William Emanuel is an American lawyer and government official who formerly served as a member of the National Labor Relations Board. Prior to assuming that role, he was a shareholder at the law firm Littler Mendelson.

William Emanuel
Member of the National Labor Relations Board
In office
September 28, 2017 – August 27, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byKent Yoshiho Hirozawa
Succeeded byDavid Prouty
Personal details
Political partyRepublican
EducationMarquette University (AB)
Georgetown University Law Center (JD)

Biography edit

Emanuel received his A.B. from Marquette University and his J.D. from Georgetown Law. He has spent most of his career as a pro-management labor law attorney based in California.[1] His clients have included trade associations, hospitals, school districts, and transportation, logistics, and manufacturing companies.[2]

In June 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Emanuel to be a member of the National Labor Relations Board, which is entrusted with protecting the rights of union members. Emanuel's nomination was supported by a number of business groups and anti-union advocates.[3] He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on September 25, 2017.[4]

According to The National Law Review, the National Labor Relations Board is "likely to consider a number of significant legal issues once the vacancies are filled, including the NLRB's test for determining whether joint employer relationships exist, the standards for evaluating whether handbooks and work rules interfere with employees' rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), appropriate units for collective bargaining, the question of whether graduate students and research assistants are employees under the NLRA with the right to collective bargaining and a host of other decisions from the past eight years that more expansively interpreted the NLRA."[5]

Ethics investigation edit

In February 2018, ProPublica reported that the NLRB Inspector General is investigating whether Emanuel violated government ethics rules.[6] In December 2017, the NLRB had voted 3–2 to reverse its August 2015 determination that franchising involves joint employment.[7] In February 2018, the NLRB vacated that decision after the NLRB's Inspector General reported that Emanuel should have been recused because he had been the franchiser's attorney in the 2015 matter.[8][9]

References edit

  1. ^ Morath, Eric (June 28, 2017). "Trump to Nominate Attorney William Emanuel to National Labor Relations Board". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  2. ^ Mulvaney, Erin (June 27, 2017). "Littler Mendelson's William Emanuel Gets Trump Nod for NLRB". The National Law Journal. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  3. ^ Hesson, Ted (June 28, 2017). "Trump taps Emanuel". Politico. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  4. ^ Morath, Eric (September 25, 2017). "Senate Confirms William Emanuel for National Labor Relations Board". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 24, 2017.
  5. ^ Abrahms, Adam (June 28, 2017). "White House Nominates William Emanuel for Second of Two Vacancies on National Labor Relations Board". The National Law Review. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  6. ^ MacDougall, Ian (February 8, 2018). "NLRB Member Is Under Investigation for a Conflict of Interest". ProPublica. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  7. ^ Scheiber, Noam (December 15, 2017). "Labor Board Reverses Ruling That Helped Workers Fight Chains". The New York Times. p. B1. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  8. ^ Scheiber, Noam (February 27, 2018). "Labor Board's Do-Over Leaves an Obama-Era Rule Intact". The New York Times. p. A14. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  9. ^ Berry, David P. "Notification of a Serious and Flagrant Problem" (PDF). National Labor Relations Board Office of Inspector General. Retrieved March 4, 2018.

External links edit

Political offices
Preceded by
Kent Yoshiho Hirozawa
Member of the National Labor Relations Board
2017–present
Incumbent