The Solicitor of Labor’s office reportedly argued against the validity of Ralph’s Grocery Company’s confidentiality provision in a mandatory arbitration agreement in a National Labor Relations Board case.
The Office of the Solicitor filed an amicus brief about the agreement imposed on employees to keep arbitration proceedings, content and outcome confidential, according to a March 22 news release from the Department of Labor.
“Confidentiality agreements pose a direct threat to effective enforcement of the country’s worker protection laws,” Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda said.
Workers are not barred from reporting violations to the Department of Labor or other enforcement agencies, Nanda said. But they are discouraged from cooperating with investigations, discussing experiences with coworkers, taking collective action or bringing complaints in the future.
In filing its brief, the solicitor’s office wanted to tell the National Labor Relations Board how the confidentiality requirements in arbitration agreements cause harm to the enforcement of worker protection laws under the Department of Labor’s jurisdiction, Nanda said. The solicitor’s office said that was an issue with the department’s complaint-based workplace law enforcement system.
