Opinion ID: 187190
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Unit Determination Standard

Text: BMV’s primary argument is that the Board applied a standard for the unit determination that conflicts with the NLRA and has been, for that reason, rejected by the Fourth Circuit. BMV’s position, although superficially plausible, is based upon a misapprehension of the framework governing unit determinations. The Board’s principal concern in evaluating a proposed bargaining unit is whether the employees share a “community of interest.” NLRB v. Action Auto., Inc., 469 U.S. 490, 494 (1985); see also Agri Processor Co., Inc. v. NLRB, 514 F.3d 1, 8-9 (D.C. Cir. 2008). “There is no hard and fast definition or an inclusive or exclusive listing of the factors to consider [under the community-of-interest standard]. Rather, unit determinations must be made only after weighing all relevant factors on a case-by-case basis.” Country Ford Trucks, 229 F.3d at 1190-91 (quotation marks, citations, and ellipsis omitted). Those factors include whether, in distinction from other employees, the employees in the proposed unit have “different methods of compensation, hours of work, benefits, supervision, training and skills; if their contact with other employees is infrequent; if their work functions are not integrated with those of other employees; and if they have historically been part of a distinct bargaining unit.” Trident Seafoods, Inc. v. NLRB, 101 F.3d 111, 118 n.11 (D.C. Cir. 1996); see also Agri Processor, 514 F.3d at 9 (collecting factors); NLRB v. Lundy Packing Co. (Lundy II), 68 F.3d 1577, 1580 (4th Cir. 1995) (listing factors). And, although the NLRA provides “the extent to which the employees have organized shall not be controlling,” 29 U.S.C. § 159(c)(5), the Supreme Court has held that the extent of their organization may be “consider[ed] ... as one factor” in determining whether a proposed unit is appropriate. NLRB v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., 380 U.S. 438, 442 (1965). 7 Decisions of the Board and of the courts in unit determination cases generally conform to a consistent analytic framework. If the employees in the proposed unit share a community of interest, then the unit is prima facie appropriate. In order successfully to challenge that unit, the employer must do more than show there is another appropriate unit because “more than one appropriate bargaining unit logically can be defined in any particular factual setting.” Country Ford Trucks, 229 F.3d at 1189 (quotation marks omitted). Rather, as the Board emphasizes, the employer’s burden is to show the prima facie appropriate unit is “truly inappropriate.” Id. at 1189; Dunbar Armored, Inc. v. NLRB, 186 F.3d 844, 847 (7th Cir. 1999) (“clearly inappropriate”) (quotation marks omitted); see also Serramonte Oldsmobile, Inc. v. NLRB, 86 F.3d 227, 236 (D.C. Cir. 1996) (the Board “need only select an appropriate unit, not the most appropriate unit”) (quotation marks omitted). A unit is truly inappropriate if, for example, there is no legitimate basis upon which to exclude certain employees from it. That the excluded employees share a community of interest with the included employees does not, however, mean there may be no legitimate basis upon which to exclude them; that follows apodictically from the proposition that there may be more than one appropriate bargaining unit. If, however, the excluded employees share an overwhelming community of interest with the included employees, then there is no legitimate basis upon which to exclude them from the bargaining unit. We held in Trident Seafoods, for example, the Board’s unit determination was “irrational” and “unsupported by substantial evidence” because the employer had adduced unrebutted evidence showing that “the functional integration of and the overwhelming similarities between the [excluded] and [included employees] are such that neither group can be said to have any separate 8 community of interest justifying a separate bargaining unit.” 101 F.3d at 120; see also Jewish Hosp. Ass’n, 223 N.L.R.B. 614, 617 (1976) (unit limited to service employees inappropriate because of “overwhelming community of interest” with maintenance employees); Lodgian, Inc., 332 N.L.R.B. 1246, 1255 (2000) (RD required inclusion in unit of employees who “share an overwhelming community of interest with the employees whom the [union] seeks to represent”). A Venn diagram may clarify these principles. Each rectangle represents the interests of a group of identically situated employees. The region in which two or more rectangles overlap represents the degree to which those groups have common interests. In Figure 1, Rectangles A, B, and C all overlap because all the groups have a community of interest with each other. Consequently, any combination of the groups – AB, AC, BC, or ABC – is a prima facie appropriate bargaining unit. Note, however, that Rectangles A and B overlap almost completely; this indicates they have an overwhelming community of interest. Any unit that includes one but excludes the other is “truly inappropriate.” Therefore, the only units that could be deemed appropriate in the face of a challenge are AB and ABC.