D.C. Court Issues Split Decision In NLRB Notice Case

Judge upholds Board's authority to issue the rule requiring notice, but strikes down penalty provisions.

In the first of two anticipated rulings on the issue, Judge Amy Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a decision regarding the National Labor Relations Board's (the Board's) final rule (the Rule) requiring all employers subject to the Board's jurisdiction—the vast majority of employers doing business in the United States—to post a notice in the workplace informing employees of their right, among other things, (1) to"[o]rganize a union"; (2) to "take action . . . to improve [their] working conditions by, among other means, raising work-related complaints directly with [their] employer or with a government, and seeking help from a union"; and (3) to "strike and picket."