On December 1, 2025, in NLRB v. Constellis, LLC, a unanimous Fourth Circuit panel joined other federal appellate courts in narrowly interpreting the National Labor Relations Act's ("NLRA" or the "Act")...
On December 1, 2025, in NLRB v. Constellis, LLC, a unanimous Fourth Circuit panel joined other federal appellate courts in narrowly interpreting the National Labor Relations Act's ("NLRA" or the "Act") judge-made managerial exception, which carves out certain high-level employees from the NLRA's protections.
The decision reinforces the decades-long trend of construing the exception narrowly and underscores the NLRA's broad definition of employee. In short, this is a demanding standard, and courts and the National Labor Relations Board (the "Board") may deem even key employees covered by the NLRA—and thus able to unionize and invoke the Act's other protections—unless another exception applies.
A former firearms and tactics instructor at Constellis, LLC, raised safety concerns with supervisors, including reports over bullets allegedly ricocheting on several ranges during shooting exercises. After a meeting in which he raised his voice and argued with supervisors, Constellis suspended and discharged him for alleged insubordination.
In the ensuing unfair labor practice case, the Board held that Constellis violated Section 8(a)(1) by suspending and firing the instructor. Although the company argued the instructor was a manager and therefore not covered by the Act,...
Prosecutors have indicted four individuals accused of falsely reporting sexual crimes, including a person who claimed to have been "raped" after being caught in an extramarital affair despite havi...