NLRB Affirms Regional Directors’ Power When Board Lacks Quorum

National Labor Relations Board regional directors can certify union election results and otherwise rule in representation cases when the board has no quorum, the newly reactivated board held in its first published decision.

Federal labor law permits regional directors to exercise delegated authority when the board falls below the three-member minimum needed necessary to fully function, the NLRB said in its Thursday ruling.

The ruling rejecting Satellite Healthcare’s challenge comes a little over a week after the board regained its quorum Jan. 7. The board also released another tranche of unpublished rulings resolving routine matters in cases involving Starbucks Corp., the Washington Post, Trader Joe’s, and a handful of other employers.

Satellite was one of numerous companies, including SeaWorld’s Discovery Cove and Recreational Equipment Inc., that filed appeals arguing that RDs can’t wield delegated power when the board is offline.

The California-based health-care company can contest the NLRB’s decision in federal appeals court. A courtroom victory would negate a Service Employees International Union affiliate’s election victory and limit what the agency can do the next time the board loses its quorum.

San Francisco Regional Director Jill Coffman rejected Satellite’s initial objection to her authority in April. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit had affirmed RDs’ authority to conduct representation proceedings absent a board quorum in two decisions in 2015, she noted.

The company argued that those earlier rulings are invalid because they relied on the court deferring to the NLRB under Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, which the US Supreme Court later overturned in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo.

In Thursday’s ruling, the NLRB rejected Satellite’s argument, saying that Loper Bright itself makes clear that prior cases based on the Chevron framework remain good law.

The board also said that Loper Bright gives no reason to change its interpretation that the National Labor Relations Act permits regional directors to rule in representation cases when there’s no quorum.

Satellite’s lawyer, Erin Sweeney of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The case is Satellite Healthcare (Santa Rosa), N.L.R.B., Case 20-RC-360713, 1/15/26.