Total Articles: 10
NLRB Offers Additional Guidance on Social Media Issues, Continues to Expand Employee Rights in Social Media Outlets and to Scrutinize Employer Communication Policies
On January 25th, National Labor Relations Board Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon issued his second report summarizing cases that involve employee activity on social media outlets like Facebook or Twitter. General Counsel Memorandum OM 12-31 follows on the heels of the Acting General Counsel’s August 2011 report and generally summarizes 14 recent and “extremely fact-specific” social media cases reviewed by the Board’s Division of Advice, half of which involved questions about employer social media policies. The remaining cases involved employees who were discharged after they posted comments to Facebook. Unfortunately, the Memorandum does not include any identifying information about the cases, making it difficult to do more than take the summaries at face value. Although the cases reflect the current thinking of the Board’s national and regional level staff, employers should note that the Acting General Counsel selected these cases from the Board’s Division of Advice opinions on whether to issue a complaint, and not from formal Board decisions.
University of Illinois Medical Center Nurses Ratify Contract with Staffing Language and Bonus Program
Nurses at the University of Illinois Medical Center (the “Medical Center”) overwhelmingly voted to ratify a new three-year contract covering more than 1,000 nurses represented by the Illinois Nurses Association (the “Union”). The contract includes enhanced staffing language, a bonus program and wage increases of up to 17.85% over the three-year contract term.
Recent Ruling that Class Action Waivers are Illegal Shows NLRB Remains Active
On January 3, 2012, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that a class action waiver in a mandatory employment arbitration agreement is illegal. D.R. Horton, Inc. and Michael Cuda, 357 NLRB No. 184 (2012). This decision comes less than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld such a waiver in a consumer arbitration agreement. AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, 131 S.Ct. 1740 (2011). Further, in the days since the D.R. Horton decision was published, the Supreme Court again has upheld a consumer arbitration agreement that contained a class action waiver. CompuCredit Corp. v. Greenwood, No. 10-948 (Jan. 10, 2012).
Wash His Mouth Out With Soap!
The National Labor Relations Board under the Obama Administration has been in the news quite a bit lately. It has repeatedly been accused of ignoring past legal precedent in order to favor employees and unions over employers. While the agency has always been one of the most politicized in the federal government, it seems to have really outdone itself in a recent case involving a dealer. You be the judge.
NLRB Issues New Report on Social Media
The National Labor Relations Board's Acting General Counsel issued a new report last week discussing 14 recent social media cases. The Board's social media cases are a hot issue and many of you are following them closely, so I decided to partner up with fellow bloggers, Teresa Thompson and Norah Olson Bluvshtein of netWORKed, to fill you in.
NLRB Issues New Report on Facebook Firings
The National Labor Relations Board’s Acting General Counsel issued a new report last week discussing 14 recent social media cases. We know the Board’s social media cases are a hot issue and that many of you are following them closely, so we decided to partner up with fellow blogger, Rick Ross of Employer Law Update, to fill you in.
Employer Cannot Have Its Cake and Eat It Too in Terminating Illegal Striking Employees
A recent decision by the National Labor Relations Board demonstrates that in law, as in life, sometimes you cannot change your mind without consequences. In Douglas Autotech Corp., 357 N.L.R.B. No. 111 (Nov. 18, 2011), the Board affirmed the administrative law judge's decision that, even though employees participated in an illegal strike, their employer illegally fired them.
It's 2012 And The NLRB Is Off To A Fast – And Controversial – Start
The 2011 calendar year was one of the more interesting years for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The Board became a lightning rod for controversy and partisan politics due to its controversial decisions to utilize its rarely-used rulemaking authority to rewrite the rulebook on union elections and to require employers to post what many consider a pro-union National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) poster in its workplace.
Worker May Challenge Employer’s Neutrality Agreement with Union, Appeals Court Rules
An employee may bring suit under the federal Labor Management Relations Act to enjoin enforcement of a neutrality agreement between his employer and a labor union, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has ruled. Mulhall v. UNITE HERE Local 355, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 944 (11th Cir. Jan. 18, 2012). The Court explained that labor organizing assistance can be a thing of value that, if demanded or given in payment in certain circumstances, could be a violation of the LMRA. Accordingly, the Court reversed the district court’s dismissal of the suit and remanded the case. In so deciding, the Eleventh Circuit broke ranks with several other federal courts that have ruled neutrality agreements are not “things of value.” See, e.g., Adcock v. Freightliner, LLC, 550 F.3d 369 (4th Cir. 2008); Hotel Eps. & Restaurant Eps. Union, Local 57 v. Sage Hospitality, 390 F.3d 206, 218-19 (3d Cir. 2004); Patterson v. Heartland Industries Partners, 428 F. Supp. 2d 714 (D.C.N.D. Ohio 2006). The Eleventh Circuit has jurisdiction over Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.
NLRB Chairman Says He Will Push For Additional Election Rule Changes
In keeping with information published as part of the National Labor Relations Board’s unified agenda for the coming year, Board Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce told the Associated Press that he intends to push for additional sweeping changes to the union representation election process that would make it easier for unions to organize.
