Barstool Sport’s boss Dave Portnoy set off a firestorm when he took to Twitter to inform his staff that if they considered joining a union, he would fire them on the spot.
As Portnoy continued his multi-day Twitter tirade, the AFL-CIO sent out a Tweet to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) informing them of a violation of labor law. Since a tweet isn’t an official way to file NLRB charges, David Rosenfeld, a labor lawyer for the Committee to Preserve the Religious Right to Organize, officially filed the charges last week. The charges, which were obtained by the Hollywood Reporter, say:
“Within the last six months, Barstool Sports, affiliated with the Chernin Group, through its crazed president, Dave Portnoy, has threatened to discipline employees on account o[f] Union and/or protected activity. The Charging Party seeks as relief that Mr. Portnoy be required to tweet and otherwise publicize his severe and sincere apology and to post the appropriate Notice on the public website. He should be required to read the Notice to all employees and make a public announcement about the Notice on his media locations of any nature."
Rosenfeld told the Post that he filed the charges “just to f--k with these idiots. ... He thinks he can get away with it because Trump does, but he won't."
Now that charges have been filed, the NLRB will begin an investigation into whether Portnoy’s tweets rise to the level of a violation of Sections 7 & 8 of the National Labor Relations Act, which protect both an organized and unorganized worker who is considering joining a union.
Portnoy, who doesn’t seem like someone who knows when to shut up, is continuing his Twitter tirade. When informed that NLRB charges had been filed against him and his company, Portnoy tweeted "So they are suing for a heart felt apology? Is that really what I just read? How about this? Go f--k yourself. Case dismissed."