03/22/2024: Kroger Illegally Stopped Dues Checkoff
Also, employers must wait for decertification to actually occur.
United States Postal Service, 07-CA-292942 (Unpublished Board Decision). The general counsel attempted to amend its complaint shortly before the ALJ hearing concluded. The ALJ did not allow it. The general counsel appealed this decision to the Board. The Board rejected this appeal.
Ascension Seton, 16-RC-329698 (Unpublished Board Decision). The employer requested a review of the regional director’s decision and direction of election. The Board rejected this request.
Reinhold Electric, Inc., 14-CA-313291 (Unpublished Board Decision). On November 28, 2023, the administrative law judge (ALJ) issued an order approving a settlement agreement between the NLRB and the employer against the wishes of the charging party and the general counsel. On December 21, 2023, the charging party submitted a request for special permission to appeal this decision. On January 12, 2024, the charging party filed another unfair labor practice (ULP) charge against the employer alleging the existence of coercive rules and surveillance. On January 25, 2024, the charging party asked the Board to pause its consideration of the December 21 request for special permission to appeal while to allow this new ULP to be investigated. In this decision, the Board agrees to do so. Presumably, the charging party believes that its appeal of the order approving the settlement agreement will be more successful once it has established that the employer is a recidivist offender of the NLRA, as that is one of the factors used to determine whether settlement is appropriate under Independent Stave.
Kroger Limited Partnership I, JD-18-24, 15-CA-280676 (ALJ Decision). After the collective-bargaining agreement (CBA) expired, Kroger stopped deducting and remitting union dues. Under Valley Hospital II, dues checkoff is supposed to continue after CBA expiration absent a a clear waiver. No such waiver was present and bargaining over a new CBA had not reached an impasse. So Kroger acted illegally when it stopped the dues checkoff. Separately, the union submitted an information request for a spreadsheet of employees experiencing payroll issues. Kroger delayed providing this information for 3 months, which was illegal.
Beatrice Loving Heart and Healthcare Agency Inc., JD-17-24, 05-CA-301128 (ALJ Decision). The employer unlawfully discharged employee Kirah Powell in retaliation for her protected concerted activity - complaining to management and coworkers about various terms and conditions of employment. The judge credited Powell's testimony over the employer's shifting and inconsistent rationales for her termination, which indicated pretext and discriminatory motive. The decision confirms the basic principle that individual griping can be concerted if intended to induce group action, and that termination shortly after protected activities supports an inference of discrimination. The judge also found the employer violated 8(a)(1) by inviting Powell to quit in response to her complaints and by maintaining an overbroad rule threatening legal action for undefined "defamation."
Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Inc., 373 NLRB No. 37, 20-CA-328308 (Published Board Decision). The employer violated Section 8(a)(5) and (1) by failing to recognize and bargain with a union after it was certified as the exclusive representative following an election. This is a straightforward test of certification case based on the employer's refusal to bargain after a union election win. The Board rejected the employer's attempt to relitigate representation issues from the election. The Board severed and retained the issue of whether to award a make-whole remedy for this refusal to bargain.
Midwest Division - RMC, LLC, 373 NLRB No. 36, 14-CA-287441 (Published Board Decision). SEIU had a collective-bargaining agreement (CBA) with the employer that expired on February 28, 2021. A petition seeking to decertify SEIU as the representative of the workers was filed shortly after and was ultimately successful: the majority of the workers opted to decertify SEIU as their representative. The decertification became effective on February 8, 2022. After the petition was filed but prior to it taking effect, the employer treated SEIU as if it had already been decertified by repudiating the CBA, telling workers that SEIU had been decertified, and failing to respond to information requests. All of this conduct violated the NLRA.