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

Heading: the general counsel's prima facie case

Text: 34 The Board can rely on both direct and circumstantial evidence to determine employer motive. Turnbull Cone Baking Co. v. NLRB, 778 F.2d 292, 297 (6th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1159, 106 S.Ct. 2277, 90 L.Ed.2d 720 (1986). The Board found that statements made by Human Resource Administrator McIntyre during layoff preparations, together with several pre-layoff section 8(a)(1) violations committed by line supervisors, established anti-union animus. The section 8(a)(1) violations are summed up as follows: 35
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37 3. Coercive interrogation by a supervisor of one employee in front of a second employee; and 38 4. Overbroad no-solicitation rule involving one supervisor and her line employees. 39 Although Vemco raises questions regarding some of the pre-layoff section 8(a)(1) violations on the basis of protected speech, review of these violations shows that, although protected speech was sometimes mixed with unprotected speech in the incidents described, the violations themselves do not rest on protected speech. These violations can therefore be used, along with McIntyre's unprotected speech, as primary evidence in our review for substantial evidence of animus in the context of the alleged layoff violation. In addition to this evidence of animus, the Board may appropriately consider under section 8(c) the anti-union policy expressed in Vemco's personnel handbook as background evidence of animus. A review of this entire body of evidence shows that a finding of anti-union animus is clearly supported by substantial evidence on the record taken as a whole and should therefore not be disturbed. 40 The remaining and critical element is causation. Preliminarily, as a matter of causation, adverse employment action generally will not be held to violate section 8(a)(3) unless the employer had knowledge of the targeted employee's union activities or pro-union sentiments at the time it took the action. Turnbull, 778 F.2d at 296; Birch Run, 761 F.2d at 1179. In Birch Run, this court expressed an alternate theory, however, that is applicable to mass layoff situations. That theory permits the GC to prevail 41 by showing that the employer ordered general lay-offs for the purpose of discouraging union activity or in retaliation against its employees because of the union activities of some. This theory is viable even though some employees who actually opposed the union ... were laid-off with their pro-union counterparts. Moreover, the theory can be valid even though not all union adherents were laid-off.... The focus of the theory is upon the employer's motive in ordering extensive lay-offs rather than upon the anti-union or pro-union status of particular employees. 42 Id. at 1180 (citations omitted). 43 The GC proceeded in the present case under this alternate theory. The GC did not show employer knowledge with respect to each individual employee laid off. In fact, only 17 of the 60 employees laid off were included on the list of employees belonging to the union organizing committee. Vemco challenges this failure to show specific knowledge as to each laid-off employee as error. However, this challenge is meritless under Birch Run. 44 There is, nonetheless, a deficiency in the way the GC uses the mass layoff theory in this particular case. In Birch Run, the issue was whether specific knowledge of each laid-off employee's union sentiments was necessary to support a section 8(a)(3) violation or whether an employer's general knowledge of union activity would suffice in the context of a mass layoff. The court concluded that general knowledge suffices in the context of a mass layoff in a case where that very general knowledge was the asserted trigger for the layoff. The present case, however, is distinguishable from Birch Run because Vemco's general knowledge of union activity was not the asserted trigger for the layoff. 45 The GC contends that the imminent arrival of the union letter, and the increase in union activity it disclosed, triggered Vemco's attempt to beat the union to the punch by implementing the layoff. Therefore, although we agree with the GC that it is not necessary to show knowledge of each specific employee's union sentiments for the Board to prevail, 11 a showing of Vemco's general knowledge of union activity is insufficient in itself to prove the employer's motive for the layoff in this particular case. Instead, to satisfy the knowledge requirement of causation, the GC must show that Vemco knew of the forthcoming letter when Winget, Torakis, and Schutz decided to reduce the work force. Torakis and Schutz testified that they set the March 17 layoff date on March 8; additionally, they testified that on March 15 Schutz proposed to Torakis and Winget that the layoff be moved back to the following week, but this suggestion was rejected. McIntyre first heard of the union letter on March 13 and did not know when it would arrive until the following day. Finally, Reed testified to a statement made by McIntyre on March 16 that although the letter did not cause the layoff, it caused the layoff to be moved up a week. 46 Regardless of the GC's erroneous reliance on Vemco's general knowledge of union activity, the ALJ, after specifically crediting Reed's testimony and discrediting the testimony of company officials where it contradicted her, Vemco, Inc., 304 NLRB No. 118, 1991 WL 181869, at  14 (NLRB Aug. 27, 1991), concluded: 47 It was only after learning of the Union's plan to send it a letter (which would identify Union supports [sic] and tend to offer them some degree of legal protection against retaliation), that [Vemco] decided to hasten its consideration of an ongoing business review of staffing levels and to move up the date of its action in an attempt to out maneuver the Union in its bid to secure the support of a majority of the company's employees. 48 Id. at  16. Thus, the ALJ determined by making a specific credibility evaluation that Vemco knew of the letter before it decided on the layoff date. Ordinarily, this court will not disturb credibility evaluations by an ALJ who observed the witnesses' demeanor. Turnbull, 778 F.2d at 295 (quoting NLRB v. Baja's Place, 733 F.2d 416, 421 (6th Cir.1984)). We will therefore not disturb the ALJ's factual finding on this threshold knowledge requirement of causation. 49 More generally, causation is a part of what the courts refer to as motive; however, ascertaining the motivation for an employer's action is not simple. Rarely is there direct evidence that the employer's animus actually caused a layoff decision, and the Board and courts look for illumination to a variety of factors from which anti-union motivation may reasonably be inferred. Several of these factors are: 50 1. A company's expressed hostility towards unionization together with knowledge of the employees' union activities; 51 2. Inconsistencies between the proffered reason for the discharge and other actions of the employer; 52 3. Disparate treatment of certain employees compared to other employees with similar work records or offenses; 53 4. A company's deviation from past practice in implementing the discharge; and 54 5. Proximity in time between the employees' union activities and their discharge. 55 Turnbull, 778 F.2d at 297; Birch Run, 761 F.2d at 1179. To determine whether substantial evidence supports the Board's finding that anti-union animus was a motivating factor for the March layoff, it is necessary to look at each of these factors as they apply to the present case. We discuss these factors seriatim. 56 1. A company's expressed hostility towards unionization together with knowledge of the employees' union activities. 57 The existence of anti-union animus and knowledge of the imminent arrival of the union letter is supported by substantial evidence. This factor is thus established and may be used to determine whether causation may reasonably be inferred. 58 2. Inconsistencies between the proffered reason for the discharge and other actions of the employer. 12 59 The Board noted several purported inconsistencies. Vemco gave overstaffing as one of three reasons for the layoff. Although conceding that Vemco was overstaffed by January 1989, the Board found Vemco's failure to lay off at that time to be inconsistent with a claim of overstaffing in March. Vemco's decision to develop and maintain a trained second shift in anticipation of an order from Ford, however, resolves this apparent inconsistency. Additionally, the Board found inconsistent Vemco's hiring of twelve new employees in January in the face of this overstaffing. The Board itself notes, however, that these newly hired employees did not increase the size of Vemco's work force, but merely replaced other employees who had terminated their employment. Vemco plausibly explains this hiring by pointing to its expectation of new business and its need to train those necessary for the work. 60 Vemco submitted as its second reason for the layoff its determination in early March that the anticipated Ford order would not be forthcoming. The ALJ found this inconsistent with Vemco's continued contact with Ford in the form of a bid or marketing tool sent out by its sales representative two weeks after the layoff. This document or bid, however, was for other business and directed to a different division of Ford, i.e., Tempo and not Thunderbird. Vemco has never maintained that the anticipated Ford order was from the Tempo division. Vemco specifically stated that the work it was anticipating and finally concluded would not be forthcoming was work from Thunderbird. The ALJ's mixing of the two sets of negotiations explains this apparent inconsistency. 61 In summary, substantial evidence does not support the existence of inconsistencies between Vemco's reasons for the layoff and its other actions, and therefore this factor may not be used to determine whether causation is properly inferred. 62 3. Disparate treatment of certain employees compared to other employees with similar work records or offenses. 63 There is an underlying premise to this factor that is not clearly enunciated in the above formulation. This factor goes directly to discriminatory selection of employees for an adverse employment action. Correctly, the factor should be stated as disparate treatment of employees known to be pro-union compared to other employees with similar work records or offenses whose union sentiments are unknown or who are known to be anti-union. Generally speaking, where the GC relies on the mass layoff theory, rather than the traditional theory of section 8(a)(3) violations requiring knowledge of each individual laid-off employee's union involvement, this factor loses some of its meaningfulness. 64 Additionally, any suggestion of disparate treatment is generally rebutted by the ALJ's own findings. The ALJ stated, Although [Vemco] asserts that it established an objective criteria [sic] for selection of persons for termination, it appears that attendance was made a singularly significant criteria [sic]. Vemco, 1991 WL 181869, at  19. Curiously, the ALJ's statement suggests that attendance is not an objective criterion. An attendance report, however, generated by a computer program from records routinely kept by a business is as objective a basis for choosing employees to be laid off as a company can devise. There is no suggestion in the record that this criterion was discriminatorily applied. Where an objective criterion is deemed singularly significant in the selection process, substantial evidence for the existence of disparate treatment is generally lacking. 65 The GC did show specific employer knowledge of pro-union sentiment as to two of the sixty laid-off employees. There is no evidence in the record, however, showing these two employees, in being laid off, were treated differently from other employees with similar attendance and discipline records whose union sentiments were unknown to Vemco or were known to be anti-union. The existence of disparate treatment of these two employees is therefore not supported by substantial evidence and may not be used to support an inference of causation. 66 The Board also found an absence of evidence showing that the selections were based on a review of each employee's relative qualifications and performance, noting that Vemco evaluated only the employees it laid off. There is undisputed testimony, however, that all employees were evaluated according to the five points set forth on the pre-printed termination report used by Vemco, but that the termination reports themselves, which reduced the evaluations to written form, were filled out only for those who were being terminated. The failure to fill out a termination report for employees not being terminated does not show that the retained employees were not evaluated. 67 Additionally, the ALJ's finding that attendance was made a singularly important criterion implies that all employees were evaluated relative to each other using this objective factor. Whether Vemco's choice of primary criterion for its layoff is the wisest choice is not the question; it is certainly not inconceivable, however, that attendance might be a significant or even an overriding consideration in a plant that is organized around production lines and where timely deliveries are critical. As long as there is no suggestion that this objective criterion was used in a discriminatory manner, the absence of documentary evidence of relative evaluations based on other criteria does not support an inference of causation. 68 4. A company's deviation from past practice in implementing the discharge. 69 Vemco, as a new company, had no established practice for plant-wide layoff implementation. This factor therefore does not come into play in this case. 13 70 5. Proximity in time between the employees' union activities and their discharge. 71 The layoff occurred and the union letter announcing its organizing campaign to Vemco arrived on the same day. This factor is therefore present and may be used to determine whether causation may reasonably be inferred. 72 The NLRB also considered the haste with which the layoff was implemented. Vemco, 1991 WL 181869, at  2. From January 1989 forward, Vemco's upper management repeatedly discussed the need for a major reduction in work force absent an increase in business. March was targeted for this reduction, absent an increase in business, as early as January. On March 8, the record shows that Schutz, Torakis, and Winget recognized between themselves that there would be no increase in business in the near future; Schutz and Torakis testified they then settled on the specific date of March 17 for the layoff. Based on the ALJ's finding that Vemco did not schedule the layoff until it knew of the letter, however, Vemco allotted five days for implementation. 73 Most of this time was used to determine the number of employees to be laid off. This determination required careful deliberation because of the danger that a miscalculation could ultimately have caused Vemco to pay liquidated damages of $25,000 per minute of BOC downtime if Vemco failed to timely deliver. Vemco spent the remainder of the time selecting the employees to be laid off and preparing the termination notices, activities that went on simultaneously until the names and the letters were merged. These preparations took place against a backdrop of approximately $12,000 daily in unnecessary expense to the company for each day that passed before the layoff. With the cost so high of delaying the layoff any more than necessary, and an absence of evidence showing how long it would normally take a company of Vemco's size and resources to implement a similar layoff, the record does not contain substantial evidence that the layoff was implemented in haste. 74 In summary, we conclude first that the inference of causation found by the Board is supported by substantial evidence. After giving deference to the Board, we further conclude that the GC's prima facie case of discriminatory layoff is supported by substantial record evidence. This determination is close, however, and we therefore do not agree with the Board that the GC's prima facie showing is so strong that it in any way elevates Vemco's burden of showing a legitimate business justification. Cf. Vemco, 1991 WL 181869, at  2. We now turn to Vemco's defense that business conditions justified the layoff.