NLRB Region 32-Oakland Wins Injunction Requiring AAA to Rescind Unlawful Policy and Maintain Employee Commissions

On January 23, 2025, United States District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr., of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, issued an injunction requiring American Automobile Association (“AAA”) of Northern California, Utah, and Nevada to keep its current commission policies, rescind its related, time-capped severance package policies, and electronically distribute and read aloud to its employees, in the presence of a Board agent, the District Court’s Injunction Order.

The Court’s order provides this relief pending a final decision by the National Labor Relations Board (Board) on the underlying administrative complaint.

The injunction was based on a petition for temporary injunctive relief filed by Region 32-Oakland Regional Director Christy J. Kwon under Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) in November 2024. Section 10(j) of the NLRA authorizes the Board to seek injunctions against employers and unions in federal district courts to stop unfair labor practices and ensure that employees’ rights will be adequately protected from remedial failure due to the passage of time.

The Region’s petition for an injunction alleged that AAA had unlawfully implemented proposals that forced employees to take severance buy-outs, or face drastic wage cuts when renewal commissions, which accounted for up to at least 40 percent of their compensation. A hearing before an NLRB Administrative Law Judge is ongoing.

“The district court judge correctly determined that AAA’s ongoing and unremedied unfair labor practices would irreparably harm the employees and their chosen Union. We are pleased that the district court decision provided the critical interim relief that employees need to exercise their rights under the NLRA,” said Region 32-Oakland Regional Director Christy Kwon. “The work by Region-32 staff to obtain this injunction exemplifies their diligence and dedication to employee rights and justice.”

Field Attorneys Amanda Brunt, Leigh Davenport, and Katharine Hirata handled the matter before the Court.

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 32 serves areas in California and Nevada from its Regional Office in Oakland.