Opinion ID: 386036
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Statements by Supervisors.

Text: 22 Despite the administrative law judge's finding to the contrary, the Board found a violation of § 8(a)(1) in plant manager Cruze's comments to Montgomery in February 1977. Spotting union cards in Montgomery's pocket, Cruze commented, Don't you lose them union cards in your pocket. Later that same day Cruze told Montgomery, I see you haven't lost your union cards. 23 The Board's finding of a violation on these facts is supported by substantial evidence. It is an unfair labor practice for an employer to create in the minds of employees an impression that he is closely observing union organizational activity. Filler Products, Inc. v. NLRB, 376 F.2d 369, 374 (4th Cir. 1967). However innocent the comments may appear to a disinterested observer, Cruze's statements certainly were capable of giving an impression of surveillance to an employee who had previously suffered discrimination as a result of union activity. Directly on point in support of the Board's position is NLRB v. Intertherm, Inc., 596 F.2d 267 (8th Cir. 1979). There the Board, ruling contrary to the administrative law judge, found a § 8(a)(1) violation where a company official simply pulled a union card partially out of an employee's pocket to look at it and made no comment at all. Id. at 273. The Eighth Circuit enforced the Board's ruling. 24 The Board also found a § 8(a)(1) violation in training supervisor McGinnis's statement to employee David Turner in February 1977, asking Turner to let the company know if anyone ever bothered him about the Union. McGinnis admitted making the statement. An employer's request that an employee report union activity is a clear violation of § 8(a)(1). NLRB v. McCormick Concrete Co., 371 F.2d 149, 151-52 (4th Cir. 1967). Courts have upheld Board findings of violations stemming from almost identical language. Lutheran Hospital of Milwaukee, Inc. v. NLRB, 564 F.2d 208, 211 (7th Cir. 1977) (Please let me know if you are bothered.), vacated on other grounds, 438 U.S. 902, 98 S.Ct. 3118, 57 L.Ed.2d 1145 (1978); NLRB v. Sunnyland Packing Co., 557 F.2d 1157, 1159-61 (5th Cir. 1977) (If you should be caused any trouble, or be put under any pressure to support a union, you should report the matter to your Supervisor.). While an employer has the right to shield his employees against unlawful union coercion, he may not issue broad requests to report union activity while making no attempt to distinguish the lawful from the unlawful. See, e. g., Lutheran Hospital of Milwaukee, Inc. v. NLRB, supra. This is particularly true where, as here, the only evidence of any union coercion involved past isolated statements. Montgomery's two statements five months earlier can hardly provide continuing license for the company to commit otherwise unfair labor practices. 25 The Board found another § 8(a)(1) violation in a separate incident involving Turner. In April 1977, superintendent Hodges asked Turner if he had read the company notice regarding union cards. He told Turner that the company did not need the union and did not need any more union cards. The company argues that the Board improperly found a violation in the simple statement that the employer did not want a union. We need not reach this contention, however, because the statements violate § 8(a)(1) for other reasons. In making the statements, Hodges called Turner's attention to the company's April 5 notice. Since we uphold the Board's finding that the notice itself violated § 8(a)(1), then it is equally unlawful for a company supervisor to urge an employee to read the notice. 26