Opinion ID: 782952
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Incidents Involving Joseph Rimualdo

Text: 7 In 1987, Joseph Rimualdo, a member of the Teamsters, began working in the packaging, bottling, and shipping department of the Baldwinsville brewery. In 1998, he became a shop steward, and he soon learned of certain safety issues in two other departments of the brewery. In January of 1999, he filed six grievances related to those safety issues. Upon being informed of these grievances, Fred Singler, the manager of Rimualdo's department, met with Rimualdo and the managers of the two departments involved in the safety grievances, Lux and Nick Alivero. In this meeting, Singler asserted that Rimualdo had failed to follow the proper procedures for addressing the safety issues. Rimualdo admitted that this assertion was accurate, and the meeting adjourned. Four days later, upon seeing Rimualdo drinking a Labatt's Blue beer in a tavern near the brewery, Lux said, This is two strikes. You got one for filing safety grievances and you got one for drinking Labatt's Blue. ALJ Decision at 11. As a result of this incident, the Teamsters charged Busch with an unfair labor practice, asserting that Lux had threatened Rimualdo for filing safety grievances, an activity protected by the Act. 8 Before a hearing was conducted on this charge, Rimualdo was involved in another incident at the brewery. On August 25, 1999, Rimualdo, with a group of fellow employees, was hand stamping dates on packages of beer. On that occasion, Rimualdo accidentally got ink on his hands. Lux approached the group and, according to Rimualdo, said, You got to be careful what you say and what you do around this guy, he's bad news. Lux then stated to Rimualdo: You got to be pretty good with having ink on your fingers. Id. at 12. The latter comment, according to Rimualdo, referred to Rimualdo's recent arrest and fingerprinting in a domestic incident involving his ex-wife. Lux told him, You made it very tough for me, filing those charges with the [Board]. We'll see in September. Id. Rimualdo claimed that, after these statements, Lux threatened to get even with him in some way. 7 Based on this incident (the Stamping Incident), the Teamsters, on September 8, 1999, charged Busch with another unfair labor practice charge, alleging that Busch had interfered with, restrained and coerced Rimualdo in the right to engage in protected, concerted activity by threatening and disciplining him for filing a charge with the [Board]. 8 9 As to Lux's comments at the tavern, the ALJ found that they were based on Rimualdo's apparent disloyalty in drinking a competitor's beer, rejecting the Teamsters's assertion that Busch had threatened Rimualdo because he had filed safety grievances. ALJ Decision at 11. The ALJ thus concluded that Lux's comments to Rimualdo at the tavern did not constitute an unfair labor practice. Id. On the Stamping Incident, however, the ALJ found that Lux had threatened Rimualdo because of the Teamsters's pending charge before the Board, and he thus concluded that Busch had committed an unfair labor practice. Id. at 12. By its Order, the Board agreed with the ALJ's determinations. Order at 1.