Amazon has gone to federal court to block a National Labor Relations Board case that could force the company to bargain with a union representing delivery drivers.
Amazon.com Inc. filed a lawsuit Tuesday in the US District Court for the Central District of California to halt the NLRB case due to allegedly unconstitutional protections that board members and administrative law judges have against being fired by the president.
The NLRB has accused Amazon of jointly employing drivers from delivery service provider Battle Tested Strategies and illegally terminating their contract.
Tuesday’s lawsuit marks the second time that the online retail giant has enlisted the aid of the federal judiciary to shield it from NLRB proceedings.
Amazon recently convinced the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to halt the NLRB’s processing of administrative cases that could force the company to negotiate with the union representing its workers at a New York warehouse.
But Amazon’s latest lawsuit might be a tougher sell because it falls outside of Fifth Circuit’s jurisdiction. Rather than benefiting from Fifth Circuit precedent on ALJs, the company will likely have to overcome a Ninth Circuit ruling that found flaws in arguments against firing shields.
Amazon is represented by Seyfarth Shaw LLP.
NLRB spokesperson Kayla Blado declined to comment.
The case is Amazon.com Services LLC v. NLRB, C.D. Cal., Case 24-09564, lawsuit filed 11/5/24.
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