Appliance Maker’s Termination Clears Legal Test, NLRB Judge Says

A Kentucky home appliance maker legally fired a worker for misconduct related to her concerns about mandatory overtime, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled.

Former GE Appliances employee LaDonna Dawson’s resistance to working overtime wasn’t protected by federal labor law, Administrative Law Judge Kimberly Sorg-Graves held Tuesday.

The case stems from a discussion between assembly worker Dawson and a shift manager after Dawson was told to work overtime. GE Appliances cited gross misconduct—specifically Dawson “yelling and fussing” and “causing a disruption”—in its written justification for discharging her.

The administrative law judge rejected the NLRB lawyers’ argument that Dawson’s conduct ...