Opinion ID: 2994613
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Prohibition of Solicitation

Text: The Board found that ACE/CO violated section 8(a)(1) by maintaining in its Rules of Conduct a rule that prohibits employees from [s]oliciting or selling on company premises except when all concerned are relieved from duty. The Board regularly finds phrases like relieved from duty to be objectionable because they can be understood to prohibit employees from engaging in protected conduct from the time they enter on duty (i.e., punch in) until the time they leave for the day. Such a rule would prohibit protected activities even during breaks and lunches, and would be presumptively unlawful. See NLRB v. Trailways, Inc., 729 F.2d 1013, 1018, 1021 (5th Cir. 1984); NLRB v. Rooney, 677 F.2d 44, 45 (9th Cir. 1982). The Board’s finding that the ACE/CO rule fell on the unlawful side of the line is consistent with its prior cases and is an interpretation of the law that we have no reason to disrupt. ACE/CO points out that a presumptively invalid rule can be rescued by evidence that the rule was communicated or applied in such a way as to permit solicitation during break times and lunch. See, e.g., Essex Int’l, Inc., 211 NLRB 749, 750 (1974). That, it claims, is just what it did. In 1994, it posted another no solicitation rule in its cafeteria that only prohibited solicitation during working time and working hours, and defined working time in a way that clearly excluded breaks and lunch periods. But the rule posted in the cafeteria made no reference to the Rule of Conduct, nor did it tell the employees which rule took precedence. Cf. Beverly, 2000 WL 1286248, at ; Publishers Printing Co., 317 NLRB 933, 934 (1995), enforced, 106 F.3d 401 (6th Cir. 1995); Essex, 211 NLRB at 750. Conscientious employees who had read both the Rule of Conduct and the posting in the cafeteria would not have known what was or was not permitted. Particularly in the absence of evidence like that in Essex, 211 NLRB at 750, showing that employees were explicitly told that they could solicit during lunch and break times, we conclude that the Board’s decision was supported by the evidence and is entitled to enforcement.