Employers Take Note: Covid-19-Related Actions that Will Get the Attention of the NLRB

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Jake Bartlett

Ilya Batikov

Alex Bluebond

Latest from Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP

Employers Take Note: Covid-19-Related Actions that Will Get the Attention of the NLRB

September 23, 2020

This blog previously discussed the NLRB’s dismissal of virus-related charges. The NLRB General Counsel, however, recently released a new memorandum summarizing cases related to Covid-19 where the NLRB found the virus-related issues had merit and pursued litigation. Because the cases are still in active litigation, the memo merely summarizes the facts of the cases. It does not identify the employers involved. The memo covers six different issues. It is important to note that the employer’s…

D.C Circuit Court Stay’s U.S. EPA’s Amendments to New Source Performance Standards for Oil/Gas Industry

By Ryan Elliott

September 17, 2020

This post provides important updates to our August 17, 2020 post regarding U.S. EPA’s amendments to the 2012 and 2016 New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry (40 CFR 60, Subpart OOOO and 40 CFR 60, Subpart OOOOa). First, U.S. EPA published the final amendments in the Final Register on September 14, 2020. The amendments to the NSPS became effective upon publication in the Federal Register. Next, on the same…

The End of COVID-19 Noncompliance Protections

By Jake Bartlett

September 3, 2020

This post updates an earlier post outlining the USEPA’s and Ohio EPA’s COVID-19 enforcement policies. USEPA USEPA’s general policy to not seek penalties for compliance monitoring and reporting violations ended this week on August 31, 2020. Violations that occur on and after September 1 are no longer protected by the “enforcement discretion” of the COVID-19 policy. However, the policy reserves the USEPA’s right to exercise discretion on a case-by-case basis for noncompliance caused by COVID-19…

Unionization in Unusual Places: Political Campaigns

September 2, 2020

If you think unions only organize manufacturing plants and construction sites, think again. With the 2020 election year in full swing, unions continue to form among Democratic political campaign staffers. These political staffers are using their party’s pro-union stance as an opportunity to unionize their own campaigns. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) became the first presidential campaign to unionize, with every serious Democratic presidential campaign following his lead. Field organizers for Joe Biden approved their …

Supreme Court of Ohio to Hear DMA Case

By Ilya Batikov

September 1, 2020

The Supreme Court of Ohio accepted a case involving the Ohio Dormant Mineral Act (ODMA), Fonzi v. Brown, but held the case until the Court decides Gerrity v. Chervenak. In Fonzi, the Court will consider issues over the extent of a landowner’s duty to exercise reasonable diligence in notifying mineral owners of an abandonment under the ODMA, the mineral owner’s burden in challenging the sufficiency of that notice, and the parties’ rights when a…

Remote Hearings are New Default for Unfair Labor Practice Complaints

August 31, 2020

The regional offices no longer need approval from the NLRB headquarters to schedule remote hearings for most unfair labor practice complaints. Last week, the Office of the General Counsel released a memorandum instructing the regional offices to hold remote hearings for most ULP matters. The memorandum also indicated that, effective immediately, any pending requests for remote hearings are granted. The General Counsel’s action comes on the heels of two NLRB decisions in which a party…

A Series of Dismissals Occur in Virus-Related NLRB Charges Against Employers

August 18, 2020

In a positive series of events for employers, the General Counsel’s Division of Advice called for the dismissal of five different coronavirus-related charges against employers. The GC’s office sent memos to regional NLRB offices directing them to dismiss specific cases, all of which were labor disputes sparked by the pandemic. All charges were either dismissed or withdrawn, giving employers helpful insight into the agency’s view on coronavirus-related disputes. The following five charges were dismissed: A…

U.S. EPA Amends New Source Performance Standards for Oil and Gas Industry

By Ryan Elliott

August 17, 2020

On August 13, 2020, U.S. EPA issued two final rules amending the 2012 and 2016 New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry. The first rule makes policy amendments to the 2012 NSPS, 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart OOOO, and the 2016 NSPS, 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart OOOOa, (the “Policy Amendments”); the second rule makes technical amendments to the 2016 NSPS (the “Technical Amendments”). The Policy Amendments remove the transmission…

NLRB Gives Employers Greater Ability to Discipline Abusive Conduct

By Nelson Cary

July 28, 2020

Employees probably just lost the ability to tell their boss to f*** off. When considering an employee’s protected activity, the NLRB recently changed its tune on how it analyzes employer discipline—and an employee engaging in abusive conduct does not have the same protections the employee once did. The NLRB announced this change of tune in last Tuesday’s General Motors decision. Before General Motors, the NLRB held in numerous cases that an employer could violate the…