Opinion ID: 185115
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Interference with Free and Uncoerced Voting

Text: 19 Likewise, the Board erred in summarily rejecting the objection that the Union agents' tour through the facilities and open disagreements with a management official necessitated invalidating the election. An election is invalid if the actions of a party to the election reasonably tend[ed] to interfere with the employees' free and uncoerced choice in the election. Family Serv. Agency v. NLRB, 163 F.3d 1369, 1383 (D.C. Cir. 1999) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). The employees' free and uncoerced choice in an election may be interfered with by actions that create the impression that an employer is not in control of its own facilities and is not able to stand up to the Union. See Phillips Chrysler Plymouth, Inc., 304 N.L.R.B. 16 (1991). 20 In Phillips, the Board invalidated an election where Union agents refused to leave the employer's property and engaged in a shouting match with the employer in front of employees an hour before the polls opened. Because this direct challenge to the Employer's assertion of its property rights and the message that the Employer was powerless to protect its own legal rights in a confrontation with the Union could not have been lost on the employees, the Board held that the Union's conduct interfered with the employees' free and uncoerced choice. Phillips Chrysler, 304 N.L.R.B. at 16. 21 Similarly, in this case, North of Market has raised significant issues regarding the Union's improper invasion of its property and the resulting impression that the employer was helpless to control the situation. First, not only did the Union agents walk around the employer's facility without the employer's permission, but they walked into private examination rooms where patients were in a state of undress. The Union agents' unhindered access to the facilities and the examining rooms surely could have been seen as a challenge to North of Market's property rights. Second, the Union agents repeatedly disagreed with Ms. Valoris: She told employees that they had to vote on their lunch break, but the Union agents told employees that they did not have to vote during their lunch hour. This disagreement could well have given employees the impression that North of Market was unable to protect its rights in a dispute with the Union. This is especially true given that the Union agents purported to be speaking for the Board when they disagreed with the employer. 22 Moreover, we scrutinize this misconduct more closely both because it took place on the day of the election, see Family Serv. Agency, 163 F.3d at 1383 (noting that argument between employer and union did not necessitate invalidating the election in part because election was at least a month away from the time the argument occurred); NLRB v. Earle Indus., Inc., 999 F.2d 1268, 1274 (8th Cir. 1993) (holding that conduct did not violate Phillips Chrysler, in part because it took place weeks before the election), and because the Union's margin of victory was narrow, see C.J. Krehbiel Co. v. NLRB, 844 F.2d 880, 884 (D.C. Cir. 1988) (carefully scrutinizing the election, because the vote was close); United Steel Workers v. NLRB, 496 F.2d 1342, 1347 n. 11 (5th Cir. 1974) (If the vote margin in a representational election is very narrow, minor violations should be more closely scrutinized.). 23 In light of the record at hand and considering the principles underlying Phillips Chrysler, we conclude that North of Market was at least entitled to a hearing on this issue.Accordingly, the case will be remanded for further consideration by the Board, either to conduct of a new election or for a hearing on the employer's objections. If a hearing is held, the Board must specifically address the application of Phillips Chrysler to this case.