WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 19, 2025) – NFIB joined an amicus brief in the case Amazon.com Services, LLC v. National Labor Relations Board at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The case concerns the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) recent decision that employers who exercise their free speech rights regarding unionization at mandatory workplace meetings are in violation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). NFIB’s brief questions the constitutionality of the ban as it restricts speech, not conduct, based on the viewpoint expressed by the speaker. NFIB joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Associated Builders and Contractors, the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, and the National Retail Federation in filing the brief.

“The NLRB’s decision to ban mandatory meetings based on the message of the speaker is inherently discriminatory and will subject small business owners to federal penalties for simply expressing themselves in their own business,“ said Beth Milito, Vice President and Executive Director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center. “The NLRB’s argument goes against decades of precedent to justify its pro-union goals. NFIB urges the Court to reject the NLRB’s decision and make it clear that restricting free speech based on content is unconstitutional and intolerable.”

NFIB’s brief argues two main points: 1) the NLRB’s decision misunderstands the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings regarding unwilling listeners, and 2) the NLRB’s decision regulates speech, not conduct, because enforcement depends on examination of the ideas communicated, not the action itself.

NFIB has been active in protecting employer free speech against encroachment from both the federal and state governments. NFIB is currently challenging a Minnesota law that similarly restricts employer free speech in the workplace.

The NFIB Small Business Legal Center protects the rights of small business owners in the nation’s courts. NFIB is currently active in more than 40 cases in federal and state courts across the country and in the U.S. Supreme Court.