Opinion ID: 758676
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Tolling Backpay

Text: 75 Coronet contends that the NLRB erroneously refused to toll backpay from January 1, 1990, the date when Padden became president and, according to Coronet, would have eliminated the in-house department. Alternatively, Coronet argues that the NLRB should have tolled backpay as of no later than September 30, 1991, when, faced with difficulties involving its contract transportation provider, Coronet declined to revert to an in-house arrangement, instead contracting with another outside transportation provider. 76 Coronet correctly asserts that backpay would toll if it could show that its employees' jobs would have been eliminated as of one of the above dates for legitimate business reasons. See Blackburn v. Martin, 982 F.2d 125, 129 (4th Cir.1992). The Board, however, found that Coronet failed to carry its burden on the tolling issue, and we see no basis for reversing that decision. 77 We emphasize, at the outset, the strong element of deference courts owe to the Board in a backpay determination. A backpay determination lacks the added element present in the restoration issue, supra, of imposing upon a company, for a period stretching indefinitely into the future, a particular mode of doing business that could have deleterious effects on the company's survival and as to which the employer's business judgment should not be disregarded, at least in a case such as this. Backpay is the traditional remedy for the loss of employment caused by an unfair labor practice. Only in very clear circumstances should courts override the Board's findings in that area. 78 Here, it is true, the ALJ in the compliance proceeding found credible Padden's statement of his intention to close the transportation department when he became president. However, the ALJ went on to conclude that that statement, standing alone,[was not] dispositive of the issue of whether [Coronet] would have shut down the department in 1990. Coronet Foods, Inc., 322 N.L.R.B. 837, 1997 WL 11274, at  6. The ALJ found that despite Padden's testimony that he intended to close the department, whether he would actually have done so under the circumstances was too speculative a possibility to merit reliance. Id. The ALJ noted, among other things, that Coronet's owner, Howard Long--who had previously displayed no interest in closing the department and, in fact, had earlier invested substantial sums of money in new trucks and equipment--retained veto power over all company decisions, including whether to close the transportation department. We cannot say that the ALJ, merely because he found Padden in general to be a credible witness, was required to toll the backpay award as of January 1, 1990 based solely upon Padden's stated intention that he would have closed the department when he became president. We conclude that the Board did not abuse its discretion when it rejected Coronet's argument that backpay should be tolled as of January 1990. 79 Coronet's alternative argument, that it would have closed the transportation department no later than September 30, 1991, when it contracted with a second transportation provider instead of re-assembling the in-house department, rests upon even greater speculation. The only reason that Coronet was in a position to contract with a second carrier in September 1991 was because it had illegally closed its inhouse department in May 1989. As of September 1991, Coronet had already dismantled the transportation department and dismissed its employees. The company's decision in September 1991 to contract with a second provider rather than re-assemble the in-house department it had unlawfully closed in May 1989 sheds little if any light on whether Coronet would have closed a still-existing department for legitimate reasons no later than September 30, 1991. The Board did not abuse its discretion in rejecting Coronet's alternative argument. 80 We reject Coronet's tolling arguments for an additional reason. The primary argument Coronet advances in support of tolling backpay--that Padden within a year or so after Coronet had illegally closed its transportation department would have done so for legitimate business reasons--is closely allied to the similar argument rejected by both the ALJ and the D.C. Circuit during the unfair labor practice proceed ing. The ALJ characterized Coronet's reliance on Padden's testimony that he intended to close the department prior to May 1989 for legitimate business reasons a sham, Coronet Foods, Inc., 305 N.L.R.B. 79, 1991 WL 203802, at  64. While it is true that Padden had been elevated to president by 1990, and while our refusal to force Coronet to restore the department indicates that valid reasons besides antiunion animus would doubtless support the department's abolition, we still owe great respect to the Board's finding of pretext at the liability phase of the proceedings. Rejection of the Board's findings with respect to the tolling issue would tend to undermine these earlier, fully litigated liability determinations. For this additional reason, we conclude that the Board's refusal to toll backpay, an issue comfortably within the sphere of expertise delegated by Congress to the Board, was not an abuse of discretion.