Court Rejects Ban on Employee Socializing
February 8, 2007, Washington, D.C.
Corporate America and its friends at the NLRB tried to kill Happy Hour and other socializing among colleagues with a board decision in July 2005 that said employers could ban "off-duty fraternizing" among co-workers. The D.C. Circuit Court just said no way.
The court this week overturned the board's decision, saying that letting employers ban fraternizing was illegal because it could be construed as a ban of union or concerted activity outside of work hours.
American Rights at Work heralded the court decision, noting that the NLRB ruling sent "shockwaves far beyond the labor community," with worker and privacy advocates and many other groups agreeing that the board had gone too far.
"While we should all meet up after work to celebrate this decision, it's a sad day when a higher court has to save workers' rights from destruction from the agency created to protect them," American Rights at Work said.
