The NLRB’s New GC Has a Rollback List

Since January, NLRB General Counsel Crystal Carey has filed at least four briefs urging the Board to overturn Biden-era precedent. Here is the target list, and it reads like an employer wish list.

First, McLaren Macomb, the 2023 decision making broad confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses in severance agreements unlawful. Carey wants a return to the older rule, where such provisions are unlawful only if paired with other coercive conduct.

Second, Stericycle, which made facially neutral work rules presumptively unlawful if an employee “could” read them as chilling. Carey calls for a balanced, common-sense test instead.

Third, Tesla, which forces employers to prove “special circumstances” to justify neutral dress codes limiting union insignia. Carey wants the Wal-Mart standard back.

Fourth, the captive-audience line (Amazon.com and Siren Retail) restricting mandatory anti-union meetings and employer predictions about unionization. Carey urges a return to decades-old precedent.

Notably, the GC Carey cannot change the law alone. The Board decides. But these briefs hopefully guide the Board in its decisions.

Which one do you think gets overturned first?