Ninth Circuit Rules en banc that California’s Union Neutrality Law Not Preempted by the NLRA

In September 2000, then-California Governor Gray Davis signed into law Assembly Bill No. 1889 (AB 1889), Cal. Gov’t Code §§ 16645-16649, which forbids employers who receive state grants or funds in excess of $10,000 from using such funding to “assist, promote, or deter union organizing.” Employers who violate this statute are subject to fines and penalties, including disgorgement of the state funds and a civil penalty to be paid to the state that is equal to twice the amount of the funds.