Leslie Smith has suffered a big setback in her labor fight with the UFC.

The National Labor Relations Board dismissed her complaint against the UFC on Sept. 19, according to online records. Smith’s attorney, Lucas Middlebrook, has vowed to appeal the decision by an Oct. 3 deadline.

In a panel discussion held Tuesday at Rutgers University, Middlebrook said the NLRB’s main office determined the UFC didn’t retaliate against Smith when it bought her out of her contract and released her after a canceled fight against Aspen Ladd in April at UFC Fight Night 128.

Because it was ruled the UFC didn’t retaliate, Middlebrook said, the agency wasn’t required to answer the question of whether she is an employee or independent contractor, which was a central part of her complaint against the promotion.

“Now, isn’t that convenient for the UFC? Their entire business model hung in the balance if a federal agency said, yes, these fighters are employees,” Middlebrook said.

The ruling comes three months after a seesaw in Smith’s fortunes as Middlebrook reported the case was advancing via the NLRB’s Region 4 office in Pennsylvania – which he believed had jurisdiction over the case – only to be sent to the agency’s main office in Washington, D.C.

Middlebrook accused the UFC of pulling “political strings” to get the case reassigned, a claim he repeated Tuesday.

“Unlike Region 4, which judged this on its merits and according to the law, D.C.’s decision was nothing but the result of a political stranglehold,” Middlebrook said.

Smith, 35, filed the complaint in May, claiming the UFC violated the National Labor Relations Act by retaliating against her because of her organizing efforts through Project Spearhead. Among other measures, Project Spearhead hopes to force the NLRB to determine whether UFC fighters are employees or independent contractors. Smith is the organization’s interim president, while Middlebrook acts as a legal advisor.

UFC President Dana White called Smith’s complaint “somebody else’s problem” and didn’t comment on the allegations in her case.

Middlebrook indicated White’s relationship with President Donald Trump, who appointed the NLRB’s current director, Peter B. Robb, played a direct part in the dismissal.

“Three days after I went to NLRB in D.C., Dana was in the oval office taking pictures with Mr. Trump and reportedly had a three-hour dinner meeting,” Middlebrook said.

Middlebrook said it was clear that the NLRB was going to dismiss Smith’s case when he attended a meeting July 26 in Washington, D.C.

“The meeting lasted about two hours, and it was obvious from the tenor of the meeting which way they were leaning, and that was obviously in the UFC’s favor,” Middlebrook said. “And I asked the general counsel, ‘Why are we even here? Why does D.C. have this case?’ Region 4 issued a merit determination, then D.C. says (Washington) needs to see the case? In all my years practicing, I’ve never seen that happen. And you know what Peter Robb said in response to that? ‘I haven’t either.'”

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