Previously, the NLRB found that employees who used ordinary professional or technical judgment in directing less skilled employees to provide services were not exercising independent judgment, and therefore did not qualify as supervisors. But the U.S. Supreme Court rejected this interpretation as too limited (NLRB v. Kentucky River Community Care, Inc., 532 U.S. 706 (2001)). In response to the Supreme Court's ruling, in Oakwood, the NLRB abandoned its earlier interpretation.
