Labor & Employment Law Blog

Strike and picketing activity have historically enjoyed broad protection under labor law.  This has often left employers suffering property or other damage as a result of strikes or picketing without a meaningful remedy.  A new U.S. Supreme Court ruling stands to change that.  

Employers may sue unions when members fail to take “reasonable precautions” to protect their employer’s property, even when the union members are engaged in a strike. On June 1, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 174 (No. 21–1449), that an employer can bring state law claims for damages if union members engage in actions that expose their employer’s property to “foreseeable, aggravated, and imminent danger due to the sudden cessation of work.”

 In a 7-2 decision authored by Justice Alito, the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed the ministerial exception set forth in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 565 U.S. 171 (2012).  (Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, Case Nos. 19-267 and 19-348 (July 8, 2020)(“OLG”)).

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 4-4 ruling on March 29, 2016 in the Friedrich’s case leaves unions’ agency fees intact for now.  It remains possible that the Court could revisit the same questions at some point in the future.  The Friedrich’s case involves the public sector workplace, where government workplaces, public budgets, and Constitutional limitations can create unique labor relations issues ...

On June 26, 2014, the United States Supreme Court, in a 9-0 decision, ruled that three recess appointments President Obama made in 2012 to the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) were invalid.  The Court affirmed the decision of the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, focusing on the language of the Recess Appointment Clause of the Constitution, which it weighed against the historical ...

In 2011 the National Labor Relations Board ordered private sector employers nationwide to post a Notice of Rights. While no such posting is required by the law itself, the NLRB justified the posting requirement on the basis of regulations and a need for public awareness of workplace rights. That said, the list of rights was not comprehensive, and selectively included the right of employees to form and organize ...

A second federal appellate court has rejected the National Labor Relations Board’s mandate that private sector employers post a Notice spelling out some, but not all, of employees' workplace rights. The ruling in Chamber of Commerce v. NLRB comes from a lawsuit brought in South Carolina to challenge the poster regulation.

Earlier, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals had rejected the NLRB's ...

On May 7, a federal court of appeals in Washington, DC ruled that the National Labor Relations Board cannot require private sector employers across the country to post a workplace poster which advises employees of certain rights under the National Labor Relations Act. Citing free speech concerns and a lack of balance in favoring a unionized workplace, the court struck a further blow against NLRB's proposed ...

In January 2013 the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals put the validity of hundreds of NLRB case decisions and regulatory actions in doubt. In a ruling involving Noel Canning, a Washington State company accused of unfair labor practices, the Court determined that two of the three Board members ruling against the employer lacked authority due to unconstitutional appointments from the President ...

On January 25, 2013 the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Court of Appeals refused to enforce an NLRB ruling involving unfair labor practice allegations against employer Noel Canning.

In a dispute with Constitutional and political implications, the Court ruled that two of the three members of the NLRB panel, whose ruling was appealed, were not validly appointed. The appointment and authority ...

As we previously reported here, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) made rules which required private sector employers across the country to post a Notice of Rights. This Notice provided a listing of employee rights under federal labor law including the right to form and join unions, to discuss and protest working conditions, and to refrain from such activity. Management groups sued the NLRB in an effort to block the rules and stop the mandatory Notice posting.