Opinion ID: 3003868
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Authority responsibly to direct

Text: To establish that an employee has the authority responsibly to direct another co-worker, the employee must be accountable for the co-worker’s performance. See NLRB v. Adam & Eve Cosmetics, Inc., 567 F.3d 723, 728 (7th Cir. 1977). In addition to accountability, the Board requires that an employee must have “authority to take corrective action, if necessary” and be subject to negative consequences for her failure to take such action. Oakwood Healthcare, Inc., 348 NLRB 686, 692 (2006). The Board adopted the ALJ’s conclusion that Loparex’s shift leaders were not empowered to take corrective action. Loparex argues that Oakwood Healthcare was wrongly decided because the Board inappropriately read into the statute an additional requirement that the employee must have the capacity to take corrective actions. The Board asserts that Loparex has forfeited any argument directly challenging the case. See 29 U.S.C. § 160(e). While Loparex argued to the Board that its shift leaders did direct their co-workers, it neither attacked Oakwood Healthcare nor raised the issue of corrective action. This may well amount to a forfeiture of Loparex’s argument on appeal. See Masiongale Electrical-Mechanical, Inc. v. NLRB, 323 F.3d 546, 555 (7th Cir. 2003). Yet even if Loparex did preserve the issue, we are unpersuaded by its argument. The Board’s position, in Loparex’s opinion, is nonsensical, because the ability to discipline is a statutorily recognized supervisory power. Assuming that “corrective action” is not different from disciplinary action, Loparex 16 Nos. 09-2187, 09-2289 argues that the Oakwood Healthcare rule effectively eliminates “responsible direction” as a separate basis for establishing an employee’s supervisory status. Loparex contends that the Board applied the “corrective action” requirement in a manner that conflated the idea of discipline and responsible direction. The most we can say is that the reference to responsible direction in section 2(11) of the Act may be ambiguous. We thus owe Chevron deference to the Board’s decision in Oakwood Healthcare. See Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. National Resources Defense Counsel, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984); NLRB v. GranCare, Inc., 170 F.3d 662, 666 (7th Cir. 1999) (en banc) (according Chevron deference to Board’s interpretation of the “independent judgment” requirement in section 2(11)). Though Loparex contends that Oakwood Healthcare’s concept of “corrective action” is fundamentally flawed, we find it a permissible interpretation of the pertinent statutory language. The Board is entitled to take the position that it would be incongruous to hold someone accountable for the conduct of others she could not control or correct. See NLRB v. Don’s Olney Foods, Inc., 870 F.2d 1279, 1284 (7th Cir. 1989) (holding that responsible direction implies the need for accountability). At the same time, in applying the “corrective action” requirement, the Board must be careful to distinguish between corrective and disciplinary action in order to ensure that each part of section 2(11) has meaning. Yet, despite Loparex’s claims to the contrary, there is little indication that it equated these two forms of supervisory power. Instead, the Board accepted the ALJ’s finding that Nos. 09-2187, 09-2289 17 shift leaders lacked authority to take corrective action because they were unable to control their crew members in any meaningful sense. The ALJ pointed out, for example, that if a member of a shift leader’s crew is insubordinate, the shift leader’s only option is to submit a factual report detailing the issue to her team manager for consideration. The ALJ found that this meager reporting power could not be construed as a form of corrective action. Since Loparex did not provide any other evidence indicating that shift leaders had authority to control crew members, the Board did not need to illustrate the difference between corrective and disciplinary action. We add that we have no trouble imagining separate domains for these two kinds of action. For instance, an employee might be said to take corrective action if she requires a coworker to stay late to complete a project that has fallen behind schedule. Placing this small burden on the employee, however, would not amount to a disciplinary action that could affect the employee’s job status. We are satisfied that substantial evidence supports the Board’s determination that shift leaders do not possess the ability to take corrective action. This court owes deference to the Board when it is engaged in the difficult task of distinguishing between “true supervisors” and other employees under section 2(11). See GranCare, 170 F.3d at 666. This type of line-drawing is what the Board is for, after all. And the evidence in this case provided ample support for the Board’s conclusion that shift leaders lack the authority responsibly to direct their crew members. 18 Nos. 09-2187, 09-2289