On October 29th, the Senate confirmed Richard F. Griffin Jr. as the NLRB’s new General Counsel. He replaces Lafe E. Solomon, who filed the much publicized case against Boeing. Mr. Griffin, a longtime lawyer for the International Union of Operating Engineers, previously served on the NLRB but was replaced amid controversy and litigation over whether President Obama’s recess appointments (of which he was one) were unconstitutional.
Mr. Griffin’s new role is an important one. The General Counsel decides which cases to prosecute. Based on Mr. Griffin’s background, it is widely expected that he will continue to try to expand the reach of the NLRA and further push a pro-labor agenda.
While the Senate confirmation of Mr. Griffin resolves much of the mess caused by President Obama’s recess appointments, all is still not well at the NLRB. The Supreme Court is expected to review the legality of those recess appointments during its next term. A ruling by the Supreme Court that the appointments were improper could arguably call into question every decision made by the improperly constituted Board.