On Friday, the National Labor Relations Board office in Los Angeles accused Grindr, the company behind the popular dating app, of illegally implementing a return-to-office policy in order to punish employees for unionizing.
The company allegedly made the policy change, which led to the termination of 83 workers, because employees began organizing a union, according to an NLRB press release. The agency said Grindr also presented employees with an unlawful severance agreement and failed to recognize and bargain with the union.
In July 2023, a supermajority of Grindr workers announced their intention to form a union. Several weeks later, the company announced that all employees, including those who had been hired remotely, would have to begin working from an office, which for many workers meant relocating. In a series of Zoom meetings that followed, Grindr management muted and ignored employees who asked questions about the policy, the union said. In September 2023, after many of its potential members were forced out of the company by the return-to-office policy. The CWA filed an unfair labor practice complaint, which led to the NLRB investigation and report announced on Friday.
“It is unimaginably disappointing that dozens of our colleagues have had to leave their jobs because Grindr management did not want to sit down with workers and respect our right to organize,” Erick Cortez, a member of the union said in a statement at the time, adding “These decisions have left Grindr dangerously understaffed and raises questions about the safety, security and stability of the app for users.”
The dozens of employees forced to leave the company because of the return-to-office policy accounted for about half of Grindr’s total staff.
Despite the mass exodus of staff, Grindr’s workers voted to form a union in December 2023. The company has challenged the validity of the election.
The tally was 19-13 in favor of unionizing, with an additional 55 contested votes, most of which were cast by employees who were no longer employed by Grindr because of the company’s allegedly illegal implementation of the retaliatory return-to-office policy, the NLRB said. Ex-employees may be eligible to vote in union elections if they are found to have been unlawfully terminated or forced to quit.
In a statement to Bloomberg, a Grindr spokesperson called the NLRB complaint “meritless” and claimed that the transition away from work from home and back to the office was initiated before company employees started signing union cards.
Unless the company and the union reach a settlement, the NLRB complaint is scheduled for a hearing before an administrative law judge in March.
