Employment Law Report
U.S. Supreme Court Vacates Judgment of D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Upholding NLRB’s Successor Bar Rule
By: Brandon Girdley
On December 16, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari and vacated an opinion of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, Hospital Menonita de Guayama, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board, which had upheld the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) successor bar rule.[1] The successor bar rule requires employers who acquire a new company with an existing union to recognize and bargain with that union for up to one year following the acquisition, even when the acquiring employer believes the existing union lacks the support of a majority of employees.[2] In vacating the decision, the Supreme Court remanded the case to the D.C. Circuit for further consideration in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo,[3] which overruled the longstanding Chevron doctrine. The Chevron doctrine required courts to defer to “permissible” agency interpretations of statutory language, even if a court interpreted the language differently.[4] Now that Chevron has been overruled, the D.C. Circuit will no longer be required to defer to NLRB interpretations of the National Labor Relations Act when assessing the successor bar rule on remand. As a result, the fate of the successor bar rule is now in question. Only time will tell if it survives.[5]
[1] Hospital Menonita Guayama, Inc. v. NLRB, — S.Ct. —-, 2024 WL 5112286 (2024).
[2] Daniel Wiessnner, US court backs NLRB rule requiring ‘successor’ bargaining by companies, Reuters (Feb. 27, 2024), https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-court-backs-nlrb-rule-requiring-successor-bargaining-by-companies-2024-02-27/#:~:text=The%20rule%20says%20that%20successor,of%20a%20majority%20of%20workers.
[3] 144 S.Ct. 2244, 603 U.S. — (2024).
[4] Id.
[5] In a concurring opinion in the D.C. Circuit case, Circuit Judge Gregory Katsas “t[ook] no position on whether the bar would survive under de novo review in a post-Chevron world.” 94 F.4th 1, 17 (D.C. Cir. 2024).
