In 2006, the National Labor Relations Board held in Sacred Heart Medical Center that employers had the right to restrict the wearing of union-related buttons and other insignia in immediate patient care areas. See Littler's July 2006 ASAP "Increasing Employer Control: The NLRB Significantly Restricts Nurses' Right to Wear Certain Union-Related Buttons.

Subsequently, the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA) filed a petition with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit requesting a review of the NLRB decision. The Ninth Circuit granted the petition and, on May 20, 2008, issued a ruling remanding the case with directions for the Board to reinstate findings that the hospital's button ban violated the rights of employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). (Washington State Nurses Ass'n v. NLRB, 9th Cir., No. 06-74917, 5/20/08).


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