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NLRB: No Section 7 Violation Occurs When Employer Prohibits Use of Company Email For Union Related Activity


T-Mobile USA, Inc - NLRB


Facts:  Chelsea Befort (“Befort”), an employee of T-Mobile, sought to use her company email to communicate with her 595 coworkers and encourage them to join a union.  However, T-Mobile implemented a new workplace policy that employees could not use their company email for certain purposes (including the purpose in which Befort intended.)  Issues arose thereafter over whether T-Mobile’s policy ran afoul of Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).

Analysis:  The NLRB recognized that a prior decision from 2014, Caesars Entertainment, held that “an employer does not violate the Act [NLRA] by restricting the nonbusiness use of its IT resources absent proof that employees would otherwise be deprived of any reasonable means of communicating with each other, or proof of discrimination.”  In this case, the facts in the record showed that T-Mobile’s employees had the ability to verbally converse about the union, exchange Union related material in non work areas, and utilize their own phones and personal emails to communicate about the union.  Based upon this evidence and in accordance with the precedent established in Caesars Entertainment, the NLRB found that Befort’s Section 7 rights were not infringed upon and no violation of the NLRA had occurred.

The Takeaway:  Straight forward matter?  Perhaps. Surprising decision from a pro-employer iteration of the NLRB?  Not really.  With that out of the way, this decision serves as an important reminder of how a prior NLRB decision can have a tremendous impact on subsequent matters.  As Caesars Entertainment had set forth, Section 7 rights will not be violated so long as employees have other forms of communication available.  Had Caesars Entertainment not existed or had this been a more labor friendly iteration of the NLRB, this could have gone the other way.  However, I suggest readers keep in mind that for the time being, these employer friendly decisions will likely continue.

Date:  May 27, 2020

Order:  https://apps.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d458310a066

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