Labor Law - NLRB

By: Wilcox Fired? Not So Fast About a month ago, President Trump terminated the employment of NLRB Board Member Gwynne Wilcox. This left only two active Board members and stopped the NLRB in its tracks as it takes three members for the NLRB to have a quorum and issue decisions and make rulings. The

By: Insight from the New NLRB General Counsel Last week, I attended the American Bar Association’s Mid-Winter Meeting for the Committee on Development Under the Law of the NLRA in Clearwater, Florida. William Cowen, the new National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel, was one of the featur

On February 14, 2025, National Labor Relations Board Acting General Counsel William Cowan rescinded several previously issued memos, including two related to restrictive covenants: (1) GC Memorandum 23-08, Non-Compete Agreements that Violate the National Labor Relations Act, and (2) GC Memorandum 25

In a significant development for employers that use restrictive covenant agreements, on February 14, 2025, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Acting General Counsel (GC) William B. Cowen rescinded prior NLRB GC memoranda , including two restrictive covenant-related memoranda authored by former ge

On February 14, 2025, National Labor Relations Board Acting General Counsel William Cowen issued Memorandum 25-05, rescinding more than a dozen policy memos issued by his predecessor. Cowen cited an unsustainable backlog of cases as the primary motivation for the rescission. Cowen also signaled that

By: NLRB has New Trump Appointed General Counsel Yesterday, President Donald J. Trump appointed William B. Cowen as Acting General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board. Mr. Cowen began his career at the Board in 1979 after graduating law school. He served in various capacities throughout th

On February 3, 2025, President Donald Trump appointed William B. Cowen as the new acting general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), according to a statement from the NLRB. The move comes days after President Trump discharged Acting General Counsel Jessica Rutter, who served for le

On January 27, 2025, the president removed National Labor Relations Board Member Gwynne A. Wilcox, leaving the Board with only two members: Chair Marvin E. Kaplan, a Republican, and Member David M. Prouty, a Democrat. That same day, the president also removed NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, a

TakeawaysMember Gwynne Wilcox’s unprecedented removal leaves the Board without a quorum for issuing decisions. However, underlying administrative cases and petitions for elections will continue to be processed as usual.President Trump is expected to appoint an employer-friendly general counsel and n

In her last guidance memorandum before being terminated on January 27, 2025 , former NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo addressed the ongoing tension between the NLRA and the anti-discrimination statutes enforced by the EEOC.

President Donald Trump removed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member Gwynne Wilcox in a move that leaves the Board without a quorum to hear cases. The president also, as expected, discharged NLRB general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo.

By: Trump Fires NLRB General Counsel and One Board Member When former President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, he terminated the General Counsel of the NLRB, Peter Robb, on Inauguration Day. That termination was challenged by the business community. Multiple lawsuits, including the Ninth Cir

On January 27, 2025, President Trump terminated Jennifer Abruzzo, the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, and Board Member Gwynne Wilcox. Abruzzo’s termination was widely expected (with some wondering why she was not fired on the first day of the new administration); Wilcox’s term

Days before the Trump administration is set to take office, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) general counsel (GC) issued a memorandum explaining her view on how employers can balance compliance with the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and equal employment opportunity (EEO) laws when enf

National Labor Relations Board General Counsel (GC) Jennifer Abruzzo issued a complaint on Wednesday, December 11, 2024, stating that contestants on the popular reality show Love is Blind are required to be classified as employees. The complaint challenges the show’s current practice of classifying

On December 10, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) restored the “clear and unmistakable” waiver standard for evaluating whether an employer made unlawful unilateral changes without first giving the union notice and an opportunity to bargain.

Ogletree Deakins’ Traditional Labor Relations Practice Group is pleased to announce the publication of the Fall 2024 issue of the Practical NLRB Advisor.

Takeaways:Immediate changes to the Board are expected post-inauguration, including the appointment of a new general counsel.A new general counsel likely will rescind certain GC memos, including one directing the breadth of consequential damages that regional offices should seek and another finding “

Takeaways:NLRB GC Abruzzo expanded her theory that certain restrictive covenants are unlawful by also including “stay-or-pay” provisionsEmployers could soon face expanded remedies for proffering, maintaining or enforcing non-compete and “stay-or-play” provisions deemed unlawfulEmployers have until D

On October 7, 2024, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo released Memorandum GC 25-1 titled "Remedying the Harmful Effects of Non-Compete and 'Stay-or-Pay' Provisions that Violate the National Labor Relations Act" (“Memo”).