NLRB v. Clinton Packing Co., Inc.
| Decision Date | 14 November 1972 |
| Docket Number | No. 72-1084.,72-1084. |
| Citation | 468 F.2d 953 |
| Parties | NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, Petitioner, v. CLINTON PACKING CO., INC., Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Jonathan Axelrod, Atty., N. L. R. B., Washington, D. C., for petitioner.
Joseph C. Dapore, Lima, Ohio, for respondent.
Before LARAMORE, United States Court of Claims Senior Judge, and BRIGHT and ROSS, Circuit Judges.
The National Labor Relations Board (Board) determined that Clinton Packing (Company) committed unfair labor practices in violation of §§ 8(a) (1), 8 (a) (3), and 8(a) (5) of the National Labor Relations Act. (29 U.S.C. §§ 158(a)(1), 158(a)(3), and 158(a)(5).) The Board issued an order requiring the Company to cease and desist from the unfair labor practices found, to reinstate and make whole two discharged employees, and to bargain collectively with the Amalgamated Meatcutters & Butcher Workmen of North America, Local Union No. 576 (Union), upon request. We grant enforcement of the Board's order in part and deny enforcement in part.
Twice prior to the instant case the Board found the Company to be in violation of the Act. In Clinton I, the Board found that Clarence Turner, the Company's vice president and plant manager, had among other things threatened plant closure if the Union won the election, in violation of 8(a) (1), and laid off eight employees in violation of 8(a) (3) and (1). This Court summarily enforced the Board's order in that case. (No. 20341, June 26, 1970.) And in Clinton II, pending before the Board at the time the instant charges were filed, the Board found that the Company had violated 8(a) (5) by unilaterally granting wage increases and laying off employees without first consulting the Union. The Company voluntarily complied with the Board's order in Clinton II.
It is in the light of this history of unfair labor practices that the Board accepted the trial examiner's findings that the Company had again violated the Act. Evidence of prior unfair labor practices is relevant in determining the Company's motivation in its subsequent conduct. J. P. Stevens & Co. v. N. L. R. B., 406 F.2d 1017, 1019 (4th Cir. 1968); Maphis Chapman Corp. v. N. L. R. B., 368 F.2d 298, 303-304 (4th Cir. 1966). This is particularly true here where all the activities complained of in Clinton I, II, and the instant case, occurred within approximately a one-year period.
During contract negotiations following the Union's certification, Turner complained about what he felt was a union-inspired slowdown. One of the bargaining unit's employees, however, began keeping a daily production record which refuted the allegation of a slowdown. On the morning of Friday, July 10, 1970, which was payday, employees Davis and Quick sent messages to Turner informing him that if they were not feeling better by noon they intended to leave early. Davis complained of an arthritic hip and Quick of a headache. When they went to Turner's office, at about 11:30 a. m., to pick up their checks and ask permission to leave because of not feeling well, Turner accused them of participating in a slowdown and warned them they would be fired if they kept it up. Davis denied any knowledge of a slowdown, and both he and Quick left.
Turner then telephoned Wolff, the Union representative, and told him that he was going to discharge Davis and Quick because of their involvement in a slowdown. Wolff denied the charge and asked Turner to reconsider. He indicated that he would try to be at the plant at starting time on Monday morning to see if there was any evidence of a slowdown. However, when Davis and Quick reported for work the following Monday, and Wolff wasn't there at the 7:00 a. m. starting time, Turner gave them their checks and said that he couldn't use them anymore. Two months later Davis was rehired and promoted to a supervisory position. Quick, however, was not reinstated.
Turner's erroneous belief that there was a union-inspired slowdown was no defense to his discharge of Davis and Quick. See N. L. R. B. v. Burnup and Sims, Inc., 379 U.S. 21, 23, 85 S.Ct. 171, 13 L.Ed.2d 1 (1964). Although there does not appear to be substantial evidence in the record to support the Board's finding that Davis and Quick "were known in the plant as active union protagonists," known union activity or membership is not essential since there is substantial evidence that the discharge was the result of suspected union activity. N. L. R. B. v. Ritchie Manufacturing Co., 354 F.2d 90, 98 (8th Cir. 1965).
In meeting with the Union representatives on two occasions, Turner stated that he would meet with them any time but that he wouldn't do anything as far as a contract was concerned "until the National Labor Relations Board or St. Louis" (apparently referring to this Court) told him what to do....
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Chauffeurs, Teamsters and Helpers, Local 633 of New Hampshire v. N.L.R.B.
...to the contrary in Amyx Indus. Inc. v. NLRB, 457 F.2d 904 (8th Cir. 1972) must, therefore, be disapproved.31 See NLRB v. Clinton Packing Co., 468 F.2d 953, 955 (8th Cir. 1972).32 The trial examiner apparently felt that the employees of Law Motor Freight, Bulk Haulers and Law Warehouses shou......
-
United Steelworkers of America v. N.L.R.B.
...S.Ct. 564, 19 L.Ed.2d 600 (1967); J. P. Stevens & Co. v. NLRB, 417 F.2d 533, 538 n.9 (5th Cir. 1969).32 See also NLRB v. Clinton Packing Co., 468 F.2d 953, 954 (8th Cir. 1972); J. P. Stevens & Co. v. NLRB, 417 F.2d 533, 537 (5th Cir. 1969); J. P. Stevens & Co. v. NLRB, 406 F.2d 1017, 1019, ......
-
Brock v. Richardson
...L.Ed. 368 (1941); Henning & Cheadle, Inc. v. N.L.R.B., 522 F.2d 1050, 1052 (7th Cir.1975) (per curiam); N.L.R.B. v. Clinton Packing Co., 468 F.2d 953, 954-55 (8th Cir.1972) (per curiam). It is evident that the discharge of an employee in the mistaken belief that the employee has engaged in ......
-
Gottfried v. Purity Systems, Inc.
...violates Sections 8(a)(1) and (3) of the Act. NLRB v. Health Care Logistics, Inc., 784 F.2d 232 (6th Cir. 1986); NLRB v. Clinton Packing Co., 468 F.2d 953 (8th Cir.1972); NLRB v. Ritchie Mfg. Co., 354 F.2d 90 (8th Cir.1968); NLRB v. American Casting Service, Inc., 365 F.2d 168 (7th Cir.1966......