02/13/2026: Board Sets Aside ALJ Consent Order
Mail vote ordered for decertification election.
Starbucks Corporation, 16-CA-296159 (Unpublished Board Decision)
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) granted appeals by the General Counsel and Workers United challenging an administrative law judge’s approval of a consent order in unfair labor practice cases against Starbucks Corporation. The appeals had been pending when the Board issued Metro Health, Inc. d/b/a Hospital Metropolitano Rio Piedras, which overruled prior precedent and retroactively ended the NLRB’s practice of resolving cases through consent orders. Applying this new standard, the Board set aside the previously approved consent order and remanded the consolidated cases back to the administrative law judge for further proceedings. Board Members James R. Murphy and Scott A. Mayer noted they did not participate in the Metro Health decision and expressed no view on its correctness, but applied it for institutional reasons.
Significant Cases Cited
Metro Health, Inc. d/b/a Hospital Metropolitano Rio Piedras, 373 NLRB No. 89 (2024): Overruled prior precedent and ended the NLRB’s practice of allowing cases to be resolved through consent orders retroactively.
UPMC and its Subsidiary, UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside, 365 NLRB 1418 (2017): Previously permitted consent orders to resolve NLRB cases, but was overruled by Metro Health.
Mountain West Holding Company, 27-RD-378868 (Regional Election Decision)
The NLRB Regional Director has directed a mail ballot election for approximately 155 construction workers at Mountain West Holding Company, a Montana traffic safety services firm, rejecting the employer’s request for manual voting at its four facilities across the state.
Individual employee John Fisher filed a petition in January 2026 seeking to decertify Montana Laborers Local No. 1686 as the bargaining representative. The central dispute concerned the election method, with the employer and petitioner advocating for manual voting while the union sought a mail ballot.
The Regional Director applied the framework established in San Diego Gas & Electric, which permits mail ballots when eligible voters are scattered geographically or temporally, making manual voting impractical. The analysis emphasized that only 28 of the 155 eligible voters are currently working, with the remaining employees laid off during the winter months when construction activity is minimal. The Director found that while traveling throughout Montana may be routine for employees when working, there was no evidence that laid-off workers would be accustomed to traveling long distances during their off-season.
The employer had proposed a four-day manual election requiring a Board agent to travel at least 519 miles across facilities in Billings, Bozeman, Butte, and Missoula, plus additional travel from the Region 27 office in Denver. The Director determined this would inefficiently serve only 18 percent of eligible voters, citing Masiongale Electrical-Mechanical, Inc., where the Board upheld a mail ballot decision involving far less extensive travel. Given the scattered nature of the workforce and the inefficient use of Board resources a manual election would require, the Director concluded a full mail ballot was most appropriate.
The election will use the Daniel Construction Co. and Steiny & Co. eligibility formula for seasonal construction workers. Ballots will be mailed March 2, 2026, and counted March 30, 2026.
Significant Cases Cited
San Diego Gas & Electric, 325 NLRB 1143 (1998): Establishes that mail ballot elections may be appropriate where eligible voters are scattered geographically or have varying work schedules preventing presence at a common location at common times.
Aspirus Keweenaw, 370 NLRB No. 45 (2020): Reaffirms the Board’s long-standing preference for manual elections while recognizing circumstances may make it difficult for employees to vote in person.
Masiongale Electrical-Mechanical, Inc., 326 NLRB 493 (1998): Upheld Regional Director’s decision to order mail ballot election for construction employer with scattered jobsites where manual election would require Board agent to travel approximately 70 miles.
Daniel Construction Co., 133 NLRB 264 (1961): Establishes eligibility formula for seasonal construction industry employees.
Steiny & Co., 308 NLRB 1323 (1992): Provides additional framework for determining voter eligibility in construction industry cases.