Opinion ID: 203725
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Quorum Requirement

Text: The first issue raised is one of statutory interpretation of section 3(b). We owe some deference to the agency's view. Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 104 S.Ct. 2778, 81 L.Ed.2d 694 (1984). By statute, the Board consists of five members, who are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate and serve staggered terms of five years. 29 U.S.C. § 153(a). Section 3(b) of the NLRA states: The Board is authorized to delegate to any group of three or more members any or all of the powers which it may itself exercise.... A vacancy in the Board shall not impair the right of the remaining members to exercise all of the powers of the Board, and three members of the Board shall, at all times, constitute a quorum of the Board, except that two members shall constitute a quorum of any group designated pursuant to the first sentence hereof. 29 U.S.C. § 153(b). Pursuant to that authority, the four members of the Board who held office on December 28, 2007 delegated the Board's powers to a three-member group. When the term of one member of that group expired three days later, a two-member quorum remained. [2] The Board's delegation of its institutional power to a panel that ultimately consisted of a two-member quorum because of a vacancy was lawful under the plain text of section 3(b). First, section 3(b) allowed the Board to delegate all of its powers to a three-member group. Second, the statute states that [a] vacancy in the Board shall not impair the right of the remaining members to exercise all of the powers of the Board. The vacancy, which left the two-member quorum remaining, may not, under the terms of section 3(b), impair the right of the two-member quorum to exercise all powers of the Board. This is consistent with the conclusion of the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice which has concluded, In our view, if the Board delegated all of its powers to a group of three members, that group could continue to issue decisions and orders as long as a quorum of two members remained. Quorum Requirements, Memorandum from M. Edward Whelan III, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney Gen., Office of Legal Counsel, (Mar. 4, 2003), available at 2003 WL 24166831. Moreover, [a]ny other general rule would impose an undue burden on the administrative process. R.R. Yardmasters of Am. v. Harris, 721 F.2d 1332, 1343 (D.C.Cir.1983). Our conclusion is consistent with that of another circuit. Photo-Sonics, Inc. v. NLRB, 678 F.2d 121 (9th Cir.1982). In Photo-Sonics, a three-member panel of the Board heard the case, but before the Board announced its decision, one member of the panel submitted his resignation. The resignation became effective on the same day the decision in the case issued, although all three members concurred in the decision. The petitioner argued that the decision was unenforceable because it was not made by a properly constituted three-member panel because the resigning person, the petitioner argued, could not have participated in the decision. Id. at 122. Photo-Sonics reasoned that under section 3(b), Even if [the member who resigned] did not participate [in the decision], a decision by two members of the panel would still be binding, id. at 122, and analogized the quorum requirement in section 3(b) to the quorum for the federal courts of appeals. Photo-Sonics stated, [c]ourts have interpreted `quorum' to mean the `number of the members of the court as may legally transact judicial business.' Id. (quoting Tobin v. Ramey, 206 F.2d 505, 507 (5th Cir.1953)). The court concluded that the participation of the two-member quorum needed to conduct business was sufficient. Id. at 123. Further, courts have upheld analogous approaches by other administrative agencies. See Falcon Trading Group, Ltd. v. SEC, 102 F.3d 579, 582 (D.C.Cir.1996) (upholding SEC's promulgation of a new quorum rule to allow it to continue to operate in the face of multiple vacancies); Hunter v. Nat'l Mediation Bd., 754 F.2d 1496, 1498-99 (9th Cir.1985) (per curiam) (upholding decision by two members of three-member panel of National Mediation Board allowing two-member quorum where almost all of the preliminary work had been performed by one member); R.R. Yardmasters of Am., 721 F.2d at 1340 n. 26 (upholding the National Mediation Board's delegation of its authority to a single member expected to remain in office).