About NLRB

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.

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.