Labor Lawyer Joyce Goldstein, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss a recent National Labor Relations Board ruling that overturned a precedent set by the previous administration.
The NLRB recently released a ruling on a case with Lion Elastomers. In this case, an employee was terminated for the way in which he spoke about safety concerns in a safety meeting that was deemed by the company to be a fireable offense. The NLRB Board determined using context tests, tests using the entire picture from start to finish of the original interaction with the employee, that the company violated the employees right to protected speech. This goes directly against the previous administration's NLRB Board decision in a case with General Motors.
There were a number of parts to the ruling that changed from what was decided by the previous Board decision. The first dictated that there were no tests for context to help determine if the employee’s actions could be considered within reason. The new decision instead focuses on the entire story, getting to know the context around the actions and in turn making it more difficult for companies to sanction the employee who speaks out. The ruling also determined that the terminated employee is eligible for reinstatement to their previous job and back pay starting from the day of termination.
As protected speech continues to concern workers and employers, social media has taken a front row to the conversation. Many employers have concerns about image and online safety. Workers, especially those that are younger, use social media regularly. This is why social media is now the main source for many protected speech cases.
Listen to the entire episode to learn more. 
America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.
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