On January 11, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board clarified and narrowed the standard for finding that an employee engaged in protected concerted activities under the National Labor Relations Act. See Alstate Maintenance, LLC, 367 NLRB No. 68 (2019). In doing so, the board overturned a 2011 decision – WorldMark by Wyndham, 356 NLRB 765 (2011) – that held that an employee who protests at a group meeting is necessarily engaged in concerted protected activity.
Summary of decision
In Alstate, a manager approached airport baggage handlers (referred to as skycaps) and requested that they help unload a soccer team’s equipment. One of the skycaps, Trevor Greenidge, responded that “we did a similar job a year prior and we didn’t receive a tip.” When the soccer team’s equipment arrived, the skycaps walked away. The employer terminated Greenidge “for griping about not being tipped.” Greenidge contended that his comment regarding lack of tips (not the act of walking away from the unloading task) was protected concerted activity and thus his termination violated the Act.
The board rejected the employee’s argument, concluding that Greenidge’s conduct was neither concerted nor engaged in for mutual aid or protection. In reaching this conclusion, the board reaffirmed the standard for protected concerted activities derived from its earlier decisions in Meyers Industries, 268 NLRB 493 (1984) and Meyers Industries, 281 NLRB 882 (1986).Continue Reading NLRB clarifies standard for protected concerted activity