In this special edition of Labor Law Insider, host Tom Godar is joined by the consummate insiders, Husch Blackwell attorneys Terry Potter and Jon Anderson. Jon offers insights gained from his decades of labor law practice and his participation on a panel with new National Labor Relations Board General Counsel, Crystal Carey. Jon organized this panel for the American Health Law Association and heard firsthand the insights offered by GC Carey.

Terry Potter, who is in the trenches daily with Husch Blackwell clients, shares how the enormous backlog before the Board has affected the decision to transfer hundreds of cases from district to district, even as the interpretations of national labor law continue their return to a less union-oriented bias. Jon also comments on further changes in Board direction with the anticipated appointment of a new Board member, James Macy, Jon’s former partner.

Our Insider audience will want to learn how these changes will impact union elections and responding to unfair labor practice charges. Join this free-wheeling discussion that touches on General Counsel Carey’s agenda, the appointment of a new Board member, and the impact on the world of labor law. You don’t want to miss this discussion.

In this episode, Labor Law Insider host Tom Godar, and his special guest, Adam Doerr, continue to explore the momentum shift away from the extreme interpretations of the Biden-appointed National Labor Relation Board. In part 1, published earlier in April, the focus was on recent decisions of the Board, limiting the reach of the interpretation of authority imposed in decisions such as Thryv.

Adam and Tom continue to offer play-by-play comments in part 2 of this podcast as they discuss the Courts of Appeal whistling fouls committed by the previous Board as it sought to rewrite the rules of the game. In Brown-Forman Corp v. NLRB, the Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit rolled back the clock to the long-standing Gissel standard, limiting the Board’s authority to issue bargaining orders without an election or after a loss of an election by a union. It found that the Board lacked authority to create this new policy through a decision rather than rulemaking. Likewise, the Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit rejected the broad interpretations of possible damages for committing an Unfair Labor Practice under the prior Board’s Thryv decision, ruling in Hiran Management v. NLRB that the broad remedies under that Board decision were “beyond the text of the NLRA.”

Our insiders offer post-game analysis that the momentum shift will not only change the interpretation of the NLRA but will also change ways in which employers craft and interpret policies, and generally provide much greater freedom in applying supervisory oversight for their employees. Join us for part 2 of the Labor Law Insider.

There seemed to be another type of madness going on this past month. NLRB called a foul on Jireh Plumbing as it tried to block imposition of a union without an election, ignoring historic precedent established by the Cemex decision. Join host Tom Godar and all-star guest Adam Doerr as they explore recent board decisions which continue NLRB’s shift back in favor of Team Employer.

Part 1 leans into the recent board rulings, and part 2, which will be published later this month, follows Courts of Appeals as they also block the Biden-board fast break to new and union friendly interpretations of labor law.

Relevant NLRB Decisions:

• Jireh Plumbing, LLC
• St. John’s College