Concerted activity story

After a work-related incident, an employee criticized her supervisor in a post on Facebook, which prompted other employees to reply to the posting. The employee was suspended the next day and later fired. The NLRB issued a Complaint alleging the employee was unlawfully fired for engaging in protected concerted activity when she posted on Facebook. Prior to a hearing, the case settled.

Supervisors at a cheese processing facility held a meeting of all the company’s employees, informing them that they would be receiving merit- based wage increases. The supervisors told the employees that they were prohibited from discussing the extent of their pay increases, stating that anyone found to have discussed their raise with co-workers would be fired.

A licensed practical nurse was fired after she complained to her boss at a pharmaceutical research firm that other employees were receiving special treatment. The Board found the employer violated the National Labor Relations Act by firing the employee to prevent her from talking about her complaints of favoritism with co-workers.

Five employees of Hispanics United of Buffalo, which provides social services to low-income clients, were fired after they posted comments on Facebook concerning working conditions, including work load and staffing issues.

A group of poultry workers walked off the job to protest a new requirement that they pay 50 cents per pair for the latex gloves they used on the line. As the workers gathered at a nearby church, two women told their story to a local newspaper and were quoted by name. They were soon fired. The case ultimately went before the Board, which found the firings were unlawful because they punished concerted activity that was protected.

For many months, a school bus driver and some of her colleagues complained to management about the unruly behavior of students on their school buses.  Students reportedly kicked, pushed, struck and spit at drivers.  The driver met with a local television news reporter and described in detail the students’ behavior, the hazards it posed for drivers and management’s failure to respond to driver complaints about the issue.  After the interview aired, the company fired the bus driver.

The employer maintained a overly broad social media policy unlawfully restricting employees' discussions about terms and conditions of employment and required that employees sign a copy of the policy or be fired.  One worker was discharged after raising concerns with co-workers about this policy and for refusing to sign it.  After the regional NLRB office found that the employer’s social media policy unduly restricted employees' rights under the National Labor Relations Act and that the employer unlawfully discharged the employee who had raised concerns with her co-workers and refused to sign the policy, the employer settled the case by reinstating the discharged employee with full backpay, rescinding the unlawful portions of their social media policy, and posting a notice informing employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

Several dozen welders performing contract work under temporary visas signed a petition protesting their poor living conditions and irregular hours. The worker who delivered the petition to the employer was threatened with deportation and then fired that day. The NLRB issued complaint and scheduled a trial, but before it began, the parties settled with the worker receiving $13,000 in backpay.

Women working the overnight shift at a plastics manufacturing plant discussed concerns about a new supervisor, who they later learned was a registered sex offender. They asked for a group meeting with Human Relations officials, but were instead called into individual meetings and disciplined. One employee was fired; others were demoted. Following an NLRB investigation, the employer settled the case by agreeing to restore all employees to their former positions with full backpay. 

An employee was fired by a long-term acute care hospital in Chicago after filing a grievance regarding the treatment of employees who return from medical leave. The NLRB determined that the employee had engaged in protected concerted activities and called for a hearing before an administrative law judge. Prior to the hearing, the employer and employee reached a settlement agreement providing the employee with his full backpay.