Elicia L. Watts Named Deputy Director in the Office of Appeals

Washington, D.C. -- Richard F. Griffin, Jr., General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, today announced the appointment of career NLRB attorney Elicia L. Watts as Deputy Director of the General Counsel’s Office of Appeals.  In her new position, Ms. Watts will assist Acting Director Mark Arbesfeld in the office that investigates appeals by employers, unions, and individuals who believe their unfair labor practice allegations have been wrongly dismissed by a Regional Office. 
A 19-year veteran of the NLRB, Ms. Watts began working at the agency’s Regional Office in Baltimore, Maryland (Region 5) in 1997 where she served as a field attorney. She then moved to the Washington Resident Office of Region 5 in Washington D.C. as a senior trial attorney in 2000.  In 2005, Ms. Watts transferred to the Office of Appeals and was promoted to a supervisory position in 2008.
Ms. Watts received a B.A. degree from the University of California at Davis in 1992, and a J.D. degree from The University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1997.
While initial case merit decisions are made by Regional Directors in one of the NLRB’s 26 Regional offices, those dissatisfied with a Regional Director’s decision may seek review of a dismissal with the Office of Appeals.  Each year, the Office receives and handles about 1600 cases. 
The NLRB is an independent federal agency tasked with enforcing the National Labor Relations Act, which guarantees the right of most private sector employees to organize, to engage in group efforts to improve their wages and working conditions, to determine whether to have unions as their bargaining representative, to engage in collective bargaining, and to refrain from any of these activities. It conducts secret-ballot elections regarding representation of workers and acts to prevent and remedy unfair labor practices committed by private sector employers and unions.            
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