Donald J. Polden, Dean Emeritus, Professor of Law
In an article by The Register this past February, Don Polden, dean emeritus and professor of law at Santa Clara Law, weighed in on Amazon’s ongoing lawsuit against the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Earlier this year, Amazon filed a lawsuit against the NLRB in the wake of a complaint against the e-commerce giant for alleged illegal retaliation against its workers. Amazon, in its filing, argues that the government’s oversight by the Federal Labor Protection Agency is unconstitutional.
Polden told The Register that Amazon’s contention is about eighty years too late. “The constitutionality of the NLRB (and some other federal administrative agencies) was settled decades ago,” Polden commented. “I think that the likelihood that a credible federal appellate court would take the claim seriously is very remote, although there are some federal circuit courts that are packed with ‘Trump judges’ and might get enough votes to take a look at such a claim.”
Polden, a well-known scholar in the areas of employment law and federal antitrust law, recognizes this pattern. “Major employers are bristling at the ramped-up enforcement of labor laws by the Biden Administration,” said Polden. “The frontal attack on the agency’s constitutionality by Amazon likely represents a “wing and prayer” hope that someone up above will look with disfavor on federal administrative agencies and be willing to take up specious theories that were adjudicated decades ago.”
Dean Emeritus Polden served as Dean of Santa Clara University School of Law from 2003 to 2013 and continues to teach classes in antitrust law. He is co-author (with U.S. District Court Judge Mark Bennett) of Employment Relationships: Law and Practice, published by Aspen Publishing Company. He is also the author of several law review articles on topics of federal antitrust and employment law and is frequently consulted by media sources on legal and policy topics.