On September 6, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law (A6604 / S4982) a bill banning businesses from requiring employees to attend meetings or listen to communications where the “primary purpose” of such meetings or communications is for management to voice its views on certain religious

Austin McLeod
Austin D. McLeod is a law clerk in the Labor & Employment Department.
Austin assists clients in a range of labor and employment matters. Prior to joining Proskauer, Austin interned at the PGA TOUR and worked as a litigation paralegal at a major financial services company.
During law school, Austin worked as a labor relations law clerk for the National Football League. He also served as a staff editor of the NYU Journal of Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law and President of the Student Lawyer Athletic Program.
Another One: The NLRB Revives Standard That Employees Are Protected When Advocating for Nonemployees
A slew of decisions that were pending before the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) have been issued at the end of August, coming at the close of Member Wilcox’s term. In American Federation for Children, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 137, a 3-1 majority reversed recent…
Board Rescinds Four Provisions to 2019 Election Rule Following Federal Appeals Court Vacating the Provisions
Thursday, the NLRB issued a notice to rescind four provisions from the Board’s Rules and Regulations contained in its Final Rule published in December 2019 (the “2019 rule”). The Board’s notice rescinding all four provisions, which were struck down by the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in January…
Board Invites Briefing on Potentially Overturning “Johnnie’s Poultry” Standard for Questioning of Employees About Putative Protected Activity
On Monday, the Board voted 3-1 to solicit a public briefing on whether it should overrule the Johnnie’s Poultry Co., 146 NLRB 770 (1964) safeguards employees must receive if they are questioned by employers about their own or another employees’ potentially protected concerted activity. Those safeguards include requiring the…
Union’s Efforts to Scare Employees From Participating in Employer Investigations Rebuked by the Board
On June 5, 2020, the NLRB held, in Teamsters Local Union No. 735-S (Bemis Co., Inc.), 369 NLRB No. 97, that union officials’ retaliatory actions against members who participated in an investigation resulting in the discharge of the union president violated the NLRA’s prohibitions against union restraint or…
Update: Despite Order Striking Down Portions of NLRB Rulemaking on Representation Election Procedures, NLRB Implements Rules Unaffected by Order
On Sunday, we reported on an eleventh-hour district court order striking down large portions of the NLRB’s new representation election rules that were set to go into effect on May 31, 2020. The district court order held certain portions of the rule were unlawful because they failed to follow proper…

Moment of Clarity? NLRB Upholds Info-Sharing and Media Contact Rules, Clarifies Boeing Standard Applicable to Employer Handbook Policies
The NLRB continues to issue decisions on a variety of interesting issues. On October 10, the Board held, in LA Specialty Produce Co., 368 NLRB No. 93 (Oct. 10, 2019), that an employer’s strong confidentiality protections and limited media availability rules were lawful, and in so doing, clarified the…

Are Charter Schools Covered by the National Labor Relations Act? NLRB to Reconsider Its Jurisdiction over Charter Schools
On February 4, the NLRB granted United Federation of Teachers, Local 2, AFT, AFL-CIO’s (the “Union”) request for review of the Regional Director’s Decision and Direction of Election concerning a decertification petition filed by several teachers at a charter school. In so doing, the Board invited filing of briefs regarding…