How To Lose An NLRB Case In Seven Steps

A nonprofit just got hit with a Gissel bargaining order — the nuclear option in labor law — and the decision reads like a checklist of what not to do.

Civic Influencers, a get-out-the-vote nonprofit, fired seven employees and rescinded one promotion after staff criticized the CEO and started organizing with the United Professional Organizers. The company said it was broke. The judge wasn’t buying it.

Here’s where it went sideways.

The terminations landed nine days after the union asked for recognition. Three of the workers were fired right after they testified at a Board hearing — an 8(a)(4) retaliation charge on top of everything else.

The company claimed financial distress, then “performance issues,” then a “reorganization.” Per the judge, shifting reasons are evidence of discriminatory motive. It kept hiring contractors the whole time and rang in the new year with $294,000 in the bank.

Then the killer: the employer ignored a subpoena for personnel and financial records it was legally required to preserve. The judge drew an adverse inference — assuming the missing documents would have hurt the company’s defense.

Result? Reinstatement and backpay for all seven, plus a Gissel order forcing the company to bargain without an election.

To me, the lesson is simple. Timing, documentation, and a consistent story decide these cases. This employer botched all three.

Documentation is often your only defense.