NLRB lacks authority to impose successor bar (2-1).

The NLRB found that a successor employer committed an unfair labor practice by withdrawing recognition to a union. The employer had evidence that the union had lost majority support.

But NLRB precedent—the successor bar—prohibits any challenge to an incumbent union’s representation status for up to one year after a business changes ownership, even if the union lacks majority support.

The DC Circuit (2-1) denied enforcement of the order, concluding that the bar suspends the Act’s guarantees of employee freedom and majority rule in collective bargaining, and the Board lacks authority to impose such a rule.

Hospital Menonita de Guayama, Inc. v. NLRB [PDF].