Washington, DC (July 8, 2010) – The National Right to Work Foundation, a charitable organization that provides free legal aid to employees, has asked the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Inspector General to expand the scope of his announced investigation into Craig Becker, Obama’s recess appointee to the Board. Prompted by a letter from Rep. Darrell Issa (R, CA.) and other members of the House Oversight Committee, the Inspector General has indicated he will investigate Becker’s involvement in St. Barnabas v. SEIU Local 1957 for possible conflicts of interest.

Earlier this summer, Right to Work attorneys filed 13 recusal motions against Becker, who served as associate general counsel for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and AFL-CIO before he was appointed to the NLRB during a Congressional recess. As the SEIU’s in-house lawyer, Becker litigated against Right to Work Foundation attorneys and developed legal strategies for SEIU affiliates across the country. His published writings also indicate a strong level of hostility to the Foundation’s employee-oriented legal aid program.

Foundation attorneys asked Becker to step aside from any case involving Foundation-assisted workers or the SEIU and its subordinate affiliates. Despite these apparent conflicts of interest, Becker has rejected the recusal motions in all but one pending case.

In one notable instance, Becker refused to recuse himself from a pending case that would overturn the NLRB’s landmark Dana decision, which created a 45 day window period for employees to vote out union officials if they acquired their monopoly bargaining privileges through a card check organizing drive. Becker denies having pre-judged the case despite a career of advocating for card check union organizing and despite having filed a brief arguing against the Board’s decision.

The Foundation’s letter to the NLRB Inspector General also notes that the Obama Administration ethics pledge Becker signed explicitly forbids any appointee from involving themselves with a former employer for no less than two years. Despite this provision, Becker is poised to decide several cases involving SEIU affiliates.

“Craig Becker has repeatedly refused to recuse himself from cases involving his former employer,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “If the NLRB Inspector General is serious about investigating Becker’s clear conflicts of interest, he should examine all cases where Becker’s work as a leading SEIU lawyer raises serious ethical questions.”

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.