Skip to main content

President Trump Announces New Pick For Labor Secretary


That did not take long, did it?  Less than twenty four hours after Andy Puzder withdrew as President Donald Trump's nominee for Labor Secretary, President Trump announced earlier today that he has chosen Alexander Acosta as his new nominee for the position.

For those unfamiliar with Acosta, he brings a great deal of experience to the table.  He is currently the Dean of the Florida International University College of Law.  However, he has also served as a law clerk to Judge Sam Alito (currently a member of the United States Supreme Court) back when Judge Alito was on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals (1994 - 1995), as a member of the National Labor Relations Board (2002 - 2003), and as an Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division under President George W. Bush (2003).

For those looking for a nominee with a 'pro-employer' track record such as Puzder, this pick might be a bit of a disappointment.  On the other hand, for those looking for a nominee with a 'pro-employee' track record such as Tom Perez (President Obama's last Labor Secretary), this pick might be a bit of a disappointment.  With that being said, I would certainly expect Acosta to make decisions and take actions that are more employer friendly, given President Trump's apparent tendency to favor employers.  As well, President Trump might have wanted a nominee that was a 'safer' option and that could clear the Senate without too much of a fight (or at least less controversy and partisanship than other nominees over the past few weeks).

At this point, Acosta will be required to submit responsive documents and answer questionnaires before he has his confirmation hearing.  I would expect this nomination to likely move quicker than it took to get Puzder's confirmation process going.  Given that we are almost a month into the new administration and still have an acting Labor Secretary in place, I would think Republicans and President Trump are eager to get Acosta confirmed so that they can start implementing their policies.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum,...
Post a Comment
Read more

San Diego Rolls Back Vaccine Mandate For City Workers

Last Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted to do away with the vaccine mandate for city employees. The city’s vaccine mandate that was in place required city workers to get the coronavirus vaccine or risk termination.  Perhaps to this surprise of no one, the city’s policy came under fire with 14 employees being terminated and over 100 other employees resigning.  With the coronavirus subsiding, including in Southern California, the San Diego City Council took action. Now, bear in mind, the repeal of the vaccine mandate does not take place immediately. With that being said, the mandate will be repealed March 8th.  I suppose the question now is, what other cities or regions follow San Diego’s lead? For additional information:   https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-01-24/san-diego-repeals-controversial-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-citing-drop-in-cases-hospitalizations
Post a Comment
Read more

NLRB: Former Employee Cannot Be Barred From Work Premises After Filing Wage Suit

MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC - NLRB Facts :  MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC d/b/a Grand Sierra Resort & Casino ("GSR") operated a facility that included a hotel, casino, restaurant, clubs, bars, and a pool which were all open to the general public.  Tiffany Sargent ("Sargent") was briefly employed by GSR as a "beverage supervisor" in December of 2012.  After her employment ended, Sargent continued to socialize at one of the clubs.  GSR had a long standing practice of allowing former employees to patronize its facility and did not prohibit Sargent from doing so.  In June of 2013, Sargent and another employee filed a class and collective action against GSR for alleged unpaid wages, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Nevada law.  In July of 2014, GSR denied Sargent access to an event at one of the clubs.  GSR followed up with a letter and stated that with the on-going litigation (from the wage suit), it decided to bar Sargent from the premises. ...
1 comment
Read more