"Making the Ivory Tower Old Wood: Implications of the NLRB’s Columbia University Decision for Colleges and Universities"
In a decision overturning more than a decade of precedent, the National Labor Relations Board recently ruled 3-1 in The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York that students who work for compensation as research or teaching assistants at private institutions of higher learning are “employees” protected under the National Labor Relations Act, and have the right to join unions or engage in organizing activity.
The ruling covers graduate and undergraduate students at private institutions who perform paid work directed by the institutions. For the schools that are subject to the decision, the implications are quite significant, and may even negatively affect academic freedom and freedom of speech.
Find out more in this new white paper from Constangy partner David Phippen.
