Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

On May 5, 2025, an Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) for the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) ruled that retailer Costco Wholesale Corp. (“Costco”) violated the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA” or the “Act”) when it asked employees involved in an internal investigation regarding sexual harassment allegations to sign a confidentiality agreement prohibiting them from discussing details concerning the investigation.

In recent years, there has been a growing trend amongst litigants of protecting documents filed as part of the judicial record from public view by sealing them by agreement under a protective order.  However, a recent opinion out of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit criticizes this now-common practice.  Binh Hoa Le v. Exeter Fin. Corp., No. 20-10377, ––– F.3d –––, 2021 WL 838266 (5th Cir. March 5, 2021).