Opinion ID: 405425
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Successor Employer

Text: 15 A successor employer is one who conducts essentially the same business as the former employer, and a majority of whose work force are former employees. NLRB v. World Evangelism, Inc., 656 F.2d 1349, 1354 (9th Cir. 1981). If the predecessor's employees were represented by a union, and the successor hires a majority of those employees, a presumption arises that the successor's employees also support the union. See NLRB v. Burns International Security Services, Inc., 406 U.S. 272, 278-79, 92 S.Ct. 1571, 1577, 32 L.Ed.2d 61 (1972); NLRB v. Edjo, Inc., 631 F.2d 604, 606-07 (9th Cir. 1980). A successor employer therefore inherits its predecessor's duty to bargain with the union, although ordinarily it is not bound by the predecessor's collective bargaining agreement. Burns, 406 U.S. at 281, 92 S.Ct. at 1579. 16 Gamut contends that it is not a successor employer, that the circumstances of this case afforded it a reasonable basis for good-faith doubt about the union majority after it took over the business, that the evidence rebutted the presumption of majority support, and that therefore it should not have been required to bargain with the Union. Edjo, Inc., 631 F.2d at 607. We reject this contention. 17 Substantial evidence in the record supports the Board's finding that Gamut was a successor employer. After the sale, Gamut essentially continued Westwood's business operations and employed substantially the same work force as Westwood. The record also supports the ALJ's conclusion that Gamut neither demonstrated a good-faith doubt of the Union's majority status, nor rebutted the presumption of continued support for the Union. See Burns, 406 U.S. at 278, 92 S.Ct. at 1577. 4 18 The ALJ also found that Gamut had a duty to remedy Westwood's unfair labor practices where Gamut purchased the business with full knowledge of the labor dispute. This duty, the ALJ found, arose because Westwood's unlawful refusal to bargain would tend to produce employee disaffection from the Union. 19 A successor employer is not always required to remedy its predecessor's unfair labor practices. Bellingham Frozen Foods, Inc. v. NLRB, 626 F.2d 674, 680-81 (9th Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1125, 101 S.Ct. 941, 67 L.Ed.2d 110 (1981). The facts of each case must be examined, including the interests of the new employer and the employees, as well as the policies of federal labor law, to determine whether the legal obligation of remedying its predecessor's unfair labor practice should be imposed on a successor employer. Howard Johnson Co. v. Hotel Employees, 417 U.S. 249, 262 n. 9, 94 S.Ct. 2236, 2243 n. 9, 41 L.Ed.2d 46 (1974). 20 Substantial evidence supports the ALJ's finding that the circumstances were appropriate to impose upon Gamut the duty to remedy Westwood's unfair labor practices. See Golden State Bottling Co. v. NLRB, 414 U.S. 168, 172-77, 94 S.Ct. 414, 419, 38 L.Ed.2d 388 (1973). Gamut does not contest the fact that it was aware of Westwood's dispute over union representation. In balancing the conflicting interests involved, we note that the prerogative of employers to rearrange their business must be balanced by some protection to employees affected by abrupt changes in the employment relationship. See John Wiley & Sons v. Livingston, 376 U.S. 543, 549, 84 S.Ct. 909, 914, 11 L.Ed.2d 898 (1964). The goals of avoiding labor strife and protecting the exercise of rights guaranteed employees by the Act are furthered by the imposition of this duty on Gamut under these circumstances. See Golden State Bottling Co. v. NLRB, 414 U.S. at 184-85, 94 S.Ct. at 425; Golden Day Schools, Inc. v. NLRB, 644 F.2d 834, 840 (9th Cir. 1981). 5 CONCLUSION 21 The Board's application of the contract bar rule to prevent Westwood from withdrawing recognition of the Union after its relocation was appropriate in the circumstances of this case. Gamut was a successor employer and therefore had an obligation to bargain with the Union and to remedy Westwood's unlawful refusal to bargain. 22 ENFORCED.