New Vista Nursing & Rehab. v. Nat'l Labor Relations Bd., No. 12-1936 (3d Cir. 2013)
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The NLRB certified a union and ordered an election. The union won a majority. The company refused to bargain. The union claimed unfair labor practices. A three-member NLRB delegee group granted the union summary judgment. The NLRB is composed of up to five members, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, 29 U.S.C. 153(a) and may delegate its authority to any group of three or more members. Delegee groups must maintain a membership of three.The company unsuccessfully moved for reconsideration, arguing that the group’s order was not issued until it was mailed, by which time one member had resigned and the panel had only two members. The company then argued that the reconsideration order group was improperly constituted because one panelist was a recess appointee whose term concluded at the end of the Senate‘s 2011 session, which, it contended, was 13 days before the order issued. The NLRB denied the second motion. The company next argued that the group that issued the second order included two members that were invalidly appointed under the Recess Appointments Clause while the Senate was not in recess, reasoning that if the Senate‘s session ended when it began using pro forma sessions, the term of one member had expired; if the session did not end then, the president‘s recess appointments were invalidly made while the Senate was not in recess. The NLRB denied the motion. The Third Circuit vacated, holding that the Recess of the Senate in the Recess Appointments Clause refers to only intersession breaks; the panel lacked the requisite number of members because one panel member was invalidly appointed during an intrasession break.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on August 11, 2014.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on August 29, 2017.
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