Justia U.S. D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

This case involves a dispute between CP Anchorage Hotel 2, LLC, doing business as Hilton Anchorage, and Unite Here! Local 878, AFL-CIO, a union representing the hotel's housekeepers. The conflict arose in 2018 when the hotel underwent substantial renovations, including replacing old bathtub showers with walk-in, glass-walled showers in about half of the guest rooms. After the renovations, the hotel required the housekeepers to meet the same room-cleaning quotas as before, despite the housekeepers' claims that the rooms were now harder to clean and required different skills and equipment. The hotel also threatened to discipline housekeepers who failed to meet these quotas. The union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), arguing that the hotel's unilateral actions affected bargaining unit employees.The NLRB found that the hotel had committed unfair labor practices by failing to provide the union with requested information relevant to bargaining, unilaterally changing its housekeepers' duties by increasing the work required per room but maintaining the same room-cleaning quota, and threatening its housekeepers with discipline if they failed to comply with the increased workload requirements. The NLRB ordered the hotel to rescind the unlawful changes to the housekeepers' working conditions and to compensate the housekeepers for any loss of earnings due to the hotel's unlawful conduct.The hotel petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for review, arguing that decisions like the renovation decision did not require bargaining with a union. The court disagreed, finding that the hotel had an obligation to give the union a meaningful opportunity to bargain over the changes to the housekeepers' duties. The court denied the hotel's petition for review and granted the NLRB's cross-application for enforcement of its order. View "CP Anchorage Hotel 2, LLC v. National Labor Relations Board" on Justia Law

In a case before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Stern Produce Company, Inc. was charged with unfair labor practices by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The case revolved around two incidents. In one, an employee who was known to be pro-union received a text from his supervisor after covering a camera in his truck during his lunch break. The text stated that covering the camera was against company rules. The second incident involved another pro-union employee who received a written warning for making derogatory comments to a coworker. The NLRB concluded that these actions constituted unfair labor practices because they created an impression of surveillance of pro-union activity and were motivated by anti-union animus.The court disagreed with the NLRB's findings. In regard to the text message, the court found that the driver had no reason to believe that the company was monitoring him for union-related reasons. The text was a one-time event, and the company had clear and emphatic language in its manuals stating that drivers could be monitored at any time. As for the written warning, the court found insufficient evidence to suggest that the punishment was motivated by the employee's pro-union activities. The court ruled that while the timing of the warning could potentially indicate improper motives, it did not in this case. The court also noted that the company's past labor-law violations did not necessarily indicate a continuous pattern of anti-union animus. Given these findings, the court vacated the NLRB's decision and denied its application for enforcement. View "Stern Produce Company, Inc. v. NLRB" on Justia Law

The case pertains to J.G. Kern Enterprises, Inc. ("Company") and the National Labor Relations Board ("Board" or "NLRB"). After the Board certified a union to represent the Company's employees, the Company failed to engage in good faith bargaining for almost three months. When negotiations commenced, the Company refused to provide requested information about employee benefit plans. Two months after the certification year ended, the Company withdrew recognition from the Union, alleging the Union had lost its majority status.The Union filed unfair labor practice charges against the Company. The Board found that the Company had violated Sections 8(a)(1) and (5) of the National Labor Relations Act by delaying bargaining, refusing to consider a Union-administered benefit plan, refusing to provide requested information, and withdrawing recognition from the Union during the extended certification year.The Company petitioned for review, arguing that the Board erred in finding an unlawful withdrawal of Union recognition based on a retroactive extension of the original certification year, and that the Board had no legal basis to order the Company to bargain with the Union for an additional six months.The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that substantial evidence supported the Board's findings that the Company committed the alleged unfair labor practices. The court concluded that the Board was free to choose which legal theory to rely on in addressing the unfair labor practice charges and that the Board acted within its discretion when it ordered an extension of the certification year and required the parties to bargain to remedy the Company’s unfair labor practices. The court, therefore, denied the Company’s petition for review and granted the Board’s cross-petition for enforcement of its order. View "J.G. Kern Enterprises, Inc. v. NLRB" on Justia Law

This case involves a challenge to a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision against NCRNC, LLC, which operates the Northeast Center for Rehabilitation and Brain Injury. The NLRB found Northeast guilty of several unfair labor practices, including unlawful surveillance of its employees.The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied the petition to review the NLRB's decision and granted the Board’s cross-petition for enforcement, but found one exception. The court ruled that the NLRB erred in concluding that the distribution of informational flyers by Northeast to its employees constituted unlawful surveillance. The court held that this act was an exercise of free speech protected by Section 8(c) of the National Labor Relations Act.However, the court did find substantial evidence to uphold the NLRB's finding of unlawful surveillance based on Northeast implementing its Manager on Duty program. The program led to an increased presence of managers in the facility during a union drive, with the objective of monitoring employees and looking for "suspicious activities" to uncover which employees were "for the Union". The court deemed this behavior a significant departure from prior practice and a violation of employees' rights. View "NCRNC, LLC v. NLRB" on Justia Law

Hospital Menonita de Guayama, Inc. (Petitioner) purchased Hospital San Lucas Guayama (Hospital San Lucas) and became a successor employer. Hospital San Lucas had previously recognized five distinct bargaining units of employees represented by Unidad Laboral de Enfermeras (OS) y Empleados de la Salud (Union). However, after acquiring Hospital San Lucas, Petitioner first failed to bargain in good faith with the Union, then serially withdrew recognition from the Union as the collective bargaining agent for each of the five units. As a result, the National Labor Relations Board (Board) filed a complaint against the Petitioner, alleging violations of Sections 8(a)(5) and (1) of the National Labor Relations Act.The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the Board's decision. The court found that the Board had correctly applied the "successor bar" rule, which holds that an incumbent union enjoys an irrebuttable presumption of majority status for a reasonable period of time following the successor employer's voluntary recognition of the union. The court concluded that, on the facts presented, the Board’s application of the successor bar rule was consistent with established Board precedent, permissible, and reasonable. The Board's conclusion that Petitioner refused to bargain in good faith with the Union and engaged in multiple unfair labor practices followed directly from established Board precedent. The court also rejected Petitioner's request to overturn the successor bar rule. View "Hospital Menonita de Guayama, Inc. v. NLRB" on Justia Law

The case involves American Medical Response of Connecticut (AMR), a company that operates ambulances and employs emergency medical technicians and paramedics, and the International Association of EMTs and Paramedics (Union). The Union and AMR had a collective bargaining agreement that was in effect from 2019 through 2021. During the COVID-19 pandemic, AMR invoked an emergency provision in the agreement and cut shifts due to reduced demand. The Union raised concerns about AMR's actions and requested specific information from AMR to investigate potential grievances. AMR refused to provide some of the requested information, arguing that the emergency provision in the agreement excused it from providing the information during the pandemic. The Union filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), alleging that AMR's refusal to provide the information violated the duty to bargain under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRB sided with the Union, and AMR sought review of this decision.The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit disagreed with the NLRB's decision. The court held that the NLRB was required to determine whether the collective bargaining agreement relieved AMR of the duty to provide the requested information. The court explained that the NLRA requires the enforcement of collective bargaining agreements, including those provisions that limit a union's information rights. The court expressed that the NLRB had put the cart before the horse by concluding that AMR failed to provide information before determining whether AMR had a contractual duty to provide such information. As a result, the court granted AMR’s petition for review, denied the NLRB's cross-application for enforcement, vacated the NLRB's order, and remanded the case back to the NLRB for it to consider whether the collective bargaining agreement excused AMR from providing the requested information. View "American Medical Response of Connecticut, Inc. v. NLRB" on Justia Law

This case involved the interpretation of two provisions of the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (“MPPAA”), part of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). The appellants, M&K Employee Solutions, LLC and Ohio Magnetics, Inc., were employers that had withdrawn from the IAM National Pension Fund, a multiemployer pension plan (“MPP”). The issues before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit were: (1) whether the Fund’s actuary could set actuarial assumptions for calculating the employers' withdrawal liability after the measurement date based on information available as of the measurement date; and (2) for M&K, whether it was entitled to the "free-look" exception which allows an employer to withdraw from a plan within a specified period after joining without incurring withdrawal liability.On the first issue, the court affirmed the district court's rulings that the actuary could set actuarial assumptions after the measurement date, as long as the assumptions were based on the information available as of that date. The court held that this interpretation aligned with the best estimate of the plan’s anticipated experience as of the measurement date and was consistent with the policy of the MPPAA to protect multiemployer pension plans and their beneficiaries.On the second issue, the court held that M&K was entitled to the free-look exception. The court found that M&K had partially withdrawn from the Fund during the 2017 plan year, had an obligation of fewer than five years at the time of its partial withdrawal, and therefore met the requirements of the free-look exception. View "Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund v. Ohio Magnetics, Inc." on Justia Law

In this case, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was asked to review a decision from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The NLRB had determined that T-Mobile had unlawfully dominated an organization it created known as T-Voice, which the NLRB classified as a "labor organization" under the National Labor Relations Act. The issue arose when T-Mobile, a national wireless telecommunications carrier, established T-Voice and selected employees to serve as representatives to raise issues with management. The Communications Workers of America filed an unfair labor practice charge against T-Mobile, alleging that T-Voice was a labor organization and that T-Mobile had unlawfully dominated it.In its decision, the Court of Appeals affirmed the NLRB's determination. The court held that the NLRB was correct in finding that T-Voice was a labor organization because the organization existed at least in part to deal with T-Mobile over working conditions, which is a key criterion for qualifying as a labor organization under federal law. The court further affirmed the NLRB's finding that T-Mobile had dominated T-Voice, which is prohibited by federal law. Consequently, the court denied T-Mobile's petition for review and granted the NLRB's cross-application for enforcement of its order. View "T-Mobile USA, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board" on Justia Law

In this case, Michael W. Langeman, a former Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), appealed against the dismissal of his complaint for failure to state a claim. Langeman was terminated from his position after an investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed his mishandling of the investigation into sexual abuse allegations against USA Gymnastics Physician Lawrence Gerard Nassar. Langeman claimed that his termination violated his constitutional rights protected by the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. He argued that his termination violated a constitutionally protected property interest in his continued employment and deprived him of a constitutionally protected liberty interest in his reputation, thereby damaging his future employment in law enforcement.The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit disagreed with Langeman's arguments. The court held that Langeman failed to sufficiently plead deprivation of a property interest or liberty interest without due process. The court found that the FBI had explicitly retained the discretion to summarily terminate employees, and this did not create a legitimate property interest sufficient to state a claim under procedural due process. As for Langeman's claim of deprivation of a liberty interest, the court found that Langeman did not establish that any allegedly defamatory conduct accompanied his dismissal from government employment.Therefore, the court affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Langeman’s complaint for failure to state a claim. It also found that Langeman could not demonstrate a clear right to relief for his mandamus claim due to his deficient due process allegations, therefore mandamus relief was not available to him. View "Langeman v. Merrick Garland" on Justia Law

Thrifty Payless, Inc., doing business as Rite Aid, seeks judicial review of the National Labor Relations Board’s decision that Rite Aid committed unfair labor practices. The Board has cross-applied for enforcement of its order. An Administrative Law Judge concluded that Rite Aid had committed unfair labor practices in violation of the National Labor Relations Act when it unilaterally implemented its proposal. The ALJ determined that Rite Aid violated its duty to bargain in good faith because it took unilateral action even though the parties had not yet reached an impasse. The main issue here is whether Rite Aid was entitled to implement its own proposal instead of continuing negotiations with the union.   The DC Circuit denied Rite Aid’s petition for review. The court denied the Board’s cross-application for enforcement and remanded the order. The court found that the record contains enough evidence to support the Board’s finding that the parties were not at an impasse. An impasse arises when neither side is open to compromise. Further, the court explained that any reasonable consideration of exigency must consider “an employer’s need to run its business” and the inherently uncertain task of making corporate decisions in the face of a potential crisis. Here, the Board acknowledged that it was “impossible” for Rite Aid “to predict what claims might come in and how that would impact the reserves.” Rite Aid asserts without contest that the reserves as of November 2019 could only cover a few weeks’ worth of healthcare coverage for Rite Aid employees. So Rite Aid’s concern that inaction could have had damaging consequences is understandable. View "Thrifty Payless, Inc. v. NLRB" on Justia Law