/>iAlternative Entertainment, Inc. (07-CA-144404; 363 NLRB No. 131) Bryon Center, MI, February 22, 2016.
The Board affirmed the judge’s findings that the Respondent violated Section 8(a)(1) by: (a) maintaining a handbook rule prohibiting the unauthorized disclosure of employee compensation and salary information; (b) prohibiting an employee from discussing changes to compensation with his coworkers; and (c) discharging that employee for engaging in protected concerted activity. In so doing, the Board clarified that the employee engaged in two types of protected activity: (1) he repeatedly discussed shared concerns about the change in pay structure with his coworkers, and (2) he voiced those concerns to management on several occasions. The Board also affirmed the judge’s finding that the General Counsel met his initial burden under Wright Line, and that the Respondent’s explanations for the termination were pretextual. The Board rejected the Respondent’s exception that the judge improperly found that the employee was discharged for complaining to his coworkers about the change in pay structure because that theory was not pled in the complaint, and observed that the Respondent fully litigated this issue during the hearing.
