Mackenzie Clifton, a QA worker contracted to Nintendo recently came forward as the person who alleged they were fired for asking about unions at the company. Part of the settlement between Clifton and Ashton Carter, the agency that hired her, includes a payment of $25,910. Clifton has waived their right to be reinstated in their former role.
An even bigger win, however, is that Nintendo must post a notice of the settlement in its offices. This notice has to explicitly state that Nintendo will not interfere with its employees right to form a union.
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The notice will have to be posted on the bulletin board outside the entrance to Nintendo's product testing department for 60 consecutive days. All Nintendo QA employees will also receive the notice via email. It's a great way to show QA testers that they're allowed to form a union and legally can't be punished for discussing or choosing to join one.
The notice includes key points from the National Labour Relations Act, which gives workers the right to form, join, or assist a union. On the notice, Nintendo also has to state it will not interfere with these rights, nor will it stop employees from talking about unions or fire employees because they raise issues or complaints to the company.
If Clifton's allegation that they were fired for asking about unions is true, then the law was broken. The amount of damages being paid by Ashton Carter is likely a relatively small amount, and far cheaper than the cost of unionised wages and benefits, but the notice being displayed in Nintendo offices should embolden employees to stand up for their rights should any
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