Region 1-Boston Wins Administrative Law Judge Decision Against McDonald’s Franchisee, Winning Reinstatement for Four Workers

Boston, MA—On December 30th, 2021, Administrative Law Judge Donna Dawson found that Michell Enterprises, LLC d/b/a McDonald’s failed to recall four employees to their jobs in retaliation for their protected concerted activities, including their activity on behalf of the Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ. The four employees had more than seven decades of combined experience when the Employer laid them off in March 2020, early in the COVID-19 pandemic. A few months later, the Employer recalled or attempted to recall all laid-off employees at its McDonald’s franchise located alongside I-95 in Darien, Connecticut, except the four employees.

In her decision, Judge Dawson wrote that the record was “replete with examples of [the employees] participating in multiple rallies and protests in support of the Union and in protest of [the Employer’s] unfair treatment concerning wages, safety, and other terms and conditions of employment” including protected concerted activity by two of the employees relating to “safety, favoritism, [and] employee morale.” The judge generally discredited the Employer’s denial of knowledge of the employees’ protected concerted activities, calling these denials “unbelievable” and finding that the evidence demonstrated that the Employer was “well aware of [their] protected Union and other concerted activity.”

Addressing the Employer’s defenses, Judge Dawson acknowledged the “negative economic effect on fast food and other service industries” occasioned by the pandemic but found that based on the totality of the circumstances, including the almost complete unreliability of the employer’s witnesses, that their arguments were without merit and that their stated reasons for not recalling the workers were pretextual. The judge also rejected the employer’s argument that the Board “provide it deference to its business judgment given the extraordinary and unprecedented effects of the pandemic”,  explaining that there was no record of the Board previously providing such deference  or otherwise waiving an employer’s obligation under the Act.

Judge Dawson concluded that the Employer’s “articulated reasons have been proven to be false and a mere pretext to cover its scheme to use the pandemic layoffs as an excuse to terminate the [employees].” To remedy this violation of the National Labor Relations Act, she ordered Michell Enterprises to cease and desist from its unlawful conduct, post a Notice to employees, reinstate the four employees, and make them whole for the loss of any earnings or benefits incurred by the unlawful conduct.

“I applaud Judge Dawson’s decision upholding the rights of workers under the Act to organize in support of a union as well as to raise collective concerns related to diverse facets of their terms and conditions of employment and to be free of retaliation for exercising these rights,” said Region 1 Regional Director Laura Sacks. “Judge Dawson’s decision demonstrates the Act’s important protections in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact.”

Established in 1935, the National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency that protects employees, 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. Region 1 serves areas in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont from its Regional Office in Boston and Subregional Office in Hartford.