Federal Court Strikes Down New York NLRB Trigger Law
On July 22, 2026, a federal district court issued a permanent injunction invalidating New York’s 2025 “NLRB trigger” law following a lawsuit brought by Amazon. U.S. District Court Judge Eric Komitee of the Eastern District of New York ruled that the state statute, which sought to create PERB jurisdiction for certain matters which fall under the primary jurisdiction of the NLRB, is preempted by federal labor law under decades of established U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
In 2025, the New York State Legislature passed A08590A / S08034-A, referred to by sponsors as the “NLRB Trigger Bill, ” which empowered the New York State Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) to assert jurisdiction over private-sector union elections and unfair labor practice charges whenever the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was deemed “unable” or delayed in resolving disputes.
Lawmakers claimed the bill was necessary because at the time, the NLRB did not have a quorum of three members and thus could not issue binding decisions, leaving workers without federal labor protection. The board has since acquired a quorum of three Senate-confirmed members.
Amazon’s lawsuit involved the firing of a union laborer at the retailer’s Staten Island warehouse. Rather than focusing on the merits of the underlying individual labor dispute, Amazon challenged the validity of New York’s NLRB Trigger law that aimed to empower PERB to exercise jurisdiction when the NLRB would not or could not perform its duties.
In his decision, Judge Komitee ruled the law unconstitutional based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) in its 1959 decision in San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon. That decision established the precedent that federal labor law is strictly under the jurisdiction of the NLRB. “No matter how defendants frame their argument, they are ultimately asking the Court to overrule or, invent a new exception to the preemption doctrine laid out by the Supreme Court,” Komitee stated in his decision.
The ruling is a major procedural win for private sector employers across New York State. The permanent injunction shuts down an attempted dual-regulatory environment where state agencies could independently intervene, penalize corporate management, or overturn employment decisions while parallel federal reviews were still underway.
Private-sector businesses navigating union issues under the NLRA can continue relying on unified federal standards without facing concurrent state-level enforcement from PERB. The decision reaffirms that private-sector labor relations remain strictly under federal NLRB jurisdiction.
Our Labor and Employment Practice Group can help your company navigate the complex web of both New York labor law and federal labor statutes. Contact us today so we can discuss the challenges you’re facing.