The National Labor Relations Board must continue pursuing litigation against McDonald’s under an Obama-era standard now that the standard has been restored, Democratic lawmakers said on Tuesday.
In January, Trump’s Board had obtained a delay in the lawsuit against the fast food giant after rolling back the 2015 joint-employer rule—a regulation that made corporations responsible for “indirect control” exerted over franchise labor practices.
The case used as a vehicle to annul the rule, Hy-Brand, was vacated by the Board last month. T he NLRB Inspector General had found that Republican Board Member William Emanuel should have recused himself, citing a conflict of interest.
Now, Democrats are saying, the NLRB must proceed with stalled litigation constructed around the 2015 standard.
“One large case affected by this decision is McDonald’s, which involves hundreds of allegations that the company unlawfully harassed and fired workers organizing for higher wages,” the lawmakers remarked in a letter sent Tuesday to NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb.
Five Democratic Senators–Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.)–signed the letter.
Robb, they noted, had “expressly invoked Hy-Brand” when getting a judge to issue a stay in McDonald’s proceedings.
“Now that the Board has vacated Hy-Brand and returned to the 2015 joint employer standard, it is imperative that you swiftly resume and finish the trial,” the senators said.
The case against McDonald’s was launched in 2015. It centers around workers who organized with the “Fight for $15” campaign aimed at raising the federal minimum wage.
When Robb sought a delay in the case, in pursuit of a settlement with McDonald’s, the trial was near its conclusion, as The Washington Post reported last month.
“[I]t is imperative that you swiftly resume and finish the trial and allow the [administrative law judge] to issue a decision in this critically important case,” the senators told Robb.
The lawmakers also asked the General Counsel if he had discussed the McDonald’s case with anyone not employed by the Board, prior to confirmation.
Like Emanuel, Robb was a union-busting “management side” attorney prior to joining the NLRB.
In his ruling last month, the agency’s Inspector General said Emanuel shouldn’t have taken part in Hy-Brand because his former law firm, Littler Mendelson, had represented litigants challenging the 2015 joint-employer standard when it was initially passed by President Obama’s NLRB.
Inspector General David Berry said Emanuel’s participation in the case highlighted “a serious and flagrant problem and/or deficiency” with NLRB ethics practices.
