The NLRB was busy in December issuing more decisions that are noteworthy and concerning for unionized and non-unionized employers alike. First, the NLRB issued a new decision (Supply Technologies, LLC, 359 NLRB No. 58) finding that a non-union employer’s policy requiring arbitration of employment disputes violated Section 7 of the NLRA. The NLRB relied on its prior decision and reasoning in D.R. Horton to invalidate the agreement, determining that the language of the agreement was ambiguous and would reasonably lead employees to believe they could not file unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB.
The Supply Technologies decision is not particularly surprising, given the NLRB’s prior decision in D.R. Horton which the NLRB is currently defending on appeal before the Fifth Circuit. Employers should note that several courts in many different states, including California, have rejected D.R. Horton’s analysis. Oral argument before the Fifth Circuit is scheduled for February 5, 2013. The ultimate decision and outcome in the D.R. Horton case may well impact the NLRB’s future handling of this issue.
In other December news, the NLRB upheld an earlier decision of an ALJ, finding that the termination of several employees for improper Facebook posts violated the NLRA. In Hispanics United of Buffalo, 359 NLRB No. 37 (Dec. 14, 2012), the NLRB held that a non-union employer’s termination of five coworkers based on certain Facebook posts was unlawful, and awarded the employees reinstatement and backpay. In this case, one coworker spoke critically of the work of several co-workers. One of those co-workers responded by posting a comment on her Facebook page about the criticism and inviting comments from her fellow criticized co-workers. Four co-workers posted their own responses to the criticism and about the co-worker who initiated the criticism. The employee who initiated the criticism asked the co-workers to stop their “harassing and bullying” posts, and made a complaint to her supervisor regarding the harassment and bullying. The employer ultimately terminated the five co-workers for bullying and harassing behavior. The NLRB found the terminations unlawful, reasoning that the Facebook posts were protected activity engaged in for mutual aid and benefit (banding together to defend against job-related criticism). This NLRB decision is a reminder to employers (union and non-union alike) to carefully consider discipline and terminations relating to social media in light of the NLRB’s continuing anti-employer posture on these issues.
Lastly, in December, the NLRB overturned decades-old precedent categorically exempting witness statements gathered during an employer’s internal investigation from disclosure to a union in response to a union request for information (which typically arises in connection with a grievance). In Piedmont Gardens, 359 NLRB No. 46 (Dec. 15, 2012), the NLRB held that witness statements are not automatically exempt from disclosure to unions. Instead, employers must consider the confidentiality interests in each specific case and apply a balancing test to evaluate whether there is a “legitimate and substantial confidentiality interest” and, if so, whether it outweighs the union’s need for the information. In addition, the employer must “raise its confidentiality concerns in a timely manner and seek an accommodation from the other party.” The Piedmont Gardens case muddies the waters in this area and obliterates any bright-line rule for treatment of witness statements as confidential. Each case will instead have to be decided on its unique facts.
Further muddying the waters in this area, the NLRB issued a similar decision the day before Piedmont Gardens, this time addressing what constitutes a witness statement in the first place. (If something isn’t a witness statement, it isn’t exempt from disclosure in response to the union’s request for information). In Hawaii Tribune Herald, 359 NLRB No. 39 (Dec. 14, 2012), the NLRB held that a document is only a witness statement if (1) the witness, in some way, either through reading or reviewing the statement or having it read to him, adopted the statement as his own; and (2) the witness received an assurance that the statement would remain confidential. In the Hawaii Tribune case, the NLRB held that an employer’s refusal to turn over a statement to the union was unlawful because the document did not constitute an actual “witness statement.” The statement in question was documentation of an employee’s account of an event he witnessed in the workplace. Although the statement was prepared by a supervisor, the employee was given the opportunity to make changes to the statement and then signed it as revised. Sounds like a witness statement, right? Not so, said the NLRB. According to the NLRB, the employee was not assured the statement would remain confidential and, as such, it did not qualify as a witness statement.
Stay tuned for more unusual developments from the NLRB, which we will endeavor to timely post on this blog.
