The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently confirmed that employers cannot discipline or fire workers for publicly raising concerns about racism in the workplace.
In a Feb. 27 memo, the board concluded that a medical school professor's discussions of racism in the workplace and the medical field were protected concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
In 2016, the NLRB issued a similar advice memo, which said employees are engaged in protected concerted activity when speaking with co-workers about the employer's discriminatory practices. It concluded that discussions about alleged racial discrimination in the workplace are inherently concerted because the perceived discrimination implicates many terms and conditions of employment and is "a matter of vital importance to employees."
"What I think makes this latest guidance from the NLRB notable is that a significant amount of the speech at issue involved racial issues in general society and the broader medical community, as opposed to solely racial issues confined to a specific workplace," said Mark Fijman, an attorney with Phelps Dunbar in New Orleans. "I think this shows the NLRB is adopting a broader scope" as to what it considers protected concerted activity.
Relevant Case
The NLRB's memo outlined a case involving a former professor for the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine in Pasadena, Calif., whose contract was not renewed in 2021.
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