Vencare v. NLRB

**What Happened** Five employees at Vencare Ancillary Services were fired after they engaged in a work protest. The employees had refused to perform certain job duties while continuing to work and receive pay. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) investigated and ruled that Vencare illegally fired these workers, ordering the company to reinstate them. However, Vencare appealed this decision to federal court. **What the Court Decided** The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Vencare and overturned the NLRB's ruling. The court determined that what the employees did was not protected workplace activity under federal labor law. Instead, the court classified their actions as an "unprotected partial strike" - meaning they were selectively refusing work duties while still expecting full pay. Since this type of protest isn't legally protected, Vencare had the right to fire them. **Why This Matters for Workers** This ruling shows that workers cannot pick and choose which job duties to perform while expecting to keep their jobs and pay. While employees have rights to engage in workplace protests, those protections have limits. Workers considering any form of work protest should understand that partial strikes - refusing some duties while working others - may not be legally protected and could result in termination.