New Process Steel, L.P. v. National Labor Relations Board, No. 08-1457; U.S. Supreme Court; opinion by Stevens, J.; dissent by Kennedy, J.; decided June 17, 2010. On certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
The Taft-Hartley Act increased the size of the National Labor Relations Board from three members to five, see 29 U.S.C. § 153(a), and amended § 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act to increase the board’s quorum requirement from two members to three and to allow the board to delegate its authority to groups of at least three members, see § 153(b). In December 2007, the board — finding itself with only four members and expecting two more vacancies — delegated, inter alia, its powers to a group of three members. On Dec. 31, one group member’s appointment expired, but the others proceeded to issue board decisions for the next 27 months as a two-member quorum of a three-member group. Two of those decisions sustained unfair labor practice complaints against petitioner, which sought review, challenging the two-member board’s authority to issue orders. The Seventh Circuit ruled for the government, concluding that the two members constituted a valid quorum of a three-member group to which the board had legitimately delegated its powers.
