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D.C. Court Rules Overbroad Workplace Policies Unlawful

By Howard S. Lavin and Elizabeth E. DiMichele
November 27, 2007

In two recent decisions, the District of Columbia United States Court of Appeals has ruled overbroad workplace policies unlawful, even when those policies did not expressly prohibit protected workplace discussions about terms and conditions of employment, and even when there was no evidence that the policies had been enforced to punish protected workplace discussions. This article discusses these decisions, and their implications for employers that have adopted, or are contemplating adoption of, workplace policies that might be deemed overbroad.

The Cintas Corp. Decision

In Cintas Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board, 482 F.3d 463 (D.C. Cir. 2007), the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held that the confidentiality rule promulgated by Cintas Corporation ('Cintas') was unlawful because it could be construed to prohibit employees from discussing the terms and conditions of their employment, even though: 1) the rule did not expressly forbid protected workplace discussions; and 2) there was no evidence that the rule was used to prohibit such protected workplace discussions.

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