Fort Dearborn Co. v. NLRB, No. 14-1263 (D.C. Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseThe Company challenged the Board's finding that the Company violated section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), 29 U.S.C. 158(a)(1), for threatening an employee, as well as sections 8(a)(3) and 8(a)(1) for suspending and firing the employee. The Company principally contends that the Board misapplied the test in Wright Line, as articulated in Sutter East Bay Hospitals v. NLRB. The court concluded that Sutter East Bay is unhelpful to the Company, however, because evidence of an employer’s good faith belief suffices to meet the employer’s burden under Wright Line only if the employer acts on that belief as it normally would. Here, substantial evidence in the record supports the Board’s finding that the reasons given for suspending and firing the employee were pretextual because the Company’s conduct was not consistent with its policy and past practice. The court found the Company's remaining arguments unpersuasive. Accordingly, the court denied the petition and granted the Board's cross-application for enforcement.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.