Compliance Stuff

The Supreme Court late yesterday permitted the Trump administration to bar former Democrat NLRB Member Gwynn Wilcox from her former position on the Board while the larger battle plays out about whether the President has the authority to terminate leaders of independent administrative agencies without cause. In a 6-3 decision, SCOTUS ruled that greater risk of harm could come if Wilcox remained on the Board and exercised executive power while her termination is under dispute than if she were to remain unable to perform her claimed statutory duty during this limbo period. The matter will now head back to federal appeals court, with briefing and argument before a resolution and a probable return trip to the Supreme Court – which might not happen for several months at least . What do employers need to know about this developing story – and what should you do while we wait it out? Quick Timeline Here’s a quick timeline of how we arrived at this point: January 27:  Trump fired Democrat B...

President Trump just took the unprecedented step of firing two Democratic members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and freed himself up to quickly install a majority of Republican commissioners rather than having to wait until their normal terms expire over the next two years. The terminations of Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels, revealed yesterday, will have reverberations in workplaces across the country and will certainly set off legal challenges over the scope of presidential power. In the meantime, employers will be left to grapple with the appropriate responses during a limbo period. What is the impact of these terminations and how should employers adjust? Here is a set of FAQs to help guide you through these tumultuous times. What does the EEOC do? The EEOC is the federal agency that enforces anti-bias workplace laws based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability, and geneti...

  In a series of swift and game-changing moves, President Donald Trump summarily dismissed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo and Board Member Gwynne Wilcox late last night. While Abruzzo’s dismissal was widely anticipated, the unprecedented dismissal of Member Wilcox has raised significant procedural and policy questions for the federal labor agency in the short term and beyond . What do employers need to know about these two key moves? What Happened? Both Abruzzo and Wilcox were key figures at the NLRB under the previous administration. Abruzzo, viewed as one of President Joe Biden’s most progressive appointments, served as General Counsel – a role with broad prosecutorial discretion over labor law violations in the private sector. She pursued a more expansive view of workers’ rights, tackling issues such as restrictions on “ Black Lives Matter ” insignia,  noncompete clauses , so-called “ captive audience ” meetings, and the employment st...