Recent Decision Has Potential to Invalidate All NLRB Enforcement Actions Since January 2012

On January 25, 2013, a panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that all three of the President's 2012 appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) violated the Constitution's Appointments Clause. See Noel Canning, A Division of the Noel Corporation v. NLRB, Case No. 12-1115 (D.C. Cir. Jan. 25, 2013), denying enf. to 358 N.L.R.B. No. 4 (Feb. 8, 2012). This was no mere technicality: Without the three appointments, the NLRB has lacked a proper quorum to issue decisions since January 4, 2012. An entire year of the agency's work is now cast in doubt.