Sierra Vista Hospital, Inc.

DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Sierra Vista Hospital, Inc. and California Nurses' Association, affiliated with the American Nurses' Association, Petitioner. Case 31-RC- 3166 May 19, 1980 SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND ORDER On March 30, 1979, the Board issued its Supplemental Decision and Order in Sierra Vista Hospital, Inc., 241 NLRB 631,¹ herein Sierra Vista, in which it found that the California Nurses' Association, herein CNA, was a labor organization within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act and that in the future it would treat claims that a nurses' association was dominated or controlled by supervisors, or had some other conflict of interest which disqualified it from representing employees, in the same manner as it would treat such allegations against other labor organizations. Thus, the Board held that it would not view the active participation in CNA by supervisors employed by other employers as presenting any inherent conflict of interest and that unless the Employer could sustain its heavy burden of demonstrating that a clear and present danger of a conflict of interest existed which compromised CNA's bargaining integrity, the Board would not disqualify that organization as collective-bargaining representative and would deny the Employer's motion to revoke CNA's certification. Accordingly, in order to provide the parties an opportunity to fully litigate the conflict-of-interest issue, the Board rescinded its denial of the Employer's earlier motion to revoke CNA's certification² and its decision granting the General Counsel's Motion for Summary Judgment³ and remanded this case to the Regional Director for Region 31 for a hearing to determine issues raised by the Employer's motion to revoke CNA's certification; namely, whether or not the presence of supervisors as officers in, on the board of directors of, or in other positions of authority to speak for or bargain on behalf of CNA disqualifies that association as the collective-bargaining representative of the Employer's nonsupervisory nurses. Pursuant to the Board's remand order, a hearing was conducted on July 17, 1979, at Los Angeles, California, for the purpose of receiving evidence to resolve the above issues. Both the Employer and the Petitioner were represented by counsel who appeared at the hearing. All parties were accorded a full opportunity to be heard and to introduce evidence bearing upon the conflict-of-interest issue. At the hearing, the Employer declined to produce any evidence, taking the position that the Board's decision to remand this case for further hearing constituted an attempt by the Board to improve its chances of prevailing in the court of appeals in the related unfair labor practice case against the Employer. The Employer further objected to being called into a hearing controlled by what it characterized as its "adversary." The Petitioner did not introduce any evidence, nor did it respond to the Employer's statement of position. Thereafter, the hearing was closed without taking of any evidence. It is clear that under Sierra Vista it is the Employer's burden to prove that there is a clear and present danger of conflict of interest. The Employer has failed to meet that burden in this case. Accordingly, we find that the Employer has failed to meet its burden of proving a conflict of interest sufficient to prevent CNA from representing the registered nurses at Sierra Vista Hospital and, therefore, we shall deny the Employer's Motion To Revoke Certification.4 ORDER 1 The procedural history of this case is fully set forth in the Decision. 2 225 NLRB 1086 (1976). 3 229 NLRB 232 (1977). It is hereby ordered that the motion by Sierra Vista, Inc, to revoke certification of California Nurses' Association, affiliated with the American Nurses' Association, be, and it hereby is, denied. *In reaching this decision we do not rely on the Hearing Officer's opinion expressed in fn. 3 of his report and recommendations. Member Truesdale agrees with the result herein for the reasons stated in his dissent from the majority's decision to remand this proceeding, Sierra Vista Hospital, Inc., 241 NLRB 631 (1979). 249 NLRB No. 66