By: Ashley Laken
Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently denied Quicken Loans, Inc.’s petition for review of an NLRB decision finding that confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions in the company’s Mortgage Banker Employment Agreement unreasonably burdened employees’ rights under Section 7 of the NLRA.
Back in 2013, an NLRB…
By: Michele Haydel Gehrke, Esq.
In a 2-1 decision with Board Member Philip Miscimarra dissenting, the National Labor Relations Board recently held that Philips Electronics North America Corp. violated Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act by having an unwritten confidentiality rule prohibiting employees from discussing their disciplinary records. Philips Electronics North America…
By: Ashley K. Laken, Esq.
On January 31, NLRB Administrative Law Judge Susan Flynn ruled that two provisions of a non-unionized hospital’s code of conduct unlawfully interfered with employees’ Section 7 rights. The ALJ also deemed unlawful a hospital official’s oral instruction to an employee to not discuss with others on staff the hospital’s…
By: James C. Goodfellow, Esq.
In an Advice Memorandum written in 2012 and recently released pursuant to a FOIA request, the NLRB Associate General Counsel, Division of Advice, addressed the legality of a social media policy that prohibited employees from, among other things, “us[ing] any Company logo, trademark, or graphics, which are proprietary to…
By: Michele Haydel Gehrke, Esq.
On July 26, 2013, NLRB Administrative Law Judge Jeffrey D. Wedekind ruled that The Boeing Co.’s policy of routinely asking employees to refrain from discussing any investigation with other employees was unlawful. This decision is in line with the Board’s earlier decisions, including Banner Estrella Medical Center, 358…
By: Brian M. Stolzenbach, Esq.
In yet another example of the NLRB’s attempt to find a bogeyman lurking in every corner, the NLRB’s Acting General Counsel recently alleged that the familiar American Red Cross brochure entitled “You Request Our Mission . . . Please Respect Our Trademark” violated the National Labor Relations Act. See…
By: Kristin E. Michaels, Esq.
The National Labor Relations Board has reminded employers once again that there is a right way and a wrong way to object to union information requests on the grounds that the information sought by the union is irrelevant, unduly burdensome, overbroad or confidential. The Board revisited this issue recently…
The NLRB Division of Advice recently issued a Memorandum finding that an employer’s confidentiality rule violated Section 8(a)(1) by precluding discussions about ongoing investigations into employee misconduct. However, in reaching this decision, the Associate General Counsel proposed language that it would consider to be lawful. [See Verso Paper,…
A number of significant decisions were issued by the National Labor Relations Board in 2012, including many in the final days of the term of member Brian Hayes. As of this writing, the board continues with only three members, all Democratic appointees: Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce and members Richard Griffin…
By: Ashley Kircher
On Tuesday, an NLRB administrative law judge ruled that two provisions in an employment agreement signed by all of Quicken Loans, Inc.’s mortgage bankers violated Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act. See Quicken Loans, Inc., Case No. 28-CA-75857. ALJ Joel Biblowitz found that the provisions, which were meant to…
