DC Circuit Split on Enforcing NLRB Order Against CNN

A National Labor Relations Board determination that CNN and Team Video Services (TVS) were joint employers of technicians who then were laid off was faulty because the NLRB standard for making that determination was inconsistent with precedent and didn't explain why precedents don't govern, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decided (in Pacer) Friday. The ruling by Judges Merrick Garland, Cornelia Pillard and Brett Kavanaugh and written by Garland included a Kavanaugh partial dissent. The majority opinion said the NLRB isn't barred from finding CNN a joint employer or using a different standard for determining joint-employer relationships, but the court can't enforce that. The D.C. Circuit granted CNN's cross-petition for reconsideration on labor law violations that flowed from the joint-employer finding, but it granted the board's application and denied the Time Warner unit's petition for review on violations not dependent on the joint-employer finding. Kavanaugh said NLRB failed on finding CNN a successor employer to TVS. Kavanaugh didn't see substantial evidence that CNN hiring decisions discriminated against former TVS workers. NLRB counsel didn't comment; CNN said it's reviewing the decision.