Disabled Janitors Are ‘Employees,’ Can Unionize, 4th Cir. Rules

A Baltimore hospital’s vocational services department must bargain with a union representing janitors with severe physical or mental disabilities, a federal appeals court ruled.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Tuesday upheld a National Labor Relations Board ruling that disabled janitors working for Sinai Hospital of Baltimore Inc.’s Vocational Services Program qualified as employees under federal labor law and thus had the right to unionize.

The case highlights the NLRB’s test for determining the employment status of disabled people in rehabilitative workplaces, which stems from the board’s 2004 ruling in Brevard Achievement Center. Under the ...