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NLRB Strikes Down Hospital Rule Against Workplace "Negativity"

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
04/03/2014
Agency Activity, Labor Law, Social Media
I remember my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Wilbourne, telling us a very important rule: "if you don't have anything nice to say about someone, don't say anything at all."  Well, its a good thing the current NLRB was not around back then, because it looks like they would have had a problem with that rule. In Hill and Dales General Hospital, 360 NLRB No. 70 (April 1, 2014), a hospital decided to change its culture, which was plagued by "back-biting and...
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NLRB Signals What's On Its Agenda

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
04/01/2014
Agency Activity, Labor Law
Each year the General Counsel to the National Labor Relations Board meets with labor attorneys at the American Bar Association's Midwinter meeting of the Labor and Employment Section. In this meeting, the General Counsel answers questions about the  Board's case handling processes and priorities. On March 26, 2014, the NLRB released a memorandum summarizing the information provided by the General Counsel in this year's meeting.  For those of you...
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Goooo Team.... er, Union?

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
03/26/2014
Agency Activity, Labor Law
Forget March Madness baby.  Here’s where things get interesting. The Chicago Region of the NLRB has announced its decision that Northwestern University football players are “employees” under the National Labor Relations Act, and that they can vote to unionize.   Northwestern University, 13-R-121359 (March 26, 2014).   The University has indicated its intent to appeal the decision to the full NLRB in Washington. By way of background, a...
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NLRB Rules Its Legal To Outlaw "Negative Attitudes" in the Workplace

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
03/07/2014
Labor Law
In a February 28, 2014 decision, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) found that a South Carolina restaurant did not violate the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) when it implemented a rule prohibiting employees from “displaying a negative attitude” when interacting with coworkers and customers.  Copper River of Boiling Springs, LLC, 360 N.L.R.B. No. 60 (2014). The Board’s Republican members, Philip A. Miscimarra and Harry...
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NLRB Rules That Medical Residents Are Employees Eligible to Unionize

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
02/28/2014
Labor Law
Resident doctors work long hours caring for sick, vulnerable patients.  Eighty hours a week or more is typical.  During that time, under the supervision of an attending physician, they have major responsibilities—making medical decisions, treating patients and performing surgeries.  The administration of one New York medical school and hospital, however, believed that residency is not a job at all.  Rather, the school and hospital argued,...
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Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Validity of NLRB Recess Appointments

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
01/17/2014
Agency Activity, Labor Law, Supreme Court Decisions
It turns out that schoolchildren aren’t the only ones who care about how long recess is.  On Monday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning, No. 12-1281, a case that is expected to decide how to allocate power between the President and Senate when it comes to recess appointments and could result in the invalidation of hundreds of NLRB decisions . For those unfamiliar with the case, by January 3,...
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Appellate Court Reverses NLRB and Upholds Legality of Class Action Waivers

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
12/04/2013
Agency Activity, Arbitration, Labor Law
Employers scored a big victory yesterday when the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed the National Labor Relations Board's D.R Horton ruling, which invalidated an employer's arbitration agreement containing a waiver of an employee's right to file class-action claims. D.R. Horton v. NLRB, 5th Cir No. 12-60031 (12/3/13).  The decision will make it  easier for employers to enforce class-action waivers, including waivers of...
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Profanity-Laced Facebook Exchange Not Protected By NLRA

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/25/2013
Labor Law, Social Media
On November 12, 2013, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administrative law judge (ALJ) concluded that discharged employees forfeited their rights under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when their Facebook conversation includes comments about being insubordinate and disruptive in the workplace. The Richmond District Neighborhood Center (“Richmond”) is a California-based non-profit corporation.  Richmond operates after...
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Senate Confirms Former Union Lawyer as New NLRB General Counsel

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/01/2013
Agency Activity, Labor Law
On October 29th, the Senate confirmed Richard F. Griffin Jr. as the NLRB’s new General Counsel.  He replaces Lafe E. Solomon, who filed the much publicized case against Boeing.  Mr. Griffin, a longtime lawyer for the International Union of Operating Engineers, previously served on the NLRB but was replaced amid controversy and litigation over whether President Obama’s recess appointments (of which he was one) were unconstitutional. Mr....
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Fourth Circuit Gives Bad News To NLRB And Union, Again.

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
09/12/2013
Agency Activity, Labor Law
Two  appellate courts have decided that the recess appointments Obama made of three NLRB members in January 2012 were made without proper legal authority resulting. therefore, with the NLRB acting without a valid quorum. Indeed, the Supreme Court has agreed to review the first such decision, Noel Canning Division of Noel Corp. v. NLRB, 705 F.3d 4901 (D.C. Cir. 2013), which held that the 2012 appointments were unconstitutional. In NLRB v. Enterprise...
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