NLRB Issues Important Decision Narrowing What Constitutes "Protected Concerted Activity"

Majority Rules That Skycap's Complaint About Bad Tipping Was Not Protected Concerted Activity

The National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB" or "Board") kicked off 2019 with an important decision that significantly narrowed the standard for when an individual employee's conduct will be found to be "protected concerted activity" under the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA" or "Act"). In so doing, the Republican-majority Board took another step towards restoring the pre-Obama era conservativism to the NLRB's interpretation and application of the Act. In Alstate Maintenance, LLC, the Board held that an individual employee's complaint to his manager about customer tipping was not protected concerted activity under the Act even though the complaint was made in front of other employees. In reaching this decision, the Board overruled prior case law and significantly narrowed the category of behaviors regarded as "concerted activity" protected under the NLRA.