JOHNSON CONTROLS, INC.

National Labor Relations Board - Unpublished Board Decisions

May 8, 2020

16-RC-256972 (N.L.R.B. May. 8, 2020)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
JOHNSON CONTROLS, INC.
Employer
and 16-RC-256972
SMART - SOUTHWEST GULF COAST
REGIONAL COUNCIL
Petitioner
ORDER
The Employer’s Request for Review of Regional Director’s Amended Order and Request
for Review of Regional Director’s Denial of Joint Motion are denied as they raise no substantial
issues warranting review.1
JOHN F. RING, CHAIRMAN
MARVIN E. KAPLAN, MEMBER
WILLIAM J. EMANUEL, MEMBER
Dated, Washington, D.C., May 8, 2020
1 In his Amended Order Revoking Stipulated Election Agreement and Notice Rescheduling
Representation Order and his Order Denying Joint Motion to Proceed with Manual Election, the
Regional Director relied on the Covid-19 pandemic and the need “to ensure the safety of all
parties, Board personnel, voting employees and the general public.” In denying review of those
orders, we rely on Super Valu Stores, Inc., 179 NLRB 469, 469 (1969) (“Implicit in the Regional
Director's authority to approve consent election agreements is his authority to revoke that
approval when he determines that changed circumstances, discovered prior to the counting of
ballots, warrant such revocation.”).
We recognize that conducting an election during the Covid-19 pandemic raises
unprecedented challenges. The question of whether, when, and how an election will be held is
among the issues to be resolved in the first instance at the hearing scheduled by the Regional
Director and are thus not before us at this time.
On May 1, 2020, the Employer filed a “Request for Review of Regional Director’s
Order,” which seeks to vacate the Regional Director’s order rescheduling the election hearing for
Monday, May 4, 2020 and to stay the hearing. We are treating this filing as a request for
extraordinary relief under Sec. 102.67(j) of the Board’s Rules and Regulations and deny it as
moot. The Employer retains the right to renew its contentions in connection with any request for
review of any subsequent action taken in this case.