Opinion ID: 449725
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Coercive Acts

Text: 13 The Company also alleges that several incidents during the campaign created an atmosphere of fear and coercion which vitiated the employees' right of free choice in the election. Three of the alleged incidents were credited by the ALJ, but he found them insufficient to warrant setting aside the election. 14 One of the incidents involved employees Dennis Phillipi and Gary Daiker. Daiker, a Union supporter, gave Phillipi a card to fill out indicating support for the Union. Phillipi did not fill out the card. Phillipi and Daiker both attended a Union meeting on January 23, 1980. Both were drinking at the meeting. During the meeting, Daiker called across the room to Phillipi, Hey Phillipi, are you going to sign a card now? Transcript at 132. At that point, Richard McLellan, who was standing by Phillipi, handed a card to Phillipi who then signed and returned it. After the meeting, Daiker and about four other employees approached Phillipi in the parking lot outside the Union hall. Daiker approached Phillipi, poked a finger in his chest and said he better have meant it by signing that card. Id. at 135. The other employees made no physical gestures but also said that they hoped Phillipi meant it by signing the card. The parking lot was dark at the time. The incident took no more than two or three minutes. Daiker and Phillipi did not speak again prior to the election, nor did any other pro-Union employees importune Phillipi prior to the election. Phillipi reported the incident to the Company's personnel manager, but does not appear to have discussed it with anyone else during the campaign. 15 Phillipi also testified that he had had a run-in at work with Daiker about a year prior to the election, when Daiker shot a paper clip into his back. A brief, unfriendly discussion ensued and the incident was quickly over with no further physical contact between the parties. 16 Another incident cited by the Company involved several letters sent by the Union to supervisors of the Company. These letters inaccurately implied that criminal penalties could be imposed against supervisors should any unfair labor practices be committed. When these letters were received, the supervisors were summoned to a meeting with an attorney for the Company, who told them the true state of the law. 17 The final incident alleged to contribute to an atmosphere of fear and coercion occurred when employee Richard McIvor approached supervisor Jack Schauls and told him to walk the middle of the road during the election campaign, and that the Union would try to get rid of some of the troublemakers if it were to win the election. Id. at 157. 18 Thus, three coercive incidents occurred during a two-month campaign. Only one was directed against an employee eligible to vote in the election. The other two incidents were directed against supervisors, and the supervisors involved admitted that the incidents did not deter them from campaigning against the Union. Indeed, the supervisors continued to speak out against the Union during the campaign. The ALJ, after hearing extensive testimony on these incidents, determined that they did not warrant setting aside the election. 19 With respect to the Daiker-Phillipi encounter, the ALJ found that this was nothing more than a tipsy union supporter who was simply, but crudely, trying to hold Philippi to his apparent commitment to the Union. ALJ's Opinion at 14. The ALJ found that this was an isolated incident which occurred early in the campaign, was not repeated, and was not widely known among the employees. The ALJ concluded that the incident had no significant impact on the election. 20 Regarding the letters to the supervisors, the ALJ found that any adverse effect on efforts by the supervisors to defeat the Union was neutralized by the actions taken by the Company to correct the misstatement regarding penalties for unfair labor practices. With respect to the McIvor-Schauls incident, the ALJ found that the incident was not widely known among the employees. Moreover, the ALJ observed that it was highly unlikely that any supervisor would believe that support for the Company could cost him his job. 21 In keeping with the decision of this Court in Bauer I, the ALJ considered the totality of the circumstances in determining whether a fair and free election was held. He concluded that the conduct herein of the Union and its supporters did not approach the severity of the conduct condemned in cases such as NLRB v. Van Gorp Corp., 615 F.2d 759 (8th Cir.1983), and NLRB v. Payless Cashways Lumber Store of South St. Paul, Inc., 508 F.2d 24 (8th Cir.1974), and that the record in this case falls short of showing that the conduct in question had created an atmosphere of fear and reprisal such as to render a free expression of choice impossible. NLRB v. Griffith Oldsmobile, Inc., 455 F.2d 867, 870 (8th Cir.1972). 22 We cannot say that these findings of the ALJ, affirmed by the Board, lack support either in the record or in law. Nevertheless, we are disturbed by the acts of intimidation that occurred during the election campaign, and we wish to make clear our disapproval of this kind of conduct. In a representation election, neither the employer nor the union can be allowed to engage with impunity in conduct that would subvert employee free choice. Both the Board and reviewing courts must be vigilant in protecting the right of workers freely to choose or to reject a union. As we have said on another occasion, [u]pon a sufficient showing that employee freedom to exercise meaningful choice has been undermined, by whatever means, we are prepared to set aside the results of [an] election .... Nabisco, Inc. v. NLRB, 738 F.2d 955, 958 (8th Cir.1984). 23 The facts of this case are troubling, but for the reasons set forth above we enforce the order of the Board.