Region 14-St. Louis Approves Settlement of More than $145,000 for Unlawfully Terminated Employees, an Agreement by the Employer to Recognize and Bargain with the Union Under Cemex, and Training for Managers and Supervisors

On October 26, 2023, the Regional Director of Region 14-St. Louis approved a settlement agreement between Point Management d/b/a Shangri-La, a Columbia, Missouri cannabis dispensary, and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 655 that resolved 15 unfair labor practice charges covering dozens of unfair labor practice allegations, which were set for trial on October 30, 2023. 

Shangri-La agreed to offer reinstatement to five employees and to pay more than $145,000 which includes backpay, front pay, interest, and compensation for direct or foreseeable pecuniary harm to a total of 10 employees who were terminated following a March 2023 union organizing drive. 

Among other remedies obtained in the settlement, Shangri-La agreed to:

• Recognize and bargain with UFCW Local 655;
• Pay backpay to 10 terminated employees;
• Offer reinstatement to five terminated employees;
• Pay frontpay to five terminated employees in lieu of reinstatement; 
• Pay damages to a terminated employee for the interest on a high interest loan that an employee was forced to take out because of their termination;
• Rescind its ban of terminated employees from public areas of Shangri-La;
• Rescind certain provisions of its Handbook and Non-Disclosure Agreement;
• Read a remedial Notice to Employees at meetings covering each shift;
• Email the remedial Notice to Employees to its current employees;
• Place the Notice to Employees on WhatsApp, the messaging platform utilized by Shangri-La to communicate with its employees; and
• Attend a training conducted by the NLRB for its managers and supervisors about employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

The settlement negotiated by the Region in this matter also contains a settlement of allegations arising under Cemex, 372 NLRB No. 130 (August 25, 2023). Shangri-La has agreed to rescind alleged unilateral changes it made after UFCW Local 655 filed a petition for representation covering Shangri-La’s employees at its South location. Because Shangri-La agreed to recognize and bargain with the UFCW Local 655, the related representation petition has been withdrawn by UFCW Local 655.

“I am proud of the Region 14 staff for their efforts in protecting employee rights and achieving a settlement in accordance with the General Counsel’s vision of fully restorative relief,” said NLRB Region 14 Regional Director Andrea J. Wilkes. “Individually and collectively, this settlement vindicates employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act.”

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 14 serves areas in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma from its Regional Office in St. Louis, its Subregional Office in Overland Park, and its Resident Office in Tulsa.