Opinion ID: 2998461
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Standard of Review/Method of Analysis

Text: Board Rulings are “entitled to considerable deference so long as [they are] rational and consistent with the [National Labor Relations] Act.” NLRB v. Curtin Matheson Scientific, Inc., 494 U.S. 775, 787 (1990); see also NLRB v. United Food, Commercial Workers Union, Local 23, 484 U.S. 112, 123 (1987). This Court, however, is not “obliged to stand aside and rubberstamp [its] affirmance of administrative decisions that [it] deem[s] inconsistent with a statutory mandate or that frustrate the congressional policy underlying a statute.” NLRB v. Brown, 380 U.S. 278, 291 (1965). This complaint was brought under section 10(a) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 160(a), for a violation of sections 8(a)(1) and (3) of the Act. 29 U.S.C. §§ 158(a)(1) and (3). Section 8 states that it is an unfair labor practice for an employer to interfere with employees’ rights that are protected by section 7 of the NLRA, which includes the right to “engage in . . . activities for the purpose of collective bargaining.” 29 U.S.C. § 157. The basic procedure to evaluate whether a company has engaged in an unfair labor practice was first outlined by the Supreme Court in NLRB v. Great Dane Trailers, Inc., 388 U.S. 26 (1967). The first question in the Great Dane framework is whether the employer’s conduct is “inherently destructive of important employee rights.” 388 U.S. at 34. Actions that harm the collective bargaining process, interfere with employees’ right to strike, or are taken against employees based upon union status are “inherently destructive.” Esmark, Inc. v. NLRB, 887 F.2d 739, 748 (7th Cir. 1989). To 6 No. 05-1058 be “inherently destructive,” the effect on the collective bargaining process must be more than temporary; it must instead establish a barrier to future collective bargaining. Id. If an action by an employer is inherently destructive of important rights, no proof of an anti-union motivation is needed. Great Dane, 388 U.S. at 34. A harmful action by an employer that is not inherently destructive is classified as “comparatively slight.” These two categories, “inherently destructive” harm and “comparatively slight” harm, make up the two prongs of the Great Dane framework. Under the first prong of the Great Dane test (“inherently destructive”), an employer’s actions are submitted to a stringent test. Such actions are permissible only if after balancing business justifications against employee rights, the business justification is found to be superior. Under the second prong of the Great Dane test, (“comparatively slight”), an employer’s actions are more likely to be justified. “[A] finding of comparatively slight harm calls for a threshold test of business justification, rather than a balancing of interests.” Int’l Bhd. of Boilermakers v. NLRB, 858 F.2d 756, 762 n.2 (D.C. Cir. 1988). If an individual employer’s actions cannot be justified under the comparatively slight harm standard, which requires a legitimate and substantial business justification, they clearly cannot be justified under the “inherently destructive” standard. Under either prong, once it has been established that the employer’s conduct negatively affects protected section 7 rights, the key question for the Board, informed by Great Dane, is whether the employer can state a business justification for its actions. If an employer can show no legitimate and substantial business justification, the lockout is presumptively an unfair labor practice under either prong of the Great Dane analysis. Thus, the question of whether a “legitimate and substantial” business justification exists is a threshold question, No. 05-1058 7 properly asked prior to any decision as to whether an action is “comparatively slight” or “inherently destructive” under Great Dane. If a legitimate and substantial busi- ness justification is found for an employer’s action, the question of whether the harm caused was “inherently destructive” or “comparatively slight” is then examined and the Great Dane analysis proceeds.