Covington Furniture Mfg. Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 27, 1979

241 N.L.R.B. 475 (N.L.R.B. 1979)

('O\IN(;I()N It RNII R \MI( ('()Rl'.
Covington Furniture Mfg. Corp. ad local 282.
Ulnited Furniture Workers of America, FI.-(O1().
('ase 2 (A 4821)
March 27, 1979
SEl(ONI) SIPPLE tMF NITAl [)DE(ISI()N ANI)
ORI) LR
B ( X IRM\N I \\NIN( ANI) MI-M1iRS .JI:NKISS
AN) PT N:I I I)
On Septenmber 31) 1977. the Board, in 232 NRB
837 issued a. Supplemental I)ecision arid ()rder in
this proceedinIg in hilch it grIIanted the (ieneral
C('ounsel's 'lotion tor Sumniary .ludgnment alleging
that Respondent had tiled to tile n answer to a
backpa specitication as required h Section
102.54(a) of the National I.abor Relations Bo;rd
Rules and Regulations and Statements of Procedurre
Series 8. as amended. Ihe HBomd therelt're Iund that
the allegations of the specification ere deemied to he
true and ordered Resplondent to p certain disernimi-
natces listed tfreilln the alountsl of1 h;ckpal staled in
the compultation of( the specification.'
Subsequentl , the Board, ha\ ing filed n applica-
tion for enorcemllent of its Order with the U[llnted
Statcs Court of Appea s tor the Sixth (ircuilt. decided,
41V .ollcih', tC recoInsid er its decision. ()l . l nr 12,
1979, the court graiantcd the Board's motion for lease
to withdraw. without prleiudicc the application tor
enflrcemcnt of its Order.
Pursuant to the provisiolis of Section 3(hi) of the
National l.abor Relations Act, as mended, the Na-
tional abor Relations Board Ihs deleated ts au-
thority in this proceeding to a three-neleber panlel.
pon reconsideration of the entire record in this
proceeding, the Board makes the following findings:
In his Motion for Summar> Juidgmlent. the (;eneral
Counsel alleges ( I ) that Respondent's answer wvas un-
timely. since it was mailed. not received. on the Ilast
daLi of the I 5-day period and il ) lthl the anisvwer also
did not comport with Section 102.54(b) of the Board's
Rules and Regulations in that it genlerall denied the
speciticattions allegations and lthereftore lacked the
specificit 3 required. Ilhe General ('ouInsel also mno\es
to strike Respondent's amended answer. filed on JulI
11. 1977. s likewise failing to nieet the requiremlents
of Section 102.54(h).
[ S 10) 24 ,I thCe ti,rd's Rule mlid Rcgui.laIi s proide,. n peCien
piart, a, tll
i a) I h responl Tntl ha.lil, ithin 15 Li,s trii the er,ic ot the
speclifiti.in. It 11. tile M ils er thereo
]C1 11 the respodent .lse to tilt' a, anwe r to thecl- it dlll
wilhin the Illie prc kll eid hb thi, sctioll. th 1,Bo r i, . either itih ,l
without tking esidnce si uppit t 'hc illegaltlons t the peific.llI
and willtll ntlc toi eic rCspoI rt, lin t he pecl llc Clti.l. I hCe riC
and enter tic h icr l .r ISll. hbe :l.lpp; rl.tc
I hie Ibacki , speciticatio n issued on LMa 19. 1977.
and vwas served. mail, on Reslpon dent. It specifi-
calls states that Respondent shall, within 15 das of
the date of the specification, tile in a insLer to the
,,peiticatli in thile manlner required hb the Board's
Rules aiid Regulatlions.
Section 12. 114(hb) ,of the Boarld's Rules and Regu-
lations pro ides, in pertinent part. that:
When the Act or any of these rules require the
tiling of( a milotion. hrief, exception or other part
in a;n proceeding such documeent Mlust hbe re-
ceitlcd h hc t Boardl or the officer or aeCInt LICsig-
na;ted tio rcccix:c such matter heft're the close of'
business of' tile I;st das\ of tile time limit, it' all.
for such filini or extension of tie tiat 1llant h1ive
been ranted.
lowever. Seetion 102.1 14(a) pros ides. inl ertilnlt
\Whenet\ cr a part ... is rcqulrled to do sIolle a;ct
r take somie pr occedilgs within a prescrihbed pe-
Ilo.l etter serlice of a noltice or other paper oil
hill and the notice or papiler is served on hili hb
mnlil . . . 3 das shill he added ito thle prescribed
period ....
Respondeint's counsil certifies that its answer to the
speciicatlion was mailed at 5:3) p il. nil June 3. 1977.
the last dli ot thile I 5-da period pro\ itled therein, in
thie S:iinl cit\ as the Regional Office. ilovwe\:er it was
not received bhn h it office until Junle 10. 1977. 3 das
ater tilhe (enler;al ('ounlscl's tin Olo Sumllar r
.l1udgillcTt w;as served h\ deposit in the imail.
('o ntr-ar\ to our earlier decisioln. we indl that Re-
spondcnlt's ains-er to lthe specitication as tilelL.
Ilnder Section 1()02114(a) of the Board's Rules and
Regulations, aIn additional 3 days should be adtled to
the I 5-da period for receipt of tile answer, anld there-
fore it \;as not in flt due until Julle 6, 1977. Since
Respondlcnt's counsel certifies that the answer was de-
positedl il the mail, in the same cit\ as the Regional
Office, 3 daI s bel'ore thlt date.i its ctions were rela-
sonablx calculated t etlfect a timltli tiling. :lurthcr il-i
its original ains\terc is timlely so too is Respondent's
aeIllelded iilsN\er.
We also linld that Respondent's amnenied answer
to the Cxtent that it disputes the acclurac) of the back-
pa\ colmputations a matter ithil Respondent's
knowledge, lacks the specificit\ required by Section
102.54 of' the Board's Rules and Regulations and is
therefore striken. lowever, t the extent that the
iamelnlded ans\\cr disputes tile amount of net interim
earnilng. it raises sIuhst.ltill and material questions
ft' 1'ct concernl interi il carrungs Iwhich can lot be
resolvied williout i1 hearilig \Accordingl\, we shall
deln\ te (;Geilneral (' oun 's Motio 1tfor Sllililrrx
241 NI.RB No. 60
47S
DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Judgment, as well as his motion to strike Respon-
dent's amended answer, and shall order a hearing
limited to a determination of interim earnings.
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the General Counsel's
Motion for Summary Judgment and his motion to
strike respondent's amended answer be, and they
hereby are, denied, except as otherwise indicated.
IT IS HIEREBY ORDERED that the Board's Decision
and Order in 232 NLRB 837 be, and it hereby is,
vacated.
I- IS FIURIIIER ORDERED that this proceeding be,
and it hereby is, remanded to the Regional Director
for Region 26, for the purpose of arranging a hearing
before an Administrative Law Judge, limiting such
proceeding to a determination of interim earnings,
and that the Regional Director be, and he hereby is,
authorized to issue notice thereof.
476