NLRB Reverses Position and Invalidates Non-Disparagement and Confidentiality Clauses Within Severance Agreements

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
03/02/2023
All employers (yes, including non-unionized employers) need to consider  removing from any severance agreements entered into with employees leaving the organization, generalized language that prohibits the employee from disparaging the organization (or its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, and the like) as well as requiring the employee to keep the severance agreement, events leading up to it, and any negotiations as confidential.  In...
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NLRB General Counsel Issues Guidance on Employer Use of Electronic Surveillance

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
10/31/2022
On October 31, 2022, the General Counsel to the National Labor Relations Board, Jennifer Abruzzo, issued a memorandum on the legality of an employer's use of electronic surveillance and algorithm-driven management.  In Memorandum GC 23-02, the General Counsel announced her intention to seek a new legal framework to analyze whether the use of such tools in the workplace violates the National Labor Relations Act.  Over the past decade, employers...
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NLRB: No Union, No More Was OK

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
06/06/2022
I last blogged in April and wrote about the next generation of union organizing and the current  efforts by the NLRB’s General Counsel to overturn long standing Board precedent.  Increased efforts to organize Starbucks, Amazon and Apple cannot and should not be ignored. And lots of media attention is directed at the issue.  Often, however, the view is that it’s conscience shocking to believe some employees might NOT want to be in a union. ...
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“Back to the Salt Mine” Not Anti-Union Threat, Says Third Circuit

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
05/27/2022
On May 20, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued its decision in FDRLST Media, LLC, v. NLRB, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 13664 (3d Cir. May 20, 2022), holding that a non-related party could pursue an unfair labor practice (ULP) claim against the right-leaning online magazine The Federalist. The court also held, however, that no ULP was committed by the editor’s tweet about sending employees back to the “salt mine.”  In...
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NLRB Issues Final Joint Employer Rule

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
02/26/2020
Last month, as we reported, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Final Rule on the proper interpretation of joint employers within the meaning of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).   Now, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has followed suit and today announced its Final Rule on Joint Employer Status Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).  The NLRB has removed itself from the liberal interpretation it has afforded the...
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EEOC Takes Position on Racially or Sexually Charged Language in NLRB Filing

Frank Kollman
Frank Kollman
11/08/2019
As a follow up to my earlier blog on how rude an employee can be to his or her employer while engaging in activity protected by the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”), the EEOC has filed an Amicus Brief in a matter before the NLRB chiming in on the subject.  The NLRB had invited interested parties to file briefs as the Board reconsiders “standards for determining whether profane outbursts and offensive statements of a racial or sexual...
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How An Employer’s Misleading Statements Can Be Evidence of Discrimination

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
08/13/2019
Two cases decided this month demonstrate how an employer’s false or inaccurate statements can bolster employees' claims that their employer engaged in unlawful discrimination. Sykes v. Fed Ex Freight East, No. 2:17-cv-13189 (E.D. Mich. 8/3/19) In this case, a supervisor’s misrepresentation or misapplication of a workplace policy led the district court to decide that the employer arguably discriminated against an employee because of his...
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NLRA Does Not Protect Employee’s Wrongful Access Of Confidential Data

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
07/22/2019
Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), employees have the right to discuss their wages with colleagues.  The NLRA does not give employees who surreptitiously access wage data the right to discuss that information with colleagues, however.  In an advice memorandum released July 16, the National Labor Relations Board’s Office of the General Counsel provides a reminder that employees who cross the line by improperly obtaining wage...
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Now Where Did I Put Those Confidential Documents?

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
01/13/2019
Note:  This is a story about an employment issue at the NLRB.  Apropos of nothing perhaps, the NLRB has been open throughout the Government Shutdown, while the EEOC has been closed. We all misplace stuff, right?  I found my car keys right where I left them.  And my glasses were right on my forehead, which my wife pointed out to me.   But, in 34 years of law practice, I have never misplaced (read “lost”) confidential documents. I do recall...
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Good News and . . . Interesting News

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
01/04/2019
Happy 2019 to everyone! First, we begin the year with some good news: Kollman & Saucier is pleased to announce that it has been named a Tier 1 firm in Baltimore for both Employment Law – Management and Labor Law – Management by U.S. News – Best Lawyers® in 2019.  As Best Lawyers explains, its ratings are based exclusively on peer review by other attorneys within the same geographical community and legal practice areas.  Darrell...
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