Opinion ID: 431101
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Alleged Threats of Deportation

Text: 18 The Company submitted to the Board a declaration by a supervisor that several unnamed employees told him that another unnamed employee claimed that yet another employee, allegedly a Union supporter, had suggested at a Union meeting that the Border Patrol be called, presumably to discover and eliminate any illegal aliens in the work force before the election. 3 The declaration alleged that several employees of Mexican descent were very upset by these rumors. Sonoma submitted no evidence of the number of employees allegedly exposed to and upset by the rumor, or that the Border Patrol actually was called. Nor did Sonoma show any employee was deterred from voting or voted against his choice. 19 Apart from the unreliability of the supervisor's hearsay declaration, see NLRB v. Hepa, 597 F.2d 166, 167 (9th Cir.1979) (per curiam), we find little indication that the deportation threat could be attributed to the Union. Sonoma made no prima facie showing that the Union approved of the threat. At most, Sonoma alleges an isolated statement by an unidentified person at an open Union meeting. The Union could not control every statement made at an open meeting. See May Department Stores Co. v. NLRB, 707 F.2d 430, 433 (9th Cir.1983). Cf. Bush Hog, Inc. v. NLRB, 420 F.2d 1266, 1269 (5th Cir.1969) (court should not invite third parties to create incidents that could invalidate an election). We find unpersuasive Sonoma's contention that a party may become a union agent merely by speaking at such a meeting. 20 Incidents which are not attributable to a union are entitled to less weight than union-attributable statements in determining whether a free election was possible, NLRB v. Spring Road Corp., 577 F.2d 586, 588 (9th Cir.1978); NLRB v. Aaron Bros. Corp., 563 F.2d 409, 412 (9th Cir.1977) (per curiam), because there generally is less likelihood that they affected the outcome. NLRB v. Mike Yurosek & Sons, Inc., 597 F.2d 661, 663 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 839, 100 S.Ct. 78, 62 L.Ed.2d 51 (1979). 21 On several occasions this court has addressed allegations that deportation threats by union adherents created an atmosphere of coercion sufficient to invalidate an election. See, e.g., NLRB v. Eskimo Radiator Mfg. Co., 688 F.2d 1315, 1319 (9th Cir.1982) (per curiam); Mike Yurosek & Sons, 597 F.2d at 662-63; NLRB v. Heath Tec Division/San Francisco, 566 F.2d 1367, 1372 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 832, 99 S.Ct. 110, 58 L.Ed.2d 127 (1978). We have noted that [d]eportation rumors which are not attributable to the union do not automatically result in overturning the election. Eskimo Radiator, 688 F.2d at 1319. In Eskimo Radiator the court upheld the Board's denial of such an objection without an evidentiary hearing. As in the instant case, the employer in Eskimo Radiator offered no prima facie evidence that any employee's vote was affected by the rumor. Id. 22 Because the deportation rumors were not attributable to the Union, and the employer presented no prima facie evidence that any employee was coerced, no evidentiary hearing was required.