While the Supreme Court’s overruling of affirmative action and Biden’s student loan forgiveness cases certainly garnered a significant amount of media attention, a number of quieter cases may bear profound consequences for various facets of American life.
The public health and environmental sectors anxiously await the implications of Sackett, while artists ponder how they will seek inspiration following the Warhol case. However, one of the more significant sleeper opinions stems from the Glacier† decision, in which the Supreme Court sidestepped a federal law that traditionally assigns work conflict resolution to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), enabling a company to take its striking employees to court.
The Supreme Court’s decision has been criticized as detrimental to workers’ right to organize, specifically the right to strike. Now the NLRB has passed a ruling that, given the ambiguities introduced by the Supreme Court’s past decisions, is likely to ignite litigation. This is Law360’s† account:
The National Labor Relations Board issued a split ruling Wednesday ramping up its scrutiny of workplace rules, such as policies on recording and confidentiality, reversing a Trump-era decision that made it easier for employers to defend policies against claims they stifle labor rights.
A majority comprising the board’s three Democrats said employer handbook policies violate the National Labor Relations Act if they have a “reasonable tendency” to dissuade workers from engaging in organizing activity, such as making workplace recordings and discussing concerns with colleagues. The decision restores and modifies a 2004 standard, ditching a Trump-era test that balanced employers’ reasons for maintaining rules against their effects on workers’ rights.
While it’s still early, this could easily end up in court. For instance, a union member might use a phone to document a machine posing a threat to workers in a workplace where electronics are forbidden. If the employer disregards the complaint and ends up firing the employee for the violation, would the dispute be taken to the NLRB or the courtroom?
Before the Glacier decision, it would have been clear that such a conflict would be resolved by the NLRB. The recent ruling on handbooks could potentially limit the NLRB’s jurisdiction to balance worker interests against those of their employers.
Further reading: NLRB Boosts Scrutiny Of Employer Handbook Rules†
Previously: The Court’s Decision To Fill In The Facts On Employer’s Behalf Will Further Weaken Unions And Strikes†