On August 28, 2024, the Sixth Circuit in Huang v. Ohio State Univ., 6th Cir., No. 23-03469 (Aug. 28, 2024) –—in a case with broader implications for the employment status of graduate students—reversed the Southern District of...more
In a recent case involving the application of the Board’s standard for the employee status of graduate students, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) denied a request for review of a Regional Director’s...more
Earlier this week, the National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued Memorandum GC 24-06 seeking to clarify the obligations imposed by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) on academic institutions...more
8/8/2024
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Department of Education ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Educational Institutions ,
FERPA ,
New Guidance ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Privacy Laws ,
Unions ,
Written Consent
Shortly after the New Year, on January 4, 2024, Space Exploration Technologies Corp.—or “SpaceX”—filed a complaint in the District Court for the Southern District of Texas alleging that an administrative complaint filed by...more
In a hotly-anticipated decision, The Atlanta Opera, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 95 (2023), the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) overturned the existing legal standard for determining whether a worker is an employee...more
In an 8-1 decision announced Thursday in Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters Local Union No. 174, U.S., No. 21-1449, 6/1/23, the Supreme Court ruled that an employer’s tort claims alleging that a union...more
Following the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) highly-controversial decision in McLaren Macomb declaring most confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses in separation agreements to be unlawful, General Counsel...more
Thursday, the NLRB issued a notice to rescind four provisions from the Board’s Rules and Regulations contained in its Final Rule published in December 2019 (the “2019 rule”). The Board’s notice rescinding all four provisions,...more
The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) capped off an extremely busy week, by issuing another precedent-reversing decision, on the last day of Republican Member John Ring’s 5-year term. In Bexar County II, 372...more
On the eve of the last day of Member Ring’s term, and in the third in a string of significant rulings by the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) (which we reported on here and here)—with potentially more to...more
On June 21, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) released its rulemaking agenda for Spring 2022, indicating the Board is considering revisions to two significant and tumultuous topics pursuant to the rulemaking...more
In an Advice Memorandum released on May 25, 2022, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo laid out a blueprint for changes she’d like made to Board precedent concerning union representatives’ access to employer property. At...more
5/31/2022
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Union Elections ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
On April 6, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) issued a press release recognizing the shockingly large surge in new union organizing. Specifically, during the first half of Fiscal Year 2022...more
For decades, employers had been free to gather employees to discuss – in a non-coercive manner – the employer’s views on unionization, and had been free to share with employees what employees’ rights were with respect to the...more
On January 6, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced that the two agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) detailing procedures on information-sharing,...more
On November 10, 2021, General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memorandum outlining bargaining obligations under OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard to Protect Workers from Coronavirus (“ETS”). Responding to Inquiries...more
11/11/2021
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Covered Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Rules ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
As we discussed here, members of the House Education and Labor Committee have been attempting to end-run the procedural hurdles that have prevented the Protect the Right to Organize Act (“PRO Act”) legislation from becoming...more
10/29/2021
/ Budget Reconciliation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRA ,
Penalties ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
Yesterday, General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a very significant memorandum on the status of college athletes as “employees” under the National Labor Relations Act. Statutory Rights of Players at Academic Institutions...more
9/30/2021
/ College Athletes ,
Colleges ,
Compensation ,
Employee Definition ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Misclassification ,
NCAA ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Sports ,
Student Athletes
As we have discussed in previous posts, the Protect the Right to Organize Act (“PRO Act”), which would drastically and fundamentally change the nature and scope of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) and...more
9/10/2021
/ Budget Reconciliation ,
Federal Budget ,
Labor Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Lockouts ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Penalties ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Right to Strike ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
The recently-sworn in General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, Jennifer Abruzzo, has had a busy month, setting the stage for a slate of new enforcement initiatives. First, the GC issued Advice Memorandum 21-04...more
A split Board concluded this week that a union did not engage in unlawful secondary activity under the NLRA when it stationed a 12-foot-tall inflatable rat—known all too well by employers as “Scabby the Rat”—and two 8-foot...more
After being nominated by President Biden on February 17, 2021, Jennifer Abruzzo was sworn in as General Counsel of the NLRB yesterday by Chairman Lauren McFerran. Abruzzo will serve a four-year term as General Counsel,...more
As we reported here and here, there are several challenges to the authority of the Acting General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, Peter Sung Ohr, given President Biden’s unprecedented move of terminating the...more
7/16/2021
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Appointments Clause ,
Biden Administration ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Unfair Labor Practices
On April 30, 2021, in National Association of Broadcast Employees & Technicians, 370 NLRB No. 114 (2021), the Board declined to opine on the validity of President Biden’s termination of former General Counsel Peter Robb and...more
On Monday, April 26, 2021, the White House released a press briefing detailing the establishment of a new White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment (the “Task Force”). The Task Force, which the White House...more