Grindr Illegally Used RTO to Thwart Union, Forcing Out About 80 Staff, US Labor Board Alleges

Grindr Inc. illegally imposed a return-to-office policy last year that forced out half its staff in an attempt to thwart a unionization push, the US labor board alleged in a new complaint.
The US National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel office is accusing the LGBTQ dating company of violating federal labor law by enforcing a strict RTO mandate in retaliation against workers who were trying to organize. The complaint, filed Friday, also accuses the company of illegally refusing to recognize and negotiate with the workers’ union, agency spokesperson Kayla Blado said.
The company’s RTO crackdown forced roughly 80 of Grindr’s 178 employees to resign last year, according to the Communications Workers of America, turning the company and its policy into a flashpoint amid a broader push across industries to get employees back into offices. 
Grindr mandated that workers show up to offices two days a week shortly after they announced a union campaign with CWA in July 2023. The policy required major relocations and placed a particularly heavy burden on trans employees who would need to find new health-care providers, according to the labor group.
Grindr, which didn’t immediately provide comment on the labor board’s complaint, has previously denied wrongdoing. The company told employees in a memo last year that executives had been working on the RTO plan “for many months.”
Absent a settlement, an agency judge is slated to consider and rule on the complaint. Grindr would have the opportunity to appeal any decision to labor board members in Washington — and ultimately in federal court if it came to that. The labor board can order companies to change policies and reinstate employees with backpay, but it lacks the authority to force companies to pay punitive damages or hold executives personally liable for violations.
President Joe Biden’s NLRB general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, has taken an expansive view of workers’ rights. On his first day in office, Biden fired the former management-side attorney whom President Donald Trump had tapped to be the agency’s top prosecutor. If Trump prevails in Tuesday’s election, he could similarly replace Abruzzo.
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