Opinion ID: 795996
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Adverse Inference from C.J. Grimes's Failure to Testify

Text: 33 Advocate attacks not only the inferences the NLRB drew from testimony the ALJ heard, but one it drew from testimony the ALJ didn't hear, or rather that it drew from the NLRB General Counsel's failure to present it. The General Counsel flirted with calling the SEIU organizer, C.J. Grimes, to the stand, presumably to corroborate Hall's testimony and rebut Advocate's fabrication defense. Hall testified that she telephoned Grimes shortly after her confrontation with Mulvihill; if that is true, Grimes could confirm the conversation and its contents. But the General Counsel chose not to call Grimes. Advocate urges that this must be because Grimes wouldn't have corroborated Hall, but would have instead critically contradicted her, or otherwise made some damning admission. What form the contradiction or admission would have taken is, of course, speculative. Below, Advocate urged that Grimes would have testified that Hall's original story was the one told in the union materials, aiding its impeachment efforts. (Resp't Exceptions to the Administrative Law Judge's Decision ¶ 55, 60; Resp't Reply to Charging Party and General Counsel's Answer to Resp't Exceptions and Br. in Supp. at 8-9.) Advocate now suggests that Grimes would have revealed that the chronology of Hall's account was confused and impossible; specifically, she would have indicated that the second union meeting, which Hall said occurred before the confrontation, occurred after August 12, which Hall instead said postdated the confrontation. (Pet'r Br. at 21.) Advocate argues that the NLRB should have inferred that Grimes would have testified to such an effect and taken that inference into account in reaching its decision, an application of the so-called missing witness rule. See Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. United States, 306 U.S. 208, 225-26, 59 S.Ct. 467, 83 L.Ed. 610 (1939); Roper Corp. v. NLRB, 712 F.2d 306, 310 (7th Cir.1983), Wigmore on Evidence § 285 (1979). 34 The argument collapses when one considers that Advocate had the power to compel testimony. If Grimes would have done so much damage, why didn't Advocate put her on the stand? The inference Advocate urges against the General Counsel can be turned back at itself, which is why we have previously held that a party can take advantage of the missing witness rule only when the missing witness was peculiarly in the power of the other party to produce. J.C. Penney Co. v. NLRB, 123 F.3d 988, 996 n. 2 (7th Cir.1997), quoting Oxman v. WLS-TV, 12 F.3d 652, 661 (7th Cir.1993); see also Wigmore § 288. 8 Both parties agree that Advocate could have subpoenaed Grimes. 29 U.S.C. § 161(1). Advocate does not argue that it was somehow unaware of the potential relevance of Grimes's testimony or otherwise unable to bring her to the stand. Under these circumstances, the NLRB's failure to draw an inference in favor of Advocate was entirely reasonable. 35 Even if an adverse inference were called for, its strength would not be such as to compel a reasonable factfinder to disbelieve Hall because the NLRB General counsel did not have a very strong incentive to present Grimes's testimony, which was essentially cumulative and of little value. United States v. Gant, 396 F.3d 906, 910 (7th Cir.2005); Wilson v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 893 F.2d 1149, 1150-51 (10th Cir.1990). Grimes is not a third party whose disinterested confirmation of Hall's tale could have blown the case wide open. She is an organizer for SEIU; if anything, she had more reason to falsely corroborate Hall's story than Hall had to fabricate it. The NLRB did not have to conclude that some dark secret kept her off the stand. The general counsel may have simply wanted to save time. The NLRB's decision to credit Hall despite the absence of testimony from Grimes was reasonable and supported by substantial evidence.