NLRB Finds Employer’s Facebook Posts Were Unlawful

Article Information

Published on Monday, 07 May 2012 06:53

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled that an employer’s Facebook posts were unlawful. The case involves Jimmy Johns, a restaurant chain. Some of its employees were complaining that the company was not providing its employees with paid sick leave. Specifically, they put up posters near Jimmy John’s restaurants showing two identical sub sandwiches side by side with text that read in part, “CAN’T TELL THE DIFFERENCE? THAT’S TOO BAD BECAUSE JIMMY JOHN’S WORKERS DON’T GET PAID SICK DAYS. SHOOT, WE CAN’T EVEN CALL IN SICK.” In response to this protected activity, an employee started a Jimmy John’s Anti-Union Facebook page. The page was accessible to anyone with a Facebook account. A co-owner of Jimmy John’s made a post on the Facebook page encouraging people to take the posters down, and an assistant manager criticized one of the employees complaining about the sick leave policy. Employees and the assistant manager also posted negative comments about the employee.

Subsequently, the company terminated several of the employees complaining about the sick leave, and others were disciplined. The employees then filed an unfai r labor practices charge with the NLRB. The NLRB found that some of the employer’s posts were  unlawful, specifically those that encouraged individuals to text one of the complaining employees and tell him “how they feel,” because, according to the NLRB, this was encouraging harassment of the employee for protected activities. Read More.

NLRB Alleges Arbitration Agreement Used by “24 Hour Fitness” is Unlawful

Article Information

Published on Thursday, 03 May 2012 19:19

Employers continue to face legal challenges to workplace arbitration agreements. Recently, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a complaint alleging that 24 Hour Fitness USA, Inc. violated federal labor law by insisting that all employment-related disputes be resolved by individual arbitration versus class action. The California-based corporation, requires employees to agree in writing, as a condition of employment, to forego any rights to collective or class action lawsuits or arbitrations. According to the NLRB, the requirement violates the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

The NLRB initiated an investigation following a charge filed by an employee from the 24 Hour Fitness center in San Ramon, California. The NLRB alleges that the company is attempting to enforce its no-class-action policy by asserting it in litigation brought by employees in numerous cases, seven of which are cited in the complaint. In each case, employees, who are not represented by a union, sought to bring workplace-related claims, such as wage and hour violations, on a class-wide basis. In response, 24 Hour Fitness sought to compel the employees to submit their claims to individual arbitrations, referencing the arbitration policy contained in its employee handbook. The complaint calls for a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge on June 11, and seeks an order requiring that the company stop maintaining and enforcing that portion of its employee policy that prohibits collective and class action. Read More.

Employer Must Reinstate 28 Employees Allegedly Terminated for Expressing Union Support

Article Information

Published on Thursday, 05 April 2012 17:43

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is reporting that a U.S. District Court Judge in Connecticut has ordered the Stamford Plaza Hotel and Conference Center to reinstate 28 employees who were laid off, then rehired by a subcontractor to perform the same work, allegedly because they expressed support for a union. According to the NLRB press release, the layoffs occurred shortly after the United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 371, began gathering signatures for a unionization effort. The two hotel operations that were subcontracted, housekeeping and maintenance, had demonstrated the strongest level of union support. The NLRB regional office in Hartford issued a complaint against the hotel, alleging that the
subcontracting was an unlawful attempt to disrupt the union activity. The office also sought an injunction requiring that the employees be reinstated while the case works its way through the NLRB’s process. In granting the injunction, Judge
Mark R. Kravitz stated that “Given the timing of the Stamford Plaza’s decision to subcontract, its shifting explanations for that decision, and the testimony that the hotel continues to structure its subcontracting arrangements with the goal of frustrating union activity, the Court easily finds reasonable cause to believe that unfair labor practices have occurred.” In addition to ordering reinstatement of the employees pending a final decision in the NLRB case, the judge also ordered the employer to refrain from interrogating employees about their union sympathies or otherwise interfering with their labor rights. Read More. 

NLRB Releases Summary of Activities for Fiscal Year 2011

Article Information

Published on Tuesday, 20 March 2012 18:44

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon has released a summary of activities for Fiscal Year 2011 . The summary includes the following information: (1) a 93% settlement rate was achieved in the Regional Offices in meritorious unfair labor practice cases; (2) NLRB Regional Offices won 87% of Board and Administrative Law Judge unfair labor practice and compliance decisions in whole or in part in FY 2011; (3) a total of $60,514,922 was recovered on behalf of employees as backpay or reimbursement of fees, dues, and fines, with 1,644 employees offered reinstatement; (4) the NLRB exceeded two of its three goals and came close to achieving the third, closing 84.7% of all representation cases within 100 days (target 85%), 72.5% of all unfair labor practice cases within 120 days (target 71.2%), and 83.2% of all meritorious unfair labor practice cases within 365 days (target 80.2%). The target for each 2011 overarching goal was higher than in FY 2010 and has been increased for FY 2012; (5) the Agency’s total case intake during FY 2011 was 24,990, compared to 26,585 cases in FY 2010, representing a 5.9% decrease in overall intake. Unfair labor practice case intake was 22,177, a 5.1% decrease from the FY 2010 intake of 23,381. Total representation case intake was 2,813, a 12.2% decrease from the FY 2010 intake of 3,204; and, (6) the working inventory of cases at the end of FY 2011 was 4,421, compared to 4,063 at the end of FY 2010. Read More.