Edward Nasser is a student at Harvard Law School.
Yesterday in Whole Foods Market, Inc. v. N.L.R.B., the Second Circuit upheld an NLRB ruling that an employer’s blanket policy prohibiting recordings in the workplace violated its employees’ rights to engage in protected concerted activities. The Second Circuit agreed with the Board majority that there was enough from previous NLRB cases to support that workers’ rights could be vindicated with recordings and that the broad rules could hinder their ability to gather evidence.
President Donald Trump has yet to nominate anyone for the two vacant seats on the National Labor Relations Board, though he did elevate the lone Republican, Philip Miscimarra, to Chairman. That position allows Mr. Miscimarra to slow the issuance of agency decisions, resulting in 40% fewer cases decided by the Board in the first half of this year as compared to 2016, reports the Wall Street Journal. Bloomberg has a list of the final candidates under consideration, all of which are expected to be much friendlier to employer interests than those nominated under President Obama.
Former Attorney General Eric Holder’s firm released its report and recommendations to Uber following allegations of widespread sexual harassment and a toxic culture. Business Insider and the New York Times offer good summaries of the report. CEO Travis Kalanick announced he would take a leave of absence following the report, an extraordinarily rare move for a sitting CEO.
Human Rights Watch announced today that workers building venues in Russia for the country to host the 2018 World Cup have been exploited and abused. The New York Times has a good summary of the report. FIFA, the organization that chooses host sites and oversees the World Cup, has repeatedly come under fire for ignoring such exploitation in connection with the tournament.
Daily News & Commentary
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January 29
Texas pauses H-1B hiring; NLRB General Counsel announces new procedures and priorities; Fourth Circuit rejects a teacher's challenge to pronoun policies.
January 28
Over 15,000 New York City nurses continue to strike with support from Mayor Mamdani; a judge grants a preliminary injunction that prevents DHS from ending family reunification parole programs for thousands of family members of U.S. citizens and green-card holders; and decisions in SDNY address whether employees may receive accommodations for telework due to potential exposure to COVID-19 when essential functions cannot be completed at home.
January 27
NYC's new delivery-app tipping law takes effect; 31,000 Kaiser Permanente nurses and healthcare workers go on strike; the NJ Appellate Division revives Atlantic City casino workers’ lawsuit challenging the state’s casino smoking exemption.
January 26
Unions mourn Alex Pretti, EEOC concentrates power, courts decide reach of EFAA.
January 25
Uber and Lyft face class actions against “women preference” matching, Virginia home healthcare workers push for a collective bargaining bill, and the NLRB launches a new intake protocol.
January 22
Hyundai’s labor union warns against the introduction of humanoid robots; Oregon and California trades unions take different paths to advocate for union jobs.