For the First Time NLRB Decides an English‐Only Rule Is an Unfair Labor Practice

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has a history of cracking down on employers who have overly broad rules requiring employees to speak only English. Unless justified by business necessity, the EEOC finds such rules to constitute national origin discrimination. For the very first time, if a recent decision by a National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge (ALJ) is upheld, the NLRB may find such rules to be an unfair labor practice, because they purportedly interfere with workers' right to organize under the National Labor Relations Act.