Case Updates
DC Circuit Court vacates and remands NLRB's decision, dismisses cross-application
August 01, 2014
The DC Circuit Court vacated the NLRB's decision and remanded the case to the Board for further proceedings. The cross-application for enforcement was dismissed as moot.
U.S. Chamber files amicus brief
January 14, 2013
The U.S. Chamber urged the DC Circuit to review a decision by the National Labor Relations Board that held that the commonplace employer practice of prohibiting employees from discussing ongoing investigations is a violation of the NLRA. In this case, an employee of the defendant company filed a charge with the NLRB and an ALJ ruled that the company violated the NLRA by including in its employee confidentiality agreements a prohibition against sharing private employee information. The defendant company appealed to the NLRB and the NLRB affirmed the decision of the ALJ and held that in order to minimize the impact on employee rights, employers must conduct a case-by-case analysis of whether a confidentiality requirement is appropriate.
The Chamber argued in its amicus brief that the Board's case-by-case requirement unreasonably imposes a burden on employers to justify the confidentiality of ongoing workplace investigations that is impractical, unjustified, and contrary to law. Further, the Chamber argues that the Board's standard fails to accommodate the NLRA to other federal employment laws that require employers to conduct effective workplace investigations.