Nashville partner Josh Wilson and Raleigh associate Ben Williams recently prevailed on behalf of an employer before the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) where an employee filed a charge alleging violations of his right to engage in “concerted activity” under Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act.
The employer is a unionized business that contracts with the Tennessee Valley Authority (“TVA”) to perform work on TVA’s nuclear power plants. In dismissing the employee’s charge, the NLRB determined that no causal link existed between the employee’s alleged concerted activity and his termination, and that the employer had a legitimate business justification for terminating the employee.
Section 8(a)(1) protects union and non-union employees who engage in “protected concerted activity.” In this case, the TVA independently reviewed the termination of the employee and approved it.