Michael Lebowich
Partner
Michael J. Lebowich is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department and co-head of the Labor-Management Relations Group. He represents and counsels employers on a wide range of labor and employment matters, with a particular interest in the field of traditional labor law.
Michael acts as the primary spokesperson in collective bargaining negotiations, regularly handles grievance arbitrations, assists clients in the labor implications of corporate transactions, and counsels clients on union organizing issues, strike preparation and day-to-day contract administration issues. He also has significant experience in representation and unfair labor practice matters before the National Labor Relations Board.
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With Congress failing to make the organizing process easier for unions, the NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo is now asking the Board to require employers to recognize unions without a secret ballot election. As foreshadowed by her August 2021 memo on Mandatory Submissions to Advice, in a brief filed in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific LLC, … Continue Reading
For decades, employers had been free to gather employees to discuss – in a non-coercive manner – the employer’s views on unionization, and had been free to share with employees what employees’ rights were with respect to the same. Earlier today, the NLRB General Counsel issued a memorandum declaring her intent to attempt to overturn … Continue Reading
Effective as of October 5, 2021, Int. 2397-2021 requires operators of “transient hotels” (as defined by Section 12-10 of the New York City zoning resolutions) to pay their employees severance pay if: (1) the hotel closed to the public and has not, by October 11, 2021, recalled at least 25% of the number of employees … Continue Reading
In its March 25 decision, the NLRB unanimously held that: (1) Tesla violated the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) after prohibiting employees from talking to the media; (2) Tesla did not violate the Act by calling employees into a meeting to discuss their potential unionization; and (3) Tesla must order CEO Elon Musk to delete his … Continue Reading
On February 1, National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) Acting General Counsel Peter Sung Ohr rescinded a slew of General Counsel Memos issued by his predecessor, Peter Robb. On February 2, Ohr continued his actions by rolling back two Operations Management memos that were also issued during Robb’s term. Ohr’s actions come one week after he … Continue Reading
In the first known of its kind objection to an ongoing NLRB proceeding, an employer has urged the NLRB to dismiss an unfair labor charge against it, arguing that the agency is unable to prosecute the matter, in light of President Biden’s unprecedented firing of then-General Counsel Peter Robb and Deputy GC Alice Stock, and … Continue Reading
President Biden named Peter Sung Ohr as Acting General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board today. Ohr is a career employee of the NLRB, having served as a Field Attorney, Deputy Assistant General Counsel in the NLRB’s Division of Operations-Management, and as Regional Director of the Board’s Chicago Regional Office. Biden’s action comes after … Continue Reading
One day after a standoff between President Biden and NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb resulted in his unprecedented termination, President Biden fired the NLRB’s second-ranked attorney, NLRB Deputy General Counsel Alice Stock, according to a Bloomberg report. Stock would have served as Acting NLRB General Counsel after Robb’s termination on January 20th. As of this … Continue Reading
*** UPDATE: On his first day in office, President Biden fired NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb, according to a report by Bloomberg News. This marks the first time in the history of the NLRB that a President has terminated the agency’s General Counsel before the expiration of their term. As we reported earlier below, President … Continue Reading
On November 30, 2020, the NLRB Regional Director issued a Complaint against the Yotel Boston hotel and Unite Here Local 26, alleging the Hotel unlawfully recognized and provided improper assistance to the Union. The Hotel and the Union were parties to a neutrality agreement. As is common in such agreements, the Hotel agreed to provide … Continue Reading
After an initial COVID-19 related delay, the sweeping new NLRB representation election rules that reversed the Obama-era “quickie” election process were about to go into effect on May 31, 2020. However, an eleventh-hour district court order struck down a significant portion of the rule as unlawfully implemented for failing to follow proper administrative procedure, casting … Continue Reading
Mid-sized businesses (defined as 500 to 10,000 employees) impacted by the Coronavirus may be able to obtain relief loans under the COVID-19 stimulus law, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), but only if non-union employers agree not to oppose the unionization of their workforce for the term of the loan, and … Continue Reading
The NLRB announced today in a press release that “[d]ue to the extraordinary circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” all representation elections, including mail ballot elections, will be suspended for the next two weeks, through and including April 3, 2020. This means that any representation elections previously scheduled from now through April 3, 2020 will … Continue Reading
The Board continues churning out precedent-setting decisions as year-end approaches. Two days before the Christmas holiday, in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 368 NLRB No. 146 (Dec. 16, 2019), the NLRB applied its new view on handbook rules—the Boeing test—to Wal-Mart’s policy that employees can only wear “small, non-distracting” union insignia in the workplace, holding that the … Continue Reading
Still hard at work as we head into mid-September, the National Labor Relations Board, in a 3-1 decision (Chairman Ring and Members Kaplan and Emanuel in the majority, Member McFerran dissenting) announced a three-step test which clarifies how petitioned-for partial workforce units are analyzed under the traditional community of interest factors. In 2017, the Board … Continue Reading
On August 14, 2019, the NLRB issued its first decision addressing employer conduct related to mandatory arbitration agreements and Section 7 activity since the Supreme Court decided Epic Systems Corp v. Lewis, 584 U.S. __, 138 S.Ct. 1612 (2018). In Epic Systems (discussed more fully here), the Supreme Court held that agreements between employers and … Continue Reading
Continuing its efforts to overturn precedent, the NLRB General Counsel’s Division of Advice has issued a new advice memorandum looking to strike at the most recognizable sign of unionism in urban areas today – – the inflatable rat that is used to signal a labor dispute to the public. It has been long held by the Supreme … Continue Reading
On January 25, 2019, in a long-anticipated decision, the NLRB overturned another Obama-Board decision, FedEx Home Delivery, 361 NLRB 610 (2014), which modified the test for whether an individual is an “employee” or an independent contractor under the NLRA (read about that decision here). The Board, in a 3-1 decision (Chairman Ring and Members Kaplan … Continue Reading
In what could signify the beginning of the end for Purple Communications, Inc., 361 NLRB 1050 (2014) and guaranteed employee access to Employer computer systems for union organizing purposes, the NLRB issued a notice on August 1 inviting the filing of briefs on whether the Board should uphold, modify or overrule the decision. Under Purple … Continue Reading
Following up on the NLRB’s decision in The Boeing Company, 365 NLRB No. 154 (Dec. 14, 2017), on June 6, NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb issued a new Guidance Memorandum (18-04) detailing how NLRB Regional Offices receiving claims of improper employment policies are to interpret employer workplace rules. As we reported this past December (here), … Continue Reading
In an unexpected and critical turn of events, after extensive political pressure, the NLRB, sitting as a three-member panel comprised of Chairman Kaplan and Members Pearce and McFerran, vacated last year’s decision in Hy-Brand Industrial Contractors, Ltd., 365 NLRB No. 156 (Dec. 14, 2017) due to Member William Emanuel’s participation in the decision. Prior to … Continue Reading
Adding to the list of falling precedents in the waning days of Chairman Miscimarra’s term, on Friday, the NLRB reversed another of the seminal decisions of the Obama-Board when it overruled the highly controversial Specialty Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center of Mobile, 357 NLRB 934 (2011) decision. The 3-2 decision in PCC Structurals, Inc., 365 NLRB … Continue Reading
NLRB Reverses Precedent on Joint Employer Liability and Standard Governing Employee Handbooks This afternoon, just two days prior to the end of Chairman Philip Miscimarra’s term, the NLRB issued a pair of 3-2 decisions overruling significant precedent regarding joint-employer status and the legal standard governing whether workplace rules violate the exercise of Section 7 rights … Continue Reading
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit joined the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Circuits in upholding the Board’s Specialty Healthcare standard for determining appropriate bargaining units under the National Labor Relations Act, although with a very skeptical eye on how it applied. Constellation Brands, U.S. Operations, Inc. v. NLRB, … Continue Reading
BREAKING: NLRB General Counsel Seeks to Scrap 50 Years of Precedent and Require Card Check Recognition
By Joshua Fox, Michael Lebowich and Elizabeth Dailey on Posted in Uncategorized
NLRB GC Seeks Dramatic Change to Employer’s Right to Speak to Employees About Unionization at Work
By Michael Lebowich, Mark Theodore, Steven Porzio, Joshua Fox and Thomas B. Fiascone on Posted in Uncategorized
NYC Enacts Severance Pay Requirements for Displaced Hotel Workers
By Michael Lebowich, Steven Porzio, Arielle E. Kobetz and Rachel Kessler on Posted in Employer policies
Tesla and Musk Get a Shock from the NLRB – Tesla CEO Ordered to Delete Union Tweet and Eliminate Overly Broad Confidentiality Policy
By Michael Lebowich, Joshua Fox and Abigail Rosenblum on Posted in NLRB
NLRB Acting General Counsel Rolls Back Guidance from Prior Administration
By Mark Theodore, Michael Lebowich, Joshua Fox and Alex Downie on Posted in NLRB
NLRB Sees First Challenge to the Authority of Acting NLRB General Counsel’s to Process Unfair Labor Practice Cases after Recent Shakeup
By Michael Lebowich, Joshua Fox and Samantha Shear on Posted in NLRB
After Unprecedented Firings of General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel, President Biden Names Peter Sung Ohr Acting General Counsel of the NLRB
By Mark Theodore, Michael Lebowich, Joshua Fox, Samantha Shear and Heylee Bernstein on Posted in Biden Administration Coverage, General Counsel, NLRB
BREAKING: President Biden Continues NLRB Shake-Up By Firing Acting NLRB GC
By Mark Theodore, Michael Lebowich, Joshua Fox, Samantha Shear and Heylee Bernstein on Posted in Biden Administration Coverage, General Counsel, NLRB
Breaking: On First Day in Office, President Biden Shakes Up NLRB By Firing GC and Appointing New Chair
By Mark Theodore, Michael Lebowich, Joshua Fox, Samantha Shear and Heylee Bernstein on Posted in Biden Administration Coverage, General Counsel, NLRB
A Bias against Neutrality Agreements: NLRB Regional Director Issues Complaint against Hotel for Supporting Organizing Union
By Michael Lebowich, Joshua Fox and Heylee Bernstein on Posted in Uncategorized
Breaking: Federal Court Strikes Down New NLRB Rules on Representation Election Procedures; Implementation Delayed and Status of the Rules Uncertain
By Michael Lebowich, Joshua Fox and Heylee Bernstein on Posted in NLRB Election Rules, Representation Elections
CARES ACT Relief for Mid-Size Businesses Comes with Important Union Related Conditions
By Joseph Baumgarten, Michael Lebowich, Joshua Fox and Dominique Kilmartin on Posted in COVID-19, NLRA, NLRB Election Rules
NLRB Suspends Representation Elections through April 3, 2020 due to COVID-19 Pandemic
By Michael Lebowich and Joshua Fox on Posted in Coronavirus, NLRA, NLRB, Representation Elections
Buttoning Up Rules on Union Insignia – Board Makes It Easier for Employers to Restrict Size and Scope of Union Buttons For Those With Customer Contact Work
By Michael Lebowich, Joshua Fox and Abigail Rosenblum on Posted in Buttons, NLRA, NLRB, Section 7, Section 8(a)(1)
NLRB Puts a Finer Point on Its Community of Interest Test with a New Three-Step Analysis
By Michael Lebowich and Laura Franks on Posted in Bargaining units, NLRA, NLRB, Specialty Healthcare
NLRB Issues “Epic” Decision Concerning the Intersection of Mandatory Arbitration Agreements and NLRA Section 7 Rights
By Mark Theodore, Michael Lebowich, Steven Porzio, Joshua Fox and Laura Franks on Posted in Arbitration, NLRA, NLRB, Section 7
Using a Cat to Chase the Inflatable Rat: NLRB General Counsel Urged Reconsideration of Board Precedent Regarding Banners and Signal Picketing of Neutral Employers
By Michael Lebowich and Joshua Fox on Posted in Advice, NLRA, NLRB, Section 8(b)(1)(A)
Another Obama-Board Decision Overturned: NLRB Reverts to Traditional Common-Law Agency Independent-Contractor Test and Foreshadows Potential Rulemaking
By Joshua Fox, Meika Freeman and Michael Lebowich on Posted in Collective Bargaining, NLRA, NLRB, Rulemaking, Section 7
You’ve Got Mail: NLRB Requests Briefing on Standard for Employee Use of Employer Owned Electronic Communication Systems
By Michael Lebowich and Jordan Simon on Posted in Confidentiality, Email, Employer policies, NLRA, NLRB, Section 7, Social Media
NLRB General Counsel Issues Handbook on Handbook Rules
By Michael Lebowich, Joshua Fox and Jay M. Cohen on Posted in Advice, General Counsel, Handbook, NLRA, NLRB, Non-Union employers, Section 7, Uncategorized
ABOUT FACE! Under Pressure, NLRB Vacates Joint Employer Standard and Returns to Browning-Ferris
By Michael Lebowich, Joshua Fox and Jordan Simon on Posted in Joint Employer, NLRA, NLRB
“Micro-Units” Eliminated: NLRB Overturns Specialty Healthcare
By Michael Lebowich and Lee Douthitt on Posted in Bargaining units, NLRA, NLRB, Representation Elections, Specialty Healthcare
Here We Go: The Full Board Finally Starts to Make Its Mark
Micro-Units under the Microscope: The Second and Fifth Circuit Courts Consider Specialty Healthcare and Its Misapplication
By Michael Lebowich, Mariya (Masha) Nazginova and Brett Schwab on Posted in Bargaining units, Collective Bargaining, NLRA, NLRB, Section 9(b), Section 9(c)(5), Specialty Healthcare
