Texas-based driver exposes “hiring hall” scheme that operates in violation of federal law
Dallas, TX (June 9, 2025) – Jeff Norris, a transportation employee for Texas-based Netflix streaming productions like Spy Kids: Armageddon, is asking the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to review an administrative law judge’s (ALJ) ruling in his case. Norris is charging Teamsters Local 657 union officials with discriminating against employees who have abstained from formal union membership and against union members who have spoken out against union officials’ agenda. Norris is receiving free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
Norris’ filing attacks Teamsters Local 657 union bosses’ “hiring hall” arrangement, in which they refer production drivers for jobs based on various “lists” that divide employees up by, among other things, member vs. nonmember status. Norris contends that prioritizing the hiring of union members over nonmembers is a form of discrimination that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) forbids.
Evidence presented during trial showed that, using this arrangement, it was virtually impossible for a nonmember to he hired for a driver job before a member.
Netflix Driver’s Brief: Workers Targeted by Teamsters Union’s Discrimination Deserve Compensation
The ALJ decision now under review by the NLRB agreed with Norris on his discrimination argument. However, Norris’ newest filing seeks to counter Teamsters lawyers’ position that the NLRB should reverse that holding. The brief also demands a ruling that all employees who experienced discrimination under this “hiring hall” scheme receive compensation, a form of relief that the ALJ puzzlingly decided not to grant.
Norris – whom Teamsters Local 657 President Frank Perkins sought to have booted out of the union – is also taking exception to the ALJ’s ruling that Perkins did not discriminate against Norris by seeking his removal.
Norris, who has been a longtime critic of Teamsters Local 657 leadership, argues that the expulsion attempt “was not the result of a good faith attempt to enforce the Union’s constitution and bylaws,” but involved trumped-up charges designed to punish him for speaking out and filing charges against the union. Similarly, Norris is contesting the ALJ’s rejection of his argument that Teamsters officials slow-walked referring him for a job on Spy Kids: Armageddon due to his advocacy against union bosses’ schemes.
Foundation staff attorneys have recently aided several groups of workers in efforts to challenge malfeasance by Teamsters union officials or vote the union out completely. These include truck drivers in California and Georgia, Frito-Lay warehouse workers in Ohio, metalworkers in San Diego, nurses in Michigan, and many more. Across the country, workers’ desire to exercise their right to vote out unpopular union bosses is increasing: Worker-filed petitions seeking union decertification votes are up more than 50% from 2020, according to NLRB data.
“While it’s all too common to see union officials use their government-granted exclusive ‘representation’ powers to discriminate against workers who decide not to be members, members who expose illegal union boss activities or otherwise question union boss misdeeds are also frequent targets of union abuse,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Netflix production drivers who are ready, able, and willing to help bring stories to the silver screen don’t deserve to be passed over simply for being at odds with union leadership, or because they choose to exercise their right not to affiliate with a union under Texas’ popular Right to Work law.
“We’re proud to help Mr. Norris in his legal battle to ensure that dissident union members and workers who refuse to associate with the Teamsters are not illegally targeted by union bosses,” added Mix.
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.
