A former member of the National Labor Relations Board sued U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, saying she was fired illegally from the agency that protects American workers' rights.
Gwynne Wilcox said in her complaint in the Washington, D.C. federal court that her Jan. 27 firing violated the National Labor Relations Act, which says board members can be fired only for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office and for no other cause.
"The President's firing of Ms. Wilcox by late-night email was a blatant violation" of that law, and "defies ninety years of Supreme Court precedent that has ensured the independence of critical government agencies," the complaint said.
Trump's removal of Wilcox also brought the NLRB's work to a standstill by leaving the board with just two of its five seats filled, denying it a quorum.
Wilcox was appointed to the board by the Republican Trump's predecessor, Democratic President Joe Biden.
She is the first board member to be terminated since the NLRB was founded in 1935.
