Reynolds Pallet & Box Co. v. NLRB, 15191

• Decision Date: 18 December 1963
• Docket Number: No. 15191,15192.,15191
• Citation: 324 F.2d 833
• Parties: REYNOLDS PALLET & BOX CO., Petitioner, v. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Respondent. Charles T. REYNOLDS, Sr., d.b.a. Charles T. Reynolds Box Company, Petitioner, v. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

324 F.2d 833 (1963)

REYNOLDS PALLET & BOX CO., Petitioner, v. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Respondent.

Charles T. REYNOLDS, Sr., d.b.a. Charles T. Reynolds Box Company, Petitioner, v. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Respondent.

Nos. 15191, 15192.

United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit.

November 8, 1963.

Rehearing Denied December 18, 1963.

Robert F. Wessel, Hamilton, Ohio (Richard J. Wessel, Hamilton, Ohio, on the brief), for petitioner.

Gladys Kessler, N. L. R. B., Washington, D. C. (Stuart Rothman, Gen. Counsel, Dominick L. Manoli, Associate Gen. Counsel, Marcel Mallet-Prevost, Asst. Gen. Counsel, Solomon I. Hirsh, Atty., N. L. R. B., Washington, D. C., on the brief), for respondent.

Before CECIL, Chief Judge, MILLER, Circuit Judge, and DARR, Senior District Judge.

CECIL, Chief Judge.

In these cases the petitioners, Reynolds Pallet & Box Co., and Charles T. Reynolds, Sr., d. b. a. Charles T. Reynolds Box Company, seek review of the proceedings of the N. L. R. B. (Sec. 151 et seq., Title 29, U. S. C.), a reversal of the findings and order made against them by the Board and a dismissal of the complaints charging them with unfair labor practices. The Board filed an answer to the petitions by which it seeks enforcement of the order.

The Trial Examiner found that Reynolds and his supervisors engaged in coercive conduct toward his employees because of their union activities, in violation of Section 8(a) (1) (Sec. 158(a) (1), Title 29, U.S.C.) of the National Labor Relations Act; that he violated Section 8(a) (3) (Sec. 158(a) (3), Title 29, U.S.C.) by discriminatorily discharging all of his employees at his Fairfield plant; and that the Reynolds Pallet & Box Co., a corporation, was the successor to Reynolds, the sole owner of the business, and was jointly liable with Reynolds for the unfair labor practices.

The Board affirmed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and adopted his findings, conclusions and recommendations. The order of the Board, directed to both petitioners, was in the usual form to cease and desist from discouraging membership in the union, from threatening employees with economic reprisals, from threatening employees with a refusal to recognize, bargain or enter into a contract with the union and in any manner interfering with, restraining or coercing employees in their right to self-organization etc. The order directed the corporation to offer the discharged employees employment and to make them whole for any loss sustained as a result of the discrimination against them. It further required posting an appropriate notice for sixty consecutive days.

The interim report of the Trial Examiner, and the Board's decision and order are reported at 139 N.L.R.B. 519. The facts are not much in dispute and are stated in the interim report. They may be briefly stated as follows: Charles T. Reynolds, Sr., doing business as Charles T. Reynolds Box Company, had operated for a number of years as a sole proprietorship and was engaged in the manufacture and sale of industrial boxes, skids, and pallets and the wholesale purchase and sale of lumber. His plant was at Fairfield, Ohio. Mr. Reynolds had been contemplating for several years gradually reducing his responsibility for operating the business and going into partial retirement. This plan began to take form in January 1961, and by October of that year he had sold his Fairfield plant, built a new factory building at Maud, Ohio, about twelve miles distant from the old plant, organized a corporation to take over the business, and had transferred the equipment to the new corporation at the new plant. Production by the corporation began at the new plant about October 4th.

The new corporation issued 240 common shares. Mr. Reynolds acquired 166 shares, his wife 48 and their son-in-law 14. The other 12 were divided among six persons, one of whom was M. R. Banning. Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Banning were elected as members of the board of directors of the corporation. Mr. Banning, who had not previously been connected with the business, was made president of the company. The other officers, including two sons-in-law of the Reynolds, together with all supervisory personnel, were transferred from the old plant. All of the equipment was transferred by sale from Mr. Reynolds to the corporation and installed in the new plant.

In the meantime, in the summer of 1961, while this change in organization, management and location was in progress, Local 637, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, AFL-CIO, began a campaign to organize the employees. This...