The NLRB’s brief two month period at full strength ended after former Chairman Peter Schaumber’s term concluded on August 27th. The Board is now back to only one Republican Member (Brian Hayes). Schaumber had this to say about the 27-month period when he and current Chair Wilma Liebman were the only two sitting members of the Board:
“Our shared commitment to collaboration and the agency’s mission enabled us to process scores of cases to resolution, despite our ideological differences. While the Supreme Court ultimately determined that a three-member quorum is necessary to issue decisions, Chairman Liebman and I set a tone for collegiality and dedication to case processing that I hope will carry forward to future boards.”
Schaumber was a thoughtful and principled member. He wrote a number of important decisions and dissents. I particularly appreciate the story about his dissent in the San Manuel case that reversed decades of Board precedent by (we both felt wrongly) extending NLRB jurisdiction over federally recognized Indian tribes. That was originally a 5-0 decision, but Peter spent a long weekend studying the complex jurisprudence around tribal sovereignty and changed his vote and wrote that dissent. He and I both presented at a Federal Bar Association meeting about that important decision and I hope some day his dissent influences Congress or a future NLRB to revert to what we both view is the correct standard. I hope that Peter is replaced by someone of equal caliber. That is a very tall order.
