Picket Line Profanity Ruling Worries Overstated, NLRB Chair Says

The chair of the NLRB pushed back Thursday against employers’ criticism of a recent order making it more difficult to punish strikers using potentially harassing speech against workers across the picket line.

The National Labor Relations Board’s Lauren McFerran said at a conference hosted by New York University School of Law that employers have “generally overstated” the idea that the order created a “conflict” by allowing controversial speech that might run afoul of anti-discrimination statutes but is protected under federal labor law.

“It’s not a general civility code for the American workplace,” said McFerran, who appeared at the New York ...