Grundy Hospital, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 9, 1974

210 N.L.R.B. 1 (N.L.R.B. 1974)

GRUNDY HOSPITAL, INC.
Grundy Hospital, Inc. and National Union of Hospital
and Nursing Home Employees , AFL-CIO/RWD-
SU, Local 1199-W. Va. Cases 5-RC-8611 and
5-RC-8612
April 9, 1974
DECISION, ORDER, AND DIRECTION
OF SECOND ELECTION
BY MEMBERS FANNING, JENKINS, AND
PENELLO
Pursuant to a Stipulation for Certification Upon
Consent Election executed by the parties, and
approved by the Regional Director for Region 5 of
the National Labor Relations Board on July 12,
1973, an election by secret ballot was conducted in
the above-entitled proceeding on August 9, 1973,
under the direction and supervision of said Regional
Director among the employees in the stipulated unit.
At the conclusion of the election, the parties were
furnished a tally of ballots in accordance with the
National Labor Relations Board's Rules and Regula-
tions, Series 8, as amended.
The tally showed that, of approximately 112
eligible voters, 109 cast ballots, of which 46 were for,
and 57 were against, the Petitioner, and 6 were
challenged. The challenged ballots were insufficient
in number to affect the results of the election.
Thereafter, the Petitioner filed timely objections to
conduct affecting the results of the election.
Pursuant to the Board's Rules and Regulations, the
Regional Director conducted an investigation of the
issues raised by the objections . On September 13,
1973, he issued and duly served on the parties his
Report on Objections attached hereto in pertinent
part. In his report, the Regional Director recom-
mended to the Board that, on the basis of Objection
1, the election conducted on August 9, 1973, be set
aside and a second election directed , or, in the
alternative, that a hearing be held with respect to the
issues raised by Objections 2 through 5. Thereafter,
on October 3, 1973, the Employer filed timely
exceptions and, on October 4, 1973, supplemental
exceptions to the Regional Director 's report 1, con-
tending that substantial and material issues of fact
and law have been raised regarding Objection I
which can best be resolved by a hearing.
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.
Upon the entire record in this case, including the
exceptions and briefs , the Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within
210 NLRB No. 2
the meaning of the Act, and it will effectuate the
purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein.
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming
to represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concern-
ing the representation of the employees of the
Employer within the meaning of Section 9(cXl) and
Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The parties stipulated , and we find, that the
following employees constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act:
All licensed practical nurses , and all service and
maintenance employees including nurses ' aides,
orderlies, housekeeping and dietary employees
employed by the Employer at Grundy Hospital,
Grundy, Virginia, but excluding confidential
employees , office clerical and technical employ-
ees, registered nurses , other professional employ-
ees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.
5. The Board has considered the Regional Direc-
tor's report and the exceptions and briefs, and hereby
adopts the Regional Director's findings , conclusions,
and recommendations.2
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the election conducted
herein on August 9, 1973, be, and it hereby is, set
aside.
[Direction of Second Election and Excelsior foot-
note omitted from publication.]
I At the request of the Employer , the time for filing exceptions was
extended to October 5, 1973.
2 In our opinion none of the Employer 's exceptions or su ental
exceptions raises any material issue of fact or law which would-warrant
reversal of the Regional Director 's recommendation that the election
conducted herein be set aside on the basis of Objection I, or requires the
holding of a hearing . As the Board has held, the existence of an invalid no-
distribution rule during the critical period before the election hampers
legitimate organizational activity of the employees, prevents a free and
uncoerced election, and seriously infringes on laboratory conditions we seek
to establish . This is especially true where , as here, the Employer admits that
the rule was distributed to the employees less than 2 months before the
election , and at the same time the employees were notified that the penalty
for breaking the rule was dismissal . Edmont, Inc., 139 NLRB 1528. See also
National Electric Coil Division, McGraw-Edimn Ca, 188 NLRB 451.
APPENDIX
Objection No. I
1. The Employer instituted an unlawfully broad
and discriminatorily applied a no-solicitation, no-
distribution rule which effectively prevented the
Petitioner from communicating with the employ-
ees involved in the election.
In support of this Objection the Petitioner submit-
ted a copy of a booklet entitled, "Your Job & Ours at
Grundy Hospital ." By letter of August 31 , 1973, the
Employer confirmed that this booklet was sent to a
printer on June 12 , 1973, received in completed form
2 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
on June 18, 1973, and distributed to employees on
June 20,1973.
On Page 35 of the booklet in a listing of various
"Rules" appears the following rule:
22. Distributing written or printed matter of any
description on Hospital premises at any time
unless approved by the Department Head and the
Administrator.
The penalty for breaking this rule is dismissal for
the first offense.
In addition to the above evidence the Petitioner
submitted affidavits from employees and copies of
letters from the Employer's supervisors demonstrat-
ing that this rule was enforced during the election
campaign. A photocopy of one such letter is attached
hereto as Appendix I. Rule 22 appears on page 35 of
the manual and not on page 34 as stated in the
Employer's letter.
In Stoddard Quirk Manufacturing Co., 138 NLRB
615, 621 , the Board ruled that "[a] no distribution
rule maintained by [an Employer] is presumptively
invalid on its face as applied to employees who may
wish to distribute union literature [if ] its reach is not
limited to working time or to the working areas of the
plant."
Further, the Board has held that the mere existence
of an invalid no-distribution rule during the critical
period before the election prevents a free and
uncoerced election even where the Employer has
permitted agents of union to disregard the rule.
National Electric Coll Division, McGraw Edison
Company, 188 NLRB No. 71. See also Glassmaster
Plastics, 203 NLRB No. 147.
Therefore, the undersigned finds that the no-
distribution rule in the instant case is presumptively
invalid on its face and recommends that the election
conducted on August 9, 1973, be set aside and a
second election directed.