Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 27, 2018

08-CA-128502 (N.L.R.B. Sep. 27, 2018)

RKE
Toledo, OH
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
MERCY ST. VINCENT MEDICAL CENTER
and Cases 08-CA-128502
08-CA-129537
INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE 08-CA-133069
AEROSPACE & AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT 08-CA-134215
WORKERS OF AMERICA, UAW, LOCAL 2213,
RN UNIT, AND LOCAL 12 TECHNICAL AND
SUPPORT UNITS
ORDER DENYING MOTIONS AND REMANDING1
Pursuant to charges and amended charges filed by International Union, United
Automobile Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America, UAW, Local 2213, RN
Unit, and Local 12 Technical and Support Units, the General Counsel issued a third consolidated
amended complaint (the complaint) on November 20, 2014. The complaint alleges that since on
or before January 18, 2014, the Respondent has maintained nine facially overbroad work rules in
violation of Section 8(a)(1) of the Act. On November 24, 2014, the Respondent filed an answer
admitting that it maintained the rules, but denying the legal conclusion that it is violating the Act
by maintaining the rules and asserting several affirmative defenses.
The complaint further alleged several additional violations of the Act. The Respondent
and the Charging Party resolved those allegations by entering into an informal settlement
agreement on July 30, 2015, which was approved by the General Counsel on August 17, 2015.
Previously, on December 18, 2014, the Respondent filed a motion for partial summary judgment

1 The National Labor Relations Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding to a
three-member panel.
2
(“partial” because the parties had not yet settled the non-rule allegations). On February 9, 2015,
the General Counsel filed an opposition to the Respondent’s motion and, in the alternative, a
cross-motion for partial summary judgment. Thereafter, the Respondent filed a reply to the
General Counsel’s opposition and an opposition to the General Counsel’s cross-motion, and the
General Counsel filed a reply to the Respondent’s opposition. The Respondent also filed a
supplemental brief comparing its allegedly unlawful rules with rules deemed lawful in General
Counsel Memorandum 15-04, “Report of the General Counsel Concerning Employer Rules”
(March 18, 2015). The General Counsel filed an opposition to the supplemental brief.
On August 11, 2015, the National Labor Relations Board issued an order transferring the
proceeding to the Board and a Notice to Show Cause why either motion should not be granted.
The General Counsel and the Respondent each filed a response to the Notice to Show Cause, and
the Respondent filed a reply.
In the pending motions, the parties take conflicting positions regarding the lawfulness of
the Respondent’s challenged rules under the “reasonably construe” prong of the standard set
forth in Lutheran Heritage Village-Livonia, 343 NLRB 646 (2004). On December 14, 2017, the
Board overruled the Lutheran Heritage “reasonably construe” test and announced a new standard
that applies retroactively to all pending cases. The Boeing Co., 365 NLRB No. 154, slip op. at
16-18 (2017). Under the standard announced in Boeing, the parties’ motions do not establish
that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that either party is entitled to judgment as a
matter of law. Accordingly, we deny without prejudice the Respondent’s motion and the
General Counsel’s cross-motion for partial summary judgment, and we will remand this
proceeding to the Regional Director for Region 8 for further action as he deems appropriate.
3
ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that the Respondent’s motion and the General Counsel’s cross-motion
for partial summary judgment are denied without prejudice, and these proceedings are remanded
to the Regional Director for Region 8 for further appropriate action.
Dated, Washington, D.C., September 27, 2018.
_________________________________
John F. Ring, Chairman
_________________________________
Marvin E. Kaplan, Member
_________________________________
William J. Emanuel, Member
(SEAL) NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD