Court Opinion

ID: 9451169
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 17:08:26.466007+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:32:35.782909
License: Public Domain

CELEBREZZE, Circuit Judge
(dissenting) :
With the utmost respect, I must dissent from the majority opinion.
The Respondent knew of Sanford’s Union activities. Management had a list of Union men, and also a list of the nominees for Union office. There was conflicting evidence of Union hostility. It is alleged that President Quatman told employee Blubaugh that “within a year’s time he would be rid of the Union and everybody else that had anything to do with it”. District Manager Tanner, in a letter dated November 29, 1962, recommended a “good company man” over another because the other employee had a brother at Mt. Vernon who was on the Union side and “after going through the developments of the last six months here at Mt. Vernon, I hesitate to take a chance on anyone”.
The Respondent maintains that the reduction in the number of switchmen from four to three was based on economic considerations. The Respondent showed that there was less overtime worked after the reduction in the switchroom than before the reduction. Also, certain testing devices showed the office equipment operated efficiently. However, after the reduction, Telephone Service, Inc., an affiliate of Respondent, increased its maintenance work in the switch-room. The Respondent was in the process of installing long distance dialing equipment which required the exclusive service of one switchman from four to six hours a day. Local Manager Lahm urged that a fourth man be added to the switchroom. In a letter to President Quatman dated September 27, 1962, Manager Lahm said:
“Quite frankly was are not getting the maintenance we should and with the approaching winter season and the increased load it brings, I’m sure we are in for trouble. I believe this is due to two things, lack of help and lack of supervision.
“In all this time with this added load we have actually reduced our work force. I think it is time a long hard look were taken at this situation, for if we don’t we are asking for trouble.”
On these facts the Board adopted the Trial Examiner’s finding that Sanford’s lay-offs were motivated by Respondent’s hostility toward the Union. The ques*982tion of motivation is a close one. The credibility of witnesses and the reasonable inference to be drawn from the evidence are matters for determination by the Trial Examiner and the Board. National Labor Relations Board v. Bendix Corp., 299 F.2d 308 (C.A.6, 1962); National Labor Relations Board v. Interurban Gas Corp., 317 F.2d 724 (C.A.6, 1963); National Labor Relations Board v. Plaskolite, Inc., 309 F.2d 788 (C.A.6, 1962). The Board’s choice between two conflicting views may not be set aside even though the Court would justifiably have made a different choice had the matter been before it de novo. National Labor Relations Board v. Bendix Corp., supra; National Labor Relations Board v. Interurban Gas Corp., supra.
It is true that in a proper case the Court may decline to follow the findings of an Examiner as to the credibility of a witness. National Labor Relations Board v. Elias Brothers Big Boy, Inc., 327 F.2d 421 (C.A.6, 1964). In that decision the following from National Labor Relations Board v. Pyne Molding Corporation, 226 F.2d 818, 819 (C.A.2, 1955) was quoted:
“Although the Board may not overrule its Trial Examiner by discarding the positive credible testimony of a witness in favor of an inference drawn from tenuous circumstances * * * it may refuse to follow its Trial Examiner in crediting testimony where it conflicts with well supported and obvious inferences from the rest of the record. Such refusal is particularly justified where the testimony in question is given by an interested witness and relates to his own motives.”
In the Elias Brothers case, Mrs. Maniscalco claimed she was wrongfully discharged. She was the direct beneficiary of a back pay order, and it was solely her testimony which was relied upon to prove the claim of an unfair labor practice. Further, during her brief employment with Respondent, she worked part time for the Union, and after she left the Respondent she worked full time for the Union as a paid organizer. Also there was corroborated testimony that she gave notice she was leaving the Respondent. Unlike the present case, the testimony of Mrs. Maniscalco conflicted in many respects with the “well supported and obvious inferences from the rest of the record”.
The record shows the Union won the election by a close margin of 19 to 15; that Sanford was one of the four organizers of the Union; and that Respondent knew of Sanford’s active participation in the Union. Several weeks after the election Sanford was demoted and subsequently laid off. After his reemployment, he was nominated to the Union office of President and within a week he was again laid off. The Trial Examiner gave credence to Blubaugh’s testimony that President Quatman said that he would be rid of the Union within a year. The record also shows that the Respondent installed new long distance dialing equipment which placed an additional work load on the switchmen. Even though there was less overtime worked after the reduction in the switchroom, Telephone Service, Inc. increased its maintenance work in the switchroom, and local Manager Lahm urged President Quatman to add additional help in the switchroom.
Considering these facts, it can be said that there is substantial evidence to support the inference that Sanford’s layoffs were discriminatorily motivated and illegal under 8(a) (1) and (a) (3). Universal Camera Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board, 340 U.S. 474, 71 S.Ct. 456 (1951); National Labor Relations Board v. Kingsford, 313 F.2d 826 (C.A.6, 1963).
For these reasons I find it necessary to dissent.