President Trump has named a nominee for the NLRB General Counsel position: Crystal Carey, a management-side labor relations partner at the New York office of law firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP. Carey’s nomination is an indicator of the Trump Administration’s intent to implement employer-friendly changes to the Board’s operations. In furtherance of this point, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters quickly announced its opposition to Carey’s nomination, stating that “she has no place serving as NRLB general counsel.”
The NLRB’s General Counsel can significantly affect labor policy. The General Counsel oversees the investigation and prosecution of labor violations across the country and issues memoranda setting the Board’s agenda for changes to labor policy and enforcement priorities.
Carey is a 2009 Penn State University Dickinson School of Law graduate who started her career at the NLRB. During her nearly nine year tenure with the NLRB, Carey spent approximately three years as a field attorney (Region 5 – Baltimore), three years working in the Office of Appeals, and three years working as Senior Counsel to Board Member Philip A. Miscimarra (appointed to the NLRB by President Obama in 2013). Miscimarra joined Morgan Lewis in February 2018 and Carey joined him that April. Carey also serves as the Chair of the Development of the Law Under the NLRA Committee in the American Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Section.
Since entering private practice, Carey has represented high-profile employers in NLRB proceedings, including Apple and Chipotle. Carey has also expressed her disapproval of the Biden-era Board. In comments at an ABA panel last year, Carey said that two NLRB decisions, which limit so-called “captive audience meetings” and restrict employers’ ability to educate workers on how unionization will negatively impact their relationship with management, shows the Board is “looking to completely eliminate the rights of employers to have these conversations at all.”
NLRB General Counsel typically release a memorandum outlining their enforcement priorities shortly after their appointment is confirmed by the Senate. Assuming Carey is confirmed by the Senate, her first memorandum will be the best indicator of where the Board’s enforcement priorities will lie during her tenure. Vorys is closely watching all developments at the NLRB and we will continue to provide updates on key events. Please reach out to your Vorys lawyer with any questions.
Authors: Michael Shoenfelt, Rebecca Hill, Jacob Semus