As we reported in a blog article on December 6, 2011, NLRB Republican Member Brian Hayes was being investigated by the NLRB’s Inspector General over an allegation that he had been enticed to resign his position as a Member of the Board, which at the time would have reduced the number of board members to two, leaving the Board unable to issue decisions. Mr. Hayes had earlier threatened to resign in a letter to the Chairman of the Board over certain proposed regulations being considered by the Board’s other two members. Mr. Hayes decided later and announced that he was not resigning.

In an article by Kevin Bogardus posted on the website of The Hill on January 26, 2012, it was reported that the Inspector General had completed his investigation and concluded that Mr. Hayes had not been enticed to resign his post.  “As a result of our investigative efforts, we found no evidence that enticements were made to Member Hayes to resign his position as a Board Member,” Dave Berry, the NLRB’s Inspector General wrote in a January 23 memo to Mr. Hayes and NLRB Chairman Mark Pearce. The Inspector General did note, however, that Mr. Hayes had sought employment with the law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. Nevertheless, Mr. Berry found no wrongdoing by Member Hayes.  Apparently, Mr.Hayes had recused himself from any matters before the Board where the Morgan firm was involved.  By December 22, 2011, according to the report, Member Hayes advised the Morgan firm that he was no longer interested in employment with them.

This may not be the end of the matter.  The Hill also reported that U.S. Representative George Miller, a Democrat from California and the ranking member on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, wrote a letter on January 26, 2012, to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder requesting that the Justice Department initiate its own investigate of Mr.Hayes’ resignation threat.