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President Biden Abruptly Terminates NLRB’s General Counsel

 

On his first day on the job, President Joe Biden unexpectedly demanded the resignation of National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) General Counsel, Peter Robb, by 5 PM yesterday evening or face termination.  After Robb refused to resign, he was summarily terminated.

This request, coming from an incoming President, that Robb resign or be terminated is rather unprecedented.  Traditionally, the NLRB’s General Counsel completes their four year term before being replaced by a new administration.  (In fact, both President Trump and President Obama allowed the incumbent NLRB General Counsel to remain in the role until their terms ended.)  Robb, who still had another ten months left of his four year term did not enjoy that privilege.

This termination is worth noting as President Biden has fired the first shot across the bow by indicating he intends to play hardball and reshape an employer friendly NLRB.  Leading up to yesterday’s inauguration, labor unions had been calling for Robb to be ousted and for Biden to install a labor friendly replacement.  With unions pacified, temporarily, with Robb’s termination, it will be interesting to see how quickly the new administration works to install a new General Counsel.  Stay tuned.


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