NLRA, Protected Activity, Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)

NLRB Judge Finds Nonsolicitation, Noncompete Provisions in Employment Agreement Chilled Protected Activity

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 6/21/2024

On June 13, 2024, an administrative law judge (ALJ) for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that overly broad noncompete and nonsolicitation provisions in an employment agreement violated an employee’s labor...more

NLRB Finds That Writing "BLM" on an Employee Uniform is Protected by the NLRA

Baker Donelson on 2/26/2024

In a case issued on February 21, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or the Board) has continued its expansion of the definition of "protected, concerted activity" under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations...more

It’s Protected: NLRB Finds “Black Lives Matter” Insignia on Employee Uniform Constitutes Protected Activity Under Circumstances

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 2/23/2024

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”), in a 3-1 decision, held that an employee’s display on their work uniform of “BLM,” an acronym for Black Lives Matter, constituted protected concerted activity under Section 7 of...more

Labor Judge Decision Explains Employer Discipline of Employee for Serious Performance Issues

Jackson Lewis P.C. on 6/29/2023

Two important principles under the National Labor Relations Act are worth reiterating to construction employers: first, employees cannot be disciplined for engaging in activity protected by that Act; and, second, employers...more

NLRB Focuses on When Video Cameras Can Create an ‘Unlawful Impression of Surveillance’

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 4/25/2023

In a decision relevant for employers utilizing video surveillance equipment in the workplace and those considering the installation of video cameras, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) concluded that an employer...more

NLRB Administrative Law Judge Rules NLRA Does Not Protect BLM Messaging at Workplace

Fox Rothschild LLP on 6/22/2022

A National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) recently dismissed a complaint against Home Depot USA, Inc., in which the NLRB General Counsel (GC) alleged the company violated the National Labor Relations Act...more

Board Invites Briefing on Potentially Overturning “Johnnie’s Poultry” Standard for Questioning of Employees About Putative...

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 3/3/2021

On Monday, the Board voted 3-1 to solicit public briefing on whether it should overrule the Johnnie’s Poultry Co., 146 NLRB 770 (1964) safeguards employees must receive if they are questioned by employers about their own or...more

Union’s Efforts to Scare Employees From Participating in Employer Investigations Rebuked by the Board

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 6/10/2020

On June 5, 2020, the NLRB held, in Teamsters Local Union No. 735-S (Bemis Co., Inc.), 369 NLRB No. 97, that union officials’ retaliatory actions against members who participated in an investigation resulting in the discharge...more

Cell Phone Use on Hold in Manufacturing Plants After Recent NLRB Decision

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 5/29/2020

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a supplemental decision on May 20, 2020, finding lawful a policy prohibiting employees from possessing or using their cell phones on the manufacturing floor or at their...more

NLRB: Property Rights Trump Off-Duty Employees’ Section 7 Rights

ArentFox Schiff on 8/30/2019

In a split decision, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or the Board) ruled last week that a property owner that is not in any underlying labor dispute, does not have to grant access to off-duty employees of an onsite...more

Employer’s Discipline of Employees Engaging In “Intermittent Strikes” Lawful: NLRB Majority

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 7/31/2019

This summer has been punctuated by walkouts. We have seen walkouts in support of a $15 minimum wage and walkouts to protest the sale of goods to the government. Walking off the job is, of course, a staple of labor action, and...more

Testing for Interference in MSHA 105(c) Discrimination Cases

Fisher Phillips on 4/22/2019

The legal basis of interference is in Section 105(c)(1) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act (“Mine Act”) - “No person shall discharge or in any manner discriminate against . . . or otherwise interfere with the exercise...more

NLRB Narrows the Scope of NLRA Section 7 Protection for Employee Complaints

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 1/23/2019

On January 11, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board issued an employer-friendly decision in Alstate Maintenance LLC, 367 NLRB 68 (2019), narrowing the scope of protection for employee complaints. In doing so, it reversed...more

NLRB Orders Hospital to Reinstate Former Employee Who Shared Staffing Concerns With Media

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 12/11/2018

A recent decision by a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administrative law judge (ALJ) serves as a good reminder that even nonunion employees in healthcare settings are protected by Section 7 of the National Labor...more

NLRB Delivers Holiday Gift to Employers in the Form of New Standard for Workplace Civility Rules

Foley & Lardner LLP on 12/28/2017

As explained in this companion article, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) gave employers an early holiday gift with its reversal of the Obama-era joint employer test. But the Board had even more holiday cheer to...more

Two Employees, Social Media, An Unlawful Policy ... What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 8/7/2017

The advent of social media resulted in a feverish effort by the NLRB to keep up with new technology. In reality, the legal standard for evaluating whether conduct is protected concerted activity did not change. Rather, all...more

No Union Protection for Employees “Sick” Over No Paid Absences

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 8/1/2017

Can employees protest a company sick leave policy with an internet meme that suggests the company’s food is not safe? Not according to a recent Eighth Circuit decision. MikLin (doing business as Jimmy John’s in Minnesota)...more

The NLRB is Still in Business – Watch Your Handbooks

Baker Donelson on 6/5/2017

While employers wait to see if the Trump Administration will produce a kinder, gentler National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the NLRB is still in the business of punishing employers for workplace policies that ostensibly...more

NLRB Administrative Judge Finds Employee Facebook Post Was Protected Speech

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 9/16/2016

Seyfarth Synopsis: A new NLRB decision that attempts to define further the boundaries of protected speech under the NLRA. In Laborers’ International Union of North America and Mantell, Case No. 03-CB-136940 (NLRB...more

NLRB Tells Employers to Mind their Own Business

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 7/28/2016

Seyfarth Synopsis: An Administrative Law Judge held that an employer’s policy of prohibiting employees from conducting personal business at work, along with its social media and solicitation/distribution policies, violated...more

Another Day, Another Violation: Board Targets Hospital’s Work Rules Prohibiting Offensive Conduct

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 5/10/2016

Seyfarth Synopsis: Board panel finds hospital’s work rule prohibiting employees from engaging in offensive conduct to be unlawful. In Valley Health System, LLC d/b/a Spring Valley Hosp. Med. Ctr., 363 NLRB No. 178 (May...more

Unworkable Employer Work Rules: The Board Once Again Makes Perfection the Enemy of the Good

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 4/20/2016

The Board majority holds firm to its standard for evaluating employer work rules despite Member Miscimarra’s vigorous dissent advocating for a new, clearer standard that takes into account an employer’s legitimate business...more

Ingles Solamente Reglas

McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC on 9/16/2015

English-only rules are not as common as they once were, but many employers still require employees to speak English only in the workplace. Justifications for these rules vary, but the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...more

Surprise! NLRB Approves Employer’s Challenged Social Media Policy

Allen Matkins on 7/23/2015

In somewhat of a surprise, recently the NLRB affirmed an Administrative Law Judge’s decision, which had rejected the NLRB General Counsel’s challenge to a portion of an employer’s social media policy as unlawful. The...more

Tinley Park Hotel and Convention Center: The NLRB Gets Out Its Selfie Stick

BakerHostetler on 7/7/2015

Over the past few years, many employers have found out—the hard way—that the National Labor Relations Board is serious in policing employee handbooks for provisions that the Board believes are “overly broad” under Section 7...more

The National Labor Relations Act › Protected Activity › Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)

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