Opinion ID: 437310
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Policy or Practice of Intimidation

Text: 12 We do not believe the court erred in finding that the union had failed to establish a prima facie case that BN had a policy and practice of intimidating or discouraging employees from retaining legal counsel. The union's attempt to establish its Sec. 60 policy and practice claim focused on three exhibits and the testimony of four injured workers and two BN claims representatives. The three exhibits were: a BN News article entitled, On the Job Injury? General Claims Can Help; an article appearing in the Denver Regional News; and a BN informational pamphlet entitled, Injured on the Job. The BN News and Denver Regional News articles portrayed the BN claims representative as a friend of the worker and characterized the BN's internal claims settlement procedure as an efficient and amicable alternative to worker FELA suits. The BN informational pamphlet, while stating that, employees are free to hire an attorney at any time, encouraged workers to first try to resolve your case with the claims representative, saving both you and the company legal fees, long delays, and emotional turmoil that result from a lawsuit. 13 There was nothing coercive or threatening about these articles and pamphlet; they simply suggested that the claims settlement process was a desirable alternative to an FELA suit. Federal cases interpreting Sec. 60 have recognized that some form of coercion or threat is required to establish a violation. Hendley v. Central of Georgia R. Co., 609 F.2d 1146, 1150-51 (5th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1093, 101 S.Ct. 890, 66 L.Ed.2d 822 (1981); Stark v. Burlington Northern, 538 F.Supp. 1061, 1062 (D.C.Col.1982). 14 To interpret Sec. 60 to prohibit the non-coercive materials here would probably run afoul of the First Amendment. We are guided by cases interpreting provisions in the National Labor Relations Act. See Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Jacksonville Terminal Co., 394 U.S. 369, 383, 89 S.Ct. 1109, 1117, 22 L.Ed.2d 344 (1969) (NLRA and cases interpreting it provide guidance in interpreting provisions of Railway Labor Act); Hendley, 609 F.2d at 1151 (45 U.S.C. Sec. 60 interpreted in the light of cases interpreting Railway Labor Act's prohibition against coercion to influence an employee's free choice). In NLRB v. Virginia Electric & Power Co., 314 U.S. 469, 477, 62 S.Ct. 344, 348, 86 L.Ed. 348 (1941), the Supreme court concluded that the Wagner Act could not be interpreted to prohibit an employer from exercising his First Amendment right to express his views to employees on the merits of unionization, provided the expression was neither coercive nor part of a coercive course of conduct. See also NLRB v. Golub Corp., 388 F.2d 921, 926 (2nd Cir.1967) (tracing case law background--including Virginia Electric --to the enactment of Sec. 8(c) of the Taft-Hartley Act (1947)). In NLRB v. Gissel Packing Co., 395 U.S. 575, 89 S.Ct. 1918, 23 L.Ed.2d 547 (1969), the Supreme Court referred to the relationship between the First Amendment and Sec. 8(c) of the NLRA, which was enacted in 1947: 15 [A]n employer's free speech right to communicate his views to his employees is firmly established and cannot be infringed by a union or the Board. Thus Sec. 8(c) (29 U.S.C. Sec. 158(c)) merely implements the First Amendment by requiring the expression of any views, argument, or opinion shall not be evidence of an unfair labor practice, so long as such expression contains no threat of reprisal or force or promise of benefit in violation of Sec. 8(a)(1). 16 Id. at 617, 89 S.Ct. at 1941; see also NLRB v. Intertherm, Inc., 596 F.2d 267, 277 (8th Cir.1979). 17 The pamphlet and articles here fell squarely within the ambit of free speech protections guaranteed by the First Amendment, as elucidated in Virginia Electric and Gissel. The materials, considered collectively, could not have been intended or understood as a threat to employees seeking to retain an attorney. Compare Gissel, 395 U.S. at 619, 89 S.Ct. at 1942. In fact, the pamphlet clearly stated that the employees were free to hire an attorney at any time. 18 Furthermore, the materials were not part of a course of conduct or policy and practice of intimidating or threatening employees seeking to retain attorneys. As the district court found, the testimony of four injured employees established that two or three claims representatives had either urged the discharge of a retained attorney or advised that the retention of an attorney could jeopardize job security, promotions, or cash advances. We, like the district court, find such statements by claims representatives to be disturbing and reprehensible. Even so, we agree with the district court that the statements were isolated, sporadic, and were made by a relatively small number of claims representatives; they did not reflect any BN policy or practice of coercion or intimidation, which is what the union has alleged in this claim for injunctive relief. In Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 336, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 1854, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977), the Supreme Court recognized that a plaintiff raising a policy or practice claim under Title VII must prove more than the mere occurrence of isolated or 'accidental' or sporadic discriminatory acts. It had to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that racial discrimination was the company's standard operating procedure--the regular rather than the unusual practice. Applying this common sense definition, we agree with the district court's finding that the union failed to establish that BN had a policy or practice of coercing or threatening employees seeking to retain counsel for FELA suits. 2 19 Judgment affirmed.