Board Invites Briefs Regarding Employee Use of Employer Email

Washington, D.C. — In a notice issued today, the National Labor Relations Board invites the filing of briefs on whether the Board should adhere to, modify, or overrule Purple Communications, Inc., 361 NLRB 1050 (2014). In Purple Communications, the Board held that employees who have been given access to their employer’s email system for work-related purposes have a presumptive right to use that system, on nonworking time, for communications protected by Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. In doing so, the majority in Purple Communications overruled Register Guard, 351 NLRB 1110 (2007), which held that while union-related communications cannot be banned because they are union-related, facially neutral policies regarding the permissible uses of employers’ email systems are not rendered unlawful simply because they have the incidental effect of limiting the use of those systems for union–related communications. In addition, while Purple Communications and Register Guard addressed only email systems, the Board is also inviting comment on the standard it should apply to evaluate policies governing the use of employer-owned computer resources other than email.

The case is Caesars Entertainment Corporation d/b/a Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino, 28-CA-060841. Chairman John F. Ring was joined by Members Marvin E. Kaplan and William J. Emanuel in issuing the Notice and Invitation to File Briefs. Members Mark Gaston Pearce and Lauren McFerran dissented.

Briefs from parties and interested amici must be submitted on or before September 5, 2018.

Click here to read the notice and invitation to file briefs.

Click here for a list of case participants.