This week the NLRB dismissed Case 01-CA-377828 (Trader Joe’s East) for “lack of cooperation.”
Translation: we supposedly missed an evidence deadline.
Except neither I nor my client ever received the notice that supposedly set that deadline.
No email.
No letter.
No voicemail.
No shared mailbox information.
No contact person.
Just a dismissal.
This is a discharge case. Someone lost their job.
I appealed. The Acting Regional Director reversed the dismissal and returned the charge for further processing.¹
If I hadn’t appealed, this discharge case would have died on a deadline the Region never gave.
If you’re unrepresented, you probably don’t appeal. You assume the government reviewed your case and rejected it. Then you move on.
A system that only works if you have counsel isn’t protecting workers. It’s filtering them out.
The Region’s Own Rules Were Supposed to Prevent This
On December 23, 2025, the Acting General Counsel issued GC Memo 26-01, citing backlog and shrinking staffing levels and tightening docketing procedures.²
Fine.
But the memo also requires actual notice. The docketing letter must be sent by email and must include the shared regional mailbox and a phone number.²
That isn’t a technicality. That’s due process.
In this case, the Region dismissed a discharge charge without providing the required notice.
That’s not non-cooperation. That’s a procedural failure inside the agency.
The Agency Is Shrinking
Bloomberg Law reports the NLRB has lost more than 150 employees over the past year, while hiring only a handful of replacements.³
The Guardian reports roughly 100 departures through retirements and resignation buyouts, weakening the agency’s enforcement capacity.⁴
When you hollow out an enforcement agency, you don’t get efficiency.
You get triage instead of investigation.
You get pressure to close files.
You get procedural dismissals that substitute for actual case development.
That is what this looked like.
Constitutional Instability at the Top
At the same time, the Board itself has been destabilized through removal litigation.
In January 2025, President Trump fired NLRB Member Gwynne Wilcox, eliminating the Board’s quorum.⁵
On March 6, 2025, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled the firing unlawful and ordered Wilcox reinstated.⁶
On May 22, 2025, the Supreme Court granted emergency relief allowing the firings to stand while litigation continues, in Trump v. Wilcox, No. 24A966.⁷
People can argue doctrine all day. Workers live the consequences.
When the top of the agency is under structural attack, enforcement below does not get stronger.
The Fifth Circuit and the SpaceX Injunction
In the Fifth Circuit (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi), employers have pushed constitutional challenges even further.
In Space Exploration Technologies Corp. v. NLRB, No. 24-50627 (5th Cir. Aug. 19, 2025), SpaceX obtained a preliminary injunction in district court halting NLRB proceedings, and the Fifth Circuit’s opinion describes and reviews that injunction posture.⁸
The practical effect is that employers are using constitutional “removal protection” attacks to freeze enforcement before any merits decision, turning worker rights into a threshold litigation fight instead of an enforceable statute.⁹
Worker rights should not depend on geography.
But employers are increasingly testing that proposition.
Leadership Context
The current NLRB General Counsel, Crystal Carey, previously served as a partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, as reflected in the agency’s own materials and reporting at the time of her appointment.¹⁰
I’m not guessing motives. I’m reading results.
Enforcement is harder to access.
Dismissals are easier to issue.
Procedural barriers are tighter.
That is the reality workers are facing when they file charges today.
What This Dismissal Shows
This charge was reinstated.¹
But it should never have been dismissed.
When required notice isn’t sent in a discharge case, that’s not a harmless mistake. That’s someone’s livelihood caught in a broken process.
The NLRA protects workers through concrete mechanisms: notice, investigation, adjudication, remedy.
If those mechanisms weaken, the statute remains.
But protection becomes theoretical.
If You’re Filing a Charge
Not legal advice. Just practical experience.
1. Follow up if you don’t hear from the Region. Silence isn’t confirmation.
2. Save every submission and confirmation. Screenshot the portal.
3. Send a basic timeline and key documents early, even if imperfect.
4. If dismissed, read the reason carefully. Appeals exist.
5. Get help early if you can.
You shouldn’t need to be a procedural expert to enforce federal labor rights.
But pretending the system is functioning normally won’t protect you.
Notes
1. NLRB Region 1 letter revoking dismissal and resuming processing (Feb. 18, 2026).
2. GC Memo 26-01 (Dec. 23, 2025) (backlog/staffing context; docketing requirements; notice provisions).
3. Bloomberg Law, NLRB Staff Exodus Hinders Board From Digging Out of Deep Backlog (2026).
4. The Guardian, US union elections declined in 2025 after Trump hobbled labor board (Feb. 11, 2026).
5. The Guardian, Trump fires senior labor board official in ‘unprecedented and illegal’ move (Jan. 28, 2025).
6. Washington Post, Judge says Trump illegally fired National Labor Relations Board member (Mar. 6, 2025).
7. Trump v. Wilcox, No. 24A966 (U.S. May 22, 2025).
8. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. v. NLRB, No. 24-50627 (5th Cir. Aug. 19, 2025).
9. Holland & Knight, analysis of Fifth Circuit removal-protection reasoning and injunction posture (Aug. 22, 2025).
10. NLRB news release announcing appointment of General Counsel Crystal Carey; Bloomberg Law coverage of her prior role at Morgan Lewis.