NLRB Judge Forces Hospital to Rescind Gag Policy on Staff

An administrative law judge under the National Labor Relations Board ruled in November against a hospital that fired an employee for writing a letter to a newspaper. The Maine Coast Memorial Hospital had a media policy prohibiting employees from speaking to the press without permission.

Karen-Jo Young, who had been the hospital’s activities coordinator, wrote a letter to the Ellsworth American newspaper, about ongoing staffing concerns.

The Administrative Law Judge Paul Bogas, stated in his decision, “The Board has repeatedly recognized the importance of employees’ communications to the media and other third parties as a means of publicizing labor disputes and drawing an employer’s attention to the need for improvements to working conditions.”

Young was not a member of either of the two bargaining units at the hospital.

The decision required the hospital to post a statement that said, among other things:

“We will not maintain or enforce any unlawful work rule or system policy that prohibits you from communicating with the news media about Maine Coast Memorial Hospital or Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems (EMHS) or that requires you to involve, or obtain permission from, Maine Coast Memorial Hospital or EMHS before doing so.”

Frank LoMonte of the Brechner Center for Freedom on Information is attempting to build a road map for challenging these restrictions in private workplaces.