Universal Protection Services, LLC v. National Labor Relations Board

── Universal Protection Services, LLC v. National Labor Relations Board ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: May 01, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 24-11150 Document: 65-1 Date Filed: 05/01/2026 Page: 1 of 20 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 24-11150 ____________________ UNIVERSAL PROTECTION SERVICES, LLC, d.b.a. Allied Universal Security Services, Petitioner-Cross Respondent, versus NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Respondent-Cross Petitioner. INTERNATIONAL UNION, SECURITY POLICE AND FIRE PROFESSIONALS OF AMERICA, Intervenors. ____________________ Petitions for Review of a Decision of the National Labor Relations Board Agency No. 12-CA-305972 ____________________ Before ROSENBAUM, BRANCH, and GRANT, Circuit Judges. USCA11 Case: 24-11150 Document: 65-1 Date Filed: 05/01/2026 Page: 2 of 20 2 Opinion of the Court 24-11150 PER CURIAM: Universal Protection Services, LLC, doing business as Allied Universal Security Services (“Allied Universal”), petitions for review of the National Labor Relations Board’s (“Board”) determination that “lieutenants” Allied Universal employs are not supervisors, which meant that the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) required Allied Universal to collectively bargain with the lieutenants. In its petition, Allied Universal claims the Board’s procedures violated Allied Universal’s due process rights and challenges the substantive basis for the Board’s decision. In response, the Board cross-petitions for enforcement of its order requiring collective bargaining. After careful review of the record and with the benefit of oral argument, we determine that the process the Board employed provided Allied Universal with the opportunity to be heard, and substantial evidence supports the Board’s decision to order a representation election. Accordingly, we deny Allied Universal’s petition for review of the Board’s decision and grant the Board’s application for enforcement. I. Background A. Allied Universal operations at Turkey Point Allied Universal provides security services for the Turkey Point nuclear power facility in Florida City, Florida (“Turkey Point”). Allied Universal employs roughly 136 security officers, 24 lieutenants, and 4 captains at the facility, each of whom falls into a chain-of-command hierarchy. The company’s chief official on site is the Project Manager, who oversees two division heads. The USCA11 Case: 24-11150 Document: 65-1 Date Filed: 05/01/2026 Page: 3 of 20 24-11150 Opinion of the Court 3 head of the operations division oversees the four captains, who split between two shifts. Each of the four captains is responsible for six lieutenants, who in turn each oversee five to eight security officers. Allied Universal employs a progressive discipline policy for employees, Policy 1308, that outlines three levels of offenses and the potential consequences for infractions ranging from minor violations to fireable offenses. Level I offenses are the most severe and invo