Buehler Lumber Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 21, 1985

274 N.L.R.B. 199 (N.L.R.B. 1985)

BUEHLER LUMBER CO
Buehler Lumber Company and Local 502 , Interna-
tional Union of Electronic , Electrical , Techni-
cal, Salaried and Machine Workers, AFL-CIO.
Case 6-CA-16734
21 February 1985
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND
ORDER
BY CHAIRMAN DOTSON AND MEMBERS
HUNTER AND DENNIS
On 30 April 1984 the National Labor Relations
Board entered its Decision and Order' in the
above-entitled proceeding directing Buehler
Lumber Company, among other actions, to make
whole employees Dwayne A. Carlson, Ronald C.
Edgar, Robert Gorton, Rodney D. Himes, and
Darryl L. Oknefski for any loss of pay they may
have suffered by reason of its discrimination against
them. The United States Court of Appeals for the
Third Circuit enforced the Board's Order 23
August 1984.2 A controversy having arisen over
the amount of backpay due under the Board's
Order, the Regional Director for Region 6 on 16
November 1984 issued a backpay specification and
notice of hearing alleging the amounts of backpay
due and notifying the Respondent that it should file
a timely answer. The Respondent failed to file an
answer.
On 24 December 1984 the General Counsel filed
a Motion for Summary Judgment. On 28 Decem-
ber 1984 the Board issued an order transferring the
proceeding to the Board and a Notice to Show
Cause why the General Counsel's motion should
not be granted. The Respondent filed no response.
The allegations in the motion are therefore undis-
puted.
Ruling on the Motion for Summary Judgment
Section 102.54 of the Board's Rules and Regula-
tions provides that if an answer is not filed within
15 days from the service of the specification the
Board may find the specification to be true.
' 270 NLRB No 41 (1984) (not reported in Board volumes)
2 No 84-3437 (Aug 23, 1984)
199
The backpay specification states that the Re-
spondent shall file an answer within 15 days from
the date of the service of the specification, and that
if the answer fails to deny the specification's allega-
tions in the manner required under the Board's
Rules and Regulations, and the failure to do so is
not adequately explained, the allegations shall be
deemed to be true. Further, the undisputed allega-
tions in the Motion for Summary Judgment dis-
close that the Regional attorney, by letter dated 11
December 1984, notified the Respondent that if an
answer was not received immediately, a Motion for
Summary Judgment would be filed.
Absent any explanation for the Respondent's fail-
ure to file a timely answer, we grant the General
Counsel's Motion for Summary Judgment.3
Accordingly, the Board concludes that the net
backpay due the discriminatees, Dwayne A. Carl-
son, Ronald C. Edgar, Robert Gorton, Rodney D.
Himes, and Darryl L. Oknefski, is as stated in the
computations of the backpay specification, and
orders the Respondent to pay those amounts to the
discriminatees.
ORDER
The National Labor Relations Board orders that
the Respondent, Buehler Lumber Company, Ridg-
way, Pennsylvania, its officers, agents, successors,
and assigns, make whole each employee named
below by paying them the amounts set forth adja-
cent to their names, plus interest computed in the
manner prescribed in Florida Steel Corp., 231
NLRB 651 (1977),4 and accrued to the date of pay-
ment, minus tax withholdings required by law.
Dwayne A. Carlson $866.25
Ronald C. Edgar 925.08
Robert Gorton 227.50
Rodney D. Himes 866.25
Darryl L. Oknefski 997.50
a In granting the General Counsel's Motion for Summary Judgment,
Chairman Dotson specifically relies on the total failure of the Respondent
to respond to the allegations of the General Counsel's backpay specifica-
tion Thus, the Chairman regards this proceeding as being essentially a
default judgment which is without precedential value
4See generally Isis Plumbing Co, 138 NLRB 716 (1962)
274 NLRB No. 30