Jamal, a medical school resident, emails three coworkers a link to an online article about the demanding hours placed on young doctors in hospitals. One of his three friends posts a comment on the article's website about his grueling work schedule, and Jamal and the two others chime in about the miseries of their job. The hospital finds out and fires all four of them. If the court follows Hispanics United of Buffalo, Inc. and Carlos Ortiz before the NLRB, will their terminations be upheld?

a. No, because they were acting in concert.

b. Yes, because their conduct is not protected by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

c. No, because they were complaining publicly about their job.

d. Yes, if they are members of a union.

The correct answer is letter "A": No, because they were acting in concert.

Explanation:

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ruled on 2 September 2011 that a non-profit company in Buffalo, New York, breached the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when it fired a group of employees participating in a social media conversation criticizing their lead and complaining of working conditions. The ALJ found that those communications were covered by concerted action within the scope of Section 7 of the NLRA.

In that case, in Jamal and his coworkers' case they cannot be discharged since the conditions in which the criticizing took place is the same as in Carlos Ortiz's case. In both cases, they were acting in concert.