Opinion ID: 19555
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Did Mobil's Discharge of Pemberton Violate Section 8(a)(1)?

Text: 23 Mobil does not contest the finding of the arbitrator, adopted by the ALJ, that the evidence was insufficient to show that Pemberton interfered with Mobil's investigation by his June 23, 1994 inquiry into Thibodeaux's substitute teaching. Pemberton's contributing misconduct found by the arbitrator to have occurred between February 1993 and May 1994 was not related to Pemberton's opposition to the Union president or his remarks on July 17th, 1994. Mobil does not demonstrate how those extraneous incidents support its argument that Pemberton's July 17th statements were mere personal griping. Therefore, Mobil can claim to have justifiably fired Pemberton and thereby lawfully interfered with his July 17 statements to his coworkers on the offshore platform only if the statements did not constitute concerted or protected activity. 24
25 Generally, to qualify as concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. 151 et seq., conduct must appear at the very least that it was engaged in with the object of initiating or inducing or preparing for group action or that it had some relation to group action in the interests of the employees. NLRB v. Buddies Supermarkets, Inc., 481 F.2d 714, 718 (5th Cir. 1983). A conversation may constitute a concerted activity although it involves only a speaker and a listener, but to qualify as such, it must appear at the very least that it was engaged in with the object of initiating or inducting or preparing for group action or that it had some relation to group action in the interest of the employees. See MushroomTransp. Co. v. NLRB, 330 F.2d 683, 685 (3rd Cir. 1964). 2 Moreover, individual activity that is an outgrowth of prior protected concerted activity, such as an ongoing labor dispute, is also protected. Blue Circle, 41 F.3d at 207-209; Reef Indus., Inc. v. NLRB, 952 F.2d 830, 838 (1991). 26 In view of these principles, we cannot say that the Board erred in concluding that Pemberton's conduct on July 17 constituted protected concerted activity because it was engaged in with the object of initiating or inducing group action with respect to employees' mutual interests--group opposition to the incumbent Union leadership and support of a fellow unit employee facing possible discipline because of his opposition. Mobil Oil Exploration & Producing, U.S., Inc., 325 N.L.R.B. No. 18, at 3, 1997 WL 713342 (N.L.R.B.) (1997) (citing Whittaker Corp., 289 N.L.R.B. 933 (1988); Mushroom Transp. Co. v. NLRB, 330 F.2d 683, 685 (3rd Cir. 1964)). The Board correctly relied on the well settled principle that Section 7 encompasses the right of employees to oppose the policies and actions of their incumbent union leadership and to seek to persuade other employees to take steps to align the union with these opposing views. See id. (citing Machinists Local 707 (United Technologies), 276 N.L.R.B. 985, 991 (1985), enf'd 817 F.2d 235 (2d Cir. 1987); Laborers Local 652 (Southern Cal. Contractors' Ass'n), 319 N.L.R.B. 694, 698-99 (1995)). The Board has long acknowledged the critical importance of dissident activity within union organizations. For example, in Red Cab, Incorporated, 194 N.L.R.B. 279 (1971), the Board faced a situation in which an employer discharged union members who vehemently opposed the attempts of union leadership to end a strike. The Board stated: 27 The discharge of a dissident within a union when that termination is motivated by a desire to eliminate protest must inevitably result in an infringement under Section 8(1)(1) and 8(a)(3) of the employee's right to self-organization. We believe that inherent in that right is the privilege of protest and persuasion of others. Without this, effective employee representation becomes a nullity. 28 Id. at 290 (quoting Nu-Car Carriers, Inc., 88 N.L.R.B. 75, 76-77 (1950)); see also NLRB v. Local 139, Int'l Union of Operating Engineers, 796 F.2d 985, 989 (7th Cir. 1986) (When employee members of a union undertake to inform fellow members of what they believe to be corruption of union officials, they are engaged in 'concerted activity.'). In the present case, as the Board noted, it is stipulated that Pemberton has had an ongoing dispute concerning the operation, policies, and practices of the Union under incumbent Union president Thibodeaux's leadership. In furtherance of that dispute, Pemberton also joined an unspecified number of other employees in protesting a Mobil-Union verbal agreement to compensate Thibodeaux for lost wages, with Mobil to be reimbursed by the Union, for his absences from work that he claimed were necessitated by Union business. In continuance of that concerted action, Pemberton complained to Mobil about Thibodeaux's alleged abuse of this privilege of Union office and asked Mobil to require Thibodeaux to return any improper payments to the Union. Consequently, Pemberton's protest to fellow employees on July 17 that Mobil was attempting to digup a pretext for firing him because he was trying to right a wrong may reasonably be viewed as either a continuation of earlier concerted activities or a logical outgrowth of concerted activity. See Blue Circle Cement Company v. NLRB, 41 F.3d 203, 207-208 (5th Cir. 1994). 29 There is substantial evidence in support of the Board's conclusion that Pemberton's July 17 statements to his fellow workers were another attempt to enlist the support of other employees in opposition to the policies and alleged derelictions of the incumbent Union leadership, and not merely a personal complaint. Mobil's argument that the Board unsoundly or erroneously concluded that Pemberton's July 17 statements were concerted activity, not mere personal griping, is not persuasive. Mobil misplaces its reliance on two Fifth Circuit cases to support its position. 30 First, Mobil relies upon NLRB v. Datapoint Corporation, 642 F.2d 123, 128 (5th Cir. 1981). In Datapoint, an employee on the factory floor loudly protested an employer's decision to lay off all but three employees for a week-long period while the company department relocated. Several days later after a contentious meeting with the supervisor who announced the layoff, the employee using profanity, had loudly proclaimed for all to hear that he had told her off in no uncertain terms. Id. at 125. The Fifth Circuit held that the employee's statements did not constitute concerted activity. Instead, the court concluded that the comments comprised only personal gripes not related to any sort of group action. Id. at 128. The factual context presented by Datapoint is easily distinguishable from the case at hand. Datapoint involved the profane tirade of a disgruntled loner. Any semblance of the instigation, incitement and sustenance of concerted group action remains conspicuously absent from the employee's personal campaign in Datapoint. In the present case, Pemberton intended his July 17th speech to serve as the catalyst for future group action. Pemberton's conduct throughout his tenure at Mobil reflected a consistent dedication to union efficacy and vitality, and virtually all of his actions related to concerted or union activity in one form or another. 31 Second, Mobil relies upon Charles H. McCauley Associates, Incorporated, 657 F.2d 685 (5th Cir. 1981) to advance its argument. In McCauley, an architectural firm dismissed an employee for attempting to organize a union among other employees. The Fifth Circuit found that the employee's complaints to management on behalf of other employees, though without their express support constituted a predicate for possible group activity. Id. at 688. Neither the result nor the reasoning of McCauley lend any support to Mobil's arguments. In fact, McCauley serves as an excellent illustration of this court's approach to activity arising in a union or group context. The concerted nature of the actions in McCauley are similar to Pemberton's campaign to initiate or induce group action with respect to employees' mutual interests. 32 2. Pemberton Did Not Engage In Concerted Conduct In Such An Abusive Or Insubordinant Manner As To Lose Section 7 Protection 3 33 Mobil argues that Pemberton's concerted activity lost its protection under the Act because (1) he disobeyed Burton's instruction not to disclose the company's investigation of his allegations that Thibodeaux collected compensation for Union work while he was actually substitute teaching at a high school; and (2) his language was too intemperate even for a conversation with only his drilling rig co-workers present. 34 As the Supreme Court has stated, an employee may engage in concerted activity in such an abusive manner that he loses the protection of 7. City Disposal, 465 U.S. at 837. The NLRAdoes not provide protection to one so flagrantly insubordinate to the legitimate assertion of managerial authority. NLRB v. Great Dane Trailers, Inc., 396 F.2d 769, 771 (1968); see also NLRB v. Finesilver Mfg. Co., 400 F.2d 644, 649 (5th Cir. 1968) (An employee cannot ordinarily be selective in the manner of obeying a supervisor's instructions. If instructions are flagrantly disobeyed, the employee is properly discharged.). Mobil asserts that Pemberton's insubordinate actions fall outside the protection of the Act because he failed to abide by Mobil's legitimate confidentiality requirements. 35 The evidence contained in the record does not support Mobil's arguments. First, based on Pemberton's statement that Burton was trying to dig something up on me, it is reasonable to conclude that Pemberton believed that Burton was trying to find a cause or a pretext to fire him. 4 Therefore, his most practical recourse was to protest the employer's action and seek the support of his fellow workers, i.e., mutual aid and protection, which he did on July 17th. Pemberton's statement may have implied that he thought the company was looking for a possible cause or pretext for firing him because he had displeased the management by trying to right a wrong. But his remarks hardly could be understood as a disclosure of the fact that the company was investigating Thibodeaux's activities away from work. Despite Pemberton's suspicion, and Burton's vague remark, about the direction the investigation might take, Pemberton had not been informed of any investigation other than the one related to Thibodeaux. Therefore, the only investigation he had been instructed not to discuss was the Thibodeaux investigation. 36 Moreover, Pemberton's speech did not violate Burton's instruction that Pemberton not discuss the fact that Mobil was investigating Thibodeaux's conduct. The only references to Thibodeaux in Pemberton's statement was his repetition of his own well-known previous complaints that Thibodeaux had not acted in the best interests of the Union membership, that he had received overtime pay while attending to union business, and that he should be replaced, or that the employees should join a different union. 37 Because of the company's own actions, Mobil's confidentiality interest in its investigation of Thibodeaux's behavior was exceedingly minimal, as the Board found. In fact, it may have been nonexistent. Burton testified that the purpose of the confidentiality requirement was to prevent Thibodeaux, as the target of the investigation, from attempting to cover stuff up. Nothing in Pemberton's July 17th remarks could have alerted Thibodeaux or anyone else to the fact that Thibodeaux was under investigation. Moreover, it is undisputed that Mobil Labor Relations Adviser Dan Whitfield informed Thibodeaux on June 25, 1994 of the investigation of him brought on by Pemberton's allegations. It is also undisputed that Burton questioned Thibodeaux about Pemberton's allegations on July 7, 1994. Thus, Thibodeaux already knew about the allegations and the investigation before July 17th. As the Board noted, there is no evidence that Burton had any significant potential witnesses other than Thibodeaux and Pemberton, or that Pemberton's comments on July 17 were directed to, or overheard by, any potential witnesses. Under these circumstances, the Board reasonably concluded that Mobil had failed to demonstrate a substantial confidentiality interest that could justify the intrusion on Pemberton's exercise of Section 7 rights. 38 Considering the location and auditors of Pemberton's July 17th statements, Mobil's argument that his language was flagrantly intemperate is lacking in seriousness. Flagrant conduct of an employeeeven though occurring in the course of Section 7 activity, may justify disciplinary action by the employer. Not every impropriety does, however, because the employee's right to engage in concerted activity permits some leeway for impulsive behavior, which must be balanced against the employer's right to maintain order and respect. See Crown Central Petroleum Corp. v. NLRB, 430 F.2d 724, 730 (5th Cir. 1970) (citing Boaz Spinning Co. v. NLRB, 395 F.2d 512 (5th Cir. 1968)). Initially, the responsibility to draw the line between these conflicting rights rests with the Board, and its determination, unless arbitrary or unreasonable, ought not be disturbed. See 430 F.2d at 730. Pemberton's work break remarks were made to a small number of his drilling rig co-workers, not to any supervisory personnel, and they were not delivered in an insulting, provocative or violent manner. Under these circumstances, the balance struck by the Board is authorized. 39 We conclude that substantial evidence supports the Board's finding that Mobil had little or no significant confidentiality interest in its investigation of Thibodeaux's alleged substitute teaching activities, that Pemberton did not disobey his instruction to keep quiet about the Thibodeaux investigation, that Pemberton's July 17, 1994 speech was protected, concerted activity under Section 7 of the NLRA, and that Mobil violated Section 8(a)(1) of the Act by discharging Pemberton for that activity. 40