After only four months on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Republican appointee Terence F. Flynn resigned over the weekend after an internal investigation found he had leaked documents to GOP colleagues. The NLRB is supposed to ensure the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively with their employers, or to freely refuse the right to participate in a union.

 

Flynn is accused of violating the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch by giving pre-decisional votes, the identity of attorneys assigned to a case and the positions of individual NLRB members on specific cases to Peter Schaumber, a former NLRB chairman who was co-chairman of Mitt Romney’s Labor Policy Advisor Group, according to two reports issued by the board’s inspector general.

 

The leaks occurred last year and the year before when Flynn served as a staff attorney to NLRB board member Brian Hayes. Flynn first joined the board’s staff in 2003, serving at that time as chief counsel to Schaumber, then an NLRB member.

 

Flynn also gave documents to Peter Kirsanow who, as a counsel for the National Association of Manufacturers, could benefit from insider information.

 

Flynn repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and his lawyer insisted Flynn never broke the law. However, Flynn is now being investigated by the Office of Special Counsel for possible violations of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from participating in partisan political activity.

-David Wallechinsky, Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Labor Board Member Resigns Over Leak to G.O.P. Allies (by Steven Greenhouse, New York Times)

Republican Obama Appointee Accused of Passing Government Information to Private Parties (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)

Inspector General Report (National Labor Relations Board Inspector General) (pdf)