Ronald Meisburg
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Following the decision of the National Labor Relations Board in Babcock & Wilcox Construction Co., 361 NLRB No. 132 (December 14, 2014), the NLRB General Counsel has issued Memorandum GC 15-02 (February 10, 2015), which provides guidance to the NLRB regional offices and to the general public regarding the application of that decision in pending … Continue Reading
As anticipated, the National Labor Relations Board today made public its final revised election rules. The new rules will become effective 120 days following their publication in the Federal Register. The publication date is scheduled to be Monday, December 15, 2014, one day before the expiration of the term of Member Schiffer. There are really … Continue Reading
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 Relations Act. Purple Communications, Inc., … Continue Reading
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 statements regarding how they would … Continue Reading
In a landmark decision, the National Labor Relation Board has imposed an array of extraordinary remedies against an employer for what the NLRB described as “egregious and pervasive violations” of the National Labor Relations Act. Pacific Beach Hotel, 361 NLRB No. 65 (2014). As the basis for its imposition of the remedies, the NLRB stated: … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board, with one member dissenting, has issued a decision in which it “refines” the test it uses for determining whether it will find individuals performing services for an employer to be employees, who are covered by the National Labor Relations Act, or independent contractors, who are not. The case is FedEx … Continue Reading
Labor law is filled with many technical rules, the meaning of which can sometimes can be lost in translation. The recent NLRB decision in Labriola Baking Co., 361 N.L.R.B. No. 41 (2014), is a case in point. During a campaign before a decertification election, an employer’s representative stated in a speech to the employees: “If you … Continue Reading
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 employer’s tax-withholding error, which resulted in … Continue Reading
In a complex, twenty-eight page opinion, a sharply divided NLRB has ruled that when an individual employee seeks assistance from fellow employees with respect to a violation under Title VII (or other workplace laws), the action is not only concerted but also presumptively for the purpose of mutual aid or protection, and thereby also covered … Continue Reading
In WKYC-TV, Inc., 359 NLRB No. 30 (2012), the NLRB overruled 50 years of precedent under Bethlehem Steel, 136 NLRB 1500 (1962), and held that going forward, employers could not unilaterally end dues checkoff at the expiration or termination of a collective bargaining agreement. There was no appeal in the WKYC case because the Board … Continue Reading
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 of NLRB decisions. In this … Continue Reading
This week the NLRB decided two cases involving union organizing in large department stores. In each case an NLRB regional director applied the Board’s Specialty Healthcare test to determine whether the bargaining unit requested by the union was appropriate. In Specialty Healthcare, the Board held that a unit will be presumptively appropriate for collective bargaining … Continue Reading
In Landry’s Inc., Case No. 32-CA-118213 (June 26, 2014), an NLRB Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) found a social media rule concerning its wholly owned subsidiary, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Restaurants, Inc., to not violate the NLRA. The General Counsel had alleged that the following policy infringed on employee’s rights because, purportedly, it would tend to … Continue Reading
A recent NLRB ALJ decision illustrates the old and the new under the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”). The case is Gates & Sons Barbeque of Missouri, Inc. and Workers’ Organizing Committee, Kansas City, No. 14-CA-110229 (June 17, 2014). In this case, the employer operated a successful chain of barbeque restaurants. One of the benefits … Continue Reading
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 of principles . . . will require … Continue Reading
‘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, these two decisions show that the … Continue Reading
In a development of importance to both union and non-union employers, the NLRB General Counsel has asked the NLRB to overrule its 2007 decision in Register Guard, 351 NLRB 1110 (2007). In Register Guard, the Board had held that employers could bar employee use of the employer’s email for non-business purposes, including union or other … Continue Reading
The NLRB General Counsel has issued a memorandum setting out those cases and issues he wants sent from the regional offices to the Division of Advice in Washington, DC. The Division of Advice, as the name suggests, is the arm of the General Counsel’s office which provides legal advice to the General Counsel and to … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board has issued a press release announcing its intention to revisit precedent created under a pair of Board decisions nearly 59 and 30 years old, respectively. The precedent involves under what circumstances the NLRB will defer to decisions of labor arbitrators in cases where there are pending NLRB unfair labor practice charges … Continue Reading
As expected, the NLRB has announced that it is again proposing regulations to amend its representation case election procedures. A copy of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking submitted to the Federal Register for publication can be viewed here. The proposed regulations appear identical to those the Board attempted to promulgate in 2011. At that time the Board … Continue Reading
A few weeks ago, we posted about the Fifth Circuit’s decision in the D.R. Horton case and the NLRB’s doctrine of non-acquiescence. As you will recall, in D.R. Horton, the NLRB held that an employer violates the right of employees to engage in concerted activity by maintaining an arbitration program which prohibits employees from pursuing … Continue Reading
Following up on our ongoing coverage of the NLRB recess appointments, and my recent post on the Supreme Court oral arguments in NLRB v. Noel Canning, I had the opportunity to again speak with Colin O’Keefe of LXBN on the matter. In this most recent interview, I share my thoughts on whether the Supreme Court justices … Continue Reading
My experience is that oral arguments, while often interesting, rarely open much of a window into exactly how a court will actually decide the case. Today’s Supreme Court argument in NLRB v. Noel Canning may be an exception. Nearly all of the Justices had questions which suggested skepticism over the validity of the President’s January 4, … Continue Reading
The NLRB’s decision not to pursue Supreme Court review in the NLRA rights poster cases (which, depending on what happened behind the scenes, may have in reality been a decision by the Solicitor General of the United States) should not have come as a complete surprise. The likelihood of review being granted was small, and … Continue Reading
NLRB General Counsel Issues Guidance on Deferral to Grievance Arbitration and Settlements
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in Arbitration, Deferral
NLRB Issues Final Election Rules Revision
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in NLRA, NLRB, Representation Elections
NLRB Reverses Course, Gives Employees Certain Rights to Use Employer’s Email
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in Email, Employer policies, NLRA, NLRB, Protected activity, Social Media, Social Media Policies, Solicitation
NLRB Says On-Line Planning For Insubordination Is Not Protected Concerted Activity
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in Employer policies, Facebook, NLRA, NLRB, Protected activity, Social Media, Social Media Policies
NLRB Imposes Extraordinary, Tough Remedies for Egregious and Pervasive Violations
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in NLRA, NLRB, Rights Poster
NLRB Refines Its Test for Independent Contractor Status
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in Bargaining units, Collective Bargaining, Representation Elections
¿Cómo Se Dice: “Lost in Translation”?
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in Decertification elections, Objectionable Conduct, Representation Elections
Reading the NLRB Signs at the Triple Play Sports Bar
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in Employer policies, Facebook, Handbook, NLRA, Protected activity, Social Media, Social Media Policies, Uncategorized
NLRB Divides Sharply on Employee Concerted Activity for “Mutual Aid or Protection”
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in NLRA, Protected activity, Section 7, Uncategorized, Workplace Investigations
ALJ Declares NLRB’S Dues Checkoff Termination Decision a Dead Letter
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in Uncategorized
NLRB Work Rule Decisions Continue to be a Mixed Bag
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in Handbook, NLRB, Social Media Policies, Uncategorized
Department Store Units Decided Under Specialty Healthcare
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in Bargaining units, Collective Bargaining, NLRA, NLRB, Specialty Healthcare
Bubba Gump Shrimp’s Social Media Policy Passes Muster, ALJ Says
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in Uncategorized
Old Fashioned Protected Concerted Activity Stirred Up With A Twist
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in Leaving work without permission, NLRA, NLRB, Non-Union employers, Protected activity, Section 7, Section 8(a)(1), Strikes, Unfair Labor Practices
NLRB Administrative Law Judge Rulings on Work Rules and Social Media Policies Continue to Perplex
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in Employer policies, NLRA, Social Media, Social Media Policies
NLRB Gets #SocialMedia: Board and ALJ Rulings Recap
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in General Counsel, NLRA, NLRB, Objectionable Conduct, Protected activity, Social Media, Social Media Policies, Unfair Labor Practices
Employer Email Policies on Chopping Block as General Counsel Seeks to Overrule Register Guard and Board Calls for Amicus Briefs
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in Email, Employer policies, NLRA, NLRB, Protected activity, Solicitation
Advice, Anyone?
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in Advice, General Counsel, Mandatory submissions, NLRA, NLRB
Is Deferral to Labor Arbitration Awards in Jeopardy?
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in Arbitration, Deferral, NLRA, NLRB
They’re Ba-ack: NLRB to Re-Propose Election Regulations
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in NLRA, NLRB, Representation Elections, Rulemaking
NLRB ALJ Says That Under D.R. Horton, Actions Speak As Loudly as Words
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in Arbitration, NLRA, NLRB, Protected activity, Unfair Labor Practices
Video Interview: Discussing the Noel Canning Oral Arguments with LXBN TV
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in NLRA, Recess appointments
Noel Canning Oral Argument: Justices Express Skepticism
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in NLRA, Recess appointments
The NLRA Rights Poster Lives on Through Other Means
By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in NLRA, NLRB, Rights Poster
