Trump Takes Steps to Undo Obama Legacy on Labor<br />If Mr. Trump’s second board nominee fits the same profile —<br />and the management-side lawyer said to be in line for the position, William J. Emanuel, appears to do so — they would almost certainly join with the board’s current Republican member, Philip A. Miscimarra, to undo crucial portions of the board’s legacy from the Obama era.<br />Now, by filling two vacant seats and swinging the board from a Democratic majority<br />to a Republican majority, Mr. Trump could reverse the following actions:<br />• A ruling that increased the likelihood that companies could be held responsible for labor violations committed by contractors and franchisees.<br />“I found him to be very thoughtful and careful,” said Marshall B. Babson, who was a Democratic member of the board under President Ronald Reagan,<br />and has worked for years as a management-side lawyer and interacted with Mr. Kaplan.<br />On Monday, the White House announced the nomination of Marvin Kaplan, a lawyer serving on a federal health<br />and safety commission, to one of two vacant seats on the board, which currently has a 2-to-1 Democratic majority.<br />• A ruling that made it easier for relatively small groups of workers within a company to form a union.<br />The previous doctrine held that only direct control of working conditions made the parent company a joint employer
