National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) Member Gwynne Wilcox is out of a job for the third time in less than four months.
Since President Donald Trump terminated Wilcox from her position on January 28, 2025, Wilcox’s challenge to the dismissal has ricocheted between the courts, resulting in an initial order by the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia ordering Wilcox’s reinstatement, a three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals reversing the District Court, and the full D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals reversing course yet again and upholding the District Court’s original decision.
On April 9, 2025, the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Roberts, weighed in and issued an “administrative stay” of the full D.C. Circuit’s order in response to an emergency application filed by the Trump Administration, effectively upholding Trump’s termination of Wilcox, yet again, until the Supreme Court decides the underlying matter.
Chief Justice Roberts has requested Wilcox respond to Trump’s emergency application to the Supreme Court by April 15. As it currently stands, Wilcox is removed from her position and the NLRB is left without a three-member statutory quorum to hear cases.
For an in-depth summary of the facts and the constitutional issues at stake, please refer to our initial reports on the district court’s ruling here, the subsequent reversal by the U.S. Court of Appeals three-judge panel here, and the decision reached by the full U.S. Court of Appeals here.
The primary issue the Supreme Court is tasked with relates to Humphrey’s Executor v. U.S., 295 U.S. 602 (1935), a Supreme Court decision which allowed Congress to enact statutory requirements for the President to remove officers of certain types of independent agencies.
As Wilcox’s termination now heads for Supreme Court review, we will continue to monitor future developments on our blog. Employers with questions about how the decision affects them should consult experienced labor counsel.