Nordstrom's Ambulance Service

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 27, 1980

251 N.L.R.B. 973 (N.L.R.B. 1980)

NORDSTROM'S AMBULANCE SERVIC[E t}73
Nordstrom's Ambulance Service, Inc. and Atlantic
Ambulance Service, Inc. and Teamsters, Chauf-
feurs & Warehousemen Local Union 437, affili-
ated with International Brotherhood of Team-
sters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of
America, Petitioner. Case 1-RC-16683
August 27, 1980
DECISION ON REVIEW AND ORDER
BY MEMBEtRS JENKINS, PENEI.I.O, AND
TRUESDAI.E
Pursuant to a petition duly filed under Section
9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, as
amended, a hearing in this case was held on De-
cember 20, 1979, before Hearing Officer William S.
Gentile. On January 24, 1980, the Regional Direc-
tor issued a Decision and Direction of Election in
which jurisdiction over the Employer was asserted
on the basis of the Board's jurisdictional standard
for nonretail enterprises. Thereafter, in accordance
with Section 102.67 of the National Labor Rela-
tions Board's Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as
amended, the Employer filed a request for review
of the Regional Director's Decision and Direction
of Election contending, inter alia, that the Regional
Director erred in applying the nonretail standard,
and that the Employer did not meet the applicable
jurisdictional standard for retail concerns.'
On February 27, 1980, the Board by telegraphic
order granted the Employer's request for review.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au-
thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has considered the entire record in
this case, and makes the following findings:
It is undisputed that Nordstrom's Ambulance
Service and Atlantic Ambulance Service share
common ownership, management, and control over
labor relations, and function as a substantially inte-
grated and interrelated operation. The Employer
does not contest the Regional Director's finding
that Nordstrom's and Atlantic Ambulance Service
constitute a single employer within the meaning of
the Act.
The majority of the Employer's calls for ambu-
lance service originate in telephone requests from
hospitals or nursing homes. The Employer also re-
ceives calls for ambulance service from doctors' of-
fices and from individual patients. At the time of
the hearing the Employer had no contractual ar-
rangements to provide service to any municipality,
The Employer also sought re iew of the Regional D)irector's exclu-
sion of certain employees from the unit found appropriate In light of our
disposition of the jurisdictional issue we find it unnecessary to reach the
question of unit composition.
251 NLRB No. 137
health care institution, or other entity.2 Thus, as of
the time of the hearing, virtually all of the Em-
ployer's revenue was derived from ambulance serv-
ice provided to individual patients.3 All billing in-
formation is obtained directly from the patients
themselves, although most billing is to third parties
such as Medicare, the State Welfare Department,
and insurance companies. In the event of a third-
party payor's refusal to make payment on behalf of
a patient, the Employer bills the patient directly.
As noted above, the Regional Director, noting
the revenue received from Medicare and other en-
tities, 4 found that the Employer's operation was
nonretail in nature and that jurisdiction could be
asserted on that basis since the Employer pur-
chased goods valued in excess of $50,000 from out-
side Massachusetts.s
Although the Board has had occasion to apply
the nonretail standard to ambulance services, 6 in
those instances the employer's operations consisted
almost entirely of business relationships with insti-
tutional consumers of its services. Thus, in Walters
Ambulance Service, the Board's advisory opinion
was predicated upon the representation that the
employer received over $85,000 in payments for
services rendered to institutional users, each of
2 Approximately 6 months prior to the hearing, a contract between the
Employer and the City of Revere had expired Under this l-year con-
tract. the Employer received 515.000X) for providing "back-up" service to
the city in the evenl that a city-oulled ambulance was unavailable to re-
spond to a emergency This contract was not renewed, and all other
income which the Employer received was either a third-party payment
on behalf of a specific patient or a patient's private (direct) payment
3 One hospital utilizes a special fund to compensate the Employer for
transporting patient sswhi receive care in its mental health unit. if third
party billing on behalf of these patients is unsuccessful and the Employer
is unable Ito obtain direct payment from the patient This practice appears
to have been undertaken oluntarily by the hospital, rather than as a
result of a contractual relationship between the Employer and the hospi-
tal Based on the Employer's uncontroverted estimate, no more than 3
percent of its gross revenues were derived from this source
I During the Employer's most recent fiscal year. October I. 1978
through September 30. 1979, the Employer received gross revenues from
the following sources:
.ordqrom' 4tbulance Service
Medicare
Welfare
Pri. ate
Blue Cross
City of Revere
Met. Life Ins
Other Ins
$1405*83
55,000
50,0(X)
20.1*83
15,000
10.000
10,0(X
S3(X),0
47 00%
17 507,
1650%7,
7 00c7
5.00%
3 50%
3 507
1I00 00%
.4mtbulance Service
Welfare $ 13.000 65.00%7
Private 7.(XX) 35.00%
$ 20,000 100.00'7
s See Siemons Mailing Service, 122 NL RB 81 (19581
e Walters Ambulance Service. Inc., 212 NLRB 422 1974) Bobs .4mbu-
lanc Sernik. 178 NI.RB I (1969). both cited by the Regional )lrector
i)7 3
_ .OR .. .s
974 DECISIONS OF NA-II()NAL LAB()R RELAIIONS BOARI)
which was directly involved in interstate com-
merce. Similarly, in Bob's Ambulance Service, the
employer billed Kaiser Hospitals weekly for ap-
proximately 90-100 trips made to provide service
to Kaiser plan members at the hospital's request.
Although no formal contractual relationship existed
between the parties in that case, the employer's
business relationship was clearly with the hospital,
rather than with individual patients. 7
Here, by contrast, the overwhelming majority of
the Employer's gross revenue is derived from serv-
ices to individual patients, rather than the institu-
7 Other cases cited in Bosh Ambulance Service are similarly distinguish-
able In Carroll-Naslund Disposal. Inc., 152 NLRB 861 (1965), the nonre-
tail standard was applicable because the employer performed services
pursuant to a contract with the city. Although the city billed consumers
for this service, income to the employer was determined by the contract
formula In both Chicago ideraion of Musicians, Local I0, A4nercan Fed-
eraOin oj Mulicans (ShiMld Radio & :1: Production. Inc), 153 NLRB 68
(1965), and Mur Le.vitt, 171 NLRB 739 (1968) bandleaders were found
to be employers engaged in nonllrctail business on the basis of their con-
tractual relatiolshsips with nightclubs
tions to or from which they are being transported.
The Employer has no contract under which any in-
stitution makes use of its services. The fact that
payment for the services rendered to individuals is
by third parties such as insurance companies or
state welfare agencies, rather than the individual
patients themselves, does not transform such activi-
ty into nonretail sales.8 That portion of the Em-
ployer's revenue which is arguably derived from
institutions (see fn. 3, supra) is de mininis as com-
pared to its revenue from individual patients.
Accordingly, we conclude that the retail stand-
ard is applicable to the Employer's operation and,
since its annual gross revenues are well below the
$500,000 retail standard, we shall dismiss the peti-
tion. 9
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the petition in this case
be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
M.S.C of East St Louts. Irnc.. Whollv-Ow'ned Suhsdtaur ,J Rvco-
D.S. Inc., d/h/a East St. Loui Pharmacy. 226 NlRB 493 (1976), 1 -I/amdu
Glass & Mirror Company, 218 NILRB 557 (1975)
9 See Carolina Supplier and Cement Co.. 122 NLRB X88 115X)