Opinion ID: 365902
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Restriction on access

Text: 16 The Board found that the employer had promulgated and enforced an invalid no-access rule, barring employees from the premises after working hours. This finding was based on an incident in which union adherent Vigoa was told by supervisor Mendez to leave the premises. After work Vigoa was getting a haircut at the Roney Plaza barber shop. Mendez told him that he had gotten word from the management that employees would not be allowed to remain on the premises after 4:30 p.m. He further indicated that this new rule had been decided upon at a management meeting that had included Roney's labor counsel. Mendez told Vigoa that he must leave after the haircut, and waited until Vigoa was finished. 17 Even the nondiscriminatory prohibition of solicitation after working hours violates § 8(a)(1), absent a showing that production or discipline requires it. Republic Aviation Corp. v. NLRB, 324 U.S. 793, 803, 65 S.Ct. 982, 987, 89 L.Ed. 1372, 1379 (1945); NLRB v. Mangurian's, Inc., supra, 566 F.2d at 465; NLRB v. Mid-States Metal Products, Inc., 403 F.2d 702, 704 (CA5, 1968). We have also held that rules simply prohibiting employees from being on the premises at all after work hours are similarly presumed invalid. Republic Aluminum Co. v. NLRB, 394 F.2d 405 (CA5, 1968) (en banc). There is, moreover, no need to show that such a rule actually interferes with union organization or that the union requires after-hours access to communicate successfully. Id. 7 18 Still, there must be some substantial basis for the finding that the incident interfered with the workers' organizational rights in violation of § 8(a)(1). Mendez's remarks were not explicitly aimed at union activity, but their timing, their content, and the fact that they were aimed at a leading union adherent, raise strong suspicions. There is no apparent reason for a rule prohibiting Roney's employees from remaining on the premises after hours to use public facilities such as the barber shop. The employer made no attempt to offer justification for this action, and did not call Mendez to offer an explanation of his reasons. We enforce the Board's order with respect to this issue.