Concerted activity story

A customer service representative for a diaper supply company was fired after discussing her wages with another employee, based on a policy in the company handbook that the NLRB later found to be unlawful. After the NLRB issued a complaint, the case settled with the employee receiving backpay and an offer of reinstatement. The employer also changed its handbook to inform employees that they do have the right to discuss their wages with each other.

The staff at an urgent care center sent an anonymous letter to the owner/doctor, asking him to reconsider a plan to immediately cut wages by 10% and suggesting alternate ways to save money. Within a month, two employees who wrote and edited the letter were fired. The Board found the employees’ activity was protected and ordered full backpay and offers of reinstatement.

In April 2012, a group of employees walked off the production line to protest the speed of the line and other working conditions, and thereafter met with the plant manager. That evening, the employees again met with the plant manager, to discuss their compensation and other matters. One month later, when the Employer learned that another work stoppage was planned, three employees were separately called into the office and dismissed.

A supervisor at a dental association was fired after she refused to divulge the names of employees who had anonymously signed a petition protesting top management. The Board found the discharge was unlawful because she had rightfully refused to violate federal labor law by punishing concerted activity. In a settlement, the supervisor and another former employee waived reinstatement in exchange for $900,000 in lost wages and benefits. 

When a hotel housekeeping service announced a $2-per-hour wage cut, employees protested in letters to managers, written with the help of a community organization. Workers who led the effort and signed the letters were later fired. After the NLRB issued complaint, both employees received full backpay and offers of reinstatement.

A construction contractor fired five employees after several of them appeared in a YouTube video complaining of hazardous working conditions. Following an investigation, the NLRB regional office issued complaint. As a hearing opened, the case settled, with the workers receiving full backpay and declining reinstatement.

Employees at an Oakland based internet software company were discharged through a layoff soon after they raised group concerns about changes to their working conditions. The NLRB issued a complaint alleging that the discharges were unlawful because the employees’ collective activities were protected.

A long-time employee at a vegetable packing plant was fired after raising safety concerns on behalf of other workers with company management and a government agency. The NLRB issued a complaint alleging the firing was unlawful because the employee’s activity was protected. Prior to a scheduled hearing, the case settled and the employee was reinstated with full backpay for time off work.

A group of employees at a non-profit animal sanctuary, had conversations complaining about several executives of the organization, including how the founder was verbally abusive and yelled at employees. Two days later, two of the employees were fired. During conversations with the employees, the founder and the president made statements that gave them the impression that their private conversations complaining about the founder’s treatment of employees had been under surveillance.

When a heavy thunderstorm hit one March afternoon, 13 workers building the foundation of a luxury hotel retreated to a trailer to wait out the downpour. Supervisors ordered them back to work, but the workers refused, citing health and safety concerns, and were fired on the spot. After the regional NLRB office found sufficient evidence to call for a hearing, the contractor settled with the workers by offering backpay and reinstatement.