On May 26, 2012, Board Member Terence F. Flynn submitted his resignation to President Barack Obama and to NLRB Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce. The resignation is effective July 24, 2012. However, Mr. Flynn immediately recused himself from all agency business and has asked that the President withdraw his nomination for Board Member of the NLRB.
Mr. Flynn was sworn in as a Board Member on January 9, 2012, following a recess appointment by the President. However, he had recently come under fire for alleged ethical transgressions. The Board’s inspector general, David P. Berry, issued a report in early May that found that Mr. Flynn, a Republican, had committed serious violations by leaking drafts of board decisions and details of internal deliberations to Peter Schaumber, a former labor board chairman who had been co-chairman of Mitt Romney’s labor advisory committee.
On May 29, 2012, NLRB Chairman Pearce and Members Brian Hayes, Richard Griffin and Sharon Block met with the agency’s staff to answer questions and issued a joint statement. The NLRB will be able to continue to conduct business with its four (4) remaining members. The Board’s composition will now be three (3) Democrats and one (1) Republican. We therefore expect that the Board will continue to implement its pro-labor agenda.