Small

I.

In March 2010, Karykeion Inc. sold Community Hospital to CHHP. Three days after the sale became final, CHHP took over ownership of Community. CHHP refused, however, to recognize or bargain with the California Nurses Association, the union that had represented the registered nurses at Community under Karykeion’s ownership. James Small, Regional Director of Region 21 of the National Labor Relations Board (the “Director”), sought preliminary injunctive relief in the district court pursuant to § 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The Director alleged that CHHP was a successor employer to Karykeion and that a majority of CHHP’s registered nurses had been members of the California Nurses Association under Karykeion. The Director therefore alleged that CHHP’s continuing failure to bargain in good faith with the chosen representative of its employees violated §§ 8(a)(1) & 8(a)(5) of the NLRA.

The district court granted the Director’s § 10(j) petition and issued a preliminary injunction. It applied the test established by the Supreme Court in Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 555 U.S. 7, 129 S.Ct. 365 , 172 L.Ed.2d 249 (2008), and held that the…