More specifically, the record showed that: (1) a supervisor sent a worker (Juan) home after that worker was told to speed up production; (2) co-workers told that supervisor that sending Juan home was unfair; (3) the supervisor then sent home another co-worker (Barrera) who had expressed the belief that the supervisor was being unfair and threatened to send home others who had similarly expressed that supervisor was being unfair; and (4) the ALJ found that Barrera had been fired after being told not to return to work.
The employer argued that no violation occurred because Barrera was not terminated as she was employed by staffing agency and could obtain work at other clients of the agency. However, the Seventh Circuit held that the ALJ could properly look to IDES document that had been filled out by the employer indicating that said worker had been "involuntarily" separated. The Seventh Circuit also held that the ALJ was not required to accept employer's version of incident, and that the employer failed to identify any extraordinary circumstances to set aside credibility determinations made by ALJ.
Finally, and most significantly, the Seventh Circuit also held that a brief, on-the-job work stoppage by workers to address concerns about conditions of employment was entitled to protection under NLRA.