On Tuesday May 20, 2025, U.S. District Judge for the District of Oregon, Michael H. Simon issued a decision in Casala LLC, d/b/a Bubble’s Hash and Rec Rehab Consulting LLC, d/b/a Ascend Dispensary v. Tina Kotek, in her official capacity as Governor of the State of Oregon, et al., Case No. 3:25-cv-244-SI (D.Or. May 20, 2025), striking down Oregon’s United for Cannabis Workers Act and holding that the law is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) in violation of the Supremacy Clause and the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.Continue Reading Oregon Federal Judge Strikes Down State Law Requiring Labor Peace Agreements for Cannabis Licensure and Certification – OLCC Will No Longer Enforce State Requirement

On May 22, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) Member Gwynne Wilcox cannot return to work while she challenges President Donald Trump’s decision to terminate her without cause. The latest decision comes in a long line of court decisions since Trump terminated Wilcox in January 2025. The central issue revolves around 90-year-old precedent Humphrey’s Executor v. U.S., 295 U.S. 602 (1935) limiting the President’s power to fire employees at independent agencies. Continue Reading Supreme Court Decides Against Reinstating Wilcox to NLRB as They Rule on Her Termination – NLRB Remains Without a Quorum

National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) Member Gwynne Wilcox is out of a job for the third time in less than four months. Continue Reading Chief Justice Roberts Allows Trump to Remove Wilcox from NLRB as the Supreme Court Considers the Challenge to Her Dismissal

On April 7, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held that President Trump’s termination of National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) Member Gwynne Wilcox was unlawful. The decision marks the latest round in litigation tug-of-war, reversing a decision reached by a three-judge panel for the D.C. Circuit, and returning to a decision reached by U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell on March 6, 2025. For an in-depth summary of the facts and the constitutional issues at stake, please refer to our initial reports on the district court’s ruling here, and subsequent reversal by the three-judge panel hereContinue Reading Full D.C. Circuit Court Reinstates Wilcox to the NLRB

A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals issued a favorable ruling for President Trump, staying a recent district court decision that ruled his termination of National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) Member Gwynne Wilcox was unlawful. Thus, it appears that the Board again is left without statutory quorum, which under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) requires at least three members.Continue Reading Split D.C. Circuit Panel Rules Trump Can Remove Wilcox from NLRB – NLRB to Stay Without a Quorum

On March 6, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell held that Gwynne Wilcox, a former member of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) was “illegally” fired from her job.[1] The court ordered the Board’s current chair to restore her access to the Board and let her serve out the remainder of her five-year term. The Trump administration promptly appealed the decision and is seeking an immediate stay from a federal appeals court.[2] However, in the meantime, Wilcox’s return will give the Board three active members. Thus, for now, it appears that the Board again has a statutory quorum under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA” or the “Act”) and can resume operating as normal.Continue Reading Federal District Court Reverses Firing of NLRB Member Wilcox – NLRB Returns to Statutory Quorum

On February 14, 2025, the Acting General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) William B. Cowen issued his first General Counsel Memorandum (“GC Memo”) GC 25-05 rescinding nearly all of the Biden administration General Counsel’s substantive prosecutorial guidance memos, which furthered a pro-union and pro-employee agenda. While these memoranda do not have the weight of law or regulation, they do set out the agency’s priorities and key interpretations of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).Continue Reading Acting General Counsel of NLRB Issues First GC Memorandum, Rescinding Controversial Pro-Labor Memoranda

As we have previously reported, from the time President Biden took office, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) began systematically reversing Trump-era policies, and shifting toward increasingly more pro-union and pro-employee policies. These efforts have not been slowed by the impending end of the Biden administration. On December 10, 2024, the NLRB overruled a Trump-era Board decision and returned to an employee- and union-friendly standard for determining when unilateral workplace changes made by an employer are unlawful.Continue Reading NLRB Returns to Union-Friendly “Clear and Unmistakable Waiver” Standard

As we have previously reported, from the time President Biden took office, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) began systematically reversing Trump-era policy, and shifting toward pro-union and pro-employee policies. On August 22, 2024, the Board continued that push. This time taking steps to significantly impede the ability of employers to avoid unfair labor practice (“ULP”) charges without resorting to litigation. Continue Reading NLRB Will No Longer Approve Employer Proposed Consent Orders

On May 14, 2024, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted a petition for interim injunctive relief under Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) that was filed by the Regional Director for Region One. Among other things, the court’s order required I.N.S.A, a cannabis company (the “Employer”) to: 1) immediately recognize and bargain collectively with United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Local 1445 (the “Union”) as the collective bargaining representative of its employees even though a majority of workers voted against unionizing; and 2) rehire two pro-union employees who were terminated during the organizing campaign.Continue Reading U.S. District Court Grants 10(j) Injunctive Relief and Requires Employer to Bargain With Union That Lost Secret Ballot Election

On April 26, 2024, Ctrl Alt Destroy, Inc. (“CAD”), a California Corporation and cannabis licensee filed a lawsuit against Nicole Elliott in her official capacity as Director of the State of California’s Department of Cannabis Control (“DCC”) and Rob Bonta in his official capacity as Attorney General of the State of California, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief alleging that California’s Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (“MAUCRSA”) is unconstitutional under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the US Constitution and is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).Continue Reading Cannabis Operator Challenges California State Statute and Regulations Requiring Labor Peace Agreements