On December 27, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (“the Third Circuit” or “the court”) vacated a portion of an NLRB (“the Board”) order requiring Starbucks to compensate two allegedly wrongfully terminated employees for “all direct or foreseeable pecuniary harms” resulting from Starbucks’ alleged unfair
Joshua Fox
Joshua S. Fox is a senior counsel in the Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Sports, Labor-Management Relations, Class and Collective Actions and Wage and Hour Groups.
As a member of the Sports Law Group, Josh has represented several Major League Baseball Clubs in all aspects of the salary arbitration process, including the Miami Marlins, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays. In particular, Josh successfully represented the Miami Marlins in their case against All-Star Catcher J.T. Realmuto, which was a significant club victory in salary arbitration. Josh also represents Major League Baseball and its clubs in ongoing litigation brought by current and former minor league players who allege minimum wage and overtime violations. Josh participated on the team that successfully defended Major League Baseball in a wage-and-hour lawsuit brought by a former volunteer for the 2013 All-Star FanFest, who alleged minimum wage violations under federal and state law. The lawsuit was dismissed by the federal district court, and was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Josh also has extensive experience representing professional sports leagues and teams in grievance arbitration proceedings, including playing a vital role in all aspects of the grievance challenging the suspension for use of performance-enhancing drugs of then-New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. Josh also has counseled NHL Clubs and served on the trial teams for grievances alleging violations of the collective bargaining agreement, including cases involving use of performance-enhancing substances, domestic violence issues, and supplementary discipline for on-ice conduct. He has played a key role in representing professional sports leagues in all aspects of their collective bargaining negotiations with players and officials, including the Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, the National Football League, Major League Soccer, the Professional Referee Organization, and the National Basketball Association,.
In addition, Josh has extensive experience representing clients in the performing arts industry, including the New York City Ballet, New York City Opera, Big Apple Circus, among many others, in collective bargaining negotiations with performers and musicians, the administration of their collective bargaining agreements, and in grievance arbitrations.
Josh also represents a diverse range of clients, including real estate developers and contractors, pipe line contractors, hospitals, hotels, manufacturers and public employers, in collective bargaining, counseling on general employment matters and proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board, New York State Public Employment Relations Board and arbitrators.
Josh has also recently served as an adjunct professor at Cornell University’s School of Industrial Labor Relations for the past two years, teaching a course regarding Major League Baseball salary arbitration.
Prior to joining Proskauer, Josh worked for a year and a half at the National Hockey League, where he was involved in all labor and employment matters, including preparations for collective bargaining, grievance arbitration, contract drafting and reviewing and employment counseling. Josh also interned in the labor relations department of Major League Baseball and at Region 2 of the National Labor Relations Board. He was a member of the Brooklyn Law Review and the Appellate Moot Court Honor Society and served as president of the Brooklyn Entertainment and Sports Law Society.
Supreme Court Remands NLRB Successor Bar Case, Signaling Potential Changes to Board Deference Doctrine
On December 16, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated a D.C. Circuit opinion in Hosp. Menonita de Guayama, Inc. v. Nat’l Lab. Rels. Bd., 94 F.4th 1 (D.C. Cir. 2024) that upheld a decision by the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) on the successor-bar doctrine, which precludes…
Federal District Court in D.C. Strikes Down Removal Protections for ALJs
The continued legal challenges to the constitutionality of certain aspects of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) and National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) took a potentially significant turn in a decision issued by the District Court for the District of Columbia on December 10, 2024.
NLRB Returns to Exacting “Clear and Unmistakable” Waiver Standard for Contractual Waiver of Right to Bargain Over Unilateral Changes
This week, in an expected decision, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) reinstated its prior “clear and unmistakable” waiver standard—a standard that has been much criticized by the courts—for determining when an employer’s unilateral change to terms and conditions of employment violates the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”…
BREAKING: SENATE FAILS TO MOVE FORWARD WITH NLRB NOMINEES
On December 11, 2024, the U.S. Senate voted 49-50 against invoking cloture on President Biden’s nomination of Lauren McFerran (Democrat appointee) for the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”). As reported here, President Biden also nominated Seyfarth Shaw partner, Joshua Ditelberg (Republican appointee), when he nominated McFerran in…
Consent Orders Are Gone But Board Consent Remains…For Now
On November 26, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB” or the “Board”) General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, released GC Memorandum 25-02 to all Regional Directors, Officers-in-Charge, and Resident Officers, seeking to ensure that settlement agreements based on unfair labor practice allegations adequately address the public rights implicated by potential violations…
Déjà Vu All Over Again? NLRB Faces Partisan Overhaul Again with Key Legal Issues Hanging in the Balance
For the third time in eight years, both the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) prosecutorial and adjudicative arms face a pending partisan overhaul after President-elect Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025.
While we anticipate that President-elect Trump will immediately terminate the current General Counsel (and Deputy General Counsel)—just as President…
Amazon, SpaceX Must Navigate Procedural Roadblocks in Constitutional Challenge of NLRB
On November 18, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard oral argument on cases involving Amazon.com Inc. and SpaceX, respectively, challenging the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) in several respects. In both cases, the companies seek to halt underlying Board…