Crystal Carey, President Trump’s nominee for National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) general counsel, has fought unionization efforts and unfair labor practice claims for companies like Apple, Chipotle, and Dollar General, per a Sludge review of legal filings and financial disclosures.
Carey is a partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, a leading management-side law firm, where she “represents employers in collective bargaining, labor law counseling, and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) investigations and litigation in unfair labor practice and representation proceedings.” Carey’s financial disclosure, posted on May 31, revealed she worked for more than 70 clients, including Amazon, which battled a historic 2022 unionization drive in Staten Island, and Trader Joe’s, which has been accused of using coercive tactics and closing stores to deter union organizing. Since January 2024, she has been paid $773,501 by the firm in partnership shares, salary, and bonuses.
A former NLRB official from November 2009 to April 2018, Carey was nominated by Trump on March 25, and her nomination was referred to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. If confirmed, Carey will resign from Morgan Lewis and has agreed not to participate in cases where the firm represents a party for a one-year period. The NLRB general counsel is responsible for investigating and prosecuting unfair labor practice cases, a critical role at the independent agency responsible for safeguarding the ability of workers to organize.
Morgan Lewis is currently pursuing a legal challenge in a federal appellate court on behalf of SpaceX, arguing that the structure of the 90-year-old NLRB is unconstitutional. The lawsuit mirrors ones brought by Amazon, which denied that it has broken labor law, and other companies, challenges that may reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
