Judge holds Trump termination of NLRB member unlawful and void

Judge calls Wilcox’s firing “blatantly illegal”

Ruling follows an amicus brief AG Ellison filed in support of Wilcox

March 6, 2025 (SAINT PAUL) — Today, a federal court declared that Gwynne Wilcox remains a full member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), finding she was unlawfully dismissed by President Donald Trump. After her purported dismissal, Wilcox filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration. On February 28, Attorney General Ellison led a coalition of 20 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in support of Ms. Wilcox. 

In its ruling, the court stated that, “in the ninety years since the NLRB’s founding, the President has never removed a member of the Board. His attempt to do so here is blatantly illegal, and his constitutional arguments to excuse this illegal act are contrary to Supreme Court precedent and over a century of practice.” 

"Today’s ruling is a victory for the rule of law and for the rights of working people across America,” said Attorney General Ellison. “The NLRB does extremely important work to protect the right of workers to join a union and bargain for better wages, and Trump’s attempt to take it offline should trouble everyone who believes in workers’ rights. I am proud to have led a coalition of attorneys general in defense of the NLRB and I am committed to continuing to stand up to the Trump Administration when they willfully and brazenly violate the law."

On January 27, 2025, President Trump purported to dismiss Wilcox from the NLRB during the middle of her five-year appointment, leaving just two members remaining on the five-member Board. This denied the NLRB a quorum, incapacitating it. The amici states argued that a functioning NLRB is necessary for the enforcement of labor laws across the United States.

The NLRB has broad authority to enforce significant pieces of American labor law, including protections for joining a union, engaging in collective bargaining, and more. The amici states argued that the unlawful firing of Wilcox and incapacitating of the NLRB created a dangerous regulatory vacuum.

While the president appoints members of the NLRB, the president can only fire board members for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office. This was done intentionally by Congress to grant the board some level of political independence. The court found that Ms. Wilcox was not dismissed for neglect or malfeasance, but rather because she did not share the political objectives of the Trump Administration. In its ruling confirming Wilcox’s status on the board, the court noted that, “as an entity entrusted with making impartial decisions about sensitive labor disputes, the NLRB’s character and perception as neutral and expert-driven is damaged by plaintiff’s unlawful removal.”

In their amicus brief, the states argued that the NLRB’s independence is crucial to the Board, as it prevents the NLRB from completely changing its approach to enforcing American labor laws every few years. The result of that independence is a stability and predictability that are broadly beneficial to labor relations across America.

The coalition that submitted the original amicus brief was led by by Attorney General Ellison and consisted of the attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.