Opinion ID: 772362
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the board and union argument

Text: 33 In sum, the Board argues in its brief that Cleveland Real Estate Partners is no longer controlling authority. Why? Because Cleveland Real Estate Partners applied an improper standard of review; that is, it did not accept as controlling the Board's interpretation of Supreme Court (and Sixth Circuit) precedent on the so-called discrimination exception. The Board proceeded to devote much of its brief to its interpretation of Supreme Court precedent on the issues, particularlyBabcock & Wilcox and Lechmere, arguing first that [t]he fact that union representatives acting on behalf of the employees whose wages and benefits were threatened, rather than the employees themselves, were seeking to distribute handbills here should not affect the outcome. 34 In its brief arguing the meaning of judicial decisions dealing with the issues before us, the Board cites O'Neil's Markets v. United Food & Commercial Workers' Union, Meatcutters Local 88, AFL-CIO, CLC, 95 F.3d 733 (8th Cir. 1996). Among other things, O'Neil's had much to say about Babcock & Wilcox and Lechmere, but it had nothing to say about the discrimination exception. O'Neil's Market did not enforce the Board's order but remanded to place properly the burden on the union and to determine the extent of the validity of the area standards claim as well as defining the employer's property rights to the area involved. The Board is simply mistaken by implying in its brief that O'Neil's Market had anything to do with the discrimination exception. As to area standards picketing or handbilling, O'Neil's Markets finds it protected conduct under certain circumstances, but like NLRB v. Great Scot, Inc., 39 F.3d 678, 684 (6th Cir. 1994), the Board and the union carry the burden of proof regarding the validity of the area standards message. 95 F.3d at 738. 35 The Board acknowledges in its brief, moreover, that Great Scot holds that nonemployee area-standards picketing warrants even less protection than nonemployee organizational activity under Section 7 because it is a right even more 'peripheral.' 39 F.3d at 683. The union's activity in the instant case relates to a peripheral right only and deserves less protection under the Act. In Great Scot, the activity was directed toward the target employer and its wage standards; in this case, the handbilling is even more remote--it is directed at a contractor doing business with a tenant of the alleged employer Sandusky. 36 We also note that Sparks Nugget, Inc. v. NLRB, 968 F.2d 991 (9th Cir. 1992), cited in the Board's brief, does not support the discrimination exception urged by the Board. The Board noted, in fact, that Sparks Nugget found no discrimination despite the fact that the employer itself had distributed anti-union handbills. 37 The Board also cites, in its attenuated argument in its brief dealing with the discrimination exception, Davis Supermarkets, Inc. v. NLRB 2 F.3d 1162, 1177 (D.C. Cir. 1996), which involved employees seeking to participate incomparable activities and decided that the employer discriminated by denying one union access while granting another union access. 7 Even more distinguishable is United Parcel Serv., Inc. v. NLRB, 228 F.3d 772 (6th Cir. 2000), which decided the rights of employees distributing union literature to other employees in a non-work area to solicit their membership in the union. 38 The Board asks us to ignore or to overrule Cleveland Real Estate Partners, but our firm, fixed rule is that one panel of the court cannot overrule a prior precedential holding. E.g., United States v. Smith, 73 F.3d 1414, 1418 (6th Cir. 1996). The Board has failed to produce Supreme Court precedent that mandates such action. As we did in Cleveland Real Estate Partners, this court reviews the Board's interpretation of Supreme Court and Sixth Circuit decisions de novo. We do not defer to the Board with respect to the interpretation of judicial precedent. We do, however, give deference in matters of statutory construction of the NLRA by the Board so long as its interpretation of the statute is reasonable. The Board has expressly noted that the inaccessibility exception is not applicable here. However, to the extent that the Board's brief may be read to argue to the contrary, we note that the union has failed to show that it cannot otherwise get its message across, and we therefore reject the Board's argument that nonemployee union organizations may handbill to public consumers concerning a mall tenant's contracting with a non-union construction company. 39 Cleveland Real Estate Partners is controlling precedential authority, but if it were not, we would adhere to Sandusky's rationale that the union has demonstrated no handbilling right under the circumstances here. Even if the discrimination exception were relevant in this case, we would not construe it in this case, as urged by the Board, because the conduct of the nonemployee union handbillers is not similar conduct to that of civil and charitable organizations who obtained permission from Sandusky to use the mall in a limited way deemed beneficial. 40 Most of the case authority cited by the Board, in our view, is irrelevant, only peripherally related to the issue in this case, or is generally supportive of Sandusky's argument. We conclude that the Board's interpretation of the law under the stipulated facts is not reasonable nor is it persuasive. 41 This case does not involve organizational rights; it does not involve employee picketing or handbilling, and if Sandusky is deemed to be an employer, it has not encouraged or allowed handbilling by persons similarly situated to the union organizers in this case. 42 Accordingly, we decline to enforce the order of the Board and we REVERSE its determination.