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22 Jun 2017 Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of June 5 – 9

National Labor Relations Board | btlabor

  The Summary of NLRB Decisions for the week of  June 5 – 9, 2017 is now available.   Summarized Board Decisions   Perkins Management Services Company  (13-CA-173696; 365 NLRB No. 90)  Charlotte, IL, June 5, 2017.   The Board granted the General Counsel’s Motion for Default Judgment pursuant to the noncompliance provisions of an informal settlement agreement.  The Board found that the Respondent failed to comply with the terms of the settlement agreement, and…

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21 Jun 2017 Untangling the Web? Senator Introduces Bill to Reverse Obama-Era Ambush Union Election Rules

National Labor Relations Board | David Pryzbylski

  During President Obama’s two terms in office, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a slew of game-changing decisions and rules affecting labor-management relations in the U.S. Perhaps none more so than the “ambush election rules” that took effect in April 2015. Those rules dramatically shortened the time an employer has to campaign against a union prior to an election in its workplace, among other things, and they continue to make headlines.   On…

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20 Jun 2017 SCOTUS Declines to Weigh in on Micro-Units, But There Still is Hope

National Labor Relations Board | David Pryzbylski

  On June 19, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to accept an appeal filed by Macy’s, Inc., regarding a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that imposed a micro bargaining unit within one of the company’s department stores. Specifically, the NLRB held that a union could seek to represent only the fragrance and cosmetic workers on two floors of the store.   In 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit…

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20 Jun 2017 Public Union Forced “Agency Fees” on the Chopping Block Again

Unions and Union Membership | Anthony Glenn

  The issue of forcing unionized public employees to pay union “agency fees” is teed-up for the Supreme Court once again. Mark Janus, an employee of the state government of Illinois who is represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees appealed a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit last week that upheld 40-year-old Supreme Court precedent holding that forcing public employees represented by unions to pay…

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19 Jun 2017 Fahrenheit 180: DOJ Reverses Course, Abandons NLRB at Supreme Court in Class Action Fight

National Labor Relations Board | David Pryzbylski

  The heat is turning up at the U.S. Supreme Court. Arguments to the Court regarding whether class action waivers should be permitted in the employment context recently just kicked off, and a major unexpected development already has emerged. On June 16, the Department of Justice (DOJ) did a 180 and filed a brief in support of three companies who are opposing the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) before the Court. The DOJ previously supported…

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16 Jun 2017 Retirees Proceed to Arbitration Over Slashed Benefits

Unions and Union Membership | David Pryzbylski

  Retiree benefits are a big issue for many employers – from pure economic cost to administrative burdens. Accordingly, some companies have moved to limit or cut such benefits entirely over the years. Of course, when doing so, companies need to navigate various legal issues, including under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and, to the extent a union is in the picture, the National Labor Relations Act and/or Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA)….

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15 Jun 2017 UBER Arbitration Pact Tossed

National Labor Relations Board | David Pryzbylski

  The assault on company-employee arbitration pacts by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) continues. On June 13, an NLRB Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ruled an Uber Technologies arbitration agreement was unlawful. Uber required its software engineers to sign an agreement that compelled arbitration of claims against the company.   Specifically, the ALJ held that the language in the agreement was “ambiguous” as to employees’ rights to file charges with the NLRB or otherwise access…

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15 Jun 2017 ‘Let’s Get Ready To Rumble!’ Class Action Waiver Battle Kicks Off At Supreme Court

National Labor Relations Board | David Pryzbylski

  The class action waiver battle between employers and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has been brewing for years. It’s finally coming to a head, as the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to resolve the dispute earlier this year and a group of employers just filed their opening briefs in the matter.   Class action waivers are a tool utilized by companies to blunt costly and time-intensive class or collective claims brought by a large…

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13 Jun 2017 ‘BIG Little Lies’: Employer’s Inconsistent Practice Invalidates Employee Termination for Dishonesty, Says NLRB

National Labor Relations Board | David Pryzbylski

  A little white lie never hurt anyone, right? That age-old saying appears to be false, at least when it comes to a recent ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). On June 9, the NLRB issued its decision in Cellco Partnership, 365 NLRB No. 93 (2017), which found that an employer unlawfully discharged an employee for dishonesty because the employer had handled terminations for lying inconsistently.   In the case, employee Bianca Cunningham,…

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12 Jun 2017 The Search Is On: Federal Court Upholds NLRB’s Imposition of Job-Search Costs on Employer

National Labor Relations Board | David Pryzbylski

  The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) not only has been augmenting the scope of issues it adjudicates in recent years, it also has been expanding its remedial powers. One example of this trend occurred in a bad faith bargaining case where the NLRB ordered an employer to pay negotiating costs/expenses incurred by a union.   In another case that came down in 2016, the NLRB changed its approach to awarding job-search expenses. Historically, the…

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