Estellite Fixtures Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 14, 1938

7 N.L.R.B. 207 (N.L.R.B. 1938)

In the Matter of BENJAMIN LEVINE, DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE NAME
AND STYLE OF ESTELLITE FIXTURES COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL
BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL UNION No. 438
Case No. C-258
Lighting Equipment Manufacturing Industry-Interference, Restraint, or
Coercion-Discrimcnatzon: charges of, in regard to hire and tenure of employ-
ment, dismissed , where reinstatement was on basis of seniority-Reinstatement
Ordered: preferential list established, with consent of employer.
AMENDMENT TO DECISION
AND
ORDER
May 14,'19.38
On April 4, 1938, the National Labor' Relations Board, herein
called the Board, issued a Decision and Order 1 in the above-entitled
case. The Board found that the respondent, Benjamin Levine, Hoo-
sick Falls, New York, had engaged in unfair labor practices affecting
commerce, within the meaning of Section 8 (1) and (3) and Section
2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, and
ordered him to cease and desist from such unfair labor practices
and to take certain affirmative action, including reinstatement and
back,pay,for Charles Rugemer, back pay for Raymond Armitage, and
the placement of John Griffin upon a preferential list for employ-
ment whenever available. The Board predicated its conclusion that
the respondent discriminated against Raymond Armitage and Charles
Rugemer, Union employees, in respect to hire and tenure of employ-
ment, by reinstating, after a lay-off, Ernest Gibbons, Jr., a nonunion
worker, upon its finding that Gibbons, Jr., was the youngest in sen-
iority rank among the employees in the department where all three
worked.
On April 16, 1938, the respondent filed with the Board a petition,
supported by affidavit, to amend the Decision and Order. In the
petition the respondent avers that he hired Gibbons, Jr., Armitage,
and Rugemer on the following dates, respectively : April 27, 1936,
May 14, 1936, and September 28, 1936, and recalled Gibbons, Jr., to
'6 N L. R B 400
207
208 NATIONAL, LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
work in preference to Armitage and Rugemer in recognition of the
higher seniority status of Gibbons, Jr. The petition further shows
that the respondent reinstated "John Griffin in February 1938 and
that Griffin is now in his employ. In its petition the respondent asks
that the Decision and Order be modified with respect to the alleged
discharges of Raymond Armitage and Charles Rugemer and consents
to the entry of an amended order requiring the' respondent to place
Rugemer on a preferential list for employment whenever work should
become available.
Copies of the petition and affidavit, and notice of opportunity to
request hearing or oral argument upon the petition were duly served
upon the Union. , The Union made no application to the Board for
further proceedings.
The Board has carefully considered the requests contained in the
petition and they are hereby granted. In accordance with said peti-
tion and affidavit, the Board hereby amends its Decision of April 4,
1938, by striking all findings of fact or conclusions of law therein in
so far as they are inconsistent with the findings of fact and conclu-
sions of law, hereinafter set forth. Upon the basis of the entire
record in the case, including the petition and affidavit, the Board
makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. The respondent has not discriminated against his employees in
regard to hire and tenure of employment, thereby discouraging their
membership in a labor organization.
2. The respondent has not discouraged membership in a labor
organization by discriminating in regard to hire and tenure of em-
ployment of Raymond Armitage and Charles Rugemer.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and the findings set
forth in the decision issued April 4, 1938, as amended, the Board
makes the following :
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The respondent has not discouraged membership in a labor organi-
zation by discriminating in regard to hire and tenure' of employment
of Raymond Armitage and Charles Rugemer, thereby engaging in
unfair labor practices, within the meaning of Section 8 (3) of the Act.
AMENDMENT TO ORDER
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and conclusion of law
and the findings of fact and conclusions of law set forth in the
decision issued April 4, 1938, as amended, the Board, acting pursuant
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 209
to Section 10 (d) of the National Labor Relations Act, hereby amends
its order of April 4, 1938, as follows :
1. By striking therefrom paragraphs 1 (a), 2 (a), 2 (b), and 2 (c)
of the order and substituting in lieu thereof the words "Place Charles
Rugemer on a preferential list to be offered employment as it arises
on the basis of seniority by classification before any other,persons
are hired."
2. By inserting the words "Raymond Armitage and John Griffin"
after the words "Arthur Cutler" in the second line of the last para-
graph of the order.