Opinion ID: 748833
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Meijer's Second Argument

Text: 19 Meijer argues, in the alternative, that this case falls within the Burger King Corp. v. NLRB, 725 F.2d 1053 (6th Cir.1984) exception to Republic Aviation, and therefore, calls for a like result. It maintains that it enforces, consistently and non-discriminatorily, a policy that its employees may only wear authorized uniforms. Additionally, it also argues that its employees have contact with the public. Therefore, it believes that a 'special circumstance' exists as a matter of law, per Burger King. 20 In Republic Aviation, the Supreme Court held that it was permissible for the Board to strike the balance in favor of employees challenging an employer's no-solicitation policy. The Court affirmed the Board's conclusion that employees have a presumptive right to wear union insignia, a right that cannot be abridged unless the employer is able to establish that a special circumstance exists, which justifies banning such insignia. Republic Aviation, 324 U.S. at 803-04, 65 S.Ct. at 987-88. Additionally, employers seeking to curtail the § 7 rights of employees bear the burden of demonstrating that a restriction is necessary to maintain production or discipline. Lechmere, Inc., v. NLRB, 502 U.S. 527, 533, 112 S.Ct. 841, 845-46, 117 L.Ed.2d 79 (1992); NLRB v. Babcock & Wilcox Co., 351 U.S. 105, 113, 76 S.Ct. 679, 100 L.Ed. 975 (1956); District Lodge 91, Int'l Ass'n. v. NLRB, 814 F.2d 876, 880 (2d Cir.1987); NLRB v. Malta Construc. Co., 806 F.2d 1009, 1011 (11th Cir.1986) ([O]nce the existence of presumptively invalid rules is shown, the employer has the duty of going forward with the proof and showing special circumstances to justify the rule.). 21 Since the Supreme Court's opinion in Republic Aviation, lower courts have struggled to establish the proper standard for determining when an employer can prohibit employees from wearing union insignia without running afoul of the employee's § 7 rights. Generally, courts have taken one of two approaches. The majority of Circuit courts that have directly addressed this issue have established a rebuttable presumption in favor of employees, holding that employees have a near-absolute right to wear union insignia; a right that can only be curtailed if the employer meets its burden of presenting special circumstances necessitating a reasonable accommodation. Other Circuits, Republic Aviation notwithstanding, have reversed that presumption to favor employers. 22 Following the majority of Circuits, the Eighth Circuit in Fabri-Tek, Inc., v. NLRB, 352 F.2d 577, 583-84 (8th Cir.1965), held that the wearing of union insignia is a form of protected activity that can only be curtailed if it interferes with the employer's ability to maintain discipline in the workforce. In Fabri-Tek, an employer sought relief from a Board order prohibiting it from denying its employees their right to wear certain union insignia at work, and from terminating six employees who refused to comply with the employer's work-place rules. Id. at 578. The union insignia in question were extremely large vari-vue buttons, and out-size letters stenciled on the back of a blouse saying 'VOTE I.B.E.W.'  Id. at 585. Because that court found that the union insignia did disrupt, and would continue to disrupt, employee discipline, it refused to enforce the order. However, the court was careful to note that the employees still retained the right to wear union insignia in the form of customary buttons, id. at 585; they just could not wear insignia which disrupt or tend to disrupt, production and to break down employee discipline. Id. 23 The Fabri-Tek approach was followed by the Fourth Circuit in Virginia Electric & Power Co. v. NLRB, 703 F.2d 79, 82-83 (4th Cir.1983). There, the Fourth Circuit held that because of a possible conflict between competing unions, which could manifest itself in front of customers, an employer may permissibly require that one of its employees wear a smaller and less gaudy union pin while that employee was on duty as a receptionist. 24 Similarly, in Davison-Paxon Co. v. NLRB, 462 F.2d 364 (5th Cir.1972), the Fifth Circuit held that an employer may prohibit its employees from wearing large and conspicuous buttons on the sales floor where the employer, a fashionable retail department store, was justifiably concerned that the animosity between union and anti-union factions at the store would manifest itself on the sales floor. Id. at 368-69. The court noted that there was evidence that some employees had transferred and resigned because of the conflict over the union campaign. Id.; see also NLRB v. Intertherm, Inc., 596 F.2d 267, 271-72 (8th Cir.1979) (holding that employees have a near-absolute right to wear union insignia in the absence of evidence relating to employee efficiency or plant discipline); Caterpillar Tractor Co. v. NLRB, 230 F.2d 357, 358-59 (7th Cir.1956) (stating that employer can prohibit employees from wearing buttons emblazoned with the slogan Don't be a Scab because of the slogan's inherent tendency to incite unrest and resentment; however, the restriction does not include passive inoffensive advertisement of organizational aims and interests ... which in no way interferes with discipline or efficient production). 25 In other courts, the right of employees to wear union insignia has been less certain. For example, in NLRB v. Harrah's Club, 337 F.2d 177, 178-79 (9th Cir.1964), the Ninth Circuit held that employees did not have a per se right to wear union insignia. Id. at 179. That is, it did not think that wearing union insignia was other concerted activit[y]. Rather, there must be evidence of a purpose protected by the act--i.e., collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. Id. Predictably, that court went on to hold that the right of employers to project a certain public image by promulgating a uniform policy that prohibits employees from wearing any type of union insignia categorically trumps the right of employees to wear union paraphernalia. 26 The few opinions from our Court also evidence our difficulty in applying Republic Aviation. In Burger King Corp. v. NLRB, 725 F.2d 1053, 1055 (6th Cir.1984), an extremely fragmented panel extended the Harrah's Club approach to this Circuit by holding that where an employer enforces a policy that its employees may only wear authorized uniforms in a consistent and nondiscriminatory fashion and where those employees have contact with the public, a 'special circumstance' exists as a matter of law which justifies the banning of union buttons. Regrettably, that opinion did not address, much less explain, how its holding can be reconciled with the Supreme Court's dictate in Republic Aviation that employees have a presumptive right to wear union insignia, and that employers bear the affirmative burden of demonstrating special circumstances. 5 This is, perhaps, the reason that not a single relevant opinion from our Circuit, subsequent to Burger King, has adopted that case's per se approach. 27 In United Parcel Service v. NLRB (UPS), 41 F.3d 1068 (6th Cir.1994), this Court declined to enforce a Board order, which found that UPS violated the Act by issuing a warning notice to one of its drivers for refusing to remove a union pin from his uniform. UPS presented two issues: (a) whether a 'special circumstance' existed, which would excuse UPS from respecting the employee's § 7 rights; and (b) if a special circumstance did exist, whether UPS nevertheless violated the employee's § 7 rights by discriminatorily enforcing the company's appearance standards. 28 Although the Court cited Burger King quite extensively, it declined to anchor its holding upon the standards established in that decision. It chose instead to base its holding upon the fact that UPS possessed the sole right under the collective bargaining agreement then in effect between the company and the relevant union to promulgate and enforce appearance standards. Id. at 1073. Consequently, the Court held that UPS neither violated the employee's § 7 rights by prohibiting him from wearing a union pin on his uniform nor discriminated against him because the employer's plenary right to regulate the appearance of its employees was guaranteed by the collective bargaining agreement. Id. 29 In another opinion, NLRB v. Windemuller Electric, Inc., 34 F.3d 384 (6th Cir.1994), this Court also declined to rest its holding upon the reasoning of Burger King. Instead we denied the Board's motion to enforce its order strictly on property rights grounds. In Windemuller, the respondents objected to a Board order stating that they violated § 8(a)(1) because they refused to allow their employees to wear union insignia on company-owned hardhats. The Court cited Republic Aviation for the proposition that employees have a presumptive right to wear union insignia, but only on their own clothing. Id. at 394. Citing Lechmere, Inc. v. NLRB, 502 U.S. 527, 112 S.Ct. 841, 117 L.Ed.2d 79 (1992), and NLRB v. Babcock & Wilcox Co., 351 U.S. 105, 76 S.Ct. 679, 100 L.Ed. 975 (1956), the seminal cases governing organizing activities by non-employees who wish to come onto an employer's property in furtherance of such activities, it then held that because the hardhats belonged to the company, the employees did not have the right to use the employer's property as billboards for the union. Id. 30 It is not apparent from the opinion how the panel arrived at the conclusion that Republic Aviation stands for the proposition that employees have a presumptive right to wear union insignia only on their own clothing, especially given the fact that that issue in Republic Aviation--where the employees wore their union insignia--did not appear to be relevant to the ultimate resolution of the case. 6 Additionally, the panel did not discuss, nor appear to notice, the arguable doctrinal tension between its election to decide union insignia cases strictly on property rights grounds and the Burger King Court's use of the 'special circumstances' approach. 31 Further doubt is cast on the expansion of Burger King 's per se 'special circumstances' approach, by our post-Burger King opinion in NLRB v. Mead Corp., 73 F.3d 74 (6th Cir.1996). In Mead, the company attempted to ban the employees from wearing certain insignia, including buttons, id. at 76, on the grounds that such a ban was justified by special circumstances. Citing Judge Merritt's dissent in Burger King, we held that it is incumbent upon an employer to demonstrate the existence of special circumstances. Id. at 79 (citing Burger King Corp. v. NLRB, 725 F.2d 1053, 1056 (6th Cir.1984)(Merritt, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part)). Finding that the employer had not met its burden, we granted the Board's petition for enforcement of its order. Id. at 80-81. 32 In light of this case history, we now turn to Meijer's argument that this case is governed by Burger King. We begin with the proposition established in Republic Aviation Corp. v. NLRB, 324 U.S. 793, 65 S.Ct. 982, 89 L.Ed. 1372 (1945), that employees have a presumptive right to wear union insignia absent special circumstances. In Burger King Corp. v. NLRB, 725 F.2d 1053 (6th Cir.1984), this Court attempted to define special circumstances as per se encompassing a situation where employers enforce a policy that employees who have contact with the public may only wear authorized uniforms. Id. at 1055. As we stated supra, the panel did not address, much less explain, how its holding can be reconciled with the Supreme Court's dictate in Republic Aviation that employees have a presumptive right to wear union insignia, and that employers bear the burden of demonstrating that such a special circumstance exists. If we interpret Burger King in the manner that Meijer now urges upon us, we would be violating the essence of the Court's opinion in Republic Aviation. 33 The Supreme Court's jurisprudence reflects Congress's intent to allow the Board to delicately balance an employee's right to organize with an employer's property right. See, e.g., Central Hardware Co. v. NLRB, 407 U.S. 539, 542-43, 92 S.Ct. 2238, 2240-41, 33 L.Ed.2d 122 (1972); Hudgens v. NLRB, 424 U.S. 507, 522, 96 S.Ct. 1029, 1037-38, 47 L.Ed.2d 196 (1976). The Court has developed two categories useful for deciding these types of cases. One category reflects the strength of the employer's interests; the other category reflects the strength of the employee's § 7 rights. Within each category, there is a narrow exception where the weaker interest can be accommodated. 34 Thus, in Lechmere v. NLRB, 502 U.S. 527, 533-34, 112 S.Ct. 841, 846, 117 L.Ed.2d 79 (1992), the Supreme Court stated, [a]s a rule ... an employer cannot be compelled to allow distribution of union literature by nonemployee organizers on his property, except in the narrow circumstance when an employer's property rights may be required to yield to the extent needed to permit communication of information on the right to organize. (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Similarly, the Supreme Court categorically reaffirmed an employee's near-absolute right to wear union insignia by stating that no restriction may be placed on the employees' right to discuss self-organization among themselves, except in the comparatively narrow circumstance that an employer can demonstrate that a restriction is necessary to maintain production or plant discipline. Id. at 533, 112 S.Ct. at 846 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). 35 Lechmere reaffirms the principle established in Republic Aviation that employers challenging employees' § 7 rights to self-organization must make an affirmative showing that accommodating the employees' rights will negatively impact production or discipline. To the extent that Meijer argues that such a showing is no longer necessary as a result of our opinion in Burger King, that argument is clearly unavailing. Adopting Meijer's position would be tantamount to flouting Supreme Court precedent established for more than a half century and reaffirmed as recently as Lechmere. 36 We therefore hold that employees have a right to wear union insignia. That right, however, is not absolute; it can be curtailed if an employer makes an affirmative showing that a special circumstance exists which requires restrictions of this right in order to maintain production, reduce employee dissension or distractions from work, or maintain employee safety and discipline. This right may also be curtailed if the employer makes an affirmative showing that the union insignia that the employee seeks to wear will negatively impact a certain public image that the employer seeks to project. 37 Because substantial evidence on the record supports the Board's contention that Meijer is unable to make such a showing, we must grant the Board's petition for enforcement. Meijer argues that it is justified in banning the employees from wearing union insignia because of the potential for public conflict between union and non-union supporters. This argument is not supported by any evidence, and consequently, must fail. See, e.g., Fabri-Tek, Inc. v. NLRB, 352 F.2d 577, 583-84 (8th Cir.1965)(declining to enforce a Board order where the employer proved that the large buttons that the employees sought to wear did disrupt and would continue to disrupt employee discipline); see also Virginia Electric & Power Co. v. NLRB, 703 F.2d 79, 82-83 (4th Cir.1983) (holding that the conflict between competing unions justifies the employer's request that employees wear small and less gaudy buttons); Davison-Paxon Co. v. NLRB, 462 F.2d 364 (5th Cir.1972)(same). Meijer also argues that the potential for public confusion serves as a special circumstance justifying the banning of union insignia. This argument was rejected as long ago as Republic Aviation, 324 U.S. 793, 801-04, 65 S.Ct. at 982, 987-88, and is therefore, also without merit. Thus, because there is not any evidence in the record that can support Meijer's contention that allowing its employees to wear union insignia will negatively impact its public image, or its ability to maintain plant production or discipline, Meijer has failed to carry its burden.