James Damore, the Google engineer fired over an essay he wrote criticizing the company’s diversity policy, will face an uphill battle arguing that his dismissal was illegal under the National Labor Relations Act, the main federal law covering union activity, legal experts note.

However, the software engineer’s argument to the National Labor Relations Board that his memo was a discussion of workplace conditions covered by the NLRA isn’t crazy either, especially since the law was significantly broadened during the Obama administration.