Roundtable Expert Witnesses Services for Litigators & Legal Professionals – Click her for more info. In a major decision for religious institutions of higher education, the National Labor Relations Board (the “NLRB”) recently ruled in Bethany College, 369 NLRB No. 98 (June 10, 2020) that it has no jurisdiction over faculty at such institutions. In reaching this decision, the NLRB also created a new jurisdictional standard, or test, for determining whether jurisdiction over faculty at religious educational institutions is appropriate. Bethany College overrules the NLRB’s prior jurisdictional standard, which was inconsistent with Supreme Court precedent. This Legal Update provides a brief summary of the Bethany College decision and its implications for religious educational institutions. The New Test for NLRB Jurisdiction over Religious Educational Institutions Under the new standard for asserting jurisdiction over faculty at religious educational institutions, the NLRB will apply a “bright line” test set forth by the District of Columbia Circuit in University of Great Falls v. NLRB, 278 F.3d 1335 (D.C. Cir. 2002). Under the Great Falls test, the NLRB must decline to exercise jurisdiction over faculty at an institution which: Holds itself out to students, faculty and community as providing a religious educational environment; Is […]
