Employment Law Report

Griffin Confirmed by the Senate to be NLRB General Counsel

By Edwin S. Hopson

After a successful cloture vote on October 29, 2013, the Senate conducted a roll call vote on the nomination of Richard Griffin, Jr. to be General Counsel at the National Labor Relations Board.  He was confirmed by a vote of 55 to 44.  Once sworn in, Griffin will take over from Lafe Solomon who has been Acting General Counsel since June 2010. Griffin was previously general counsel of a major labor union, and one of the Board Members whose recess appointment was challenged in, among other cases, Noel Canning v. NLRB, which is pending in the Supreme Court.  Griffin’s appointment to the NLRB was withdrawn by the President in a deal this summer to install a fully confirmed Board.