In Faude v. WERC (2017AP842), the Court of Appeals District III held that an employer did not wrongfully terminate an employee because of her union-related activity.

Rebecca Faude was a certified nursing assistant at Clark County Health Care Center. Faude also served as a union steward who negotiated with management on employees’ behalf. Clark County placed Faude on administrative leave and ultimately terminated her after she engaged in misconduct during shift change meetings and vocally criticized several of her superiors at Clark County. Faude filed the instant complaint, arguing that Clark County wrongfully terminated her because of her aggressive advocacy as a union steward.

The appeals court found that there was substantial evidence to support the Wisconsin Employment Review Commission’s decision that Clark County did not wrongfully terminate Faude. The court reasoned that evidence showed Faude engaged in workplace misconduct. Furthermore, she had advocated as a union steward for over three years without being terminated, so the union work would not have been the cause for termination.