News & Analysis as of

Protected Activity Offensive Language

Miles & Stockbridge P.C.

Dropping an F-Bomb or Uttering a Racist or Sexist Comment in the Workplace May No Longer Be Protected Activity Under the National...

On July 21, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision in General Motors LLC, 369 NLRB No. 127 (2020) which fundamentally changed the standard for, “determining whether employees have been lawfully...more

Sherman & Howard L.L.C.

NLRB Cleans Up Employee Foul/Abusive Language With Sweeping New Opinion

This week the NLRB issued a blockbuster decision addressing employees’ abusive and foul language in the workplace. General Motors LLC, 369 NLRB No. 127 (2020). In the past, the Board has given many employees a free pass when...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

The NLRB Continues to Protect Vulgarity in the Workplace

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Seyfarth Synopsis: Just when employers thought they were safe to restrict offensive speech and restore decorum in the workplace, a recent decision by the Board serves as a stark reminder that offensive workplace speech may...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

The Ability of a School To Punish Lewd Or Profane Speech Disappears Once A Student Exits School Grounds

B.L. by Levy v. Mahanoy Area School District (“Levy”), Case No. 3:17-CV-1734, 2017 WL 4418290 (M.D. Pa. Oct. 5, 2017). District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania grants cheerleader’s Motion for Preliminary...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

The NLRB/EEOC Landmine – When Does Offensive Speech Amount to Protected Activity?

Employers need to be on the lookout for instances of offensive employee speech, which may put them between a rock and a hard place as they navigate potential claims under either anti-discrimination laws or federal labor laws....more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Second Circuit Holds Pro-Union Sentiment Outweighs Impropriety of Profanity-Laden Rant Against Supervisor, His Mother, and “His...

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Use of profanity by employees, whether in the workplace, outside the workplace, or on social media, presents difficult legal issues for the employer, as highlighted by a recent Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Expletive-Laced Facebook Rant Protected Under Federal Labor Law

Many people have fanaticized about telling their boss what they really think about him or her. Fortunately, most employees have the good sense not to write down what they are thinking about their employer....more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

!@#$% Vote Yes for the UNION! Facebook Post Protected by the NLRA? Second Circuit Says Yes

In National Labor Relations Board v. Pier Sixty, LLC, No. 15-1841 (April 21, 2017), the Second Circuit upheld the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) finding that an employee’s Facebook post, although “vulgar and...more

Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP

Every Manager and Their Mother: Second Circuit Shields Social Media Insults against Supervisor and His Entire Family

On Friday, April 21, 2017 a Second Circuit Court of Appeals panel affirmed a National Labor Relations Board ruling that a catering company server was wrongfully terminated for making an obscene and vicious Facebook post that...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Another Day, Another Violation: Board Targets Hospital’s Work Rules Prohibiting Offensive Conduct

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Seyfarth Synopsis: Board panel finds hospital’s work rule prohibiting employees from engaging in offensive conduct to be unlawful. In Valley Health System, LLC d/b/a Spring Valley Hosp. Med. Ctr., 363 NLRB No. 178 (May...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

NLRB Rules 'Vulgar' Union Buttons Allowed

In our prior alerts, we notified you of the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) recent decisions clarifying when, in the current board's estimation, an employer violates Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act...more

Gray Reed

To Fire or Not to Fire for Employee’s Social Media Posts

Gray Reed on

After watching the firing of the digital communications manager for the Houston Rockets during their run through the playoffs (read the story here in the Houston Chronicle).  I figured it would be a good time to revisit the...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Fenwick Employment Brief - April 2015

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Ninth Circuit Reviews Enforceability of Waiver of Right to Reemployment - Does California Business and Professions Code § 16600 prohibit employees from waiving their right to reemployment with prior employers? The...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

NLRB Rejects Profane Employee Facebook Rant as Grounds for Termination

For decades, the National Labor Relations Board has recognized boundaries on employees’ rights to engage in activity protected under federal labor laws. While employees have been granted leeway to engage in heated or...more

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