Shannon D. Farmer

On September 6, 2023, Democratic member Gwynne Wilcox was appointed to the NLRB by former President Joe Biden. Her five-year term was scheduled to end in 2028. However, on January 28, 2025, President Donald Trump made an unprecedented move by firing Wilcox, the former chair and first Black woman to serve on the Board.… Continue Reading

Since his inauguration, President Donald Trump has been making changes to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) almost every day.

New NLRB Acting General Counsel

On February 3, 2025, President Donald Trump appointed William B. Cowen as Acting General Counsel of the NLRB. This comes on the heels of the President firing former NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, Board Member Gwynne Wilcox, and Acting General Counsel Jessica Rutter.… Continue Reading

Two weeks after his inauguration, President Donald Trump continues to make unprecedented moves to impact the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Trump Ousts NLRB Acting General Counsel

Since Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump has worked to reshape the NLRB by firing General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, Board Member Gwynne Wilcox, and now acting General Counsel Jessica Rutter.… Continue Reading

In a two-sentence memo, the White House rescinded the spending freeze announced with great fanfare just two days prior and which we previously reported on here. The broad scope of the directive suspended all federal financial assistance implicated by President Trump’s recent barrage of Executive Orders, leaving federal funding recipients scrambling to understand the extent of the freeze.… Continue Reading

One week after his inauguration, President Donald Trump has taken additional moves to impact the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

Trump Moves Quickly to Reshape the NLRB

As we expected, and reported here, President Trump has moved quickly to re-make the NLRB.  Almost immediately after taking office, the President named Republican board member Marvin Kaplan as Chair of the NLRB. … Continue Reading

On Monday, January 27, 2025, the acting head of the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) issued a memo ordering the pause of all federal financial assistance “that may be implicated” by any of President Trump’s recent barrage of Executive Orders. According to the memo, the freeze encompasses funding for activities including, but not limited to, “foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”… Continue Reading

On November 15, 2024, a federal judge blocked the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) attempt to raise the minimum salary level for the executive, administrative, and professional (EAP) exemptions from minimum wage and overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  The ruling issued by the Honorable Sean D. Jordan of the U.S.… Continue Reading

Reversing decades of precedent, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) issued two recent decisions that will significantly restrict the right of employers to provide information to their employees about the impact of unionization.  Both cases were decided by a 3-1 majority of the Board’s Democratic members, in what appears to be an eleventh-hour push to change well-settled law in advance of the Trump administration taking the reins next year.… Continue Reading

On September 11, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its opinion in Mayfield v. Department of Labor, upholding the authority of the Department of Labor (“DOL”) to establish a minimum salary level for the white-collar exemption for overtime eligibility.

The white-collar exemption excludes employees in bona fide executive, administrative, or professional roles from being subject to the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).… Continue Reading

In its continuing repudiation of policies developed under the Trump Administration, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) has published its Fair Choice-Employee Voice Final Rule.

In April of 2020,  the Board published a final rule addressing various union representation issues: (1) union elections while unfair labor practice (“ULP”) charges are pending, (2) voluntary recognition procedures, and (3) Section 9(a) recognition in the construction industry.… Continue Reading