Peter B. Robb

Peter Barr Robb (born January 24, 1948) is an American lawyer who was the former general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). He was appointed to the position by President Donald Trump. He was fired by President Joe Biden on January 20, 2021 after he refused to resign.[3][4] Both in and out of government, Robb has advanced pro-business and anti-labor causes.[5][6][7][4]

Peter B. Robb
General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board
In office
November 17, 2017 – January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byRichard Griffin
Succeeded byPeter Sung Ohr
Personal details
Born
Peter Barr Robb[1]

(1948-01-24) January 24, 1948[2]
EducationGeorgetown University
University of Maryland School of Law

As general counsel to the NLRB, Robb recommended that Uber drivers should be considered contractors rather than employees and therefore not be protected by federal labor law.[8]

Prior to his role as general counsel, he worked for the Reagan administration in litigation against the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, the union whose workers went out on strike in 1981.[8]

Robb later was the director of labor and employment at the law firm Downs Rachlin Martin. Prior to that, he served as special labor counsel to Proskauer Rose, where he represented several companies and organizations against their workers.[9] He also served as chief counsel to NLRB member Robert Hunter.[10][11]

Robb is the first general counsel of the NLRB to ever to be fired by a president. (President Harry S. Truman, in 1950 requested and received the resignation of the then-NLRB general counsel, Robert N. Denham.) Republicans and business interests decried Robb's firing, while Democrats and labor unions supported it.[3] The firing came after the Supreme Court's decision in Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which affirmed the president's power to fire the heads of independent agencies.[3]

On January 25, Peter Sung Ohr was named as Robb's successor.[12]

References
  1. The Vermont Bar Journal & Law Digest, Volume 22 (1996) - page 54
  2. Hubbell, Martindale (March 2001). Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, U.S. Government Lawyers Law Schools. Martindale-Hubbell. ISBN 9781561604395.
  3. "Biden Moves to Oust Top Labor Board Attorney Peter Robb (1)". Bloomberg News. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  4. Eli Rosenberg and Reis Thebault (January 20, 2021). "Biden fires Trump-appointed labor board general counsel who refused to resign". Washington Post. Retrieved January 21, 2021.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  5. Kelly, Kim. "What the Labor Movement Wants From Joe Biden". Teen Vogue. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  6. Kullgren, Ian; Hanna, Rew. "Dysfunction and infighting cripple labor agency". POLITICO. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  7. Scheiber, Noam (January 26, 2018). "Trump Appointee Is Trying to Squelch Us, Labor Board Staff Says (Published 2018)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  8. Scheiber, Noam (January 20, 2021). "The Biden administration fired a Trump labor appointee". The New York Times. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  9. Kilgore, Ed (January 21, 2021). "Biden Instantly Fires Trump-Appointed Anti-Worker Attorney". Intelligencer. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  10. "President Donald J. Trump Announces Key Additions to his Administration". The White House. September 15, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  11. Bloom, Howard; Rosen, Philip (September 19, 2017). "Management-Side Labor Law Attorney Peter Robb Nominated for NLRB General Counsel". The National Law Review. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  12. Wiessner, Daniel (January 25, 2021). "Biden names head of NLRB's Chicago office as acting GC after firing Trump appointees". Westlaw Today. Reuters. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
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