Well that didn’t take long. About a month after the Supreme Court invalidated the 2012 recess appointments President Obama made to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), we know what’ll happen to the cases those appointees presided over.
The NLRB just announced that it has unanimously ratified all the agency actions taken during the time the invalid members were seated.
The High Court’s decision to invalidate the 2012 appointments broke new legal ground and, as a result, left many questioning what was to become of the rulings the NLRB made in hundreds of cases while the now-invalid members were part of the board.
Technically, the cases were invalidated. But many analysts in the nation’s capitol believed no actual changes would be made to the rulings unless they were challenged in court.
Well, the NLRB acted swiftly to put all of that speculation to bed by announcing:
… the National Labor Relations Board unanimously ratified all administrative, personnel, and procurement matters taken by the Board from January 4, 2012 to August 5, 2013 … These ratifications include all personnel and administrative decisions, all actions in representation case matters, and all actions in unfair labor practice cases.
Case closed?
So that’s it, the cases are ratified and NLRB business will proceed as usual, right?
Not so fast, says labor and employee relations attorney Kailee Goold of the law firm Kegler Brown Hill + Ritter.
Writing on the firm’s website, Kailee says:
While the NLRB claims this ratification removes any question concerning the validity of actions taken during that period, we are not yet convinced.
Some questions remain: Will this blanket ratification be challenged? Is it legal to “ratify” something with no real consideration of it?
We’ll keep you posted.
