Local Joint Executive Board of Las Vegas v. NLRB, No. 15-72878 (9th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseThe Ninth Circuit granted the union's petition for review of the Board's order declining to award make-whole relief. This case arose when the now-defunct Hacienda Resort Hotel and Casino and Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas violated section 8(a)(5) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), 29 U.S.C. 158(a)(5), by unilaterally terminating the union's dues-checkoff without bargaining to agreement or impasse. The panel held that the Board clearly abused its discretion in declining to award the standard remedy of make-whole relief where it did not provide a valid explanation for departing from its standard remedy in dues-checkoff cases, and where the Board effectively ordered no relief at all by ordering prospective-only relief against defunct entities. The panel vacated the Board's order and remanded for the Board to award standard make-whole relief.
Court Description: National Labor Relations Act. The panel granted a Union’s petition for review, vacated an order of the National Labor Relations Board, and remanded for the Board to award standard make-whole relief, in a case arising when the now-defunct Hacienda Resort Hotel and Casino and Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas violated section 8(a)(5) of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) by unilaterally terminating the Local Joint Executive Board, Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165’s dues-checkoff without bargaining to agreement or impasse. In a prior case, this court determined that there was a violation of the NLRA and remanded to the Board to determine what relief was warranted. The Board declined to award make-whole relief, the standard remedy when an employer unlawfully ceases union dues-checkoff. Instead, the Board awarded the Union prospective-only relief. The panel held that the Union’s arguments were not premature. The panel held that the Board clearly abused its discretion in declining to award the standard remedy of make-whole relief. LOCAL JOINT EXEC. BD. V. NLRB 3 First, the panel held that the Board did not provide a valid explanation for departing from its standard remedy in dues- checkoff cases. Specifically, the panel held that the Board’s reliance-based explanation was improper, because it was unreasonable for the employers to rely on Board precedent that had never been applied in a reasoned manner in the absence of a union security clause, and because the Board’s other explanations were similarly erroneous. Second, the panel held that by ordering prospective-only relief against defunct entities, the Board effectively ordered no relief at all, and therefore did not effectuate the policies of the NLRA.
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