NLRB extends time for filing briefs regarding whether the Board should adhere to or overrule its Johnnie’s Poultry standard

WASHINGTON, DC — In an order issued today, the National Labor Relations Board has extended the time for submitting briefs in response to the notice and invitation to file briefs that it issued on March 1, 2021 in Sunbelt Rentals, Inc.; 18-CA-236643 et al. In the notice and invitation to file briefs, the Board invited the parties and interested amici to address the following questions:

1.   Should the Board adhere to or overrule Johnnie’s Poultry?

2.   If the Board overrules Johnnie’s Poultry, what standard should the Board adopt in its stead?  What factors should it apply in determining whether an employer has violated the Act when questioning an employee in the course of preparing a defense to an unfair labor practice allegation?  Should the Board apply a “totality of the circumstances” standard?  Even if some of the Johnnie’s Poultry safeguards should be dispensed with, are there any that, if breached, should continue to render such questioning unlawful per se?  

Under the extension, parties and interested amici may file briefs, not to exceed 25 pages in length, with the Board in Washington, D.C. on or before April 19, 2021. The parties are permitted to file responsive briefs on or before May 5, 2021. 

The case is Sunbelt Rentals, Inc.; 18-CA-236643 et al. Click here to read the notice and invitation to file briefs.

Established in 1935, the National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency that protects employees and employers, and unions from unfair labor practices and protects the right of private sector employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve wages, benefits and working conditions. The NLRB conducts hundreds of workplace elections and investigates thousands of unfair labor practice charges each year.