Court Opinion

ID: 9450636
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 16:53:39.604307+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:32:23.916672
License: Public Domain

J. SPENCER BELL, Circuit Judge
(dissenting in part).
I respectfully dissent from the decision of my brethren with respect to the discharge of Wolfe, since I would affirm the Board’s finding on that point. Nothing is to be gained by an elaborate recitation of the factual details. Suffice it to say that Wolfe was not discharged, despite his long record of work absenteeism, until after it was discovered that he was engaged in pro-union activities. The majority’s decision rests primarily upon the same self-serving declarations of Bailey *139and Wilbur Wright which the trial examiner rejected as the basis for Wolfe’s termination.
I think the Board’s finding regarding Wolfe’s discharge is supported by substantial evidence in the record considered as a whole. As I noted in my dissent in Wellington Mill Div., West Point Mfg. Co. v. N. L. R. B., 330 F.2d 579, 592 (4 Cir.), cert. denied, 379 U.S. 882, 85 S.Ct. 144, 13 L.Ed.2d 88 (1964), I think the Board’s factfinding function and its expertise in the field of labor relations are entitled to deference from reviewing courts, and I think the majority’s opinion in this case fails to accord the Board’s findings the respect to which they are entitled.
I would enforce the Board’s order pertaining to the section 8(a) (3) violation.