W. J. Grinder Roofing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 16, 2001

333 N.L.R.B. 126 (N.L.R.B. 2001)

333 NLRB No. 126
1
NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the
bound volumes of NLRB decisions. Readers are requested to notify the Ex-
ecutive Secretary, National Labor Relations Board, Washington, D.C.
20570, of any typographical or other formal errors so that corrections can
be included in the bound volumes.
W. J. Grinder Roofing Co., Inc. and United Union of
Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers,
Local Union No. 22

AA General Contractors, Inc. and United Union of
Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers,
Local Union No. 22. Case 3–CA–21175–1, 3–
CA–21175–2
April 16, 2001
DECISION AND ORDER
BY CHAIRMAN TRUESDALE AND MEMBERS LIEBMAN
AND WALSH
On April 29, 1999, the National Labor Relations Board
issued an unpublished Order, inter alia, requiring W. J.
Grinder Roofing Co., Inc. and AA General Contractors,
Inc. (Respondents), to promptly provide the United Un-
ion of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers, Local
Union No. 22 (Union), information useful and necessary
for effectively carrying out its duties as the collective-
bargaining representative of unit employees. The
Respondents were further ordered to pay to the Union
and to the General Counsel of the National Labor
Relations Board the costs and expenses incurred by them
in the investigation, preparation, presentation, and
conduct of those proceedings, including reasonable
counsel fees, salaries, witness fees, transcript and record
costs, printing costs, travel expenses and per diem, and
other reasonable costs and expenses, all such costs to be
determined at the compliance stage of the proceedings.
On November 22, 2000, the United States Court of
Appeals for the Second Circuit entered a judgment
enforcing the Board’s Order in full.1
A controversy having arisen over the obligation of the
Respondents to satisfy the make-whole provisions of the
Board’s enforced Order, on January 25, 2001, the Re-
gional Director for Region 3 issued a compliance specifi-
cation and notice of hearing alleging the amounts due
under the Board’s Order, and notifying the Respondents
that they should file a timely answer complying with the
Board’s Rules and Regulations. Although properly
served with copies of the compliance specification, the
Respondents failed to file an answer.2

1 Case 00–4213.
2 The compliance specification and notice of hearing served on Re-
spondent W. J. Grinder Roofing Co., Inc., by certified mail was re-
turned to the Regional Office marked “refused.” The compliance
specification and notice of hearing served on Respondent AA General
Contractors, Inc., was not returned nor was the return receipt card re-
turned. A respondent’s refusal to claim registered or cert ified mail
should not serve to defeat the purposes of the National Labor Relations
Act. Michigan Expediting Service, 282 NLRB 210, 213 fn. 6 (1982).
By letters dated February 22, 2001, counsel for the
Acting General Counsel advised Respondent AA General
Contractors, Inc. and Respondent W. J. Grinder Roofing
Co., Inc., that no answer to the compliance specification
had been received and that unless an appropriate answer
was filed by March 2, 2001, summary judgment would
be sought. The Respondents filed no answer.3
On March 9, 2001, the Acting General Counsel filed
with the Board a Motion for Summary Judgment, with
exhibits attached. On March 15, 2001, the Board issued
an order transferring the proceeding to the Board and a
Notice to Show Cause why the motion should not be
granted. On March 16, 2001, the Board issued an Order
correcting the March 15 Order. The Respondents filed
no response. The allegations in the motion and in the
compliance specification are therefore undisputed.
The National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
Ruling on the Motion for Summary Judgment
Section 102.56(a) of the Board’s Rules and Regula-
tions provides that the Respondent shall file an answer
within 21 days from service of a compliance specifica-
tion. Section 102.56(c) of the Board’s Rules and Regula-
tions states:
If the respondent fails to file any answer to the specifi-
cation within the time prescribed by this section, the
Board may, either with or without taking evidence in
support of the allegations of the specification and with-
out further notice to the respondent, find the specifica-
tion to be true and enter such order as may be appropri-
ate.
According to the uncontroverted allegations of the Mo-
tion for Summary Judgment, the Respondents, despite
having been advised of the filing requirements, have
failed to file an answer to the compliance specification.
In the absence of good cause for the Respondents’ failure
to file an answer, we deem the allegations in the compli-
ance specification to be admitted as true, and grant the
Acting General Counsel’s Motion for Summary Judg-
ment. Accordingly, we conclude that the amounts due
are as stated in the compliance specification and we will
order payment by the Respondents of those amounts.
ORDER
The National Labor Relations Board orders that the
Respondents, W. J. Grinder Roofing Co., Inc. and AA
General Contractors, Inc., Rochester, New York, their
officers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall make

3 T hese letters were sent by certified and regular mail. The certified
letters were returned to the Regional Office in envelopes marked “at-
tempted, not known.” A respondent’s failure to provide for receiving
appropriate service cannot defeat the purposes of the Act. Id. The
letters served by regular mail were not returned. The failure of the
Postal Service to return documents served by regular mail indicates
actual receipt of those documents by a respondent; Lite Flight, Inc., 285
NLRB 649, 650 (1987).
DECISIONS OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 2
whole the organizations named below, by paying them
the amounts following their names:

United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers
and Allied Workers, Local Union No. 22:

$2,017.09
National Labor Relations Board: 7,427.60
Total $9,444.69

Dated, Washington, D.C. April 16, 2001

John C. Truesdale, Chairman

Wilma B. Liebman, Member

Dennis P. Walsh, Member

(SEAL) NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD