Opinion ID: 539798
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Successor Status of HIMA

Text: 25 The determination of whether a new company is a successor to the old is largely factual in nature. In making its inquiry, it is well settled that the Board (or the court, where it is the factfinder) must direct its attention to the question of whether the new company has acquired substantial assets of its predecessor and continued, without interruption or substantial change, the predecessor's business operations. Golden State Bottling Co. v. NLRB, 414 U.S. 168, 182, 94 S.Ct. 414, 424, 38 L.Ed.2d 388 (1973). See also NLRB v. Burns International Security Services, 406 U.S. 272, 92 S.Ct. 1571, 32 L.Ed.2d 61 (1972). From these vague beginnings, the standard has developed into one with more definitive parameters: 26 [T]he focus is on whether there is substantial continuity between the enterprises. Under this approach, the Board examines a number of factors: whether the business of both employers is essentially the same; whether the employees of the new company are doing the same jobs in the same working conditions under the same supervisors; and whether the new entity has the same production process, produces the same products, and basically has the same body of customers. 27 Fall River Dyeing & Finishing Corp. v. NLRB, 482 U.S. at 43, 107 S.Ct. at 2236 (citations omitted). Given the emphasis of the law on furthering industrial peace, these factors must be weighed in light of whether those employees who have been retained will understandably view their job situations as essentially unaltered. Id. See Golden State Bottling Co., 414 U.S. at 184, 94 S.Ct. at 425. 28 Although application of a balancing test is always a delicate proposition, after careful analysis we are unable to say that the district court was clearly wrong in concluding that Turabo was indeed a successor to San Rafael. While we think it unnecessary to parrot each of the district court's findings, upon review, we find that it was not clear error for the district court to hold that the $1,000,000 payment for the License Surrender Agreement, which was necessary for Turabo even to operate a hospital in Caguas, together with the purchase of $242,602 worth of equipment, and the lease of an X-ray unit, constitute the acquisition by Turabo of substantial assets of San Rafael. That this may have represented only a small portion of its total investment in Turabo is not dispositive--the focus is upon San Rafael. 29 The remaining criteria for successorship merit little discussion. It can scarcely be contested that Turabo is engaged in the same business of providing health care services to substantially the same community as had San Rafael. Moreover, it cannot be clear error to have concluded that the former San Rafael technical unit employees perform substantially the same functions at HIMA as they formerly did at San Rafael--indeed, appellant never argues otherwise. We also think that it is significant that the corporate management of Turabo and San Rafael are substantially identical, particularly with regard to key management personnel. Consequently, after careful analysis, we find that there is reasonable cause to believe that Turabo is the legal successor to San Rafael.