Community Hospitals v. National Labor Relations Board

335 F.3d 1079, 357 U.S. App. D.C. 361, 172 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3121, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 14858
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedJuly 25, 2003
DocketNo. 01-1432
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 335 F.3d 1079 (Community Hospitals v. National Labor Relations Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Community Hospitals v. National Labor Relations Board, 335 F.3d 1079, 357 U.S. App. D.C. 361, 172 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3121, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 14858 (D.C. Cir. 2003).

Opinion

Opinion for the Court filed by Chief Judge GINSBURG.

GINSBURG, Chief Judge:

A union representing nurses charged the new owner of a hospital with an unfair labor practice when it refused to recognize and to bargain with the union. The National Labor Relations Board held the new owner was a successor employer, the nurses at the hospital constituted an appropriate bargaining unit, and the employer, in declining to deal with the union, did not rely upon a good-faith reasonable doubt about the union’s majority status. The Board also held certain provisions of the employer’s handbook for employees likely to chill protected activity and therefore unlawful. We uphold the decision of the Board and grant its application for enforcement with respect to all matters except the employee handbook, as to which we grant the employer’s petition for review.

I. Background

For some years Community Hospitals of Central California (Community), a private non-profit company, operated two hospitals in the Fresno, California area, while the County of Fresno operated Valley Medical Center (VMC) and other medical facilities in the County. Nurses working at VMC were the majority of bargaining Unit 7, which included nurses at other facilities operated by the County. Unit 7 was represented by the California Nurses Association (CNA'or the Union) for more than 20 years.

In October 1996 Community acquired VMC and renamed it University Medical Center (UMC). In connection with the acquisition, Community instituted various changes at UMC. In brief, Community [364]*364consolidated many administrative and support services with those of its other hospital facilities, and by its own account “replaced VMC’s traditional, hierarchical facility-based management model with a flattened, service-based system-wide ‘shared governance’ management structure.” Community also allowed nurses to transfer between UMC and its other facilities.

In August 1996, when it was becoming apparent that Community might acquire VMC, the Union demanded that Community recognize and bargain with it. Community acknowledged receipt of the demand, but refused to recognize or to bargain with the Union. The Union filed an unfair labor practice charge and the General Counsel issued a complaint alleging that Community had violated § 8(a)(5) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 158(a)(5). The Regional Director on his own initiative added an allegation that the maintenance of certain provisions in Community’s employee handbook was an unfair labor practice in violation of § 8(a)(1) of the Act.

An Administrative Law Judge held (1) Community was a successor employer to the County, contrary to Community’s argument that there was not “substantial continuity” between VMC and UMC; (2) the Unit 7 nurses at UMC constituted an appropriate bargaining unit, notwithstanding Community’s argument that the Unit 7 nurses at UMC shared a community of interest with the nurses at its other hospitals; and (3) in failing to recognize the Union, Community did not have or rety upon a good-faith reasonable doubt regarding the Union’s majority status. Cmty. Hosps. of Cent. Cal., 335 N.L.R.B. No. 87, at 15-24, 2001 WL 1158836 (2001) (Order). The ALJ also held that (4) Community’s handbook violated the Act, as alleged. Id. at 24-25. The Board affirmed and substantially adopted the findings and decision of the ALJ,

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Bluebook (online)
335 F.3d 1079, 357 U.S. App. D.C. 361, 172 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3121, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 14858, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/community-hospitals-v-national-labor-relations-board-cadc-2003.