Opinion ID: 748833
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Meijer's First Argument

Text: 13 Meijer's first argument is that this issue is governed by our opinion in Cleveland Real Estate Partners v. NLRB (CREP), 95 F.3d 457 (6th Cir.1996). Meijer strongly urges us to adopt the reasoning and result of this Court's decision in CREP. In CREP, we held that it was permissible for the owner of a private retail shopping mall to preclude union representatives from distributing handbills directed at shoppers in order to discourage them from patronizing non-union retailers, even though the owner permitted handbilling and solicitation by non-union permittees in the mall. Id. at 461-62. 14 We reversed the Board's determination that the company had engaged in unlawful discrimination against non-employee union representatives by prohibiting them from handbilling in a shopping mall which it managed, while permitting solicitation and handbilling by the Girl Scouts, the Knights of Columbus, political candidates, and school children selling candy, among others. The Court held that the term 'discrimination' as used [in this context] means favoring one union over another, or allowing employer-related information while barring similar union-related information. Id. at 465. 15 The Court noted three factors peculiar to that case, which led it to a narrow definition of discrimination. First, as a general rule an owner of private property ... need not ... permit the distribution of union literature on its property. Id. at 462. Second, there is a substantial difference between the rights of employees and [that] of non-employees with respect to the distribution of union literature on privately owned property. Id. at 463. Third, the non-employee union representatives were engaging in non-organizational, informational picketing directed at the general public. Id. at 464. As a policy consideration, the Court was also influenced by the fact that [n]o relevant labor policies are advanced by requiring employers to prohibit charitable solicitations in order to preserve the right to exclude non-employee distribution of union literature when access to the target audience is otherwise available. Id. at 465. As a result of these factors, the Court concluded that an employer may preclude handbilling by non-employee union organizers engaged in non-organizational, informational activity directed at the general public, even though the employer allows solicitations by nonunion permittees. Id. at 464. 16 Because the considerations that were present in CREP are not present in this case, we decline to adopt CREP 's narrow definition of discrimination. First, CREP involved solicitation by non-employee union organizers. In contrast, this case involves Meijer employees. As the Court in CREP noted, there is a substantial difference between the rights of employees and that of non-employees: The distinction [between employee and non-employee pamphleteering] is one of substance. No restriction may be placed on the employees' right to discuss self-organization among themselves, unless the employer can demonstrate that a restriction is necessary to maintain production or discipline. But no such obligation is owed to nonemployee organizers. CREP, 95 F.3d at 463 (citation omitted). 17 Second, not only did CREP involve non-employees, but these non-employees were not engaged in organizational activity. In contrast, this case involves employees of Meijer who were engaged in organizational activity. Employees are accorded greater protection under the Act than non-employees, but they are accorded even greater protection under the Act when they are engaged in organizational activity. NLRB v. Great Scot, Inc., 39 F.3d 678, 682 (6th Cir.1994) (observing that whereas employee organizational rights are at the core of the Act's concerns, deserving the greatest protection, non-employee non-organizational activity deserves the least amount of protection under the Act); see also United Food & Comm. Workers v. NLRB, 74 F.3d 292, 298 (D.C.Cir.1996) (A long history of cases manifests a hierarchy among § 7 rights, with organizational rights asserted by a particular employer's own employees being the strongest, the interest of non-employees in organizing an employer's employees being somewhat weaker, and the interest of uninvited visitors ... attempting to communicate with an employer's customers, being weaker still.). 18 As we noted in CREP and Great Scot, trespass cases create a situation where the interests of the trespasser are at their weakest, and therefore, the property owner has a presumptive right to exclude non-employees from its property. Consequently, CREP's narrow definition of discrimination is warranted based upon the considerations noted supra. Moreover, its deference to property rights reflects policy considerations that are not present in this case. In contrast, and as we noted supra, when employees are engaged in the exercise of their § 7 rights, the Supreme Court has held that they have a presumptive right to do so, unless such engagement interferes with the employer's ability to maintain plant discipline. Therefore, rules dealing with employees' rights of self-organization should reflect the primacy of those rights over the employer's property rights. 4