Opinion ID: 1177371
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: denial of summer employment to petersen

Text: Arthur Petersen was selected to be a negotiator for the Union in its collective bargaining with the University during the spring and summer of 1979. Prior to the negotiations, Petersen applied to teach English 111, a course he had taught numerous times before, during the approaching summer session at Juneau-Douglas Community College. Upon receiving Petersen's application, Randall Ackley, the Director of Arts and Sciences at Juneau-Douglas, sent Petersen a memorandum stating, I signed your [travel request]. I noted that it said your business in Anchorage was negotiation. Does that mean you will be busy this summer and not be available for teaching? We have placed an ad for summer school teachers, and I will be making selections and assignment based upon best qualified next week. I would like to know if you will be in that applicant pool along with Silva and Hubbard? [Emphasis in original.] Petersen promptly responded, I wish to be considered for English 111. Negotiations, if they occur, (or even when) do not affect my availability to teach English 111. On April 26, another applicant, Ron Silva, was selected to teach English 111. Silva was the most experienced English teacher on the faculty, and Ackley testified that he considered him to be the best qualified applicant. Silva declined to teach the class a few days later, apparently confused as to the number of English courses available. Ackley sent Silva a memo clarifying the situation and asking him to reconsider, and on May 9 he again recommended Silva to teach the class. He also recommended Nancy Spector as an alternate if Silva declined again. By this time Petersen was becoming annoyed because Ackley still had not made the summer school assignment. Ackley wrote to him and explained that he had already recommended Silva to teach the class, although he noted that Silva had recently declined the appointment a second time. Ackley's memorandum to Petersen went on to state: My recommendations go to Dr. Oremus, as you know. I have discussed my recommendations with Dr. Oremus and he had given oral approval for Ron [Silva] to teach the class. I also have discussed your application and Dr. Oremus contacted the Contract Manager concerning the question of the availability of negotiators for summer staff. The response was that negotiators would be busy on almost a daily basis. For those out of town, this may cause difficulties in a regular teaching assignment. Given the amount of time you have been in Anchorage to date Dr. Oremus feels that the students would be disadvantaged by your frequent required absences and that this must be considered in selecting an instructor. I have acted in good faith and with as much speed as possible under the circumstances. I made my recommendation as soon as possible. I selected Ron Silva as best qualified. His refusal forces me to make another recommendation. In accordance with his earlier decision, Ackley subsequently recommended Nancy Spector, who had also been teaching English 111 during the regular year, as the next best qualified person to teach the course. Spector accepted, and was assigned to teach the course, and then a week later phoned Ackley to inform him that she had reconsidered and no longer desired the position. [5] At this point Ackley checked the registration for the course, which had been open approximately five or six weeks, and discovered that only one or two students had signed up. The course was scheduled to begin within a few weeks. Because he preferred not to offer the course with that few students in attendance, the course was then cancelled. [6] The Union contends that the University committed an unfair labor practice by denying Petersen summer employment because of his activities as a negotiator, in violation of AS 23.40.110(a)(1) and .110(a)(3). Those provisions read as follows: Unfair labor practices. (a) A public employer or his agent may not (1) interfere, restrain or coerce an employee in the exercise of his rights guaranteed in AS 23.40.080; [7] .... (3) discriminate in regard to hire or tenure of employment or a term or condition of employment to encourage or discourage membership in an organization; .... AS 23.40.110(a)(1) and .110(a)(3) are substantially similar to sections 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(3) of the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 158(a)(1) and 158(a)(3) (1976). Conduct which violates section 8(a)(3) of the Labor Management Relations Act  employer discrimination in hiring, firing or working conditions  also coerces or restrains employees in their rights to organize, bargain collectively and engage in other concerted activities, in violation of section 8(a)(1). Allied Industrial Workers, AFLCIO Local Union No. 289 v. N.L.R.B., 476 F.2d 868, 877 (D.C. Cir.1973); National Cash Register Co. v. N.L.R.B., 466 F.2d 945, 962 (6th Cir.1972), cert. denied, 410 U.S. 966, 93 S.Ct. 1442, 35 L.Ed.2d 700 (1973); see, e.g., N.L.R.B. v. Anchorage Businessmen's Association, 289 F.2d 619 (9th Cir.1961). Thus, applying this approach to the Alaska provisions, a violation of AS 23.40.110(a)(3) derivatively results in a violation of AS 23.40.110(a)(1) as well. To establish a violation of section 8(a)(3) of the Labor Management Relations Act, the employer's action generally must have been based on an antiunion motive. Midwest Regional Joint Board v. N.L.R.B., 564 F.2d 434, 440 (D.C. Cir.1977); Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel Corp. v. N.L.R.B., 618 F.2d 1009, 1019 (3d Cir.1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1078, 101 S.Ct. 859, 66 L.Ed.2d 801 (1981); N.L.R.B. v. Southern Plasma Corp., 626 F.2d 1287, 1293 (5th Cir.1980); reh'g denied, 633 F.2d 1210 (1981); Federal Mogul Corp. v. N.L.R.B., 566 F.2d 1245, 1259 (5th Cir.1978); Loomis Courier Service, Inc. v. N.L.R.B., 595 F.2d 491, 495 (9th Cir.1979). Only where the employer's conduct is inherently destructive of important employee interests is proof of an antiunion motive unnecessary under that section. N.L.R.B. v. Great Dane Trailers, Inc., 388 U.S. 26, 33, 87 S.Ct. 1792, 1797, 18 L.Ed.2d 1027, 1034 (1967); Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel Corp., 618 F.2d at 1019; Loomis Courier Service, Inc., 595 F.2d at 495. The requirements for establishing a violation of section 8(a)(1) of the Labor Management Relations Act  interference with, restraint or coercion in the exercise of rights to organize  are less exacting, and focus more upon the effects of the employer's conduct than upon its motivation. The test under that section is whether the employer's conduct reasonably tends to interfere with the free exercise of employees' rights. [8] N.L.R.B. v. Litho Press of San Antonio, 512 F.2d 73, 76 (5th Cir.1975); Time O Matic, Inc. v. N.L.R.B., 264 F.2d 96, 99 (7th Cir.1959); Munro Enterprises, Inc., 210 N.L.R.B. 403 (1974). Nonetheless, with the rarest of exceptions, see, e.g., N.L.R.B. v. Burnup & Sims, Inc., 379 U.S. 21, 85 S.Ct. 171, 13 L.Ed.2d 1 (1964), a discharge or lesser discipline for an employee's membership in or activities in support of a union will not be deemed to be a violation of either section 8(a)(1) or 8(a)(3) absent proof of an antiunion animus. See R. Gorman, Labor Law, at 137-38 (1976). Applying these principles to AS 23.40.110(a)(1) and .110(a)(3), the Union was required to demonstrate that Petersen was denied summer employment because of some antiunion motive on the part of the University. The ALRA determined that the failure to hire Petersen was not an unfair labor practice. [9] The superior court concluded that the ALRA's findings were supported by substantial evidence in the record and affirmed. We agree with this conclusion. The Union has not established the presence of an antiunion motive for failing to hire Petersen. Ackley testified that the reason Petersen was not hired was initially because more qualified applicants were available, and ultimately because a lack of student interest caused the class to be cancelled. Although the Union presented correspondence which demonstrated that the University considered Petersen's unavailability in determining his qualification, Ackley unequivocally testified that it was the mere fact of Petersen's unavailability, not the reason therefor, which was considered in this regard. Because this does not demonstrate an antiunion motive, we hold that the ALRA's findings are supported by substantial evidence and affirm the order of the superior court on this issue.