Opinion ID: 3010708
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Supervisory Criteria

Text: The Board concluded that Passavant's Charge Nurses possessed the authority to send Aides home for flagrant conduct violations, such as resident abuse. Earlier, in a nonhealth care case, we determined that this type of authority is clearly disciplinary in nature. See Warner Co. v. NLRB, 365 F.2d 435, 439 (3d Cir. 1966) (It can scarcely be denied that sending a man home is discipline ....). The Board does not refer us to any authority that contradicts this rule. The only Board precedent we have found is Dad's Foods, Inc., 212 N.L.R.B. 500, 500-501 (1974) (The limited authority ... to discharge employees for intoxication on the job and involvement in a fight ... is only a very restricted, and sporadic kind of authority, limited to certain specific predetermined kinds of misconduct. We do not believe that `authority' so narrowly confined both in time and scope, if it can be said to exist at all, is sufficient to establish supervisory status.). Our jurisprudence, however, is to the contrary and leads us to conclude, based on the Board's own factual findings, that Passavant's LPN Charge Nurses indeed possessed the authority to discipline. 8 The Board also opined that the charge nurses can resolve minor problems or `gripes' raised by[nurses aides] and resident assistants concerning daily assignments, break time[s] and the like, but were not involved in the formal grievance procedure. [I]t is the higher management authority, rather than LPN charge nurses who are the decision makers with respect to the responses and positions taken by the Employer concerning these [formal] grievances. Thus, the Board implicitly reasoned that resolving gripes does not rise to the level of adjusting grievances under the NLRA. This determination is consistent with other Board decisions. See Ohio Masonic Home, Inc., 295 N.L.R.B. 390, 394 (1989) ([T]he fact that the charge nurses sometimes rely on their personal relationship with employees to resolve minor complaints regarding workload, the scheduling of lunches and breaks, or personality conflicts is insufficient to establish supervisory status.); Beverly Enters. d/b/a Beverly Manor Convalescent Ctrs., 275 N.L.R.B. 943, 946 (1985) (The LPNs rely on their personal relationship to the employees to resolve problems informally. ... This facet is insufficient to elevate them to supervisory status.); see also Illinois Veterans Home at Anna, L.P., 323 N.L.R.B. No. 161, 156 L.R.R.M. 1105, 1107 (June 6, 1997) (requiring role in formal grievance procedure). Passavant argues that the adjustment of even minor grievances is enough to support a finding of supervisory authority, again citing our decision in Warner. We agree. In Warner, a building supplies business employed drivers and shippers, both supervised by a Yard Manager. The drivers were already unionized, and the employer opposed the shippers' efforts to establish a union. Testimony revealed that the steward of the drivers' union often approached the shippers to settle minor complaints. We rejected the Board's conclusion that this activity did not amount to the adjustment of grievances: Those so-called `minor complaints' are such disputes as fairly fall under the provision of the drivers' contract, and which would amount to `grievances' if reduced to writing. Warner, 365 F.2d at 438. Here, the collective bargaining agreement between Passavant and the Nurses Aides includes sections 9 pertaining to assignments, break times, and lunch breaks. Additionally, its definition of grievance is very broad. Just as in Warner, the LPN Charge Nurses at Passavant have the authority to adjust the Aides' grievances and meet the supervisory criterion.