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UNITED FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS UNION |
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L O C A L 9 1 9 |
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Your Rights
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The Weingarten Rule
In 1975, the United States Supreme Court in the case of NLRB v. Weingarten, Inc., ruled that it is unlawful for an Employer to deny an employee’s request for a Union Representative’s presence at an investigatory interview that the employee reasonably believes might result in disciplinary action.
Seeking the assistance of a Union Representative such as a Union Steward when the Employer wants to meet with an employee while investigating whether to mete-out discipline, is a legitimate exercise of the employee’s right under the Labor Management Relations Act.
It should be noted that the right arises (1) only in the situations where the employee requests representation; and (2) it is limited to situations where the employee reasonably believes the investigation will result in disciplinary action.
If the Employer refuses to carry out the employee interview with a Union Representative present, the employee has a choice between having the interview unaccompanied by a Union Representative, or having no interview at all.
If the Employer agrees to conduct the interview with the Union Representative present, the Representative cannot disrupt the meeting and the Employer is under no duty to bargain with the Union Representative who is in attendance during the interview.
However, the Union Representative can assist the Employee by eliciting favorable facts and bringing out extenuating factors that could help avoid discipline. The very presence of a Union Representative during such interviews keeps the Employer interrogator from putting undue pressure on the employee being questioned.