EMPLOYER INTERFERENCE, RESTRAINT, COERCION; INTERFERENCE WITH STRIKES AND PICKETING: LOCKOUTS – Post-Strike Furloughs

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County allowed nurses to use paid leave for furloughs that have no relationship to protected activity. Singling out the post-strike furloughs for differential treatment from all other furloughs is both facially discriminatory and inherently destructive of protected rights. The County did not justify such conduct with a valid business necessity, much less one reflecting circumstances beyond its control leaving it with no other alternative. Even applying the Novato framework, the County’s disparate treatment of post-strike days meets the nexus element, while illustrating that the County would likely have permitted nurses to use paid leave, absent protected activity.