What Not to Do: Hospital Menonita de Guayama Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

When it comes to business acquisitions, a union-free employer could literally be buying a unionization problem. Under complicated theories of successorship law, the company that acquires a unionized operation could be obligated to recognize the incumbent union (and, sometimes, even adopt the existing labor contract) as a function of the transaction. This conclusion can be reached even in asset sales in which liabilities are generally not assigned to the buyer.