The End Of An Error

Unnoticed and with no fanfare, the Board brought the two member era to a close with its adoption of the last of the two member Board decisions, The Fremont-Rideout Health Group, 359 NLRB No. 51 (January 15, 2013).The Board adopted the previous decision in the same case, reported at 354 NLRB 453, which had issued on August 27, 2009.

The issue addressed in the Fremont-Rideout case involved whether the Board should issue a bargaining order as part of the standard relief when an employer has been found to have unlawfully withdrawn recognition from an incumbent union.The Board applied extant case law for the proposition that it would issue such an order only after considering the extent to which, in the context of an individual case, such an order would infringe on the NLRA right of employees to select their representative for collective bargaining; whether other purposes of the NLRA would override that right; and whether alternative remedies were available.