D.C. Cir. Backs NLRB Award of Union's Bargaining Expenses
The U.S. Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia ruled in favor of the NLRB in a case regarding the unfair labor practices of two nursing homes in Illinois. Employers were found to be bypassing workplace union representatives in directly dealing with employees and unilaterally imposing various contract changes with the intent of undermining the union. In finding these employers’ conduct in blatant violation of good faith bargaining, the Court ruled that paying bargaining expenses would be included in the remedies owed to the union. This marked the first time the issue of bargaining expenses as remedy was decided upon by the Court. However, the Court also ruled that the NLRB did not have the authority to demand that litigation costs be included in the remedies owed, following a precedent set forth in HTH Corp. v. NLRB.
See "D.C. Cir. Backs NLRB Award of Union's Bargaining Expenses", Lawrence E. Dubé, Bloomberg BNA, June 13, 2016