In still another break with long-standing precedent, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has once again eased the way for union organizing – this time for unions seeking to organize faculty at private sector universities and colleges. In Pacific Lutheran University, 361 NLRB No. 157 (December 2014), the Board adopted a new standard for determining when faculty may be considered to be “managerial employees,” which in turn critically impacts whether they may be subject to unionization.
Continue Reading New NLRB Determination Makes It Easier For Unions To Organize Faculty At Universities And Colleges

Yesterday, December 15, 2014, the National Labor Relations Board issued its Final Rule amending election procedures in what most observers are calling the “Quickie Election” Rule. Once the rule becomes effective in April, elections will be held approximately 10 to 21 days after a union election petition has been filed – with profound consequences for non-union employers.
Continue Reading NLRB Re-Issues “Quickie Election” Rule In Continuous Effort to Boost Union Organizing

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently decided that employees must presumptively be permitted to use their employer’s e-mail system, during non-working time, to communicate with each other about workplace issues, including but not limited to union organizing efforts.
Continue Reading The Obama NLRB Strikes Another Blow on Behalf of Organized Labor: Employees May Use Company E-Mail Systems to Unionize and Engage in Other “Protected Concerted Activities”

Earlier today, the United States Supreme Court unanimously found that President Obama acted unconstitutionally when he made several recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) in 2012. The Court, in an Opinion authored by Justice Breyer, affirmed (albeit for differing reasons) the January 2013 judgment by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court Issues Long-Awaited Decision in NLRB v. Noel Canning; President Obama’s Recess Appointments to NLRB Deemed Unconstitutional

The National Labor Relations Board recently issued a somewhat surprising decision that provides useful guidance to employers facing employee misconduct. In Flex Frac Logistics, LLC, the Board found that an employee’s discharge for breaching the employer’s confidentiality policy was lawful, despite the Board’s finding that the confidentiality policy was unlawful.
Continue Reading NLRB Upholds Discharge for Deliberate Betrayal, Despite Reliance on Unlawful Policy

Stop me if you have heard this one, an employee was upset about his pay rate…

Seriously, an employee upset about his pay was at the heart of a recent decision issued by the National Labor Relations Board that explored the protections afforded by the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”). The employee in question was hired to perform waterproofing duties on a project at a university in Ohio. The project was a public project, and therefore, it was covered by the applicable prevailing wage laws. The employee, however, was not happy about the prevailing wage rate that he received on the project, and essentially complained about his wage rate throughout the entire time he spent working on the project. In fact, as the foreman testified, the employee complained about basically everything during his brief tenure with the employer.
Continue Reading NLRB Finds that not all Whining and Complaining Protected by NLRA

As Americans across the country anxiously stare at their National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Men’s Basketball brackets, the Northwestern University Wildcats are dominating the headlines in both the sports and labor law communities. In what many sports and legal commentators are calling a game-changing decision (pun intended), on Wednesday, March 26, the Regional Director for the Chicago Regional Office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that certain players on the Northwestern University football team could seek to form a union. Perhaps more importantly, the Decision is quite expansive in its interpretation of the term “employee.”
Continue Reading NLRB Rules That College Football Team Can Seek to Form a Union

A National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) recently concluded that an employer violated the National Labor Relations Act (Act) by implementing a "no gossip policy" and by firing an employee who violated the policy. The case, Laurus Technical Institute, involved a non-union employer. As we have reported before, the NLRB’s jurisdiction