The Neiman Marcus Group, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 20, 2013

31-CA-074295 (N.L.R.B. Dec. 20, 2013)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
THE NEIMAN MARCUS GROUP, INC.
and Case 31-CA-074295
SHEILA MONJAZEB
ORDER DENYING MOTION1
The Respondent’s Motion to Dismiss Complaint is denied. The Respondent has
failed to establish that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.2
Dated, Washington, D.C., December 20, 2013
KENT Y. HIROZAWA, MEMBER
HARRY I. JOHNSON, III, MEMBER
NANCY SCHIFFER, MEMBER

1 The National Labor Relations Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding to a
three-member panel.
2 Member Johnson notes that if the Respondent’s motion to dismiss were limited to the
class action waiver allegations in the complaint and its enforcement of the revised
arbitration agreement that was an essential part of the 2010 settlement agreement
between the Respondent and the General Counsel in Case 20-CA-33510, he would be
inclined to grant the motion. However, the Respondent’s litigation forming the basis for
the charge in this case actually involved enforcement of the original, allegedly unlawful
arbitration agreement, which did not include the revised agreement’s additional
language allowing joint legal claims under certain circumstances. A fortiori, there could
not be a bar arising from the settlement agreement. Moreover, separate and apart from
issues relating to the validity of the class action waiver, the General Counsel is
contending here that several of the documents for the Respondent’s mandatory
arbitration program interfere with employees’ right to file unfair labor practice charges
with the Board. It is not apparent why the settlement agreement in the prior case would
operate to bar litigation of this issue.