Del Rey Tortilleria, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board

976 F.2d 1115
Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit·Decided October 22, 1992·No. Nos. 91-1934, 91-2286·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinions

ORDER

On consideration of the grant of the petition for rehearing, this court withdrew its opinion in this case issued on July 17, 1992, to allow circulation to the entire court pursuant to Circuit Rule 40(f). As a result of that circulation,

IT IS ORDERED that the opinion of this court originally issued on July 17, 1992, and withdrawn on October 16, 1992, is hereby reissued and amended by the addition of the following footnote on page 1115, noted after reissue date:

Before BAUER, Chief Judge, CUDAHY and KANNE, Circuit Judges.

KANNE, Circuit Judge.

In this case the National Labor Relations Board (“the Board”) asks us to enforce its order requiring Del Rey Tortilleria, Inc. [1117]*1117(“the Company”) to pay backpay to two employees it discharged. The Company cross-petitions for review of that order, in part on the ground that it is inconsistent with Sure-Tan, Inc. v. NLRB, 467 U.S. 883, 104 S.Ct. 2803, 81 L.Ed.2d 732 (1984). Because we agree with the Company that the Board’s order is inconsistent with Sure-Tan, we deny enforcement.

On June 7, 1985, following the filing of an unfair labor practice charge by Local 76, affiliated with the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union, AFL-CIO (“the Union”), the Board’s Regional Director for Region 13 issued an unfair labor practice complaint against the Company. The complaint alleged, inter alia, that the Company had discharged employees Bernardo Bravo and Nicolas Paredez1 in violation of the Act.

Later that month, the Board’s General Counsel, the Company and the Union reached a settlement. In the settlement stipulation, the Company did not admit to engaging in any unfair labor practices, but agreed to reinstate and make whole Bravo and Paredez. The Company also waived all further proceedings except a compliance hearing to determine any issues relating to reinstatement and backpay. In accordance with the stipulation, the Board sought enforcement of its order in this court. On September 23, 1986, we entered judgment in favor of the Board, enforcing its order.

After the stipulation, the Company contested the employees’ entitlement to reinstatement and backpay on several grounds, and also contested the amount of backpay owed to the employees. The Company’s principal argument was that the employees had no entitlement to backpay under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), 8 U.S.C. § 1101, et seq., because they were undocumented aliens. Shortly thereafter, the Regional Director issued a Backpay Specification and Notice of Hearing seeking reinstatement and liquidated amounts of backpay for the two employees. At the hearing before an administrative law judge, the parties stipulated that Bravo and Paredez were undocumented aliens during their employment with the Company. Moreover, Bravo and Paredez testified that they had applied for legalization under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (“IRCA”), 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101 et seq., based on their beliefs that they qualified for legalization.2

On December 7,1988, the ALJ issued her decision. She concluded that Bravo and Paredez were entitled to full backpay for all periods after their termination and before the Company offered reinstatement, notwithstanding their undocumented alien status. In her opinion, the ALJ relied on Local 512, Warehouse and Office Workers’ Union v. NLRB, 795 F.2d 705 (9th Cir.1986), which held that Sure-Tan’& remedial holding applied only to aliens who are not present within the United States. She therefore found that undocumented aliens who remain in the United States are eligible to receive backpay. The AU further found that such aliens were entitled to reinstatement and backpay unless the employer could prove their illegal presence by means of a final INS deportation order. Because the Company had not met that burden, the AU ruled that Bravo and Par-edez must be presumed to have been legally present at all times and entitled to the full panoply of Board remedies. The AU determined that Bravo and Paredez should be awarded backpay for the periods in which they were available for work.

. On March 27, 1991, the Board issued its supplemental decision and order, adopting the recommended order of the AU. This appeal followed.

[1118]*1118Section 10(c) of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”), 29 U.S.C. § 160(c), authorizes the Board to remedy the effects of unfair labor practices by ordering violators “to take such affirmative action, including ... backpay, as will effectuate the policies of th[e] Act....” The backpay remedy under the Act is designed to restore “the situation, as nearly as possible, to that which would have obtained, but for the illegal discrimination.” Phelps Dodge Corp. v. NLRB, 313 U.S. 177, 194, 61 S.Ct. 845, 852, 85 L.Ed. 1271 (1941).

In a backpay proceeding, the General Counsel has the burden to show the gross amounts of backpay due. When it has done so, the Company has the burden to produce evidence to mitigate its backpay liability. NLRB v. P*I*E Nationwide, Inc., 923 F.2d 506, 513 (7th Cir.1991); NLRB v. Brown & Root, 311 F.2d 447, 454 (8th Cir.1963).

Initially, we note that our review of the Board’s factual findings and legal conclusions is limited. We must uphold the Board’s factual findings if they are supported by substantial evidence on the record as a whole. Kankakee-Iroquois County Employers’ Ass’n v. NLRB, 825 F.2d 1091, 1093 (7th Cir.1987); Lapham-Hickey Steel Corp. v. NLRB, 904 F.2d 1180, 1184 (7th Cir.1990); see also Universal Camera v. NLRB, 340 U.S. 474, 488, 71 S.Ct. 456, 464, 95 L.Ed. 456 (1951). The Board’s legal conclusions also warrant deference. On review, we “ ‘must uphold the legal conclusions of the Board unless they are irrational or inconsistent with the National Labor Relations Act.’ ” NLRB v. Augusta Bakery Corp., 957 F.2d 1467, 1471 (7th Cir.1992) (quoting Aqua-Chem, Inc. Cleaver-Brooks Div. v. NLRB, 910 F.2d 1487, 1490 (7th Cir.1990)). We must uphold a remedial order of the Board “ ‘unless it can be shown that the order is a patent attempt to achieve ends other than those which can fairly be said to effectuate the policies of the [NLRA].’ ” Id. (quoting

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Del Rey Tortilleria, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board, 976 F.2d 1115 (7th Cir. 1992).

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