Unions face increased exposure for DFR charges

The NLRB General Counsel issued a memorandum directing the Board’s enforcement personnel to be more aggressive in prosecuting charges against unions under the National Labor Relations Act sec. 8(b)(1)(A), which imposes a Duty of Fair Representation (“DFR”) on unions. Under Sec. 8(b)(1)(A), workers who are represented by a union may file a DFR charge alleging that the union failed to represent them adequately. To prove a DFR violation, the worker must show the failure to represent was arbitrary, discriminatory or in bad faith. Historically, union have been able to assert, as a defense, that their failure was “mere negligence.”

The NLRB General Counsel’s memo keeps in place the “mere negligence” defense but offers a tighter definition for what does and does not constitute “mere negligence.” The memo orders NLRB staff to now follow this tighter definition.

Under the tighter definition, unions face increased exposure for DFR charges. What was once “mere negligence” will no longer be tolerated by the Board.

The memo provides two specific examples:

  1. “(H)aving lost track, misplaced or otherwise forgotten about
    a grievance, whether or not (the union) had committed to pursue it,” will no longer be considered “mere negligence,” unless the union proves it did so in spite of its previously established and routinely used should be required procedural systems to process such concerns (i.e., despite proof of the prior “existence of established, reasonable procedures or systems in place to track grievances”).
  2. “(A) union’s failure to communicate decisions related to a grievance or to
    respond to inquiries for information or documents by the charging party” will generally not be considered “mere negligence.” “Regions issuing a complaint in these cases should argue that a union’s failure to return phone calls or emails or other efforts by the charging party to inquire about a grievance or attempt to file one, constitutes” a DFR violation.

The General Counsel is aware that the above-described approaches may be
inconsistent with the way the Board and Regional Directors have historically interpreted duty of fair representation law. Going forward, Regions are directed to apply the above principles to Section 8(b)(1)(A) duty affair representation cases, issue a complaint where appropriate, and make arguments consistent with those set out above.

Source: NLRB General Counsel Memorandum ICG 18-09 (9/14/18).

Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Issues Updated FCRA Model Disclosures

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) issued an interim final rule that updates its model disclosures under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The new FCRA forms advise individuals of their right to, now, request a free “national security freeze” under the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act.

The “national security freeze” restricts prospective lenders from obtaining access to a consumer’s credit report, which makes it harder for identity thieves to open accounts in the consumer’s name.

The Bureau has made the new forms available on its website, in a variety of languages.

Employers that run background checks should ensure that they — and their background checking companies — are using the new forms.
Source: www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/bureau-consumer-financial-protection-issues-updated-fcra-model-disclosures/

Denver federal court, one of the most pro-employee?

In what is likely to be a bombshell article amongst Colorado labor and employment attorneys, Bloomberg BNA reported today that its analysis of judicial statistics shows Denver’s federal court to be the most employee-plaintiff friendly of 11 federal courts it has analyzed. “The other courts Bloomberg Law has reviewed are: the Eastern District of New York, the Northern District of Alabama, the Northern District of Illinois, the Western District of Washington, the Middle District of Florida, the Western District of Wisconsin, the Northern District of Texas, the Central District of California, the Western District of Oklahoma, and the Northern District of Ohio.”

The District of Colorado grants employers’ motions for early dismissal—made right after a lawsuit is filed—just 36.7 percent of the time in job bias and similar cases. It dismisses such cases on the eve of trial—following a motion for summary judgment—at a 45.8 percent clip. That gives Denver workers something extra to be cheery about, in addition to the more than 200 beers crafted in the city each day and the playoff-contending Colorado Rockies.

Interested in how particular judges rank? Bloomberg BNA analyzed them individually and provides what it views as the relevant statistics for each, concluding,In all, eight of the 11 judges granted early motions to dismiss in employment cases less than 40 percent of the time.

Source: Workers Suing in Denver Federal Court Feeling Rocky Mountain High, P. Dorrian (9/21/18).

NLRB proposes rule to reverse Obama-era Joint Employer standard

As explained in earlier posts, the Board’s Obama-era decision in Browning Ferris, revising its Joint Employer standard, has proven exceptionally controversial. At the close of 2017, the Board voted, in Hy-Brand, to reverse Browning Ferris, but that decision was rendered unenforceable when Board Member Emanuel was ruled to have had a conflict.

Now, the NLRB has issued proposed regulations that will do what it would have done by decision in Hy-Brand, namely, return the Board to the pre-Browning Ferris Joint Employer standard, which had required proof that a purported joint employer has actually exercised “direct and immediate” control. Under this new rule, if made final, even contract provisions that reserve to a company the possibility of control would not be sufficient to establish a joint employer relationship, nor would limited or routine involvement in operational matters. Rather, to be a joint employer under the proposed rule, a company would have to be proven to have actively involved itself in hiring, firing, discipline, supervision and the direction of workers.

The Joint Employer doctrine has importance for any company that uses independent contractors, which is virtually every company, and has been especially significant to companies whose very business models involve the use of contractors, including franchisors and gig economy companies.

Source: NLRB, “The Standard for Determining Joint Employer Status,” 83 Fed.Reg. 46681 (9/14/18).

Massachusetts non-compete law

Massachusetts has adopted what may be the country’s singlemost employee-side non-compete law. That law, among other things, mandates at least 1/2-year’s garden leave, in other words, at least 1/2 of an employee’s average salary (with the formula to calculate specified in the statute). Timing requirements are imposed regarding the process by which covenants can be entered into with an employee. Additional constraints exist on the duration and geographic scope of permitted non-competes. The law applies to non-competes entered into on or after 10/1/18. It does not apply to a number of other types of covenants, including non-solicits of employees, non-solicits of customers, non-competes entered into for the sale of a business and non-competes entered into outside of employment. Employers with non-competes in Massachusetts are advised to immediately begin analyzing their agreements.

Source: Massachusetts’ 2018 act entitled, “An act relative to the judicial enforcement of noncompetition agreements”