On March 6, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit issued its decision in Brown-Forman, striking down the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) Cemex decision. The court ruled that the NLRB had overstepped its authority, finding that the Cemex standard “was not created as a means to resolve the parties’ dispute or undo the effects of the parties’ violative conduct” — and therefore constituted an improper use of the Board’s adjudicatory power.

CDW had previously urged the Board to seek public input before issuing the Cemex decision. When the Board rejected that request and proceeded anyway, CDW filed an amicus brief with the 6th Circuit in April 2025, arguing that “the Board unlawfully adopted this radical new standard within the confines of a single case adjudication” and that the decision was “a classic example of improper rulemaking in the guise of adjudication.” The Brown-Forman case has been remanded back to the NLRB for further review.

CDW Chair Kristen Swearingen issued the following statement:

“CDW applauds the court for rejecting the Biden Labor Board’s attempt to rewrite more than 50 years of Supreme Court precedent while bypassing federal rulemaking procedures. The Cemex decision was an attack on employees’ right to secret ballot elections, and the Board should immediately act to restore prior precedent.”