Opinion ID: 723734
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Supervisory Membership Issue

Text: 9 The Hospital's most sweeping challenge to the certification alleges that the CNA is fundamentally disqualified from service as a collective bargaining representative because it numbered among its members employees who were supervisors under the Act and failed to insulate its collective bargaining program from the influence of statutory supervisors as required by Sierra Vista Hospital, Inc., 241 N.L.R.B. 631, 1979 WL 8925 (1979), and because the Association was riven by a schism resulting from a conflict over policy. 10 In Sierra Vista, the Board established the general framework within which it evaluates claims that a labor organization is disqualified from serving as a bargaining representative because of the active participation of supervisors in the organization. The Board distinguished between organizations in which the employer's own supervisors both actively participate in the labor organization and have some authority within it and those in which the only supervisors actively participating in the labor organization work for employers other than the one being organized. Id. at 632-33. The Board noted in Sierra Vista that in the latter instance, even if supervisors of other employers constituted a majority of the organization's board of directors, that fact would not in and of itself require disqualification absent some other demonstrated conflict of interest. Id. at 633. In reviewing such claims, the Board held that it is the employer's burden to prove a clear and present danger of a conflict of interest. Id.; see also Highland Hosp. v. NLRB, 861 F.2d 56, 58 (2d Cir.1988); NLRB v. Walker County Medical Ctr., Inc., 722 F.2d 1535, 1541-42 (11th Cir.1984). 11 In the instant case, the Regional Director found that, although supervisors are eligible to serve on CNA's Board of Directors, none served on that board during the time of this dispute. Regional Director's Decision at 3. Further, he observed that if supervisors were elected to the board, the Association has established procedures that are designed to insulate its collective bargaining functions from supervisory influences. For instance, he noted that the Association's collective bargaining policies are developed and controlled by its Economic and General Welfare Congress, an elected body composed entirely of nonsupervisory nurses from bargaining units represented by the Association. Id. In addition, the Congress only has an informational relationship to the Board of Directors and is not subject to instruction from it. Id. The Director also noted that the Board of Directors plays no role in bargaining strategy, strike policies, collective bargaining policy, contract ratification, grievances or arbitration. Id. Thus, the Director held that the evidence failed to establish that a sufficient conflict of interest existed to disqualify the Association from representing the Hospital's employees. Id. at 4. 12 The Hospital contended before the Board and contends now that the Regional Director's ruling on the eligibility issue deprived it of due process in that the Director improperly prevented it from introducing evidence at the hearing regarding the Sierra Vista and schism questions. The burden of showing prejudice from assertedly erroneous rulings is on the party claiming injury. NLRB v. Heath Tec Div./San Francisco, 566 F.2d 1367, 1371-72 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 832, 99 S.Ct. 110, 58 L.Ed.2d 127 (1978). Applying this burden allocation, we hold that the Hospital failed to show that any prejudice resulted from its inability to present the additional evidence at the hearing. 13 The employer's proffered evidence arose in litigation arising from an internal dispute in the CNA. The litigation, which was pending at the time of the Board hearing, resulted in a temporary restraining order, Costello v. Nichols, No.C-93-0041 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 11, 1993), and a preliminary injunction, Costello v. Nichols, No. C-93-0041 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 10, 1993), both of which required the Association to enforce the bylaws and provisions that were established to insulate its collective bargaining unit against actual or potential influence by the Board of Directors and statutory supervisors. Even if we assume that the evidence would have shown the existence of a conflict relevant to the ability of the CNA to serve as a bargaining representative, the litigation upon which the employer relies resulted in a restraining order requiring the Association to enforce bylaws and other safeguards established to insulate its collective bargaining function from actual or potential influence by the Board of Directors and by statutory supervisors. Thus, any alleged breaches the Hospital sought to prove were ordered repaired by the district court. Further, all of the appeals from this litigation were voluntarily dismissed in August 1993 and June 1994. 14 The Hospital also contends that the Supreme Court's ruling in NLRB v. Health Care & Retirement Corp., 511 U.S. 571, 114 S.Ct. 1778, 128 L.Ed.2d 586 (1994), warrants reconsideration of its claims. In that case the Supreme Court struck down as inconsistent with the Act the Board's test for determining whether a nursing employee is a statutory supervisor. Employer argues that the Court's ruling broadens the category of employees who would be deemed statutory supervisors and that therefore the chances of supervisory influence existing in the CNA would increase. We find this argument unavailing. The safeguards currently in place to guard against such influence are not dependent upon the number of members deemed supervisors. Hence, the safeguards should be effective regardless how many members of the Association are found to have supervisory roles.