Management Memo

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) has issued its long-anticipated  decision in Browning-Ferris Industries, 362 NLRB No. 186 (pdf), establishing a new test for determining joint-employer status under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA” or the “Act”).  Because this revised standard will resonate with businesses relying on contractors and staffing firms throughout the economy and across industry lines, employers should be wary of its potential impact upon relationships with service providers that are supportive of, or critical to ...

Evidence continues to mount as to how much more quickly representation elections are being held since the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB” or “Board”) Amended Representation Election Rules that took effect on April 14, 2015. Melanie Trottman of The Wall Street Journal has crunched the data and reports today that the median number of days between the filing of a representation petition and the day on which employees vote has fallen to 23 days in uncontested elections where the employer and union stipulated to the terms for the vote, and 25 days in the 20 contested ...

As we reported, earlier this week the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) decided that it would not exercise jurisdiction with respect to the representation petition filed by the College Athlete Players Association seeking to represent the scholarship members of the Northwestern University football team.  The Board did not answer the question of whether it considered the team members to be employees of the university and explained that for policy reasons it was not answering the critical questions at this time.  It did however make clear that it might well do ...

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) has ruled in a unanimous decision that it is dismissing the petition filed by the College Athlete Players Association for an election declaring Northwestern University football team members who receive grant-in-aid scholarships are “employees” within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”).  The Board explained that it had concluded that “asserting jurisdiction in this case would not promote stability in labor relations.”  The Board made clear however that it might well assert ...

The National Labor Relations Board has issued an Order (PDF) denying a request for a special appeal filed by McDonald’, USA, LLC and its franchisees (collectively referred to as “McDonald’s” in the Board’s Order) and found that the Administrative Law Judge presiding in the unfair labor practice hearing did not err when she denied McDonald’s motion for a bill of particulars explaining the factual basis for the General Counsel’s claim that McDonald’s, USA, LLC and the named franchisees are joint employers.

The ALJ Had Denied McDonald’s Motion for a Bill of ...

On August 7, in SW General Inc. v. NLRB 2015 US App LEXIS 13812, a federal appellate court ruled that the January 5, 2011 appointment of Lafe Solomon as Acting General Counsel to the NLRB violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act 5 U.S.C. Sections 3345 et. seq. (FVRA) (PDF). For that reasons it held that his authorizations to issue an unfair labor practice (“ULP”) complaint in the case was invalid and the NLRB’s decision finding the employer guilty of ULPs must be vacated. Since Solomon served as Acting General Counsel until November 4, 2013, the Court’s decision renders ...

As we have been reporting, the Writers Guild of America East has been actively pursuing writers in the new media arena.   On Friday August 7^th, the Guild announced that Vice had agreed to recognize the Guild as the bargaining representative of its editorial staff without an election. It is reported that there are approximately 80 employees in the unit.

While VICE’s management’ statement this past Friday concerning the Guild’s campaign and demand for recognition left some room for doubt as to whether VICE would recognize the union without an election,  they announced today that ...

One of the hallmark initiatives of NLRB General Counsel Richard F. Griffin Jr. has been the pursuit of more aggressive remedies in response to what the General Counsel considers to be egregious unfair labor practices (“ULP’) activity.  While his predecessors and prior Board members spoke of “special remedies” that they would seek to impose in what they deemed extraordinary cases, General Counsel Griffin and today’s National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) are much more frequently arguing for and directing remedies that go beyond those that the NLRB ...

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Wednesday issued a 72 page opinion (PDF) rejecting each of the arguments raised by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Retail Federation and other business groups and found that the Amended Election Rules adopted by the National Labor Relations Board in December 2014, which took effect in April 2015, in an action that argued that the Board had exceeded its authority, violated the Administrative Procedures Act and that the Amended Rules were unconstitutional.

This is the second district court decision to reject such challenges ...

Last week we reported that the NLRB continues its assault on arbitration agreements in spite of judicial rejection of its holdings.  Days after our post, another federal judge disregarded the NLRB’s holdings and actually dismissed employees’ wage and hour claims because the employees failed to follow the court’s order compelling the employees to arbitration.

Specifically, on July 8, 2015, a federal judge dismissed (PDF) the original wage and hour collective action that ultimately led to the NLRB’s decision in Murphy Oil where it held that arbitration agreements ...