02/08/2024

NLRB Defends Layoff Ruling That Led to Expanded Remedies

Overturning the ruling could upend precedent on related damages

A federal appeals court panel grilled a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) lawyer about a ruling that ultimately expanded the agency’s ability to order employers to pay for economic harm stemming from a labor law violation.

Judges on the US Court of Appeals for the 5^th Circuit during oral argument Tuesday seemed leery of the 2022 decision finding that software company Thryv Inc. violated the National Labor Relations Act by laying off six workers without properly bargaining with their union.

After making that determination, the NLRB held that the board can charge companies for "all direct or foreseeable pecuniary harms" stemming from illegal conduct, including workers’ late credit card bills, medical expenses and even fees for late rent and car payments. A determination that those remedies are not available would remove a weapon in the NLRB’s limited arsenal for enforcing federal labor law.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Bloomberg Law.