D.C. Court of Appeals Strikes Down NLRB's 'Successor Bar' Doctrine, Impacting Unionized Business Acquisitions
The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia recently ruled that the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) longstanding 'successor bar' doctrine is unlawful. This doctrine, established in UGL-UNICCO Service Co. (2011), compelled a successor employer acquiring a unionized business to recognize and bargain with an incumbent union for a period of six months to one year, even if the union lacked majority employee support. During this period, the union's majority status could not be challenged by employees, rival unions, or the employer. In the case of Hospital Menonita de Guayama v. National Labor Relations Board, the Court determined that this doctrine unlawfully insulated unions from challenges, conflicting with the National Labor Relations Act's (NLRA) fundamental guarantees of employee free choice and majority rule. The Court reasoned that the successor bar created an irrebuttable presumption of majority support and that the NLRB lacked statutory authority to create an additional, non-statutory one-... 
