Appeals Court May Dismiss Amazon, SpaceX Challenges to NLRB.
A panel of U.S. judges indicated on Monday that they might dismiss the challenges brought by Amazon.com and SpaceX against the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) due to the companies acting too hastily in taking their disputes to an appeals court.
Both companies are attempting to halt NLRB cases that allege illegal labor practices, but the judges from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans expressed concerns that Amazon and SpaceX should have allowed Texas judges more time to make their decisions before appealing. An increasing number of businesses are pushing back against the NLRB, filing lawsuits nationwide that argue certain aspects of its enforcement procedures violate the U.S. Constitution.
The cases involving Amazon and SpaceX are among the first to reach federal appeals courts. If these legal challenges succeed, they could significantly weaken the board's authority, and even if they do not, some have already managed to delay NLRB cases indefinitely. In Texas, three judges have temporarily halted the progress of NLRB cases, while at least six judges in other states have opted not to do so. Amazon and SpaceX contend that federal judges in Texas "effectively denied" their requests to pause NLRB cases while their lawsuits are pending by not issuing timely rulings.
Ultimately, the judges decided that these lawsuits did not belong in Texas, resulting in Amazon's case being moved to Washington, D.C., and SpaceX's case to California, although these transfers are currently on hold pending appeals.
On Monday, the 5th Circuit heard each case individually, with the judges mostly refraining from commenting on the validity of the challenges to the NLRB's structure. Instead, they pointed out that it was inappropriate for the companies to impose arbitrary deadlines and then file appeals before the lower courts had the opportunity to make a ruling. Circuit Judge James Graves highlighted that in Amazon's situation, the judge had requested final briefs to be submitted on the same day the company sought a ruling, indicating that he was unlikely to meet Amazon's timeline.
"You must have anticipated that he would receive a brief at the end of the day and then rule on it the very same day, and if not, it’s essentially a denial. That just doesn’t seem fair to me," Graves, appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama, remarked to Amazon's attorney, Trevor Cox. Circuit Judge Irma Ramirez questioned whether SpaceX had demonstrated that the judge intentionally delayed a ruling, which is usually necessary to establish an effective denial. Ramirez is an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden. SpaceX's attorney, Michael Kenneally, argued that the judge had two months to make a decision, and his inaction allowed an NLRB administrative judge to address issues related to document discovery in the underlying case.
Cox similarly stated that the judge in Amazon's case "had ample time" to review the company's request. SpaceX faces allegations of terminating engineers for being critical of CEO Elon Musk, which the company denies. Meanwhile, Amazon is attempting to prevent the five-member NLRB from deciding whether it must negotiate with the first union in its history at a warehouse in New York City. NLRB attorney Tyler Wiese, who represented both cases, informed the panel that the companies lacked the authority to impose "imaginary deadlines" to hasten rulings, and he attributed the delays in litigation to the companies' resistance to the board's efforts to transfer the cases out of Texas.
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The 5th Circuit is often seen as the most conservative federal appeals court, with 12 out of its 17 judges being appointed by Republican presidents. However, the panel on Monday is considered to be more moderate. If the companies do not succeed, they may request a review of the cases by the full 5th Circuit. The cases in question are Amazon.com Services v. NLRB and Space Exploration Technologies v. NLRB, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Nos. 24-50761 and 24-40315. Representing Amazon is Trevor Cox from Hunton Andrews Kurth, while Michael Kenneally from Morgan Lewis & Bockius is representing SpaceX. Tyler Wiese is the representative for the NLRB, and for the union in Amazon's case, Julie Gutman Dickinson from Bush Gottlieb is involved.
