Maine Medical Centers, 707 (1980)

Extract

---

Maine Medical Centers, 707 (1980)

Maine Medical Center and 1199 National Union of Hospital & Health Care Employees, RWDSU/ AFL-CIO. Case 1-CA-12001

March 27, 1980 DECISION AND ORDER

BY MEMBERS JENKINS, PENELLO, AND TRUESDALE

On October 3, 1979, Administrative Law Judge Platonia P. Kirkwood issued the attached Decision in this proceeding. Thereafter, the General Counsel filed exceptions and a supporting brief, and Respondent filed an answering brief.

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.

The Board has considered the record and the attached Decision in light of the exceptions and briefs and has decided to affirm the rulings, findings,l and conclusions of the Administrative Law Judge and to adopt her recommended Order.

ORDER

Pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board adopts as its Order the recommended Order of the Administrative Law Judge and hereby orders that the complaint be, and it hereby is, dismissed in its entirety.

I Respondent has excepted to certain credibility findings made by the Administrative Law Judge. It is the Board's established policy not to overrule an administrative law judge's resolutions with respect to credibility unless the clear preponderance of all of the relevant evidence convinces us that the resolutions are incorrect. Standard Dry Wall Products,

Inc., 91 NLRB 544 (1950), enfd. 188 F.2d 362 (3d Cir. 1951). We have carefully examined the record and find no basis for reversing her findings.

We hereby correct the following inadvertent errors of the Administrative Law Judge which are insufficient to affect our decision herein: In sec. II, B of her Decision she refers to one of the units Flaherty offered Cohen an opportunity to interview for transfer as R-2 rather than R-l; in sec. V,A,l,(a) she stated that Flaherty sent Vogel the June 14, 1976, memo concerning Cohen's performance whereas Vogel sent Flaherty this memo; and in sec. V,A,l,(b) she stated that Gallant, rather than Miller, was the employee who persuaded Cohen to become a union adherent DECISION

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

PLATONIA P. KIRKWOOD, Administrative Law Judge:

Upon a charge filed by 1199 National Union of Hospital & Health Care Employees, RWDSU/AFL-CIO (the Union hereafter), on July 14, 1976, and amended on January 20, 1977, a complaint was issued on January 25, 1977, alleging violations of Section 8(a)(3) and (1) of the Act.

The complaint asserts, in substance, that Respondent:

(a) Disciplined and then discharged Jeffrey Cohen for 248 NLRB No. 101 reasons proscribed by Section 8(a)(3) and (1) of the Act;

and (b) subjected Cohen to coercive verbal conduct independently violative of Section 8(a)(1) of the Act. Respondent's answer denies the commission of any unlawful conduct. A hearing was held before me in Portland,

Maine, from May 9 to 12, 1977.

Upon the entire record in this case' including my observations of the witnesses and their demeanor and on due consideration also of the post-hearing briefs filed by Respondent and the General Counsel, I make the following:

FINDINGS OF FACT

2

I. THE NATURE OF THE ISSUES The questions posed in this case are:

1. Whether Respondent in violation of Section 8(a)(1) of the Act engaged in verbal conduct which (a) 'restricted' Nurse Jeffrey Cohen's exercise of his Section 7 rights; or (b) implied that Nurse Cohen had been disciplined or terminated because of his union activities.

2. Whether Respondent, in violation of Section 8(a)(3) and (1) of the Act, was impelled by antiunion considerations in taking the following personnel actions:

(a) Giving Nurse Cohen a job-evaluation statement on April 20, 1976, which rated Cohen's overall performance to that date as unsatisfactory; warning Cohen he was on a 2-month probationary 'shape-up or ship-out' status; and effecting his removal as a member of the Nursing Audit Committee.

(b) Suspending Cohen from the payroll pending management's resolution of Cohen's request-one presented through Respondent's grievance procedures-that the April 20, 1976, personnel actions be set aside.

(c) Rejecting Cohen's grievance and then terminating Cohen on or about July 9, 1976.

11. BACKGROUND INFORMATION A. The Union Campaign The complaint's allegations that Nurse Jeffrey Cohen was harassed, disciplined, and terminated because of his union activities have, as their backdrop, the conduct of a campaign by the Union to organize all or part of Respondent's 2,500 hospital employees. The union campaign commenced in October 1975 and remained in active status for about a year. In February 1976 the Union filed a representation petition for a unit composed of Respondent's technical employees (Case -RC-4295).3

Respondent's unopposed post-hearing motion to correct certain errors in the transcript is hereby granted.

2 Respondent admits the jurisdictional ...

See the full content of this document

---