Fifth Circuit Halts Amazon NLRB Case Over Constitutional Dispute

Litigation involving Amazon.com Inc. at the National Labor Relations Board should be stayed over claims that the labor agency violates the US Constitution, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held Monday.

Amazon had sued the labor board in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, arguing that the agency “violates bedrock constitutional principles of separation of powers” by serving as both prosecutor and judge after the NLRB rejected the retail giant’s objections to its first union election at a Staten Island warehouse.

Amazon sought an emergency injunction to halt the NLRB’s litigation of a refusal to bargain case within the agency, but appealed to the Fifth Circuit late last week when the district judge failed to rule on the issue. This strategy was also employed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which also had its administrative proceedings blocked by the conservative appeals court.

Amazon’s lawsuit contends that NLRB members are unconstitutionally protected from being fired by the president, and that the quasi-judicial structure of the agency undermines employers’ right to a jury trial under the Seventh Amendment.

It’s the latest constitutional challenge to the NLRB as more employers jump on arguments that the agency, formed in 1935 under the National Labor Relations Act, has unchecked sovereignty in shaping and enforcing labor law.

NLRB spokesperson Kayla Blado declined to comment on the Fifth Circuit’s ruling. A spokesperson for Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The case is Amazon.com Services LLC v. NLRB, 5th Cir., No 24-50761, 9/30/24.