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What I've Been Reading This Week


While this blog is far from a political commentary post or analysis of related topics, the recent news of a former White House staffer that recorded conversations in the White House has caught my attention.  A recent article from The Washington Post, below, addressed some of the more nuanced discussions that have resulted over whether employees have a right to record conversations with their bosses in the workplace.  While the law can vary from state to state, this is a highly relevant article to page through.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


NLRB: Hospital Cannot Bar Off Duty Employees in Public Cafeteria From Soliciting Other Employees On Off Duty Time

Earlier this month, a three member panel of the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") issued a decision in which it found that the employer, a hospital, violated the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA") when it barred off duty employees from distributing union flyers to other off duty workers in a public area.  The NLRB adopted the administrative law judge's findings that the employer had failed to establish the prohibition of off duty solicitation was necessary to avoid disruption of healthcare operations or disturbance of patients.  In failing to meet this threshold burden, the NLRB found that the employer was in violation of the Section 8(a)(1) rights of the employees.


Can An Employee Record Their Boss At Work? Possibly

Readers might have heard about former White House special assistant Omarosa Manigault Newman, after she secretly recorded Chief of Staff John Kelly terminating her work at the White House.  Questions arose, in part on whether she could lawfully record this (and other) conversations in the workplace.  Jena McGregor at The Washington Post wrote an article last week that delved into some of the nuances over workplace recording by employees.  While this is a somewhat complicated topic, McGregor's article addressed, among other matters, how certain states view the legality of "one party" recordings and whether employer policies barring recordings in the workplace runs afoul of the National Labor Relations Act.

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