NLRA, Free Speech, Unions

New York District Court Enjoins Enforcement of Law Limiting Employer Speech During Organizing Campaigns

Littler on 3/6/2024

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

Held Captive No More: New York Enacts Legislation Prohibiting Mandatory Meetings Regarding Employers’ Political (But Really Union)...

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 9/19/2023

Seyfarth Synopsis: On September 6, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law legislation that, effective immediately, prohibits employers from disciplining employees who refuse to participate in meetings concerning...more

New York, Minnesota, and Maine Ban “Captive Audience Meetings” – But the Fight is Just Beginning

Fisher Phillips on 8/14/2023

Effective August 1, Minnesota now prohibits employers from “captive audience meetings” – that is, requiring, under threat of discharge, discipline, or some other penalty, employee attendance or participation in...more

Littler Lightbulb – June Employment Appellate Roundup

Littler on 7/6/2023

This Littler Lightbulb highlights some of the more significant employment law developments at the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeal in the last month. At the Supreme Court...more

NLRB General Counsel Doubles Down on Captive Audience Meetings in Response to Legal Challenge

Fisher Phillips on 3/27/2023

As you may know, the NLRB’s top prosecutor issued a memo last year seeking to bar employers from convening employee meetings on working time to address union representation unless they provide employees specific assurances...more

'Any Person' May File Unfair Labor Practice Charges With the NLRB

Snell & Wilmer on 5/25/2022

In a recent decision, FDRLST Media, LLC v. National Labor Relations Board (No. 20-3434 & 3492 3rd Cir. May 20, 2022), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (“Court”) denied enforcement of an order of the...more

Connecticut Poised to Ban ‘Captive Audience’ Meetings and Expand Employee Free Speech Protections

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 5/13/2022

Recently, the Connecticut General Assembly sent Public Act No. 22-24 (Substitute Senate Bill No. 163), “An Act Protecting Employee Freedom of Speech and Conscience,” to Governor Ned Lamont’s desk for signature. It is unclear...more

NLRB General Counsel Seeks to Reinstate Radical Standard for Union Recognition and Restrict Employer Free Speech During Corporate...

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 4/19/2022

In contravention of decades-old precedent, employers may be required to recognize unions without a secret ballot election, thereby denying employers the opportunity to protect the private choice of their employees. The...more

NLRB General Counsel Urges Board to Find Captive Audience Speeches are Unlawful

Franczek P.C. on 4/19/2022

For decades, employers have been permitted to hold mandatory meetings or “captive audience speeches” in response to union organizing campaigns to present the company’s position on unionization. On April 7, 2022, the National...more

Rough Waters Ahead: NLRB General Counsel Seeks to Bar Employer-Mandated Meetings to Discuss Union Organizing

ArentFox Schiff on 4/13/2022

Buckle up, it’s about to get choppy. Employers sailing in National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) waters have come to expect rough seas. By one estimate, the Board overturned more than 4,500 cumulative years of...more

NLRB's Top Prosecutor Seeks to Muzzle Employers by Banning Employee Meetings

FordHarrison on 4/13/2022

Executive Summary: In an April 7, 2022 memo from the NLRB, General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo (“Abruzzo”) announced her intent to challenge employers’ long-standing practice of holding informational meetings regarding union...more

NLRB’s Top Sheriff Calls for Abrupt End to 75 Years of Lawful “Captive Audience” Meetings

Fisher Phillips on 4/12/2022

The NLRB’s top prosecutor just issued a memo which seeks to bar employers from convening employee meetings on working time to address union representation unless they provide employees specific assurances that participation...more

NLRB General Counsel Abruzzo Seeks to Limit Long-Standing Employer Free Speech Right

Littler on 4/8/2022

On April 7, 2022, General Counsel (GC) Jennifer A. Abruzzo released Memorandum 22-04, The Right to Refrain from Captive Audience and other Mandatory Meetings. As set forth in the memorandum, GC Abruzzo will urge the National...more

D.C. Circuit Flips NLRB; Employer’s Alleged ‘Baseless’ Statements Of Opinion Lawful

Jackson Lewis P.C. on 6/14/2021

“Absent threats or promises, § 8(c) [of the National Labor Relations Act] unambiguously protects ‘any views, argument tor opinion’ – even those that the agency finds misguided, flimsy, or daft,” the D.C. Circuit has held....more

Re-Filed “PRO Act”: Big Potential Risk for Union-Free Employers and Employees

Maynard Nexsen on 2/11/2021

The “Protecting the Right to Organize Act” (“PRO Act”) proposes drastic changes to the nation’s laws governing employer-union relations, especially the ability of employers and employees to remain union-free. Earlier this...more

NLRB Seeks Comment: Rats, Banners and Neutrals, Oh My!

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 10/30/2020

An age old question under the National Labor Relations Act is what constitutes “picketing”? By the Supreme Court’s definition, picketing is inherently coercive and may not be directed against a neutral employer. An issue...more

California Puts a Foot On the Scale to Drive Unionization Higher: AB 1291 Mandates State-Sponsored Assistance in Organizing...

Epstein Becker & Green on 12/31/2019

As private sector unionization rates have continued to fall over recent decades, organized labor has increasingly turned to the state and local politicians it supports for assistance in the form of state legislation and local...more

Board Overturns Purple Communications, Restores Employer Right to Restrict Email Use

Littler on 12/19/2019

On December 17, 2019, in a 3-1 decision split along party lines, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) restored to employers the right to restrict employees from using company email systems for nonbusiness purposes. The...more

NLRB Reverses Purple Communications – Holds Employer May Restrict Employees’ Use of Email and Other Information Technology Systems

Epstein Becker & Green on 12/18/2019

On December 17, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) ruled that an employer’s rule prohibiting use of its email system for nonbusiness purposes did not violate employees’ rights under the National Labor...more

The National Labor Relations Act › Free Speech › Unions