Peter B. Robb

{{Short description|American lawyer (born 1948)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2017}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Peter B. Robb

| image = Peter B. Robb official photo.jpg

| caption = Official portrait, 2018

| office1 = General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board

| president1 = Donald Trump

| term_start1 = November 17, 2017

| term_end1 = January 20, 2021

| predecessor1 = Richard Griffin

| successor1 = Jennifer Abruzzo

| birth_name = Peter Barr Robb[https://books.google.com/books?id=L6Q4AQAAIAAJ&q=Peter+Barr+Robb The Vermont Bar Journal & Law Digest, Volume 22 (1996) - page 54]

| birth_place =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1948|01|24}}{{cite book |last=Hubbell |first=Martindale |date=March 2001 |title=Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, U.S. Government Lawyers Law Schools |publisher=Martindale-Hubbell |isbn=9781561604395 }}

| death_place =

| party =

| spouse =

| relations =

| children =

| education = Georgetown University (BA)
University of Maryland, Baltimore (JD)

| awards =

}}

Peter Barr Robb (born January 24, 1948) is an American lawyer who was the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). He was appointed to the position by President Donald Trump. He was fired by President Joe Biden on January 20, 2021, after he refused to resign.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Biden Moves to Oust Top Labor Board Attorney Peter Robb (1)|url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/biden-moves-to-oust-top-labor-board-attorney-robb|access-date=2021-01-20|website=Bloomberg News|language=en}} According to his critics, Robb has advanced pro-business and anti-labor causes both in and out of government.{{Cite web|last=Kelly|first=Kim|title=What the Labor Movement Wants From Joe Biden|url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/unions-joe-biden-labor-movement|access-date=2021-01-20|website=Teen Vogue|date=December 22, 2020 |language=en-us}}{{Cite web|last1=Kullgren|first1=Ian|last2=Hanna|first2=Rew|title=Dysfunction and infighting cripple labor agency|url=https://politi.co/2J67Mn4|access-date=2021-01-20|website=POLITICO|date=April 18, 2018 |language=en}}{{Cite news|last=Scheiber|first=Noam|date=2018-01-26|title=Trump Appointee Is Trying to Squelch Us, Labor Board Staff Says (Published 2018)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/business/economy/labor-board.html|access-date=2021-01-20|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news|author1=Eli Rosenberg |author2=Reis Thebault |title=Biden fires Trump-appointed labor board general counsel who refused to resign|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/01/20/biden-fires-nlrb-peter-robb/|date=2021-01-20|access-date=2021-01-21}}

As general counsel to the NLRB, Robb recommended that Uber drivers should be considered contractors rather than employees and therefore not be protected by federal labor law.{{Cite news|last=Scheiber|first=Noam|date=January 20, 2021|title=The Biden administration fired a Trump labor appointee|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/20/us/politics/peter-robb-nlrb-fired.html|access-date=January 22, 2021}}

Prior to his role as general counsel, he worked for the Reagan administration in litigation against the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, the union whose workers went on strike in 1981.

Robb later was the director of labor and employment at the law firm Downs Rachlin Martin. Prior to that, he served as special labor counsel to Proskauer Rose, where he represented several companies and organizations against their workers.{{Cite web|last=Kilgore|first=Ed|date=2021-01-21|title=Biden Instantly Fires Trump-Appointed Anti-Worker Attorney|url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/01/biden-fires-anti-worker-nlrb-attorney-peter-robb.html|access-date=2021-01-22|website=Intelligencer|language=en-us}} He also served as chief counsel to NLRB member Robert Hunter.{{cite news|title=President Donald J. Trump Announces Key Additions to his Administration|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2017/09/15/president-donald-j-trump-announces-key-additions-his-administration-0 |access-date=December 13, 2017|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|date=September 15, 2017}}{{PD-notice}}{{cite news|last1=Bloom|first1=Howard|last2=Rosen |first2=Philip|title=Management-Side Labor Law Attorney Peter Robb Nominated for NLRB General Counsel|url=https://www.natlawreview.com/article/management-side-labor-law-attorney-peter-robb-nominated-nlrb-general-counsel|access-date=December 13, 2017|publisher=The National Law Review|date=September 19, 2017}}

Robb is the first general counsel of the NLRB to ever to be fired by a president. (President Harry S. Truman, in 1950 requested and received the resignation of the then-NLRB general counsel, Robert N. Denham.) Republicans and business interests decried Robb's firing, while Democrats and labor unions supported it. Some of the controversy stemmed from the NLRB's status as an independent agency, defined as an agency that is intended to be insulated from executive control, usually because the President's power to dismiss the members is limited.{{cite web |title=Biden fires NLRB Republican General Counsel Peter Robb {{!}} Business Insurance |url=https://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20210121/NEWS06/912339250?template=printart |website=www.businessinsurance.com}}{{cite web |title=Biden Fires NLRB General Counsel After He Refuses to Resign (3) |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/biden-moves-to-oust-top-labor-board-attorney-robb |website=news.bloomberglaw.com |language=en}}