02/12/2026: Board Holds Qwest Adequately Proved Requested Information Did Not Exist
Board affirmed that supervisor handbook was a presumptively relevant info request.
Qwest Corporation, a Subsidiary of Lumen Technologies, Inc., F/K/a CenturyLink, Inc., 374 NLRB No. 34, 19-CA-284277 (Published Board Decision)
The NLRB partially reversed an Administrative Law Judge’s ruling against Qwest Corporation (a Lumen Technologies subsidiary) in a dispute over information requests from two Communications Workers of America locals representing field technicians.
The case involved three information requests related to grievances over technicians disciplined for low productivity scores under the company’s Link2Success performance system. In September 2021, Local 7800 requested documentation showing how Link2Success factors drive time, traffic, and parking into productivity calculations. The company repeatedly explained that credit values were based on yearly averages incorporating multiple factors that couldn’t be broken down to the specific level of detail requested.
The Board reversed the ALJ’s violation finding, holding the company satisfied its burden of proving the requested information didn’t exist in the form requested. Despite testimony from the company’s business analyst, management consistently explained across multiple exchanges that the system “lumped together” various factors and couldn’t provide granular detail. This was sufficient to meet the employer’s burden when information is relevant but allegedly nonexistent.
For an August 2021 request about Tech2Go system outages, the Board remanded because the ALJ failed to resolve conflicting testimony about whether the company verbally clarified that its system only tracked system-wide outages, not individual technician issues.
The Board upheld one violation: the company’s refusal to provide District 7 with sections of the supervisory handbook addressing technician performance criteria. These sections were presumptively relevant as they related directly to working conditions, and the company had already disclosed portions to a union steward.
Significant Cases Cited
NLRB v. Acme Industrial Co., 385 U.S. 432 (1967): Established employer’s duty to supply potentially relevant information to union.
Samaritan Medical Center, 319 NLRB 392 (1995): When information is relevant, burden shifts to employer to prove it doesn’t exist or cannot be furnished.
Disneyland Park, 350 NLRB 1256 (2007): Information about bargaining unit employees and their working conditions is presumptively relevant.