On July 9, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit took the latest step in a continuing controversy about when obscenity or other misconduct by a worker, while raising otherwise protected job complaints,...more
7/25/2024
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
General Motors ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Section 7 ,
Unfair Labor Practices
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit sent an unfair labor practice case back to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) because the agency failed to consider the contract-based defenses of an employer accused of...more
A federal judge in New York recently cast doubt on the validity of state laws that seek to restrict employer speech in connection with union organizing. In New York State Vegetable Growers Association, Inc. v. Letitia James,...more
3/6/2024
/ Agribusiness ,
Agricultural Sector ,
Agricultural Workers ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Labor Relations ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
NLRA ,
Preemption ,
Public Employment Relations Board’s (PERB) ,
State Labor Laws ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
On April 20, 2023, a three-member panel of the National Labor Relations Board (Board) ruled 2-1 in Noah’s Ark Processors LLC, 372 NLRB No. 80 (2023), that a combination of remedies imposed for unfair labor practices by an...more
4/26/2023
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Bad Faith ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or “the Board”) recently issued a decision in McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB No. 58 (2023), holding that severance agreements containing overly broad non-disparagement or...more
3/27/2023
/ Confidentiality Agreements ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Guidance Update ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Section 7 ,
Severance Agreements ,
Unfair Labor Practices
During the past few years, employers have seen efforts to restrict the use of confidentiality and nondisparagement provisions in severance agreements at both the state and federal levels. The National Labor Relations Board...more
2/28/2023
/ Confidentiality Agreements ,
Contract Terms ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Section 7 ,
Severance Agreements
On November 3, 2022 the National Labor Relations Board issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that, if adopted, would rescind a rule issued under the prior administration addressing blocking charges, voluntary...more
11/11/2022
/ Blocking Power ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Comment Period ,
Employee Rights ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NPRM ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Union Elections ,
Unions
On July 6, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board published its decision in Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters, 371 NLRB No. 112, adopting the administrative law judge’s (ALJ) decision that a carpenters’ union did not...more
7/15/2022
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Labor Relations ,
Layoffs ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Representatives ,
Unions ,
Workplace Safety ,
Wright Line Test
On June 15, 2022, in Rieth-Riley Construction Co., Inc., 371 NLRB No. 109, the National Labor Relations Board reaffirmed that regional directors have authority to dismiss representation and decertification petitions if the...more
7/11/2022
/ Administrative Hearings ,
Administrative Merits Determinations ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Petition for Review ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Successors ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
In Piedmont Health Services, Inc. and Piedmont Health Services Medical Providers United, Case No. 10-RC-286648, Region 10 of the National Labor Relations Board (Region) issued a Decision and Direction of Election (DDE) in...more
4/12/2022
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Employee Definition ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Physicians ,
Union Elections ,
Unions
The National Labor Relations Board, by a vote of 2-1, recently reversed an administrative law judge (ALJ) in finding that a hospital did not violate the National Labor Relations Act (the Act) by failing and refusing to...more
6/1/2021
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Bad Faith ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dissenting Opinions ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hospitals ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
In Valley Hospital Medical Center, Inc. d/b/a Valley Hospital Medical Center, 368 NLRB No. 139 (2019), the National Labor Relations Board reversed yet another decision issued during the prior administration, and returned to...more
12/24/2019
/ Bethlehem Steel ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Contract Terms ,
Dues Checkoff ,
Employee Contributions ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Statutory Requirements ,
Union Dues ,
Unions
In Local 702, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO v. National Labor Relations Board and Consolidated Communications, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently upheld the termination of a...more
9/16/2019
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
AFL-CIO ,
Appeals ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Investigations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Remand ,
Section 7 ,
Strike ,
Unions ,
Wrongful Termination