STG INTERNATIONAL

National Labor Relations Board - Unpublished Board Decisions

Apr 25, 2013

21-RC-097525 (N.L.R.B. Apr. 25, 2013)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
STG INTERNATIONAL, INC.
Employer
and Case 21-RC-097525
TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN
AND HELPERS, LOCAL UNIO NO. 542,
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
Petitioner
ORDER
The Employer’s Request for Review of the Regional Director’s Decision and Direction of
Election is denied.1 The Employer’s request to hold this proceeding in abeyance is also denied.
MARK GASTON PEARCE, CHAIRMAN
RICHARD F. GRIFFIN, JR., MEMBER
SHARON BLOCK, MEMBER
Dated, Washington, D.C., April 25, 2013.

1The Employer contends that the Board lacks a quorum because the President’s recess appointments are
constitutionally invalid. We reject this argument. We recognize that the United States Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit has concluded that the President’s recess appointments were not valid. See Noel
Canning v. NLRB, 705 F.3d 490 (D.C. Cir. 2013). However, as the court itself acknowledged, its decision conflicts
with rulings of at least three other courts of appeals. See Evans v. Stephens, 387 F.3d 1220 (11th Cir. 2004), cert.
denied, 544 U.S. 942 (2005); U.S. v. Woodley, 751 F.2d 1008 (9th Cir. 1985); U.S. v. Allocco, 305 F.2d 704 (2d Cir.
1962). This question remains in litigation, and pending a definitive resolution, the Board is charged to fulfill its
responsibilities under the Act. See Belgrove Post Acute Care Center , 359 NLRB No. 77, slip op. 1, fn.1 (2013).
For the same reason, we reject the Employer’s contention that the Board’s appointment of the Regional Director for
Region 21 was invalid.
We likewise reject the Employer’s related contention that the Regional Director would lack authority to process
representation petitions if the Board lacked a quorum. The Board’s delegation of its decisional authority in
representation cases to Regional Directors dates back to 1961 and has never been withdrawn. See 26 Fed. Reg.
3889 (May 4, 1961). Consistent with the 1961 Delegation, NLRB Regional Directors remain vested with the
authority to conduct elections and certify their results, regardless of the Board’s composition at any given moment.
Furthermore, in New Process Steel, the Supreme Court expressly stated that such delegations were not affected by
its decision, and, following that decision, no fewer than three courts of appeals have upheld the principle that Board
delegations of authority to non-members remain valid during a loss of quorum by the Board. See New Process Steel
L.P. v. NLRB, 130. S.Ct. 2635, 2643 n.4 (2010); Frankl v. HTH Corp., 650 F.3d 1334, 1354 (9th Cir. 2011); Osthus
v. Whitesell Corp., 639 F.3d 841, 844 (8th Cir. 2011); Overstreet v. El Paso Disposal, LP, 625 F.3d 844, 853 (5th
Cir. 2010).