Scabby the Inflatable Rat Got Stabbed – and the Union Wants Receipts

Unite Here Local 25 asked a Manhattan court to help identify the person who allegedly slashed its inflatable protest rat “Scabby” outside the grand re-opening of Greenwich Village restaurant Babbo.

The union wants video footage from inside and outside Babbo, communications about Scabby from Babbo’s owners, credit card receipts and reservation records that could identify the suspect, and personnel records for workers who were present. The description: “roughly six-feet tall, with crew-cut blond or similarly colored hair,” dressed similarly to Babbo’s waiters in a navy or black suit with a white shirt.

For employers, this is a useful reminder that picketing and inflatable-rat displays are legally protected activity in most contexts — and interference with them creates legal exposure beyond just the labor law dimension.

A few legal layers worth thinking about:

1. NLRA protection of secondary activity using inflatables has been extensively litigated. The Board has long held that displaying Scabby is protected expressive conduct, not unlawful picketing — even when displayed at the work site of a neutral employer.

2. Destruction of union property in connection with protected activity can give rise to NLRA violations if attributable to the employer, plus state tort claims for vandalism and trespass.

3. Third-party identification subpoenas like the one Local 25 filed are increasingly common in labor disputes. They can reach far into employer records — credit card processing, reservation systems, employee schedules, internal communications.

If you’re an employer, contractor, or building owner whose business is being picketed:

* Train managers not to interfere with the protest, even when it’s inconvenient or embarrassing.

* Document everything contemporaneously, including any incidents that might later be characterized as confrontational.

* Understand that videos and photos from inside your business may be discoverable in subsequent litigation.

The broader trend: unions are getting more aggressive about using civil litigation tools — defamation suits, third-party discovery, tortious interference claims — alongside traditional NLRB charges. That changes the litigation strategy for employers facing organizing or contract campaigns.

Scabby has been a fixture of American labor protest. Don’t let your business be the one that turns him into a defendant’s exhibit.