NLRB Member Resigns Amid Leak Allegations

By MARY LU CARNEVALE

The Wall Street Journal
May 27, 2012, 5:59 p.m. ET

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303807404577430771449920122.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

A member of the National Labor Relations Board who
faces allegations of leaking information about pending
board decisions to a former adviser to Mitt Romney, is
stepping down, the NLRB said Sunday.

Terence Flynn, a Republican who has served on the five-
member board since Jan. 9, after a recess appointment
by President Barack Obama, submitted his resignation
letter to the president and to NLRB Chairman Mark
Pearce on Friday evening, the NLRB said. The brief
letter, dated May 25, didn't bring up the allegations.

"After eight years of government service, I have
determined that it is time to move on to other
opportunities," Mr. Flynn wrote. He said his
resignation would take effect July 24, but he
immediately recused himself from all agency activity
and requested that his nomination to the board be
withdrawn.

Earlier this month, the NLRB's inspector general
alleged in a report that Mr. Flynn released proprietary
information to former board member Peter Schaumber, who
had been an adviser to Mr. Romney, the presumptive GOP
presidential nominee. The report was made public by
Rep. George Miller of California, the top Democrat on
the House Education and the Workforce Committee. Mr.
Miller, along with Sen. Tom Harkin (D., Iowa) had
called for Mr. Flynn's resignation.

Barry Coburn, a lawyer for Mr. Flynn, said in a
statement that his client's "contacts with Mr.
Schaumber, his friend and former colleague, were not
illegal in any respect." Mr. Coburn called Mr. Flynn "a
dedicated public servant" who "does not deserve to be
publicly smeared," and warned that the "circumstances
are precisely what deter people like Mr. Flynn from
government service."

In March, NLRB Inspector General David Berry found that
Mr. Flynn had improperly provided information to two
former board members in 2010 and 2011 while he was a
staff attorney. The information included the status of
pending cases, case research and board members'
positions on cases.

The second IG report alleges that Mr. Flynn released a
nonpublic draft of a board majority decision and four
dissents, as well as other internal information
involving the processing of cases and issues by the
board.

Write to Mary Lu Carnevale at [log in to unmask]

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