Bloomberg Law
Sept. 29, 2020, 11:03 PM

NLRB Refuses to Comply With House Subpoena for Ethics Documents

Ian Kullgren
Ian Kullgren
Reporter

The National Labor Relations Board told a congressional chairman it won’t comply with a subpoena for documents related to potential ethics conflicts, escalating a dispute with House Democrats.

Providing the documents House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (D-Va.) requested—including written guidance from the board’s internal ethics officer and working documents related to the board’s joint-employer rule—would discourage candid debate among board staff, a top NLRB lawyer said in a six-page letter to Scott.

The refusal sets up a potential court battle between the committee and the NLRB, and puts the agency at risk of being held in contempt ...