Opinion ID: 603784
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: review of uncontested violations

Text: 13
14 The General Counsel of the NLRB (GC) points out that Vemco does not contest various section 8(a)(1) violations occurring before both the mass layoff of March 17, 1989, and the representation election at the end of September 1989. Vemco also does not challenge section 8(a)(1) and (3) violations involving an employee named Greg Hall. We therefore will not review these violations to ascertain whether there is substantial record evidence to support them. Hyatt Corp. v. NLRB, 939 F.2d 361, 368 (6th Cir.1991). 15 Vemco, however, has vigorously objected to the Board's reliance on certain employer speech to find violations of section 8(a)(1) because this speech was allegedly protected by section 8(c) of the Act. 5 Because the Board then used violations based on this allegedly protected speech as evidence to support both the layoff violation and the bargaining order, the uncontested violations must be reviewed to the extent that they may contain protected speech. If protected speech is found, the evidentiary value of these uncontested violations supporting the alleged layoff violation and the bargaining order must be reconsidered. This may then affect our determination of whether the Board's conclusions regarding the layoff and the bargaining order are supported by substantial evidence. 16
17 Statutory interpretation is a matter of law that we review de novo. See, e.g., United States v. Hans, 921 F.2d 81, 82 (6th Cir.1990). Section 8(c) of the Act basically defines protected speech as the expression of views, argument, or opinion, whether in spoken or written form, that contains no threat of reprisal or force or promise of benefit. According to section 8(c), protected speech shall not constitute or be evidence of an unfair labor practice. The NLRB generally takes the position that although protected speech, such as an employer's expression of its views or opinions against a union, cannot be deemed a violation in and of itself, i.e., cannot be used as primary or direct evidence of a violation, it can nonetheless be used as background evidence of anti-union animus or anti-union motive on the part of the employer. See, e.g., Holo-Krome Co. ( Holo-Krome I ), 293 NLRB 594 (1989), enforcement denied, Holo-Krome Co. v. NLRB (Holo-Krome II ), 907 F.2d 1343 (2d Cir.1990). The circuits are currently split regarding the evidentiary value of protected speech, and this circuit has not yet addressed the issue directly. 18 Some circuits rely on the plain meaning of the statute filtered through a narrow, but plausible, reading of the legislative history to preclude any use whatsoever of protected speech. See, e.g., Holo-Krome II, 907 F.2d at 1346 (holding the Board's use of employer's protected expressions of opinion against union as a basis for finding animus to be contrary to section 8(c)). Other circuits agree with the Board's interpretation and therefore allow protected speech to be used as background evidence of animus. See, e.g., Hendrix Mfg. Co. v. NLRB, 321 F.2d 100, 103 (5th Cir.1963) (permitting the Board to consider the employer's clear expression of opposition to the union as background in order to determine motivation for management's conduct). 6 19 Despite the noncommittal stance of the Board on this issue in the present case, 7 we analyze Vemco's alleged protected speech under the Holo-Krome I interpretation of section 8(c). Therefore, unprotected speech, whether constituting an independent violation of the Act or not, will be considered as direct evidence of animus in the context of the layoff violation; we regard protected speech, however, only as background in our determination of animus.