Law Center Search Results

The NAM filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit supporting restrictions on the use of company email systems by employees. This case arises from a 2014 decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) that if a company allows employees to use their email system, the employees have a statutory right to use the system on nonworking time for a wide range of messages and companies have limited oversight authority. This is important for manufacturers because the 2014 NLRB decision allows for extensive workplace distractions and personal misuse of business communication systems. The NAM’s brief argues that the ruling creates legal and practical problems for employers of all sizes, is unnecessary in today's world of social media and free email accounts, and infringes First Amendment speech and Fifth Amendment property rights. On September 24, 2018, the court held the case in abeyance pending the Board’s decision in a separate case, Caesars Entertainment Corp. v. Int’l Union of Painters, which similarly involved the NAM as amicus. The Caesars decision, issued on December 17, 2019, followed the NAM's rationale and reinstated the right of an employer to restrict employee use of its email system as long as it does so on a nondiscriminatory basis.