Eleventh Circuit: Ridgewood Health Care Center, Inc., et al v. National Labor Relations Board, et al

 

Board's decision that the rehiring interviews by the allegedly successor organization were unduly coercive was insufficiently reasoned, as the legal standard wasn't identified and the relevant factors weren't reviewed.  Where both the Board and the ALJ issue unsupported decisions, but the facts are apparent in the record, the issues can be addressed on appellate review.  As the questions were answered truthfully, there was no systematic attempt to inquire as to union membership, and no interviewee suggested coercion, the second employer did not unduly coerce during rehiring.  

Second employer's statement that they might have to close the facility if it were to become unionized wasn't in itself a threat, and it was insufficient to demonstrate animus relevant to the refussal to hire members of the union. (The statement was also too attenuated in time and after the fact.)

Anumus of a lower-level supervisor can't be attributed to the decisionmakers who declined to hire the union members.

Absent the discriminatory hiring claim, the second business wan't a successor organization, as a moajority of its employees were not former employees of the first business.


https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/201911615.pdf