Amazon becomes latest company to argue US labor board is unconstitutional

Amazon has become the latest company to argue that the structure of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) violates the U.S. Constitution, following the lead of SpaceX and Trader Joe’s.

The e-commerce giant claimed in a recent filing that the labor board’s case, which accuses the company of illegally retaliating against unionizing workers, should be dismissed because the board itself is unconstitutional.

Amazon argued that the NLRB’s structure “violates the separation of powers” because administrative law judges and board members are largely insulated from presidential oversight and removal, “impeding the executive power” provided in Article II of the Constitution.

The filing also suggested that the board’s structure and proceedings violate Articles I and III of the Constitution, as well as the Fifth and Seventh Amendments.

SpaceX and Trader Joe’s made similar arguments about the NLRB last month in the face of alleged labor law violations. 

SpaceX, the spacecraft and satellite communications company owned by Elon Musk, suggested that the NLRB was “unlawful” after it accused the company of improperly firing eight employees who drafted and circulated an open letter about workplace concerns.

An attorney for the grocery chain Trader Joe’s also argued that the agency’s structure and administrative law judges were unconstitutional at a hearing in mid-January, Bloomberg reported.