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What I’ve Been Reading This Week


One of the bigger news items over the past week or so was the nomination of a new Member to the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”).  As outlined below, this nomination is likely the first of two this year.  Toward the end of summer, it will be interesting to see who is nominated for the second seat.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


President Biden Announces Nomination For Vacant NLRB Position

Recently, President Joe Biden announced the nomination of Gwynn Wilcox (“Wilcox”) to fill a vacant seat at the NLRB.  Wilcox, a partner at a New York based union side law firm, also serves as associate general counsel to the largest local of the Service Employees International Union.  Should Wilcox be confirmed, she would become the second Democratic appointed Member of the NLRB.  Currently, the NLRB has three Republican appointed Members.  However, that is likely to soon change as one Member, Bill Emmanuel, will see his term end in August...which means President Biden will have another opportunity later this year to nominate an additional Member to the NLRB.  Once that happens, Democratic appointed Members would have a 3 - 2 majority over their Republican appointed counterparts.


Amazon Drops Marijuana Testing For (Some) Applicants

On Tuesday, Amazon announced that it would no longer require marijuana testing for applicants so long as the position was not regulated by the Department of Transportation.  Amazon also went one step further and voiced its support for legalization of marijuana at the federal level.   With such a large scale employer making these progressive moves, might others follow?


EEOC Updates Covid Guidance In Regard to Vaccinations

On May 28th, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released updated guidance on how equal employment opportunity laws (such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) apply to vaccination policies of employers, vaccination incentive programs, and confidential employee documentation relating to these policies.  I highly suggest employers and employees alike take a moment to review this updated guidance.

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