Santa Clarita, California

A group of employees at The Gentle Barn, a non-profit animal sanctuary, had conversations complaining about several executives of the organization, including how the founder was verbally abusive and yelled at employees. Two days later, two of the employees were fired. During conversations with the employees, the founder and the president made statements that gave them the impression that their private conversations complaining about the founder’s treatment of employees had been under surveillance.

The two employees filed charges against The Gentle Barn with the NLRB’s Los Angeles regional office, alleging that they were unlawfully fired for engaging in protected concerted activity, and that The Gentle Barn not only created an impression of surveillance, but also engaged in actual surveillance of their private conversations.

The Region conducted an investigation and issued complaint against The Gentle Barn. Prior to the scheduled hearing, the two employees and The Gentle Barn entered into a private settlement agreement.