On February 23, 2023, an administrative law judge for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that a Catholic university in Florida is exempt from the Board’s jurisdiction as a religious institution. But the case tees...more
On June 10, 2020, a three-member panel of the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision limiting its own jurisdiction over the faculty of self-identified religious educational institutions. ...more
The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) determined last week that it has no jurisdiction over faculty members at religious institutions of higher education in Bethany College, 369 NLRB No. 98. The decision overrules a...more
In a decision released on June 10, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board reversed its prior position regarding whether the Board may exercise jurisdiction over faculty at religious institutions of higher education. The...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued an important ruling strongly protecting the First Amendment rights of religious educational institutions, holding that “while the [National Labor...more
On June 10, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) renounced jurisdiction over faculty employees at most religious educational institutions. The Bethany College case overruled the NLRB’s 2014 Pacific Lutheran...more
On June 10, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) issued Bethany College, 369 NLRB No. 98, in which it held that it does not have jurisdiction over matters concerning teachers or faculty at bona fide religious...more
Overruling a controversial 2014 National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision, the NLRB has adopted a new test for determining whether it will exercise jurisdiction over religious institutions. Bethany College, 369 NLRB No....more
We have seen this movie before. NLRB precedent established by the Board under the prior Administration conflicted sharply with decisions by the D.C. Circuit reviewing the Board. Then the current iteration of the Board...more
Overruling a prior decision, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has determined that it cannot exercise jurisdiction over the faculty of Bethany College, a college associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of...more
Similar to other disagreements between the NLRB and D.C. Circuit, a tension developed during the last several years regarding the appropriate standard to determine whether teachers at religious schools are covered by the NLRA...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On December 1, 2017, the newly-confirmed General Counsel of the National Relations Board, Peter Robb, issued a memorandum to the NLRB regional offices listing legal issues that should be submitted for...more
In an April 6, 2017, decision, Saint Xavier University, 365 NLRB No. 64 (2017), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) determined that it was appropriate to exercise jurisdiction over a petitioned-for unit of housekeeping...more
In its 2014 landmark decision in Pacific Lutheran University (PLU), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) held that it will assert jurisdiction over faculty at religious colleges and universities unless the college or...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a last minute attempt to leave his mark on the NLRB, the Board’s outgoing General Counsel issued a report attempting to expand the rights of university faculty and students, including scholarship...more
The National Labor Relations Board is set to decide if the same test used to determine whether teaching employees of a religious school are subject to the Board’s jurisdiction should be extended to non-teaching employees....more
Union organizing directed at religious college and university faculties has gained momentum since the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) issued its decision in Pacific Lutheran University (“PLU”) in 2014. In PLU, the...more
In our June 2015 blog post, “NLRB Moves to Assert Jurisdiction Over Religious Educational Institutions,” we reported that Regional Directors of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) were beginning to exercise jurisdiction...more
It did not take long for the fallout from the NLRB’s Pacific Lutheran University decision to begin. That decision, issued on December 16, 2014, announced new standards for (1) exercise of NLRB jurisdiction over...more
In Pacific Lutheran University, 361 NLRB No. 157, a case that had been watched closely by the higher education community, the National Labor Relations Board issued a 3-2 decision the week before Christmas announcing new...more
The National Labor Relations Board issued a 3-2 decision last month in Pacific Lutheran University, 361 NLRB No. 157, in which it significantly modified the standards for determining: (1) whether college or university faculty...more
The National Labor Relations Board (Board) recently ruled that it would assert jurisdiction over Pacific Lutheran University's (PLU’s) full-time contingent faculty members. In the context of a union's attempt to organize...more