On July 16, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB” or the “Board”) General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, released GC Memorandum 24-05 to all field offices stating that the agency should continue “to aggressively seek Section 10(j) injunctions,” notwithstanding a recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court raising the Board’s burden for seeking a temporary injunction. Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) authorizes the Board to seek temporary injunctive relief in federal district court while litigating the merits of an unfair labor practice proceeding to ensure that any remedy the Board might eventually issue will not be moot or hollow.
It Begins…NLRB Regional Director Targets Noncompetes in New Complaint
By Daryl Leon, Joshua Fox & David Gobel on
As recently foreshadowed, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) now appears poised to weigh in on whether noncompete agreements, even those that may be legal under state law, violate the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”).
Background: NLRB GC Targets Noncompetes
On May 31, 2023, Board General Counsel Jennifer…
No Limits: Non-Compete Agreements Next Up on NLRB General Counsel Chopping Block
Following the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) highly-controversial decision in McLaren Macomb declaring most confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses in separation agreements to be unlawful, General Counsel Abruzzo this week declared her intention to seek to invalidate nearly all post-employment non-compete agreements, in a memorandum stating her prosecutorial position that…
UPDATE: Fifth Circuit Affirms NLRB Ruling In Tesla Case, Ordering Elon Musk to Delete Union-Related Tweet
By Joshua Fox & David Gobel on
On March 31, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) decision issued in 2021 (previously discussed here), which held that Tesla Inc. violated the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) by (1) prohibiting employees from contacting the media in…
UPDATE: NLRB GC Abruzzo Makes Clear All Non-Disparagement and Confidentiality Clauses Are At Risk After NLRB’s McLaren Decision
Earlier this month, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued its decision in McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB No. 58 (2023), holding that not only are most non-disparagement and confidentiality clauses signed by employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”) void as a matter of policy, but merely…
GC Update: Abruzzo Issues New Memorandum Outlining Her Objectives
By Joshua Fox & David Gobel on
On March 20, 2023, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo released a new Memorandum, updating all Regional Directors, Officers-in-Charge and Resident Officers regarding which issues must be submitted to the NLRB Division of Advice—and which need not, because Advice and/or the NLRB addressed them in the last several years.
Specifically,…
NLRB Announces New Information-Sharing Partnership to Identify Employer Surveillance
By Joshua Fox & David Gobel on
On March 7, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that the two agencies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) creating a formal partnership that allows the two agencies to share data with each other. The agencies highlighted this new partnership’s potential…
Drafter Beware: NLRB Finds That Employers Who Offer Severance Agreements With Broad Non-Disparagement or Confidentiality Restrictions Violate The NLRA
By Mark Theodore, Joshua Fox & Raymond Arroyo on
The National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) issued a ruling on February 21, 2023, in McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB No. 58 (2023), which in effect finds broad confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses in severance agreements violate Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”).
The decision applies to all employers…