Opinion ID: 566342
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Improper Electioneering and Coercive or Threatening Conduct

Text: 10 On appeal, the Company alleges in five of its objections that the Union or its advocates engaged in improper electioneering and purposely created an atmosphere of fear and coercion. The Company complains that the Board agent who conducted the election permitted two terminated employees, Readus and Jackson, to electioneer in the immediate area of the voting booth and to make improper comments to employees who were waiting to vote. Affidavits stated that after voting, Readus and Jackson spoke with the Union observer near the doorway for a period of time somewhere between one and five minutes (affidavits varied). According to the affidavit of employee Kyle Renfrow, Readus and Jackson were laughing and cutting up when he went in to vote. Jackson then approached Renfrow and stated, You know damn well the way you're supposed to vote, and told another voter the same and that they should stick together. In his affidavit, Renfrow stated, I voted the way I wanted to. Readus and Jackson had been told several times to leave the polling place, and finally left thirty seconds to one minute after the Board agent first instructed them to do so. The Company also complains that after leaving the polling place, Readus, Jackson, and another terminated employee walked around the plant speaking with various employees who had not yet voted, until they were escorted out of the plant by Company representatives. The Company presented no evidence as to the content of any of the conversations of the terminated employees. 11 Weighing all evidence in a light most favorable to the Company's position, the Regional Director found no violation of the Milchem rule, which requires the invalidation of an election when prolonged conversations occur between the parties to the election and employees waiting in line to vote. Milchem, Inc., 170 NLRB 362 (1968); see also NLRB v. Carroll Contracting & Ready-Mix, 636 F.2d 111, 113 (5th Cir.1981). He determined that the exchanges between Jackson and the two voters could not be considered prolonged, and, furthermore, that there was insufficient evidence to establish that Jackson was an agent of the Union. Milchem only prohibits contact between an agent or representative of a party and an employee-voter. Klingler, 656 F.2d at 87-88. Finding the statements made by Jackson in the polling area were not fear-inspiring threats, but ambiguous at best, the Regional Director deemed them insufficient to invalidate the election. As to the laid-off employees visiting the working area after voting, the Regional Director found the Company produced no evidence of electioneering nor identified any employees in the plant with whom Readus or Jackson had spoken. Accordingly, the Regional Director found these allegations insufficient to destroy the atmosphere necessary for a free choice in the election and thus to warrant setting the election aside. We find the Regional Director's determinations to be supported by substantial evidence in the record. 12 The Company's claim that agents of the Union threatened employees with harm if they failed to vote for the Union is based on a single incident. One morning, to avoid a traffic tie-up, a white employee, last name Presley, decided to enter through the visitor's parking lot, and was approached by an unidentified handbiller. When Presley politely declined the literature, the handbiller called him a white mother fucker, and, according to Presley's passenger, added that Presley had better vote yes. The handbiller then swatted at Presley's car with the leaflets. The Company produced no evidence regarding the identity of the handbiller nor that his conduct was attributable to or authorized by the Union. Presley's affidavit stated the incident did not affect his vote in any way. The Regional Director found the alleged threat to be isolated and de minimus, with no evidence showing that it was widely disseminated or created an atmosphere of fear or reprisals. See NLRB v. White Knight Mfg. Co., 474 F.2d 1064, 1068 (5th Cir.1973). Again, this determination is supported by substantial evidence in the record. 13 The Company also argues that on the day of the election, the Union distributed a deliberately vague handbill which stated The Union, not the Company Will Know How you Vote. The Union admitted distributing a handbill that stated The Union nor the Company Will Know How You Vote (emphasis added). The Company presented evidence that four individuals, only two of whom were eligible to vote, saw the not handbill. Other evidence adduced during the investigation disclosed that some employees received the nor handbill; others were uncertain which handbill they received, and still others received neither handbill. In examining the two handbills and the evidence presented, the Regional Director determined that the two documents seemed to be originally one and the same, and that some unknown person modified the nor handbill by adding a comma after the word Union and changing the r in nor to a t. There was insufficient evidence to attribute the alteration to anyone acting on behalf of the Union. To invalidate an election, objectionable conduct not attributable to a party to the election and that is committed by unknown persons must be so aggravated that a free expression of choice of representation is impossible. Bush Hog, Inc., 173 NLRB 467 (1968), enf'd, 420 F.2d 1266 (5th Cir.1969). The Regional Director found the altered handbill did not meet this standard. Furthermore, the not handbill is ambiguous and contradictory because it also states No one will Know How you Vote! it [sic] is a Secret Ballot Election. The official Notice of Election posted throughout the plant also emphasized the secret ballot, as did a handbill distributed by the Company. In addition, the ballot itself was marked OFFICIAL SECRET BALLOT. Accordingly, we find the Board's decision, which overruled this objection because the event was insufficient to materially affect the outcome of the election, to be supported by substantial evidence. 14 The Company also complains that the Union improperly invited eligible voters to a Pre-New Year's Party three weeks before the election for the purpose of inducing them to vote for the Union. The Union provided free entertainment (recorded music), food, and beverages. Affidavits of certain employees in attendance establish that no gifts were awarded. Evidence adduced during the investigation reflects that neither the Company nor the election campaign was discussed at the party. There is no evidence that the party was intended to induce employees to vote for the Union. The Board's decision to overrule this objection is supported by substantial evidence that the Union's providing employees with free food, drinks, and music at a one-time social event was not improper or objectionable conduct. See NLRB v. Delchamps, Inc., 653 F.2d 225, 228 (5th Cir.1981). 15 Taken as a whole, all of the incidents focusing on improper conduct are isolated events involving unknown persons or other rank and file employees rather than Union representatives. In the absence of Union agency, it is possible to set aside an election only if the conduct of third parties produced such a climate of tension and coercion that the employees were effectively precluded from making a free choice. NLRB v. Singleton Packing Corp., 418 F.2d 275, 281 (5th Cir.1969), cert. denied, 400 U.S. 824, 91 S.Ct. 47, 27 L.Ed.2d 53 (1970). The Company failed to produce any evidence sufficient to make a prima facie showing that the atmosphere of free choice had been destroyed by the alleged conduct. Accordingly, we hold that the Board reasonably concluded that the coercive events complained of, even when taken as a whole, were insufficient to set aside the election.