U.S. Supreme Court ruling seen unlikely to alter past NLRB decisions

(Reuters) - A Supreme Court ruling on Thursday raised questions about the validity of more than 1,000 U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decisions, but any cases the board reconsiders will likely end with similar decisions, labor lawyers said.

The court's decision will trigger a period of "short-term chaos" at the NLRB as it reassesses past decisions, said David Murphy, a labor and employment lawyer at Dorsey & Whitney.

But the federal agency, which oversees union elections and polices unfair labor practices, is decidedly an "Obama board" and has firm control over case outcomes and its policy direction, Murphy said.

The Supreme Court ruled that Democratic President Barack Obama in January 2012 made three unlawful "recess" appointments to the five-member NLRB. Often a battleground between pro-labor Democrats and pro-business Republicans, the board's political makeup regularly shifts with control of the White House.

The high court's decision, in Noel Canning v. NLRB, invalidated more than 1,000 of NLRB case decisions because they were made without a valid quorum of at least three board members.

more...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/26/us-usa-courts-appointments-nlrb-idUSKBN0F12J820140626