Opinion ID: 467522
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: On December 2, 1982, Melvin D. Taylor was terminated from his job as a truck driver by Ryder Truck Lines, Inc., when he refused to drive a 1979 Ford tractor assigned to him by Ryder from its pool of vehicles. Taylor complained of several safety problems with the tractor but primarily objected to the Ford's telescoping steering column, which had frozen and could not be adjusted to accommodate his 240-pound frame. Ryder's truckdrivers are parties to a collective bargaining agreement 1 and are represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffers, Warehousemen, and Helpers of America (the Union). The Agreement states that Ryder may not require employees to operate an unsafe vehicle and further provides that disputes shall be resolved through final and binding grievance and arbitration procedures. After his termination, Taylor filed a grievance protesting his discharge. The grievance was submitted to a Southern Multi-State Grievance Committee (the Multi-State Committee) comprised of Union and Ryder representatives. This Committee held a hearing on January 25, 1983, and heard testimony from Ryder and from Taylor but was unable to reach a decision. The case was automatically appealed to the Southern Conference Joint Area Grievance Committee (the Area Committee). At this hearing, the transcript of the first grievance proceeding was made a part of the record and a Ryder representative made a brief statement. Taylor was not permitted to be present at this hearing; the Union representative made no statement on Taylor's behalf. The Area Committee denied the grievance with no discussion other than the following pronouncement: DECISION: Case No. 15 DENIED, COST TO THE UNION. On March 3, 1983, Taylor filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board, which issued a complaint against Ryder on April 11 of that year. After a hearing on July 28-29, 1983, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) issued a recommended decision and order on September 21, 1983. The ALJ declined to defer to the Area Committee's denial of Taylor's complaint, noting that Ryder had not offered the Area Committee decision or the Multi-State Committee transcript into evidence. Reaching the merits of Taylor's grievance, the ALJ held that Taylor's refusal to drive the Ford tractor was a protected concerted activity and that his termination by Ryder violated Section 8(a)(3) of the National Labor Relations Act. Ryder filed numerous exceptions to the findings and order of the ALJ. While these exceptions were pending, the Board decided Olin Corp., 268 NLRB 573 (1984), in which it restated the Board's standard for deferral to arbitration procedures. On its own initiative, the Board remanded Taylor's case to the ALJ on the deferral issue alone, with instructions to reopen the record and reconsider that issue in light of Olin. After reviewing the transcript of the Multi-State Committee hearing and the decision of the Area Committee, the ALJ issued on July 17, 1984, a supplemental decision finding that the cursory findings of the Area Committee provided no basis for deferral and reaffirming its original decision. Relying on the Olin decision, the Board reversed the supplemental decision, 2 holding that the General Counsel had not met its burden of affirmatively demonstrating that the unfair labor practice had not received adequate consideration by the Area Committee. This appeal followed.