Opinion ID: 782952
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Incidents Involving Brian Meany

Text: 10 On February 11, 1999, Teamsters member Brian Meany, an employee in the brewing department of the Baldwinsville brewery, attended a mandatory company communications meeting conducted by Michael Harding, a senior executive from Busch's headquarters in St. Louis. At the outset of Harding's presentation, the brewery's employees were advised that the meeting was for the purpose of discussing Busch's financial performance and that there would be no discussion of collective bargaining or contract issues. Following his presentation, Harding entertained questions from employees. At that time, Meany criticized Busch for its treatment of workers at the Baldwinsville brewery. At one point, Meany read a list of symptoms of an abused spouse, drawing an analogy to Busch's treatment of its employees. During Meany's commentary, Harding urged Meany to keep his comments brief, but Meany ignored this request. 11 When Meany reported to work the next day, February 12, 1999, he was advised to find a shop steward and report to Brewmaster Sammartino's office for a meeting with Sammartino and Human Resources Manager Larry Harmon. At the meeting, Sammartino criticized Meany for disrupting the communications meeting, suggesting that, if Meany behaved that way again, he would be removed from the Baldwinsville brewery and disciplined. Sammartino then said, I want you to know that the work you do on the floor here does not outweigh the things you do in communications meetings. If you speak again at a communications meeting, you will be fired. ALJ Decision at 8. After Meany requested that this restriction be placed in writing, Harmon said, You know what, you will be fired. Then the [Teamsters] will go through the grievance procedure and what will happen will happen. Id. 12 As a result of this incident, the Teamsters charged that Busch had interfered with Meany's right to engage in a protected activity by threatening him for voicing his opinions on collective bargaining issues. As to this charge, the ALJ agreed with the Complaint, concluding that Busch management threatened Meany in reaction to a protected activity and that Busch had thus engaged in an unfair labor practice. Id. at 8-9. The Board also affirmed this conclusion, agreeing that Busch had committed an unfair labor practice in its treatment of Meany. Order at 1.