Newly Confirmed Labor Board Faces Challenges as it Seeks to Extend Union Rights

Inside Counsel quoted Tampa Partner Steve Bernstein in the September 27 article “Newly Confirmed Labor Board Faces Challenges as it Seeks to Extend Union Rights.” The article considered the case of Hooks v. Kitsap Tenant Support Services, Inc. in which U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle of the Western District of Washington dismissed a National Labor Relations Board regional director’s petition for a preliminary injunction. Steve noted that the decision came as a surprise, since other attempts to challenge NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon’s authority had been rejected. “This is a departure from the norm and it goes without saying it will be met with a vigorous appeal from the agency,” Steve said. He noted that he thinks the decision is unlikely to withstand an appeal, adding: “I would not read this as a bellwether of things to come. A more prudent approach is to treat it as an anomaly that may or may not survive.”