A Blank Rome team secured a litigation victory for Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament (“Medieval Times”), a live dinner theater venue with locations throughout the United States and Canada, in an unfair labor practice prosecution brought by the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”).
The NLRB alleged that Medieval Times retaliated against one of its employees because of his union activity and support. During a three-day hearing before Administrative Law Judge Michael A. Rosas, Blank Rome’s team of traditional labor lawyers presented evidence and testimony that the discipline at issue was not discriminatory and that Medieval Times acted within its rights to improve the employee’s performance and address his shortcomings. The trial came on the heels of a years-long effort by the Amalgamated Guild of Variety Actors to unionize Medieval Times’ operations.
Ultimately, Judge Rosas agreed with Medieval Times and dismissed the NLRB’s complaint. The victory is particularly significant given the NLRB’s track record in litigation. According to the most recent publicly available data from the agency tasked with enforcing federal labor law, the NLRB achieved a 91.9 percent litigation win rate in fiscal year 2023.
Judge Rosas’ ruling was covered by Law360 in an article titled “NLRB Clears Medieval Times in Union Bias Case” and by On the Labor Front in an article titled “NLRB Judge Dismisses Relation Claims Against Medieval Times in Union Discipline Case.”
The Blank Rome team included Daniel J. Sobol, Michael G. Greenfield, and David G. Rodriguez.
