Opinion ID: 356189
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether the Employer's Doubt Was Held in Good Faith

Text: 20 As an alternative ground, the Board noted that whatever doubts the Company had were not held in good faith. 12 Even assuming a sufficient basis for a reasonable doubt, it is well settled that an employer violates Section 8(a)(5) if its doubt is not held in good faith. See Teamsters Local Union 769 v. N. L. R. B., 174 U.S.App.D.C. 310, 313, 532 F.2d 1385, 1388, n. 8 (1976). Here the Board relied on the Company's use of delaying devices and its clearly stated desire to use its specialist attorney to free itself from the collective bargaining agreement in order to infer a lack of good faith. While consultation with an attorney even when combined with a desire to operate without a union is not a necessarily sufficient indication to doubt an employer's good faith (compare Schwarzenbach-Huber Co. v. N. L. R. B., 408 F.2d 236, 247 (2d Cir. 1969); Raymond Convalescent Hospital, 216 N.L.R.B. 494, 499 (1975)), the conversations in this case indicating a desire to use an attorney to break the contract, combined with the delaying tactics by the Company, form a sufficient basis from which to infer a lack of good faith. See generally N. L. R. B. v. Comfort, Inc., 365 F.2d 867, 876 (8th Cir. 1966). In addition, the Company's tardy notice of its doubt lends weight to the conclusion that the doubt asserted at the Board hearing and in this Court was not held in good faith at the relevant times. See N. L. R. B. v. Schill Steel Products, Inc., 480 F.2d 586, 591 (5th Cir. 1973); see generally Bally Case and Cooler, Inc. v. N. L. R. B., 416 F.2d 902, 905 (6th Cir. 1969), certiorari denied, 399 U.S. 910, 90 S.Ct. 2201, 26 L.Ed.2d 562. In short, the Board chose to draw the inference of a lack of good faith and the Company offers no reason to doubt that the evidence is sufficient to support that inference. 21 Finding either of the Board's alternative holdings sufficient, we therefore enforce its order.