Federal Judge Overturns NLRB Rules to Ensure More Timely Elections

May 17, 2012

A federal judge threw out even the modest changes that the National Labor Relations Board approved last year to ensure that workers have fair and timely elections.

Last month, the U.S. Senate upheld the changes that would eliminate some of the stalling tactics that employers use, specifically, filing lawsuits to challenge the eligibility of workers to vote in a representation election. The rule changes postpone such challenges until after the vote. The Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit to overturn the rule, prompting the judge's ruling.

The judge based his decision on the fact that although there were three sitting members of the NLRB, which constitutes a quorum, the Republican member refused to participate in a final vote on the rule although he did write a dissenting opinion.