Opinion ID: 485344
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Written warning and discharge

Text: 24 The Board also found that Rockwell issued the written disciplinary notice and ultimately discharged Denaple because of her protected, concerted activities on behalf of other employees. To fall within section 7's concerted activity, the employee must act with or on the authority of other employees, and not solely by and on behalf of the employee himself. Meyers Industries, Inc., 281 N.L.R.B. No. 118 at 11 (1986) (quoting Meyers Industries, Inc., 268 N.L.R.B. 493 (1984)). 25 The Board found that two of Denaple's acts fell within section 7's protections as concerted activities: her confrontation with the supervisors at the employees' meeting and her complaint about the dismissals of the six drug-tested employees. 26 During the employees' meeting, Cheek lectured employees about the volume of the radio headsets. Denaple objected, saying she did not believe that employees played the radios loud enough for others to hear. She also asked about the promised removal of a noisy machine. The Board found that this was protected, concerted activity that precipitated the written warning Rockwell issued to Denaple. 27 Rockwell contends first that Denaple's comments at the meeting do not qualify as protected, concerted activity. Second, Rockwell argues that it was the laughing incident rather than those comments that led to the warning. 28 Purely personal griping does not fall within the scope of protected, concerted activity. For example, in NLRB v. Deauville Hotel, 751 F.2d 1562, 1565 (11th Cir.1985), this court held an employee's complaints about a new, lower-ranking job he had been assigned were not protected, concerted activity. In the present case, however, Denaple's concerns were obviously group concerns. In fact, the Company had called the employees together to discuss the group issue of noise from the radios. This was not an issue limited to a single employee. The ALJ found that Cash acknowledged Denaple spoke on behalf of all employees. 6 Thus, Denaple's actions differ from the purely personal complaints of the employee in Deauville. 29 In its recent concerted activity decision, Meyers Industries, Inc., 281 N.L.R.B. No. 118 (1986) (Meyers II ), 7 the Board acknowledged that acts of a single employee could constitute concerted activity. Id. at 11. When an individual, not designated as spokesperson, brings a group complaint to management's attention, the question of whether that activity is concerted must be determined on the totality of the evidence. 8 See id. at 13, 16 (Meyers I standard not exhaustive--must scrutinize facts case-by-case). In the present case, the evidence supports the findings of the ALJ and the Board that Denaple engaged in protected, concerted activity. Denaple voiced a concern common to the employees in the group meeting: radio playing and noise in the workplace. While her speech was not specifically authorized, the group was more than generally aware of her actions, since they were present at the meeting. The employer knew Denaple spoke on behalf of the group. 30 In addition, the ALJ did not credit Rockwell's excessive laughter rationale for the written warning, based in part on his credibility findings. 9 Even absent credibility observations, we find the laughing incident a thinly-disguised pretext for disciplining Denaple for concerted activity. Several of the supervisors admitted that they discussed the employee meeting confrontation when they were deciding whether to issue the written disciplinary notice. The totality of the circumstances supports the Board's finding that Rockwell's written warning violated section 8(a)(1). 31 Substantial evidence also supports the Board's finding that the discharge of Denaple violated section 8(a)(1). Rockwell attacks this finding on several grounds. First, it asserts that Denaple's protest over the drug-related discharges did not cause her dismissal. Instead, the Company contends that Denaple's absenteeism and general disruptive conduct led it to fire her. Moreover, the Company argues that even if Denaple's protests played a role in her termination, those protests were not protected, concerted activity. We agree with the Board, however, that Denaple's protests were protected, concerted activities. We also concur with the Board's finding that the other reasons offered for her dismissal were pretextual. 32 Denaple's activities revolved around the group concern over the urinalysis testing and subsequent discharges. Rockwell's supervisors acknowledged that the drug-related dismissals were a source of consternation for the employees at the plant. Also, Denaple's activities were concerted. One of the dismissed employees had asked her for union assistance. Another employee had discussed the situation with her, and she voiced her concerns in the presence of that employee. Opposition to the drug testing and the discharges was protected activity within the meaning of section 7. See Eastex, Inc. v. NLRB, 437 U.S. 556, 563-68, 567 n. 17, 98 S.Ct. 2505, 2511-14, 2513 n. 17, 57 L.Ed.2d 428 (1978) (section 7 liberally construed to protect broad range of employee concerns); Brown & Root, Inc. v. NLRB, 634 F.2d 816, 818 (5th Cir.1981) (section 7 protects activities reasonably expected to affect conditions of employment). Thus, Denaple's protests were protected, concerted activity. 33 With respect to Rockwell's claim that it did not discharge Denaple for her protests, but for other work-related behavior, the Board applied a Wright Line test 10 and held that Rockwell's asserted reasons were pretextual. Under Wright Line when an employee's protected activity was a motivating factor for the employer's adverse action, the employer must then demonstrate that it would have taken the action even absent the protected conduct. NLRB v. Transportation Management Corp., 462 U.S. 393, 400-03, 103 S.Ct. 2469, 2473-75, 76 L.Ed.2d 667 (1983). 34 Here General Counsel established a prima facie case of unlawful motivation for the discharge. Rockwell terminated Denaple's employment the day after her protest over the drug-related dismissals and within two weeks of her confrontation over the radio playing. Also, the Company had previously threatened her with reprisals for union activity. When Denaple exclaimed that the dismissals of the six employees were unfair, Elliott told her that she was already in enough trouble and reported to Saed that Denaple had been disruptive over the discharges. Saed made the decision to terminate Denaple the next day. 35 Rockwell failed to rebut the prima facie case of unlawful motivation. While the Company now conjures up a raft of incidents to justify Denaple's discharge, the supervisor who decided to terminate Denaple did not even review Denaple's personnel file. Thus, the personnel file full of incidents merely furnishes post hoc justification for a decision made on unlawful bases. Further, the personnel file itself refutes Rockwell's claims that Denaple's work-related behavior was poor. The evaluations in the file rated Denaple's work-related behavior as good or satisfactory. We find substantial evidence to support the Board's finding on this issue, as well. The record supports the finding that Rockwell's true motivation for firing Denaple was that she was disruptive over issues of common concern to employees. The evidence indicates that Rockwell discharged Denaple because of her protected, concerted activities. 36 For the foregoing reasons, we ENFORCE the Board's order.