Nearly four months after an appeals court ruled that recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) made in 2012 were invalid, another appellate court has ruled a previous recess appointment unconstitutional.

The U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled May 16 in NLRB v. New Vista Nursing & Rehab. that President Barack Obama’s 2010 recess appointment of Craig Becker to the NLRB was invalid. Becker, a Democrat, served on the Board from April 5, 2010, through January 3, 2012.

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On May 16, President Barack Obama’s nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) went before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and the two nominees who were selected as recess appointees in 2012 failed to impress the committee’s ranking member, Senator Lamar Alexander.

Alexander (R-Tennessee) said he would oppose the nominations of Democrats Sharon Block and Richard Griffin because “they continued to decide cases after the federal appellate court unanimously decided they were unconstitutionally appointed.”

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Probusiness groups are cheering a new ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that represents another blow to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The appeals court, which issued another ruling against the NLRB in January, ruled on May 7 that the Board exceeded its authority in its effort to require employers to post a notice of employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

The NLRB issued the rule in 2011, but it was never implemented because of court challenges. Had it gone into effect, all employers under NLRB jurisdiction—including nonunion employers—would have been required to post an 11-by-17-inch poster explaining that employees have the right to act together to improve wages and working conditions; to form, join, and assist a union; to bargain collectively with their employer; and to refrain from any of those activities.

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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), crippled by a January court ruling against two recess appointees, has the potential to get back to full strength if the Senate confirms nominations President Barack Obama made April 9. Previous attempts to fill the NLRB have failed over congressional opposition to Board actions and Obama’s nominees.

On April 9, Obama nominated Republicans Harry I. Johnson, III, and Philip A. Miscimarra along with Democrat Mark Gaston Pearce. Pearce is the current NLRB chair. His term is set to expire August 27. Johnson and Miscimarra are both management-side employment attorneys.

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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced on March 12 it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appeals court decision that says the appointment of two Board members is invalid.

In consultation with the Justice Department, the NLRB said it intends to file a petition by the April 25 deadline for Supreme Court review.

On January 25, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in Noel Canning v. NLRB that President Barack Obama acted unconstitutionally when he made three recess appointments to the Board on January 4, 2012.

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A court ruling has put the brakes on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and possibly invalidated decisions the Board has made for the last year.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled on January 25 that President Barack Obama acted unconstitutionally when he made three recess appointments to the NLRB on January 4, 2012.

The court’s ruling is seen as good news for employers because it seems to thwart what many in the business community see as the NLRB trying to rewrite labor law to benefit unions.

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A recent ruling from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) means employers are no longer automatically exempted when unions ask them to turn over witness statements related to employee discipline.

Now, the employer’s confidentiality interest must be balanced with the union’s need for information. The American Baptist Homes of the West d/b/a Piedmont Gardens case overruled the Board’s 1978 decision in Anheuser-Busch, Inc., which established a categorical exemption for witness statements in such cases.

In the Piedmont case, the NLRB’s acting general counsel and the charging party argued that the bright-line rule established in 1978 was “inappropriate.” The Board agreed, finding it should instead apply a balancing test articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Detroit Edison Co. v. NLRB, which was decided in 1979.

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On December 21, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced the adoption of a final rule that is expected to allow quicker union representation elections. The rule was published in the Federal Register on December 22.

The rule, which is to take effect on April 30, 2012, is a scaled down version of amendments proposed last summer. Board proponents of the change say it’s aimed at modernizing the election process and reducing unnecessary litigation. Critics of the rule claim it will deprive employers of the time they need to respond to union-organizing efforts.

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The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) effort to require a new poster explaining employee rights is creating much concern — not to mention legal action — but a key point employers should understand is the rule’s impact on nonunion employers, according to employment law attorney Al Vreeland, who led a session at the October Advanced Employment Issues Symposium (AEIS) in Nashville, Tennessee.

Vreeland, a founding member and managing shareholder of Lehr Middlebrooks & Vreeland, P.C., in Birmingham, Alabama, says the new rule is “a big deal not only for union employers but also for nonunion employers” because all employees, unionized or not, have a right to engage in concerted activity, what Vreeland calls employees “getting together to gripe about something in the workplace.”

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The outcry against a new poster rule from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has resulted in the postponement of the rule’s implementation by more than two months.

The NLRB issued a final rule in August requiring employers to notify employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The original deadline to display the poster was November 14. Under the rule, all employers under the Board’s jurisdiction will be required to display the new poster.

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