Workplace Civility Rules Get Boost From Labor Board Decision

The path for the National Labor Relations Board and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to collaborate on workplace civility rules is clearer thanks to a new NLRB decision, management-side lawyers told Bloomberg Law.

The board Dec. 14 overturned its 2004 decision in Lutheran Heritage Village-Livonia. That ruling had created some confusion about bad behavior on the job and whether such acts are illegal under discrimination laws or protected activity under labor laws.

For example, Cooper Tire faced a lawsuit after firing a worker for using racist language on a picket line—a hard stance against discriminatory language that the EEOC ...