The Labor Law Insider | Offensive Speech in the Workplace - Part II: Drawing the Line
On July 9, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit told the National Labor Relations Board’s to reconsider the standard for whether abusive or inappropriate speech is protected under Section 7 of the...more
The German Federal Labour Court has clarified the rules on when an employee who makes offensive comments about colleagues in a private chat can be dismissed. According to a recent decision of the German Federal Labour...more
On July 29, 2023, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in Tavares v. Builders FirstSource Northeast Group, Inc., granted Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment most notably finding that racist and...more
When defining what conduct constitutes a hostile and offensive working environment under Title VII, the U.S. Supreme Court directs lower courts to look at the context of the behavior in the specific workplace at issue....more
Only a few days after being hired by the University of Michigan’s football program as the assistant director of football recruiting, Glenn Schembechler (son of longtime Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler) resigned after his...more
In a decision that had been anticipated, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) abandoned its short-lived burden-shifting test for determining the legality of employer discipline of employees found to have...more
In Lion Elastomers LLC, 372 NLRB No. 83 (5/1/2023)(Lion Elastomers), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) revisited the issue of what happens when an employee engages in abusive or inappropriate conduct while...more
On May 1, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued its decision in Lion Elastomers and United Steelworkers, making it more difficult for employers to discipline employees for outbursts and similar misconduct...more
Kanye West’s anti-Semitic comments on Instagram and Twitter have prompted a swift backlash by businesses formerly associated with the rap and fashion mogul. Thus far, West has been dropped by Gap, Balenciaga, Adidas, talent...more
A ruling of the National Labor Relations Board in favor of an employee fired for using vulgar language on a company bulletin board was affirmed in August by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. ...more
On August 9, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held that the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) had adequate justification to rule that an aluminum manufacturer (“Constellium”) violated the...more
Television audiences for award shows have been in steep decline for years, but the 2022 Academy Awards received far more media attention after the fact than any other in modern history. This attention was all thanks to an...more
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued a ruling concerning the discharge of Michael Harris from his position with the City of Schertz as the city marshal. In doing so, the Fifth Circuit gave a bit more clarity on...more
As we have often discussed, there is a fine line between protected and unprotected activity. Profane outbursts, deliberate misconduct, or highly-disruptive strikes may fall outside the protection of the NLRA, subjecting...more
On October 6, 2020, in Bennett v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville, No. 19-5818, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed a district court’s decision in favor of a public employee who claimed that the city...more
Employers are increasingly aware that an inclusive workplace is synonymous with one that does not tolerate abusive conduct, personal attacks or any form of harassment, especially harassment that is based on an employee’s...more
Your employee has just cursed at you, calling you every racist and/or sexist name in the book. Naturally, that employee must go! Just as you are ready to sign off on the termination, a thought occurs to you: “Uh-oh. He was...more
In its recent General Motors LLC decision, the National Labor Relations Board fundamentally changed its framework for deciding whether employees engaging in offensive conduct or behavior are protected by Section 7 of the...more
In General Motors LLC, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) departed from recent cases condoning abusive employee behavior when accompanied by protected activity. (See previous Holland & Knight alert, "Recent NLRB...more
A recent decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) has modified the standard for determining whether employees have been lawfully disciplined or discharged after making abusive or offensive statements...more
On July 21, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board issued its decision in General Motors LLC, 369 NLRB No. 127 (2020), overruling decades of precedent granting employees considerable freedom to engage in abusive or...more
The Trump-era National Labor Relations Board has struck again. On July 21, 2020 in General Motors LLC, 14-CA-197985, 369 NLRB No. 127 (2020), the NLRB overruled longstanding precedent and rejected “setting-specific”...more
The National Labor Relations Board has finally abandoned its problematic standard around the discipline and discharge of employees who engage in abusive conduct in connection with protected concerted activity. On July 21, the...more
On Tuesday, the three-member, all Republican, National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) issued a 3-0 decision in General Motors LLC and Charles Robinson, 369 NLRB No. 127 (July 21, 2020)...more
NLRB Decision Gives Employers More Leeway to Discipline Employees for Offensive Speech. Traditionally, the National Labor Relations Act protected offensive or even abusive speech by employees when the worker is involved in...more