United States First Circuit

Petition for review of a NLRB finding that plaintiff had an overbroad confidentiality provision and wrongfully discharged its employee for violating it is denied and NLRB's cross application for enforcement is granted where: 1) Board's decision was valid as the delegation of its institutional decision-making power to a panel consisting of a two-member quorum was lawful under the plain text of section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act; 2) Board's decision holding that plaintiff's confidentiality provision violated the Act was consistent with prior case law and not unreasonable; and 3) Board did not err in finding that the termination of employment by plaintiff for violating the unlawful confidentiality provision was itself unlawful.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/13/2009
• Published 03/13/2009

Judges

• LYNCH, Chief Judge., Before LYNCH, Chief Judge, BOUDIN and LIPEZ, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States First Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Richard D. Wayne with whom Hinckley, Allen & Snyder LLP was on brief for petitioner.


• For Appellees:
  
• Ruth E. Burdick, Attorney, with whom Ronald Meisburg, General Counsel, John E. Higgins, Jr., Deputy General Counsel, John H. Ferguson, Associate General Counsel, Linda Dreeben, Deputy Associate General Counsel, Meredith Jason, Supervising Attorney, and Milakshmi V. Rajapakse, National Labor Relations Board, were on brief for respondent.