Company settles legal case over delay in providing information to Guild

The Company settled a legal case over its delay in providing information needed by the Newspaper Guild in defense of one of its members.

The National Labor Relations Board had charged the Company with a failure to provide data in a timely manner to the Guild in the case over the firing of former ad salesperson Lindsay Connors. The Company had stonewalled the union, taking four months to provide relevant data the Guild had sought on the goals and revenues generated by employees in the same job title. The union had to press repeatedly to get the information and overcome attempts by the Company to claim the data was not relevant.

Companies cannot set themselves up as being able to arbitrarily decide what information unions need in order to represent their members.

Employees may notice signs posted in the building and on the Intranet that state the Company will not refuse to bargain collectively with the union by failing to provide information in a timely manner.

While the union unfortunately lost the overall case over Lindsay’s firing, this settlement is important for all members because it is critical that the union get timely answers when defending its members.

Under the settlement, the Company is required to post that it will abide by the law in providing information to the union in a timely manner. The post must remain up for 60 days.