Law Commons^™

Has Wright Line Gone Wrong? Why Pretext Can Be Sufficient To Prove Discrimination Under The National Labor Relations Act,, Michael Hayes

All Faculty Scholarship

Every year in the United States, thousands of employees are illegally fired for joining or supporting unions. These employees must bring their claims to the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”), which applies its famous Wright Line standard to decide thousands of discrimination cases each year.

Probably the most common issue in labor discrimination cases is “pretext.” In virtually every case, an employer claims that it fired an employee not for an illegal anti-union motive, but for a legitimate business reason. The pretext issue arises when the evidence shows that the legitimate reason asserted by the employer was most likely …

Re Abt Building Products Canada Ltd And Cep, Loc 434 (Shatford), Innis Christie

Innis Christie Collection

Employee grievance alleging breach of the Collective Agreement between the parties effective March 9, 1998 — December 15, 2002 in that the Employer breached Article 3 and Appendix "C" of the Collective Agreement by suspending the Grievor for five days with­out sufficient cause and breached the Collective Agreement by defaming the Grievor. The Grievor seeks reimbursement for the five days of wages and consequent benefits lost, and damages and a writ­ten apology for defamation.