Servomation Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 4, 1980

248 N.L.R.B. 106 (N.L.R.B. 1980)

106 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Servomation Corporation and Charles D. Snyder, an
Individual. Case 8-CA-12458
March 4, 1980
DECISION AND ORDER
BY CHAIRMAN FANNING AND MEMBERS
PENELLO AND TRUESDALE
On September 20, 1979, Administrative Law
Judge Stephen Gross issued the attached Decision
in this proceeding. Thereafter, counsel for the Gen-
eral counsel filed exceptions and a supporting brief.
Respondent filed an answering brief in support of
the Administrative Law Judge's Decision.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au-
thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has considered the record and the at-
tached Decision in light of the exceptions and
briefs and has decided to affirm the rulings, find-
ings, and conclusions of the Administrative Law
Judge as modified herein.
We agree with the Administrative Law Judge
that Respondent violated Section 8(a)(1) of the Act
when Ray Zottola, a statutory supervisor, told em-
ployee Charles D. Snyder that he should not file a
grievance with the Union' over an alleged safety
matter because it could possibly result in Snyder's
discharge. We do not agree, however, with the
Administrative Law Judge's conclusion that the
violation was isolated and de minimis and therefore
did not warrant a remedial order.
Briefly, the facts establish that, during the reor-
ganization of Respondent's warehouse, Snyder pro-
tested to Zottola that the placement of cartons of
match boxes on the top shelves constituted a safety
hazard. When Zottola indicated there was nothing
he could do about such placement, Snyder re-
sponded that he would have to take the matter to
the Union and have the Union handle it. At that
point, Zottola stated that Snyder should not go to
the Union as it possibly could cost him his job.
Snyder testified that this statement persuaded him
not to pursue that matter with the Union.
There is no question that Snyder was engaged in
protected concerted activity in indicating that he
would seek the Union's assistance concerning the
placement of the cartons in question and that Zot-
tola's conduct interfered with Snyder's exercising
that right, a right guaranteed by Section 7 of the
Act. We regard Zottola's telling Snyder not to ex-
ercise his protected rights or face discharge as a se-
rious violation of the Act and thus find that the is-
Local 377, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, War-
ehousemen and Helpers of America.
248 NLRB No. 14
suance of a remedial order is both necessary and
proper to effectuate the purposes of the Act.2 We
shall therefore issue our customary order to
remedy the violation found.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. Respondent is an employer engaged in com-
merce within the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7)
of the Act.
2. Local 377, International Brotherhood of
Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers
of America, is a labor organization within the
meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act.
3. By telling employees that they could lose their
jobs by filing grievances with a labor organization
or seeking its assistance, Respondent has interfered
with, restrained, and coerced its employees in the
exercise of rights guaranteed in Section 7 of the
Act, in violation of Section 8(a)(1) of the Act.
4. The aforesaid unfair labor practice is an unfair
labor practice affecting commerce within the mean-
ing of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
ORDER
Pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Re-
lations Board hereby orders that the Respondent,
Servomation Corporation, Warren, Ohio, its offi-
cers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall:
1. Cease and desist from:
(a) Telling employees that they could lose their
jobs for filing grievances with a labor organization
or seeking its assistance.
(b) In any like or related manner interfering
with, restraining, or coercing employees in the ex-
ercise of rights guaranteed them in Section 7.
2. Take the following affirmative action designed
to effectuate the policies of the Act:
(a) Post at its facility in Warren, Ohio, copies of
the attached notice marked "Appendix."3 Copies
of said notice, on forms provided by the Regional
Director for Region 8, after being duly signed by
Respondent's authorized representative, shall be
posted by immediately upon receipt thereof, and be
maintained by it for 60 consecutive days thereafter,
in conspicuous places, including all places where
notices to employees are customarily posted. Rea-
2 Clinton Foods. Inc., d/b/a Morton's IGA Foodliner, 237 NLRB No. 92
(1978) See also International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Ag-
ricultural Implement Workers of America (UA W) [Omni Spector, Inc.] v.
NL.R.B., 427 F.2d 1330 (6th Cir. 1967), wherein the court of appeals ad-
monished the Board to issue a remedial order if it finds that an unfair
labor practice has occurred.
a In the event that this Order is enforced by a Judgment of a United
States Court of Appeals, the words in the notice reading "Posted By
Order Of The National Labor Relations Board" shall read "Posted Pur-
suant To A Judgment Of The United States Court Of Appeals Enforcing
An Order Of The National Labor Relations Board."
SERVOMATION CORPORATION 107
sonable steps shall be taken by Respondent to
insure that said notices are not altered, defaced, or
covered by any other material.
(b) Notify the Regional Director for Region 8, in
writing, within 20 days from the date of this Order,
what steps Respondent has taken to comply here-
with.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all allegations of
the complaint which charge Respondent with
unfair labor practices other than those found herein
be, and they hereby are, dismissed.
APPENDIX
NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES
POSTED BY ORDER OF THE
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
An Agency of the United States Government
WE WILL NOT tell our employees that they
could lose their jobs for filing grievances with
a labor organization or seeking its assistance.
WE WILL NOT in any like or related manner
interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in
the exercise of rights guaranteed them in Sec-
tion 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, as
amended.
SERVOMATION CORPORATION
DECISION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
STEPHEN GROSS, Administrative Law Judge: On De-
cember 11, 1978, Charles D. Snyder filed a charge claim-
ing that Servomation Corporation discharged him be-
cause he said that he planned to file a grievance with
Local 377, International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America
(hereafter called Local 377 or the Union). That charge
led to the issuance of a complaint by the Regional Direc-
tor for Region 8 on January 10, 1979. Servomation filed
a timely answer and the case was heard in Warren, Ohio,
on June 5, 1979.
The issues, as set forth in the complaint, are whether
Servomation: (1) violated Section 8(a)(1) of the National
Labor Relations Act, as amended, by warning Snyder, a
probationary employee, against filing a grievance with
the Union, and (2) violated Section 8(a)(3) of the Act by
firing, and then refusing to reinstate, Snyder because he
said he was going to file a grievance with the Union.
Servomation's position is that no Servomation supervi-
sor ever suggested to Snyder that he not file a grievance
with the Union, and that Snyder was fired solely for fail-
ing to do his job properly.
All parties were given a full opportunity to participate,
to introduce evidence, to examine and cross-examine wit-
nesses, to argue orally, and to submit briefs.
I Both the General Counsel and Servomation filed briefs.
1. FINDINGS OF FACT
A. Servomation's Business and Local 3 77's Labor
Organization Status
Servomation is in the food service business. It supplies
food and beverage items, cigarettes, and the like primar-
ily to industrial facilities, either in cafeterias operated by
Servomation at those facilities or by means of vending
machines.
Servomation admits, and I find, that it is and has been
at all material times an employer engaged in commerce
within the meaning of Section 2(2), (6), and (7) of the
Act.
Servomation also admits, and I find, that Local 377 is
and has been at all material times a labor organization
within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act.
B. Snyder's Performance
I. Background
Servomation hired Snyder on September 11, 1978, as a
warehouseman in Servomation's Warren, Ohio, ware-
house. He was the only employee working in this job
category during the course of his employment. Snyder's
duties included receiving stock, placing stock out for dis-
tribution to routemen, receiving stock orders from route-
men, arranging the stock within the warehouse, and
keeping the warehouse clean and in order.
Snyder was discharged on November 17, 1978, after
having worked for approximately 65 days. Snyder's im-
mediate supervisor, Ray Zottola, fired him on orders
from Servomation's general manager for the Company's
Warren-Youngstown District, Louis J. Caizza. The rea-
sons stated in Snyder's "Termination Report" (G.C. Exh.
3) were that he was "unable to follow orders from supe-
riors and had not performed to the standard require-
ments of the position."
All nonsupervisory employees in Servomation's
Warren-Youngstown District are covered by collective-
bargaining agreements that include the usual union-secu-
rity provisions. 2 (Snyder accordingly was required to,
and did, join Local 377 30 days after starting work at
Servomation.) Under the terms of the collective-bargain-
ing agreement between Servomation and Local 377
(G.C. Exh. 2), Snyder was a probationary employee at
the time of his discharge. Article III, section A, of the
agreement provides:
A new employee shall work under provisions of
this Agreement but shall be employed only on a 90
calendar day trial basis, during which he or she may
be discharged [or] disciplined without further re-
course. After 90 calendar days, the employee shall
be placed on the seniority list and shall be consid-
ered a regular employee.
The agreement also contains grievance procedures that
can lead to arbitration. Under the agreement, probation-
ary employees are entitled to utilize the grievance proce-
dures except with respect to discharge or discipline.
2 The only exception: One secretary who handled confidential matters
for managment
SERVOMATION CORPORATION
108 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
2. Caizza's concern about Snyder's failure to keep
the warehouse clean
Since Servomation is a food service company, and
since food was stored in the warehouse in which Snyder
worked, the warehouse's cleanliness had to comply with
standards set by the State of Ohio, and the warehouse
was subject to surprise inspections by state health offli-
cials. It is clear that Caizza (Servomation's district man-
ager) was very concerned about the ramifications that
would flow from an unsatisfactory report by those offi-
cials. And Caizza considered Snyder to be a problem in
this respect.
For one thing, Caizza thought Snyder failed to keep
the floor of the warehouse as clean as it should be, and
spoke to Snyder and Snyder's immediate supervisor
about it several times.
For another, as Caizza saw things Snyder ate his lunch
in the warehouse at least twice, something specifically
prohibited by the state health department.
But the major problem Caizza had with the way
Snyder kept the warehouse had to do with the disposal
of outdated or damaged food. As part of the daily rou-
tine at the warehouse, routemen would return to the
warehouse in midafternoon with outdated perishable
products, such as milk and pastry. (The items were
counted and credited to each routeman's account.) It was
Snyder's job to move those products out of the ware-
house to an outside garbage bin.
Testimony by both Snyder and Caizza made it clear
that Caizza wanted the waste food to be removed from
the warehouse before Snyder went home for the day,
and told Snyder that. And testimony by both Snyder and
Caizza also shows that on a number of occasions Snyder
failed to do that, leaving the waste food in the ware-
house overnight. Whenever Caizza found that that had
happened he made his displeasure clear to Snyder, either
personally or via Ray Zottola (Snyder's immediate su-
pervisor) or by speaking to both Snyder and Zottola
about it.
Snyder did not deny run-ins with Caizza about the
timing of disposing of waste foodstuff. He did testify,
however, that on several occasions he had received per-
mission from Zottola to delay disposing of waste food
until the following morning.
Zottola, in turn, testified that he had spoken to Snyder
several times about removing waste food products and
sweeping the floors.
3. Complaints from other employees
Caizza got at least one complaint from other employ-
ees concerning Snyder's work performance. David
Muche, a route service employee and committeeman for
Local 377, testified that other route servicemen had com-
plained to him about difficulties they were having per-
forming their duties because of the condition of the
warehouse. The problems had to do with the access to
the warehouse being restricted by the way Snyder had
arranged, or failed to arrange, certain equipment. Snyder
had been spoken to about the problem, but it had not
been corrected. Muche then brought the matter to
Caizza to avoid "running into difficulties, since the em-
ployee in question [Snyder] was on probationary
period."
On rebuttal, Snyder said that he had received a com-
plaint, but that he was simply arranging the equipment at
issue the way he had been trained to do it.
C. The Warehouse Rearrangement
The General Counsel contends that the true motiva-
tion for Snyder's discharge was Snyder's statement that
he was going to file a grievance with the Union. Snyder
made that statement during the course of a warehouse
rearrangement.
In mid-November Caizza, Zottola, Leslie Bhe (another
supervisor), and Snyder worked together to rearrange
the way in which various products were stored in the
warehouse. Caizza decided that, as part of the rearrange-
ment, cartons containing matchboxes should be stored on
the topmost shelves. Synder was unhappy with that deci-
sion. The problem, as Snyder saw it, was that in the pro-
cess of bringing down one matchbox carton from the
shelf others could fall, possibly injuring Snyder.
1. Snyder's testimony
As Snyder remembered the moments that followed
Caizza's decision, Snyder complained to Caizza about the
new location of the matches. Caizza, however, made it
clear that the matches would be put where he said they
would.
Snyder testified that he then "pivoted and talked to
Ray Zottola," asking Zottola "if there was anything he
[Zottola] could do about where the matches were
placed." Zottola responded, Snyder said, by stating "that
there was nothing he could do . . . at the time, but he
would try to do something about it in the future."
Snyder then said that he would have to take the matter
"to the Union and have them handle the situation."
Snyder testified that he said all of this in "a loud braced
[sic] tone." According to Snyder, Caizza meanwhile was
just leaving the warehouse through a door 5 or 10 feet
from where Zottola stood. Zottola then led Snyder to
the rear of the warehouse and, said Snyder, "explained
to me that by mention[ing] the Union, and he reminded
me that I was on probation, I could possibly lose my job
over the incident. And that I should have just been quiet
and went along with changing the warehouse and let
him handle it."
Snyder was convinced, he said, "and let it go because
I had heard from a person a previous time, from our
union steward . . . that this incident possibly and most
probably would happen if I mentioned the Union."
Snyder testified that Zottola's remarks to Snyder, and
Snyder's reply, were said softly, "just above a whisper."
2. Zottola's testimony
Zottola agreed that Snyder complained about the loca-
tion of the matches in the presence of Caizza, Zottola,
and Bhe. But according to Zottola, that complaint was
not specifically directed to Caizza. Zottola said that
Snyder then turned toward him, and away from Caizza,
and said in a "normal tone of voice" that he (Snyder)
"should go to the Union" about the matter.
SERVOMATION CORPORATION 109
Then, after Caizza and Bhe left the area, Zottola told
Snyder: "Don't be mad, this is not the way you should
handle the situation ... ."went on to testify that he did
not mention to Caizza or anyone else anything about
Snyder's proposed grievance.
3. Caizza's testimony
Caizza said that he did not hear any complaint by
Snyder about the location of the matches, and was not
aware of any conversation between Snyder and Zottola.
Caizza said that in fact he was pleased by Snyder's per-
formance in the course of the warehouse rearrangement.
4. Bhe's testimony
Bhe remembered Snyder making a complaint directed
to everyone present about the safety problems involved
in bringing matches down from the top shelf. Bhe also
remembered Snyder saying, in a "normal tone," some-
thing about the fact "that he should or could or would
file a grievance." Bhe said that he did not hear the word
"union" mentioned, did not hear Zottola's response, and
did not say anything to Snyder, Zottola, or Caizza about
the matter.
5. On what date did the rearrangement occur?
The General Counsel sought to show that the ware-
house rearrangement occurred on November 15, 2 days
before Snyder was fired. Two kinds of evidence of the
date of the rearrangement were introduced: Witnesses'
recollections of the date, and witnesses' recollections of
the time of day the rearrangement work occurred, coup-
led with the checkout times shown on Snyder's time-
cards.
Turning to time-related testimony and evidence,
Snyder first testified that work on the rearrangement
started "around 3:30." And in Snyder's estimation, "we
punched out probably 6:30, 7:00 o'clock." That testimo-
ny, in turn, tallied with a affidavit Snyder gave to a
Board investigator.
If that recollection were correct, the warehouse rear-
rangement had to have occurred on Friday, November
10, based on Snyder's timecards 3 (the accuracy of
which was uncontroverted).
Snyder's Checkout Time
November 1978
been wrong about the time. According to Snyder, he
was not wearing a watch and based his time estimate on
the arrival of a Wells Fargo truck that, he assumed, got
to the Servomation facility at 5 p.m. On further reflec-
tion, Snyder said, the truck probably arrived at Servoma-
tion at 4:20 or 4:30, not 5:00.
Caizza and Bhe agreed that the work began about
3:30. As to when it ended, Caizza testified that he left
the warehouse at 4:50 or 5 with work still continuing
there. Bhe said he thought the warehouse rearrangement
was completed at or about 5:30.
Zottola remembered the work beginning about 5
o'clock and ending at 6:30 or 7.
As to testimony about dates, the first time any specific
date was mentioned was when counsel to the General
Counsel asked Snyder what event occurred on Novem-
ber 15. Snyder responded by discussing the warehouse
rearrangement. Subsequently Snyder said he was clear
that it occurred on a Wednesday (and November 15,
1978, fell on a Wednesday).
Zottola remembered the rearrangement as being done
"sometime on or before the 15th of November." Bhe's
testimony was comparable ("about the 15th of Novem-
ber").
Caizza, on the other hand, testified that, while he
could not remember the date of the rearrangement, it
took place "a week or three or four days" before Snyder
was fired (which would place it between November 10
and November 14).
D. The Events of November 17, 1978
Caizza testified that on Friday, November 17, 1978,
after having been away the previous day, he made his
usual early morning inspection of Servomation's facilities
and found that, once again, "waste . . . had not been re-
moved from the warehouse the night before. I found the
floor had not been swept."4 Snyder did not directly
deny that that may have occurred, but Snyder did testify
that when he arrived (after Caizza's inspection) there
was no trash in the warehouse that needed to be re-
moved.
According to Caizza, he concluded that Snyder's pro-
bationary period was "coming close to an end," that
Snyder "had not done his job the way he was supposed
to," and that Snyder "didn't follow orders." Caizza ac-
cordingly told Zottola to fire Snyder. Zottola did so
later that day.
11. CONCLUSION
A. Zottola's Statement as a Violation of Section
8(a)(1)
As discussed earlier, Snyder testified that Zottola "ex-
plained" to Snyder that Snyder should not file a griev-
ance with the Union since doing so could possibly cost
Snyder his job. Zottola, on the other hand, said that he
did no more than advise Snyder to "cool . . . off" and
tell Snyder that "his anger could get him in trouble."
4 Counsel to the General Counsel at one point suggested that Caizza
had not mentioned that in an affidavit that he gave to a Board investiga-
tor, but that turned out to he incorrect
6th, Mon.
7th, Tue.
8th, Wed.
9th, Thur.
10th, Fri.
13th, Mon.
14th, Tue.
15th, Wed.
16th, Thur.
5:08
4:11
4:44
4:49
6:30
5:42
4:25
5:13
5:13
When Snyder was shown his timecards he concluded
that his recollection about 6:30 must have been an
"error" and later sought to explain why he might have
I Resp. Exhs. I and 2.
SERVOMATON CORPORATION
110 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Based on the demeanor of the two witnesses and the
nature of the Snyder-Zottola-Caizza relationships, I think
that Zottola probably did say to Snyder that filing a
grievance could possibly result in Snyder's discharge.
Snyder and Zottola agreed that Zottola responded to
Snyder in a protective, not threatening, manner. And
Zottola clearly was reacting to what he considered to be
a decision by Snyder based on a moment of anger. More-
over, even Snyder agreed that Zottola said Snyder "pos-
sibly" could lose his job as a result of filing a grievance,
not that he definitely would. Nonetheless, a supervisor's
statement to a probationary employee that the employee
might possibly lose his job if he filed a grievance with
his union is likely to affect the employee's actions. And
as Snyder testified, it did here, persuading Snyder that he
ought not submit the grievance. That adds up to a viola-
tion of Section 8(a)(1) of the Act. See, e.g., Pepper Pack-
ing Co., 243 NLRB No. 37 (1979). The more difficult
question is what sort of remedy, if any, should be im-
posed on Servomation. That will be considered in part
III, below.
B. Snyder's Discharge as a Violation of Section 8(a)(3)
and (1)
The General Counsel argues that the warehouse rear-
rangement and Snyder's threat to file a grievance oc-
curred on November 15. Since Caizza was away on No-
vember 16, the General Counsel's position is that Snyder
was fired the first day on which Caizza came to work.
After Snyder's statement about filing a grievance. The
General Counsel claims that that timing, coupled with
the fact that Snyder did nothing on November 16 and 17
that he had not done before, and the fact that Snyder
had not previously been warned that he might be fired,
requires a finding that the real reason for Snyder's dis-
charge was his saying that he was going to file a griev-
ance.
I come to the opposite conclusion. I do not think that
Snyder's reference to filing a grievance had anything to
do with his discharge.
As to the timing of the discharge, the timecard evi-
dence, plus Snyder's repeated reference to 6:30 or 7 p.m.
as the time when the rearrangement work ended, sug-
gests that the rearrangement occurred 7 days, not 2,
before Snyder's discharge. As far as Snyder's explanation
for being mistaken is concerned: (I) He put it forth only
after being confronted with his timecards. (2) His refer-
ence to basing his 6:30 figure on a wrong estimation of
the time of a Wells Fargo truck's arrival at Servomation
shows why he would have guessed wrong about the time
if someone had asked him for the time during the rear-
rangement. Afterwards he surely saw clock time, includ-
ing from his own timecard, that would have let him cor-
rect his impression about his quitting time. (3) Snyder's
explanation accounts for a 30-to-40-minute error, not one
of over an hour and a quarter.
That is not to say there is no evidence to support a
finding that the rearrangement occurred on November
15. There is. But the date of the rearrangement is in
doubt, and it is at least as likely that it occurred on No-
vember 10 (or, perhaps, 13) as on November 15.
That does not end the matter. I would reach the con-
clusion that Snyder's statements during the warehouse
reorganization were not a cause of his discharge even if
it were clear that they took place on November 15.
The General Counsel's case depends upon Caizza hear-
ing Snyder say that he was going to file a grievance or
on Caizza being told about it by Bhe or Zottola. And it
further depends on a determination that Caizza was lying
when he said that it was Snyder's unwillingness to keep
the warehouse clean that led to Snyder's discharge.
As to Caizza's knowledge of Snyder's threat, again the
General Counsel did not prove his case. To begin with,
even Snyder's testimony suggests that Caizza was out of
earshot when Snyder voiced his plan to file a grievance.
Secondly, it was clear from Snyder's demeanor that, on
the one hand, he found Caizza overbearing, somewhat
fearsome, and difficult to deal with, and, on the other,
that Snyder felt comfortable with Zottola. (The impres-
sions gained from Snyder's demeanor were backed up by
Zottola's testimony). Similarly, Zottola seemed to like
Snyder and to be cautious in his attitude toward Caizza.
That makes it likely that Snyder was restrained when he
complained in Caizza's presence of the placement of the
matches; that Snyder did sound off to Zottola, but not to
Caizza, about filing a grievance; and that everything Zot-
tola said about the matter would have been said privately
to Snyder. As far as Bhe is concerned, my impression of
Bhe is that it is not likely that he would have intruded
into an employee matter that did not directly concern
him by going to Caizza about it.
In sum, once again the evidence fails to support the
General Counsel's contention: It is more probable than
not that Caizza did not know about Snyder's threat.
Finally, I was convinced by Caizza's testimony about
his finding the warehouse in unsatisfactory condition on
November 17 and that that led Caizza to fire Snyder.
Throughout the hearing it was clear that Caizza was
extremely concerned about the warehouse's cleanliness,
due largely to the consequences that would flow from a
surprise inspection by health officials when the ware-
house was not as clean as a food storage area should be.
And because of Caizza's concern, he criticized Snyder
every time he thought the warehouse's cleanliness was
not up to par, making his criticism either directly to
Snyder or via Zottola (and Zottola's predecessor) or to
both. When Snyder failed to handle that aspect of his job
once again, leaving work on November 16 without
having cleaned the warehouse floor, Caizza got fed up
and ordered Snyder's discharge.
I have considered whether Zottola's statement to
Snyder that Snyder could lose his job by filing a griev-
ance was evidence that Zottola believed Caizza to be
hostile to such actions by employees. But having consid-
ered that, based on the testimony of the various wit-
nesses and their demeanor, I remain of the view that
Snyder's discharge was solely a function of his inability
or unwillingness to do his job the way Caizza thought it
should be done.
The General Counsel seeks to make something of
Caizza's failure to discuss the matter with Zottola before
firing Snyder. But throughout the hearing it was clear
that Caizza's standards of warehouse cleanliness were
SERVOMATION CORPORATION III
tougher than Zottola's and, in fact, Caizza made it his
business to inspect the warehouse personally on a near
daily basis. When Caizza found the warehouse in unsatis-
factory condition on November 17, from Caizza's view-
point there was nothing to talk to Zottola about. Caizza
personally had seen that Snyder had failed to make sure
the warehouse floor was clean before leaving for the
night even though he had already been criticized a
number of times for that failing.
I was impressed with Snyder's honesty throughout the
hearing, and it is clear that Snyder was at least in some
respects an excellent employee. But even though Snyder
probably testified truthfully about how he remembered
things and even though he undoubtedly properly per-
formed many elements of his job, I find that Snyder was
fired for the reasons given by Caizza.
111. REMEDY
The question is whether Zottola's advice to Snyder
that Snyder could possibly lose his job if he filed a griev-
ance warrants the imposition of a remedy. The issue is a
close one. On the one hand, Zottola's remark carried
with it the likelihood that an employee would not feel
free to exercise a Section 7 right. On the other, the state-
ment was made after an emotional outburst by Snyder
and was intended protectively, not as a threat. There
was no showing whatever that the statement was part of
a pattern at Servomation or in fact reflected a state of
mind among Servomation supervisors. And there is no
indication that any Servomation supervisor (including
Zottola) had ever previously said anything like that or
was likely to do so in the future.
Under the circumstances, therefore, the imposition of a
remedy would serve no purpose and should not be or-
dered.
[Recommended Order for dismissal omitted from pub-
lication.]