A union activist who listed the name of a co-worker as the sender of a complaint to management criticizing a supervisor was not engaged in activities protected by the National Labor Relations Act, rules a divided Sixth Circuit. The union activist had put the name of the co-worker on the parcel because he was concerned about retaliation for the complaint, and he thought management would be more likely to read the complaint since the co-worker was opposed to union affiliation. When management found out about the deception, it terminated the union activist.

The union argued that the employee’s falsification was done without malice, and was necessary for his complaint to be heard. The National Labor Relations Board found that this particular falsification was not done in good faith since it had the potential of harming his co-worker. The Sixth Circuit upholds the NLRB ruling, stating that the Court “cannot say that the Board must necessarily find malice per se to find a falsification disqualifying.” UAW v. NLRB