Veritas Health Services, Inc., 31-CA-029713

• Court: National Labor Relations Board
• Citation: 362 NLRB No. 32
• Decision Date: 19 March 2015
• Parties: VERITAS HEALTH SERVICES, INC. D/B/A CHINO VALLEY MEDICAL CENTER AND UNITED NURSES ASSOCIATIONS OF CALIFORNIA/UNION OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS, NUHHCE, AFSCME, AFL-CIO
• Docket Number: 31-CA-029716,31-CA-029768,31-CA-029714,31-CA-029749,31-CA-029966,31-CA-029965,31-CA-029745,31-CA-029717,31-CA-029738,31-CA-029786,31-CA-029769,31-CA-029713,31-CA-029715,31-CA-029936

362 NLRB No. 32

VERITAS HEALTH SERVICES, INC. D/B/A CHINO VALLEY MEDICAL CENTER AND UNITED NURSES ASSOCIATIONS OF CALIFORNIA/UNION OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS, NUHHCE, AFSCME, AFL-CIO

Nos. 31-CA-029713, 31-CA-029714, 31-CA-029715, 31-CA-029716, 31-CA-029717, 31-CA-029738, 31-CA-029745, 31-CA-029749, 31-CA-029768, 31-CA-029769, 31-CA-029786, 31-CA-029936, 31-CA-029965, 31-CA-029966

United States of America, National Labor Relations Board

March 19, 2015

DECISION AND ORDER

On April 30, 2013, the Board issued a Decision and Order in this proceeding, which is reported at 359 N.L.R.B. No. 111. Thereafter, the Respondent filed a petition for review in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

At the time of the Decision and Order, the composition of the Board included two persons whose appointments to the Board had been challenged as constitutionally infirm. On June 26, 2014, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in NLRB v. Noel Canning, 134 S.Ct. 2550 (2014), holding that the challenged appointments to the Board were not valid. Thereafter, the Board issued an order setting aside the Decision and Order, and retained this case on its docket for further action as appropriate. The Board also filed a motion to dismiss the petition for review pending before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and that request was granted.

The National Labor Relations Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.

In view of the decision of the Supreme Court in NLRB v. Noel Canning, supra, we have considered de novo the judge's decision and the record in light of the exceptions and briefs. We have also considered the now-vacated Decision and Order, and we agree with the rationale set forth therein.^[1] Accordingly, we adopt the judge's recommended Order to the extent and for the reasons stated in the Decision and Order reported at 359 N.L.R.B. No. 111, which is incorporated herein by reference.^[2] The Order is set forth in full below.

ORDER

The National Labor Relations Board orders that the Respondent, Veritas Health Services, Inc. d/b/a Chino Valley Medical Center, Chino Valley, California, its officers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall

1. Cease and desist from

(a) Threatening to close the facility and terminate employees if they selected a union.

(b) Threatening employees with loss of benefits if they selected the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Healthcare Professionals, NUHHCE, AFSCME, AFL-CIO (the Union) as their collective-bargaining representative.

(c) Coercively interrogating employees about their union activities.

(d) Impliedly threatening employees with layoffs if they supported a union.

(e) Telling employees that they might lose the family atmosphere and flexibility of scheduling at Chino Valley if they selected the Union.

(f) Giving employees the impression that their union activities are under surveillance.

(g) Threatening to discipline employees because they engaged in union activities.

(h) Informing employees that they could no longer take vacations longer than 2 weeks because the employees had selected the Union to represent them.

(i) Telling employees that the family atmosphere at Chino Valley is over and that henceforth Chino Valley would begin strictly enforcing its policies and procedures, including tardiness, because the employees voted for the Union.

(j) Broadly prohibiting employees from speaking to the media, including about the Union or about terms and conditions of employment.

(k) Serving subpoenas on employees and unions that request information about employees' union activities, under circumstances where that information is not related to any issue in the legal proceeding.

(l) Unilaterally changing wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment of employees without first giving the Union notice and an opportunity to bargain about such changes.

(m) More strictly enforcing a tardiness rule and disciplining employees pursuant to that more strictly enforced rule because employees supported the Union.

(n) More strictly enforcing a tardiness rule and disciplining employees pursuant to that more strictly enforced rule without first giving the Union an opportunity to bargain concerning the change.

(o) Disciplining employees who fail to attend mandatory meetings.

(p) Discharging or otherwise discriminating against any employee for supporting the Union or any other union.

(q) Beginning to discipline employees who fail to attend mandatory meetings without first giving the Union an opportunity to bargain concerning the change.

(r) Terminating the practice of paying part-time employees for the time spent attending classes needed to maintain the certifications necessary to perform their work at Chino Valley without first allowing the Union an opportunity to bargain concerning that change.

(s) Failing to provide the Union with requested information that is presumptively relevant to the Union's performance of its representational duties.

(t) In any other manner interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed them by Section 7 of the Act.

2. Take the following affirmative action necessary to effectuate the policies of the Act.

(a) Before implementing any changes in wages, hours, or other terms and conditions of employment, notify and, on request, bargain with the Union as the exclusive collective-bargaining representative of employees in the following bargaining unit:

All full-time, regular part-time and regular per diem registered nurses employed by the Employer at its 5451 Walnut Avenue, Chino, California facility in the following departments: Emergency Services, Critical Care Services/Intensive Care Unit, Surgery, Post-Anesthesia Care Unit, Outpatient Services, Gastrointestinal Laboratory Cardiovascular Catheterization Laboratory, Radiology Telemetry/Direct Observation Unit and Medical/Surgical

(b) Rescind the discipline imposed pursuant to stricter enforcement of the tardiness rule and restore the practice that existed prior thereto.

(c) Rescind the discipline imposed on employees who failed to attend mandatory meetings.

(d) Within 14 days from the date of this Order, remove from its files any reference to the unlawful discipline of employees, and within 3 days thereafter, notify the employees in writing that this has been done and that the discipline will not be used against them in any way.

(f) Restore the practice of paying part-time employees for the time spent attending classes needed to maintain the certifications necessary to perform their work at Chino Valley, and make whole, with interest compounded daily, those employees for any losses resulting from the unlawful termination of this practice.

(g) Furnish to the Union in a timely manner the following information requested by the Union on April 9, 2010: lists of employees, including details as to full or part-time status, hourly wage rates, wage increases, fringe benefits, classifications, shifts, addresses and phone numbers; employee handbooks; company policies and procedures; job descriptions; benefit plans; costs of benefits; and disciplinary notices.

(h) Within 14 days from the date of this Order, offer Ronald Magsino full reinstatement to his former job or, if that job no longer exists, to a substantially equivalent position, without prejudice to his seniority or any other rights or privileges previously enjoyed.

(i) Make Ronald Magsino whole for any loss of earnings and other benefits suffered as a result of the discrimination against him in the manner set forth in the remedy section of the judge's decision as amended in this decision.

(j) Compensate Ronald Magsino for the adverse tax consequences, if any, of receiving a lump-sum backpay award, and file a report with the Social Security Administration allocating the backpay award to the appropriate calendar quarters.

(k) Within 14 days from the date of this Order, remove from its files any reference to the unlawful discharge of Ronald Magsino, and within 3 days thereafter, notify him in writing that this has been done and that the discharge will not be used against him in any way.

(l) Preserve and, within 14 days of a request, or such additional time as the Regional...