The Labor Law Insider | Offensive Speech in the Workplace - Part II: Drawing the Line
On May 1, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) issued a decision, Lion Elastomers LLC, that provides employees with extensive cover for inappropriate workplace behavior under the guise of the National...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
1. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) modified its standard for determining whether an employer may lawfully discipline an employee for abusive or offensive statements and conduct in the context of activity otherwise...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
New standard grants more leeway to employers to prohibit abusive conduct, even in connection with otherwise protected, concerted activity. The Board’s new standard will allow employers more predictability and discretion to...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
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
On July 21, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) (once again) modified its standard for determining whether employees have been lawfully disciplined or discharged after making abusive or offensive statements,...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
Yesterday, the National Labor Relations Board freed employers to take disciplinary action against abusive speech by employees targeting managers, supervisors, and co-workers. In General Motors LLC, the Board swept away years...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
On Tuesday, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) issued its much-awaited decision in General Motors, LLC (GM), 369 NLRB No. 127 (2020), in which it held that abusive or inappropriate workplace speech by...more
The NLRB in General Motors on Tuesday reversed an agency judge’s ruling which provided that the employer, General Motors, violated the NLRA by suspending a worker who used the F-word at his supervisor. By adopting the “Wright...more
On July 21, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “the Board”) issued its decision in General Motors LLC, 369 NLRB No. 127, reviving the Wright Line test and making it easier for employers to discipline an...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued its decision in General Motors, LLC and Charles Robinson yesterday (July 21, 2020), providing additional certainty to employers seeking to discipline employees for abusive or...more
On July 21, 2020, the NLRB released the decision General Motors LLC and Charles Robinson (GM) which is significant not only for its substance but for its timing. The GM decision held that abusive conduct and speech is not...more
In another pro-employer opinion, the National Labor Relations Board (the NLRB) changed the law and held that cases involving employees disciplined for engaging in offensive or abusive conduct, including making profane,...more
In a decision issued yesterday, General Motors LLC, 369 NLRB No. 12 (2020) , the National Labor Relations Board declared that “[it] will no longer stand in the way of employers’ legal obligation to take prompt and appropriate...more
In a sweeping decision that overrules several of their precedents, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has decided that it no longer will apply “setting-specific” standards for determining when an employee’s abusive...more
Right of First Refusal EO Revoked. Last week, President Trump issued an Executive Order revoking Executive Order 13495 issued by President Obama in January 2009. EO 13495 required that successor Federal service contractors...more
The National Labor Relations Board continues its efforts to revisit earlier decisions that expanded protections for employees engaged in concerted or union activities. On September 5, the board announced it is soliciting...more