Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) issued a subpoena to the Assistant to the Regional Director for Region 15 of the National Labor Relations Board after she sounded the alarm about NLRB officials engaging in misconduct and failing to conduct fair and impartial elections.
In the cover letter accompanying the subpoena, Foxx writes:“The Committee on Education and the Workforce (Committee) is conducting oversight on allegations of misconduct by National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) officials in representation election cases involving Starbucks Corporation (Starbucks) and Workers United. On August 15, 2022, Starbucks wrote to NLRB Chairman Lauren McFerran and General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo alleging that NLRB officials engaged in substantial misconduct regarding Starbucks and Workers United elections.”
In the letter, Foxx continues:“On February 24, 2023, an NLRB report confirmed certain allegations detailed in the Starbucks letter. An NLRB Hearing Officer issued a report finding merit to certain objections made by Starbucks regarding the representation election involving its Overland Park, Kansas, store. The report details misconduct by NLRB employees relating to their communications with Workers United about the election and duplicate ballots. According to the report, NLRB employees shared substantially more information about the election with Workers United than Starbucks. … The Committee understands that NLRB employee misconduct in representation elections is more widespread than the allegations in the Starbucks letter and findings in the Hearing Officer report.”
Foxx concludes:“Rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives authorizes the Committee on Education and the Workforce to conduct oversight of matters involving the NLRB to inform potential legislation. … As NLRB Assistant to the Regional Director for Region 15, you are uniquely situated to provide information that is relevant and necessary to inform the Committee’s oversight and potential legislative reforms.”
On the whistleblower allegations, Chairwoman Foxx made the following statement:
“I find these allegations of misconduct by the NLRB deeply disturbing. The NLRB was established to function as an impartial agency that conducts representation elections and adjudicates disputes fairly under the National Labor Relations Act, not as a rogue organization that puts its thumb on the scale to sway politically motivated outcomes. Rest assured, the Committee is committed to shining light on these allegations to uncover the truth of what’s really going behind closed doors at the NLRB.”
