NEW YORK UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE - HEARINGS AND APPEALS - VULGAR LANGUAGE - CASE NO. 5

I began some further research. I next discovered that, according to the NLRB website, all employees, whether or not covered by a union, have certain rights:

"Employee Rights

Employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act are protected from certain types of employer and union misconduct and have the right to attempt to form a union where none currently exists....The law also protects employees’ rights to act together, with or without a union, to improve working terms and conditions, including wages and benefits. These are known as protected concerted activities.

Some examples include:

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An employee speaking to his/her employer on behalf of him/herself and one or more co-workers about improving workplace conditions...... "

Thus, the question arose: could an employee be engaged in a protected concerted activity when he mutters "this is bulls!@#, this company sucks" in response to an HR representative ignoring the employee's request for information?

NLRB - Employee Rights