Kirk Caraway

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 9, 2006

347 N.L.R.B. 884 (N.L.R.B. 2006)

DECISIONS OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
347 NLRB No. 86
884
In Re Kirk Caraway. Case AD–51
August 9, 2006
DECISION AND ORDER
BY CHAIRMAN BATTISTA AND MEMBERS LIEBMAN,
SCHAUMBER, KIRSANOW, AND WALSH
On July 6, 2005, Kirk Caraway (the Respondent) and
the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations
Board entered into a Formal Settlement Agreement, sub-
ject to the Board’s approval, providing for the entry of a
consent order by the Board. The Respondent waived the
filing of a formal complaint of misconduct and all further
proceedings before the Board to which he may be enti-
tled under the National Labor Relations Act, the Board’s
Rules and Regulations, or any other authority, and also
waived his right to seek judicial review of the Formal
Settlement Agreement or the Board’s Order. No party or
person has objected to this settlement.
The Formal Settlement Agreement is approved and
made a part of the record, and the proceeding is trans-
ferred to and continued before the Board in Washington,
D.C., for the entry of a Decision and Order pursuant to
the provisions of the Formal Settlement Agreement.
STIPULATED FACTS
The Respondent is an attorney in private practice in
Memphis, Tennessee, and has at all times material to this
matter appeared or practiced before the Board in that
capacity.
On January 16, 2004, the Regional Director for Region
26 of the Board served a report referring misconduct
allegations to the General Counsel of the Board, pursuant
to Section 102.177 of the Board’s Rules and Regulations.
The report involved, inter alia, the Respondent’s alleged
misconduct during his representation of employees of the
Victor L. Robilio Company, Inc. (Robilio), during an
organizing campaign by Teamsters Local 1196 in 2003,
as well as the Region’s processing of Cases 26–CA–
21243, 26–CA–21253, 26–CA–21282, 26–CA–21381,
26–CA–21399, 26–CA–21419, and 26–RC–8371, in-
cluding the Region’s petition for injunctive relief under
Section 10(j) of the Act.
Based on the report, the General Counsel investigated
allegations that the Respondent engaged in the following
conduct, without complying with applicable rules con-
cerning disclosure of confidential information and con-
flict of interests, and without obtaining a valid written
or oral waiver of conflict of interests from his clients:
1. On October 9, 2003, obtaining signed representa-
tion agreements from nine employees of Robilio after
Robilio presented the employees with the representa-
tion agree-ments to sign;
2. Not meeting eight of his nine clients until October
21, 2003, despite having their signed representation
agreements on October 9, 2003, and never meeting
with his ninth client;
3. During the October 21, 2003 meeting, interrogat-
ing his clients regarding union representation matters,
including asking whether they wished to be repre-
sented by the Union, in the presence of their employer;
and
4. Prearranging and accepting payment for represen-
tation of his clients from the firm of Allen, Scruggs,
Sossamon, Thompson, Simpson & Lillie, the firm rep-
resenting Robilio in Cases 26–CA–21243, 26–CA–
21253, 26–CA–21282, 26–CA–21381, 26–CA–21399,
26–CA–21419, and 26–RC–8371.
ORDER
Based on the above, the Formal Settlement Agree-
ment, and the entire record, the National Labor Rela-
tions Board orders that:
In order to preserve and protect the orderly admini-
stration of the National Labor Relations Act and effec-
tuate its policies:
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Kirk Caraway be, and he
hereby is, admonished for the conduct described
above.1

1 The settlement provides that the General Counsel will report
Caraway’s alleged misconduct to the Tennessee Board of Profes-
sional Responsibility, with a recommendation that the Board’s ad-
monishment be found to be sufficient sanction. In addition, it speci-
fies that Caraway will strictly follow the Tennessee Rules of Profes-
sional Conduct in the future and that he has reviewed Rules 1.7, 1.8
and 5.4.