Auto Dealership’s Scapegoating Equals Union Bias, Court Affirms

An Illinois auto dealership discriminated against its service technicians over a successful union drive by terminating two employees, even though it may not have known the pair’s views about the union, the D.C. Circuit said Tuesday.

“Intentional discrimination against the statutorily protected collective actions of employees remains discrimination even when it takes the form of scapegoating,” Judge Patricia A. Millett said for the court.

And the National Labor Relations Board properly found that the dealership’s removal of striking workers’ heavy, individually owned tool cabinets from its premises was retaliatory, the court said.

Judge Neomi Rao, in partial dissent, said the ...