The National Labor Relations Board remains barred from bringing unfair labor practice cases against SpaceX, Energy Transfer, and Findhelp after a federal appeals court affirmed a lower court’s preliminary injunctions pausing such prosecutions. On August 19, in Space Exploration Technologies Corp. v. NLRB, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that the injunction is warranted because the agency’s structure is likely unconstitutional.
When facing unfair labor practice complaints, SpaceX, Energy Transfer, and Findhelp sued to challenge the constitutionality of the NLRB’s structure. The National Labor Relations Act permits the President to fire Board members before their terms expire only for "neglect of duty or malfeasance in office." It allows the President to remove NLRB administrative law judges only for good cause after a hearing. The companies claimed that the NLRA’s removal protection for Board members and ALJs conflicts with the President's broad constitutional powers to remove executive officers.
After determining that the employers likely would succeed on their claims about the agency's structure, the Fifth Circuit held that the three companies suffered irreparable harm by being subject to proceedings run by officers who were unconstitutionally insulated.