Opinion ID: 815978
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Enforceability of the Contract

Text: We also agree with the Board that we lack jurisdiction to consider Noel Canning’s choice of law argument. Section 10(e) of the NLRA forbids us from exercising jurisdiction to hear any “objection that has not been urged before the Board.” 29 U.S.C. § 160(e); see also Chevron Mining, Inc. v. NLRB, 684 F.3d 1318, 1329–30 (D.C. Cir. 2012). The ALJ specifically rejected Noel Canning’s argument that he should apply Washington state law to decide whether the contract could be enforced. In its exceptions to the Board, however, Noel Canning did not mention Washington law. Although Noel Canning contended that the ALJ incorrectly determined that the parties had in fact reached consensus ad idem during negotiations, it nowhere argued that the ALJ made an incorrect choice of law to govern the contracts issue. “While we have not required that the ground for the exception be stated explicitly in the written exceptions filed with the Board, we have required, at a minimum, that the ground for the exception be evident by the context in which the exception is raised.” Trump Plaza Assocs. v. NLRB, 679 F.3d 822, 829 (D.C. Cir. 2012) (internal quotation marks omitted). Nothing in Noel Canning’s exceptions even hints that it objected to the application of federal law. On the contrary, it conceded to the Board that “[i]t is not in dispute that an employer violates [the NLRA] by refusing to execute a Collective Bargaining Agreement incorporating all of the terms agreed upon by the parties during negotiations.” Deferred Appendix 100. We therefore lack jurisdiction to consider Noel Canning’s state-law argument because its objections were not “adequate to put the Board on notice that the issue might be pursued on appeal.” 10 Consol. Freightways v. NLRB, 669 F.2d 790, 794 (D.C. Cir. 1981). Having determined that Noel Canning does not prevail on its statutory challenges, consideration of the constitutional question is unavoidable, and we proceed to its resolution. Because we agree that petitioner is correct in both of its constitutional arguments, we grant the petition of Noel Canning for review and deny the Board’s petition for enforcement.