Opinion ID: 271751
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Shepard's $100 Safety Award

Text: 11 Had Shepard completed 1961 without an accident, he would have earned Coca-Cola's annual driver's safety award of $100. Shepard was accident-free at the time of his unlawful discharge October 5, 1961. Since Shepard's discharge made it impossible to determine whether he would have completed the year accident-free, the Board resolved the uncertainty against the wrongdoer, the respondent, and included the full $100 in Shepard's backpay. We agree with the Board. 12 A safe-driving award which an employee would have earned absent unlawful discrimination is includible in backpay. See NLRB v. Exchange Parts Co., 5 Cir. 1965, 339 F.2d 829, 831, 832; Nabors v. NLRB, 5 Cir. 1963, 323 F.2d 686, 690. Ordinarily the general counsel must prove with certainty that the employer's unlawful discrimination caused the employee's loss of backpay. NLRB v. Katarik, Inc., 8 Cir. 1955, 227 F.2d 190, 192; Mastro Plastics, 136 NLRB 1342, 1346 (1962). Here however that burden is impossible to carry. Failure to qualify for the $100 award might have resulted either from the unlawful discharge or from Shepard's having an accident during October, November, or December, 1961. 13 The respondent argues that the general counsel's inability to carry the burden of proof decides the issue. But the Board has, as a matter of policy — one that seems reasonable — consistently taken the view that when an employer's unlawful discrimination makes it impossible to determine whether a discharged employee would have earned backpay in the absence of discrimination, the uncertainty should be resolved against the employer. Merchandise Press, Inc., 115 NLRB 1441, 1332 (1956); Spitzer Motor Sales, 102 NLRB 437, 453 n. 52 (1953). 14 This Court has approved the Board's rule. East Texas Steel Castings Co., 116 NLRB 1336, 1339-40 (1956), aff'd, NLRB v. East Texas Steel Castings Co., 5 Cir. 1958, 255 F.2d 284 (per curiam). In East Texas unlawfully discharged backpay claimants were members of a union which struck employer February 19, 1952. The employer later offered the discharged employees reinstatement. In proceedings to determine the backpay due employees, the employer argued that the date of the strike should be the cut-off date for his backpay liability since the claimants would probably have struck with their union. Instead, the Board placed the cut-off date at the time of the offer of reinstatement because the employer's discrimination made it impossible to determine whether the backpay claimants would have gone on strike absent the discrimination. 15 We enforce the part of the Board's order which includes in Shepard's backpay the $100 safety award.