Opinion ID: 521923
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The ALJ Decision

Text: 33 The ALJ cited the four factors that must be considered in a determination of single employer status: 1) interrelation of operations, 2) common management, 3) centralized control of labor relations, and 4) common ownership. Radio & Television Broadcast Technicians, Local 1264 v. Broadcast Serv. of Mobile, Inc., 380 U.S. 255, 256, 85 S.Ct. 876, 877, 13 L.Ed.2d 789 (1965) (per curiam). The ALJ noted his belief that the Board has stressed the first three factors, particularly centralized control of labor relations. ALJ Dec. at 15 (citing FEDCO Freightlines, Inc., 273 N.L.R.B. 399 (1984), and Truck & Dock Services, Inc., 272 N.L.R.B. 592 (1984)). 14 34 The last three factors were resolved rather easily by the ALJ. With respect to the second factor, the ALJ found that ESI and RSI had identical management. The ALJ noted that Mr. and Mrs. Emsing made all the important management decisions for both ESI and RSI including determining pricing, product mix, work schedules, hiring, firing, and selecting vendors. Additionally, the only person outside the family who carried any managerial title was Dave Davis who was secretary-treasurer of RSI and designated store manager of Rocky's. Davis was secretary-treasurer of RSI in name only and served in that capacity merely as a convenience for store operations. Under the third factor, the ALJ found, for many of the same reasons that were relevant to the second factor, that at all relevant times the labor relations policies of ESI and RSI were under the centralized control of Mr. and Mrs. Emsing. Mr. Emsing testified that he and his wife jointly established the labor relations policies for ESI and the ALJ found this to be adequate to make his finding. As to the fourth factor, the ALJ found that there was substantially identical ownership despite the retention of some treasury shares of ESI by Mr. Emsing's father as a security for the purchase price of the corporation. 35 The critical factor for the ALJ was the first factor--the interrelation of operations. The ALJ found that Emsing's and Rocky's were not directly integrated by serving a common production or sales goal such as where one firm exists to supply a sister firm with the personnel or equipment the other needs to accomplish the overall corporate goal as in Consolidated Dress Carriers, 259 NLRB 627 (1981) and Malcolm Boring Co., 259 NLRB 597 (1981). ALJ Dec. at 17. The ALJ believed that the proper focus for the inquiry should be the day-to-day operations when both Emsing's and Rocky's were open and operating and not what happened in August when Emsing's was closing.