McFerran: Browning-Ferris Scope Overstated

Critics of the National Labor Relations Board’s August decision in the Browning-Ferris joint employer case have overstated its scope and impact, NLRB Member Lauren McFerran said Oct. 9.

The board focused largely on the “existence, extent, and object” of an entity’s control over workers in determining that Browning-Ferris shared joint employer liability under the National Labor Relations Act with a labor contractor at its Milpitas, Calif., recycling plant (Browning-Ferris Industries of California, Inc., 362 N.L.R.B. No. 186, 204 LRRM 1154 (2015); 166 DLR AA-1, 8/27/15).

The decision, which the board said was meant to reflect “the recent dramatic ...