NT Lakis lawyers have filed a “friend-of-the-court” brief with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) in a case that raises the longstanding conflict between offensive speech ostensibly protected under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or Act) and an employer’s nondiscrimination obligations under federal EEO laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII).
At issue in the General Motors case currently before the Board is whether the agency’s longstanding precedent shielding racist and sexist speech from disciplinary action because it is uttered ostensibly in connection with NLRA-protected activity should be overturned.
Our brief contends that because racist and misogynistic speech cannot credibly be said to advance any positive labor relations objectives, it should never be considered “protected” in a way that prevents employers from enforcing their EEO and nondiscrimination policies against those who use such language in the workplace – whether in the office, on the picket line, or at off-premises employer events.
A copy of our brief is available here.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.