Eighth Circuit, Reversing NLRB, Rules That Campaign by Workers To Disparage Their Employer Was Not Legally Protected Activity

In a welcome decision issued by the full Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, the court has ruled that employees who participated in a false and misleading campaign to disparage their employer by suggesting a link between customer safety and the employer’s sick leave policy were not engaged in “protected concerted activity” under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

The court’s en banc decision in MikLin Enterprises Inc. v. NLRB, No. 14-03099 (8th Cir. July 3, 2017), reverses a ruling by a three-judge panel of the court that had upheld a decision of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The full court, disagreeing with the NLRB and the panel that the workers were engaging in NLRA-protected activity, found instead that when they engaged in conduct that was so disloyal, reckless or maliciously untrue, as happened in this case, they lost the protection of the NLRA.

A copy of the Eighth Circuit’s decision in MikLin is available here.

Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.