Labor Board Hobbled By Senate Obstruction Has Hundreds Of Cases Invalidated By SCOTUS

[G_j]

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/06/17/nlrb-supreme-court/


Labor Board Hobbled By Senate Obstruction Has Hundreds Of Cases Invalidated By Supreme Court

Today, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court invalidated more than 500 cases decided by the National Labor Relations Board. For more than two years, the five person board only had two sitting members, due to Congressional obstruction of its nominees, and the Court decided that the two-person board did not have legal authority to issue rulings.

The Board, which is responsible for overseeing labor-management relations under the National Labor Relations Act, realized in late 2007 that it was not going to have a full complement of members for the upcoming year, so delegated its authority to three members, of which two constitute a quorum. Writing for the majority, Justice John Paul Stevens said this procedural move doesn’t grant a two-person board the ability to do anything:

If Congress wishes to allow the Board to decide cases with only two members, it can easily do so. But until it does, Congress’ decision to require that the Board’s full power be delegated to no fewer than three members,and to provide for a Board quorum of three, must be given practical effect rather than swept aside in the face of admittedly difficult circumstances. Section 3(b), as it currently exists, does not authorize the Board to create a tail that would not only wag the dog, but would continue to wag after the dog died.

In dissent, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that “the Court’s revisions leave the Board defunct for extended periods of time, a result that Congress surely did not intend.”

Legal questions aside, this whole episode clearly illustrates the problem with Congressional obstructionism. Now, thanks to the unwillingness of Congress to consider and vote on nominations, giving the board its full complement of members, literally years of decisions may have to be relitigated. As Kimberly Freeman Brown, Executive Director of American Rights at Work, said, “hundreds of decisions in cases already decided by the NLRB will have to be re-opened, needlessly delaying finality for workers who were led to believe they already had it.”


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[Omaha Steve]

1. Many people that were fired illegally will now have to wait 5-7 years longer for justice

The backlog was years worth of waiting as it was thanks to W! I hope all the cases under this ruling get expedited. The flip side is I believe this was the correct decision from what I've read about it.

[Laelth]

2. That's a tough one.

Interesting that Stevens wrote the majority opinion. This was obviously not a standard liberal/conservative split.

:dem:

-Laelth

[annabanana]

3. "a result that Congress surely did not intend.”

. . . Well, maybe somein Congress did not intend.

[backscatter712]

4. Can Obama recess-appoint members of the NLRB?

That's what I'd recommend.

[MadMaddie]

5. Yes, I agree. He has to start doing the recess-appointments.

He has got to get the nominations through.

[Omaha Steve]

6. He started doing it a few months ago

He sure took his time doing it.

[Better Believe It]

7. President Obama could have appointed two during the last recess.

Despite pleas from progressives he did not.