In Three D, LLC d/b/a Triple Play Sports Bar and Grille, 361 NLRB No. 31. (August 22, 2014), the National Labor Relations Board ruled that an employee “liking” a status on Facebook is engaging in protected concerted activities under the NLRA. Employees were unlawfully terminated for ranting about the…
NLRB Work Rule Decisions Continue to be a Mixed Bag
By Ronald Meisburg on
As the NLRB continues to wade through the pool of issues arising from social media policies and other workplace rules, an Administrative Law Judge’s recent decision in Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless (July 25, 2014) illustrates the growing number of problems employers face in developing corporate policies and the variability…
NLRB Administrative Law Judge Rulings on Work Rules and Social Media Policies Continue to Perplex
By Ronald Meisburg on
NLRB Work Rules and Social Media Policies Continue to Perplex
The NLRB may be getting #SocialMedia, but confusion concerning employer work rules and social media policies became obvious yet again in Professional Electrical Contractors of Connecticut (June 4, 2014). In this decision, ALJ Raymond Green wrote that “a legitimate conflict…
NLRB Gets #SocialMedia: Board and ALJ Rulings Recap
By Ronald Meisburg on
‘April rulings bring May muddling’ might be a better way to tweet recent social media decisions at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) given the Board’s ruling in Durham School Services (April 25, 2014) and an Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ) opinion in Kroger Co. of Michigan (April 21, 2014). Together,…
NLRB Advice Memo Pulls Together Principles Applied in Evaluating Employer Work Rules and Social Media Policies
By Ronald Meisburg on
A 2012 Advice Memo from the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) General Counsel was recently publicly released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. While the Advice Memo applies the long-standing framework used by the NLRB to evaluate the lawfulness of workplace rules more generally, it is noteworthy…
Employer Merely Granted Employee’s Wish To Be Terminated, NLRB Div. Of Advice Rules
By Mark Theodore on
Social media permeates society. It was inevitable that the increased use of smart phones and various communications platforms such as Facebook and Twitter would clash with the workplace. We have noted several instances where the NLRB has alleged that employer action in response to social media posts is unlawful, as…