National Labor Relations Board Rejects Harvard Appeal, Finds University Violated Federal Labor Law

The National Labor Relations Board upheld a ruling last month that Harvard violated federal labor law by refusing to provide the University’s police union with a report on a dispute between Harvard University Police Department officers, rejecting the University’s appeal of the December decision.

Harvard appealed in February after an NLRB judge found it had unlawfully withheld the report, which the judge said contained information necessary for the union to carry out its role as employees’ bargaining representative.

The report, compiled by outside security firm Ed Davis Company, investigated how HUPD handled a reported sexual assault involving two undergraduates — including how supervisors oversaw former detective Kelsey L. Whelihan’s investigation of the case. The Harvard University Police Association requested the report three times in 2024 before filing an unfair labor charge against the University that November.

In its appeal, Harvard called the report “highly confidential” and claimed that “there is no documentation at any college or university that is more sensitive” than records pertaining to a student sexual assault allegation. The University also accused the NLRB judge of bias and having “predetermined the outcome” of his ruling.

Five months later, the board rejected Harvard’s claims, affirming the judge’s December decision in its ruling and calling on the University to turn over the report to HUPA in “a timely manner.”

The board found that Harvard had not established that the report was confidential, writing that “there is no actual confidentiality interest to balance.” The only Harvard official who testified about the report at a September hearing admitted that he had never read it.

The board added that Harvard failed to respond to accommodations proposed by the union, including redacting the students’ names.

It also rejected the University’s accusation that the judge was biased after reviewing the case record.

“We are satisfied that the Respondent’s contentions are without merit,” the board wrote.

A University spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the board’s decision or whether HUPD had provided the report to HUPA.

Harvard commissioned the report after a dispute between Wheilan and HUPD Captain John F. Fulkerson over the department’s handling of the reported sexual assault. HUPA first requested a copy of the report in January 2024, then twice more in March and October 2024. Harvard denied each request.

Zachary See, associate director of Harvard’s Office of Labor and Employee Relations, told the union in March 2024 that the report was confidential and asked it to explain why it wanted a copy.

See testified at the September hearing that no confidentiality agreement with HUPA would have been sufficient, calling the “entire” report confidential.

At the same hearing, See — the only University official called to testify about the report — admitted that he had not read it before refusing to provide it to the union.

In addition to turning over the report, Harvard must post a notice for 60 days informing HUPA members that the University violated federal labor law.

—Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at shawnb.18. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.