This Littler Lightbulb highlights some of the more significant employment and labor law developments in the federal courts of appeal in the last month.
Eighth Circuit Vacates NLRB Ruling and Allows Company Prohibition of BLM Logo on Company Uniform
Home Depot v. NLRB, ___ F.4th ___ (8th Cir. Nov. 6, 2025), involved an appeal of a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling that found Home Depot violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when it terminated an employee that refused to remove Black Lives Matter (BLM) lettering from his company apron. Home Depot appealed, asserting that company policy prohibited the promotion of causes or political messages on its aprons, and that the BLM logo created a safety hazard after several months of protests, counter-protests, and civil unrest following George Floyd’s murder, less than seven miles from the workplace. These special circumstances, the employer argued, justified the requirement that the employee remove the logo from his apron.
The Eighth Circuit agreed. In response to the NLRB’s assertion that the employer allowed apron lettering for “causes or political messages” such as LGBTQ-pride, the Eight Circuit stated that “it is for the employer, not the Board, to determine whether personalization will be allowed because it is apolitical, appropriately demonstrates the company’s values, or is related to the workplace.” Moreover, citing prior NLRB decisions, the court noted that the Board “has long recognized that where...
As the Department of Justice (DOJ) has established its enforcement priorities over the last year, companies in regulated industries have worked to balance risk and react to the government’s areas o...