Grindr's Abrupt Return to Office Was 'Union Busting,' NLRB Lawyer Tells Judge [View all]
Source: Bloomberg
By Josh Eidelson
June 2, 2025 at 7:05 PM UTC
Grindr Inc. changed its remote-work policy out of the blue, demanding employees return to the office in retaliation for a union drive after previously telling them they could keep teleworking, US labor board prosecutors told an agency judge.
Grindr told its employees many, many times in spring and summer 2023, that the remote work benefits were secure, Joseph Meeker, an attorney for the US National Labor Relations Board, said at a May 13 hearing, according to a transcript obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Then employees announced they were unionizing, and only two weeks later, Grindr changed its mind.
An NLRB judge in Los Angeles is currently considering allegations that the LGBTQ dating company violated federal labor law by using a return-to-office mandate to force out about half of its staff in an attempt to thwart unionization. The agencys prosecutors brought the case against Grindr in November, at the end of President Joe Bidens term, seeking an order that would force the company to negotiate with the union. Under the NLRB's acting general counsel William Cowen, who President Donald Trump appointed as the NLRBs top prosecutor in February, the agency has continued forging ahead with the case.
Meeker said at the hearing that the acting general counsel is also considering asking a federal judge to issue an injunction against Grindr while the NLRB case proceeds, further escalating a dispute that became a high-profile flashpoint amid a broader push to get employees across industries back into offices.
Read more: http://archive.today/T1hki
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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-02/grindr-s-abrupt-return-to-office-was-union-busting-nlrb-lawyer-tells-judge