Opinion ID: 608801
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Treatment of Employees Engelhardt and Ramirez

Text: 3 In September 1985, James, Gillis and Dean Poll (Polls), the sole shareholders and directors of Gold Coast Restaurant Corporation, purchased a restaurant called Manero's in Roslyn, New York. At the time, the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union Local 100 (Union) represented Manero's workers. Several months later, however, the employees voted to leave the Union. In July 1987 the Polls closed the restaurant for extensive remodelling. They redecorated the restaurant's interior, upgraded the bar and the menu and renamed it Bryant and Cooper's Steakhouse (B & C). Upon re-opening, the Polls offered jobs to all of their old employees. 4 Several months after B & C opened, some of its employees attempted to reunionize the restaurant. A few employees, including Stephen Engelhardt, a waiter, distributed union authorization cards and urged waiters, busboys and kitchen workers to sign the cards. As a result of their effort, on November 20, 1987, the employees petitioned B & C for an election. Trouble began two days later. First, the Polls instituted a formal, written system of discipline at the restaurant. Before then, they had kept no employee disciplinary records. Second, the Polls made changes in employees' work schedules. Engelhardt and his partner, 1 Gallo Ramirez, both full time waiters, routinely worked Friday and Saturday nights. Those nights, the busiest of the week, produced the best tips. On November 22, the Polls posted a new work schedule which removed Engelhardt and Ramirez from the Friday and Saturday night shifts. The schedule also changed Engelhardt's day off from Monday to Wednesday. When Engelhardt and Ramirez complained to the Polls about the changes, the Polls gave the two their old shifts in time for them to work the upcoming weekend and changed Engelhardt's day off to Monday. The Polls claimed they had simply made an error in the schedule. Nonetheless, Engelhardt saw the schedule change as retaliation for his role in petitioning for a union election. 5 Subsequently, the Polls questioned Ramirez about his involvement in union activities. Gillis Poll asked Ramirez about the amount of union sympathy among the employees. Another time, James Poll called Ramirez into his office, where all three Polls were waiting, and tried to discover whether Ramirez supported the Union and whether Ramirez knew of other employees who supported it. 6 On December 4, Dean Poll sent an open letter to all employees, urging them not to vote for unionization in the upcoming election. The letter noted the changes at the restaurant since the employees were last unionized. The letter concluded: 7 We firmly believe that a union is not necessary nor desirable here. The restaurant business is a gamble. We have hit upon a formula that will get us to the top and keep us there. This would be good for everyone. A successful business is the only job security in the restaurant business. I can tell you about hundreds of restaurants in New York which were unionized that have gone out of business. The union was unable to do anything to save the jobs of the employees in these restaurants. In our opinion, the union may have even contributed to some of these closings. Service tends to get lazy and tired at these places. When people come to these places, they don't have a good time and they don't come back. When that happens, a closing is inevitable. 8 We don't want that to happen here. You have an opportunity to prevent it. 9