Amazon’s Constitutional Lawsuit Against NLRB Leaves Texas Court

A federal judge transferred Amazon.com Inc.’s constitutional lawsuit against the National Labor Relations Board related to union bargaining in New York out of a Texas court.

The move robs Amazon of favorable precedent from the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that’s binding on district courts in Texas.

The order sending Amazon’s lawsuit to the US District Court for the District of Columbia is the latest twist in the legal fight over a long-running labor organizing effort at the company’s Staten Island warehouse.

Amazon sued the NLRB in response to an NLRB case over the company’s obligation to negotiate with a union that warehouse workers elected as their bargaining representative in 2022. Like many others against the agency, the lawsuit contends elements of the board’s structure violate the Constitution.

The Fifth Circuit stayed the NLRB case in October 2024 while Amazon challenged Judge Xavier Rodriguez’s “constructive denial” of its request for a preliminary injunction to block the agency’s proceedings. Amazon went to the Fifth Circuit after Rodriguez, a George W. Bush appointee, didn’t rule by a deadline the company set.

A few days after Amazon sought Fifth Circuit intervention, Rodriguez granted the NLRB’s request to transfer the case out of Texas district court. But he paused that transfer order in light of the company’s appeal.

Although Amazon lost its Fifth Circuit challenge in May, the appeals case didn’t close until October due to the company’s unsuccessful bid for en banc review.

Amazon filed a notice Dec. 11 stating that it wouldn’t fight the transfer order. Rodriguez finalized the transfer Dec. 12.

The NLRB declined to comment. An Amazon spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The case is Amazon.com Services LLC v. NLRB, W.D. Tex., No. 24-01000, order 12/12/25.