227 NLRB 342
Washington Hospital Center
342
DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Washington Hospital Center and Local 722, Hospital,
Professional, Technical & Service Workers, Ser-
vice Employees International Union,-AFL-CIO.
Case 5-CA-7849
December 16, 1976
DECISION AND ORDER
BY MEMBERS FANNING, PENELLO, AND
WALTHER
On August 17, 1976, Administrative Law Judge
Benjamin K. Blackburn issued the attached Decision
in this proceeding. Thereafter, the Respondent filed
exceptions and a supporting brief, and the General
Counsel filed a memorandum in reply to the Respon-
dent's exceptions.'
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has considered the record and the
attached Decision in light of the exceptions and briefs
and has decided to affirm the rulings, findings, and
conclusions of the Administrative Law Judge and to
adopt his recommended Order, as modified herein.
James Butler, a probationary admitting clerk,
drafted and circulated a petition on March 16, 1976,2
suggesting that the Respondent reconsider its deci-
sion to change the procedure by which patients were
admitted to the hospital, a change which affected
employee working conditions; six fellow employees
signed the petition. That afternoon the petition was
presented to the Respondent; 1 hour later two
meetings of admitting department personnel were
called by Macaboy, Respondent's director of patient
accounts. Butler attended the first meeting at which
he engaged in a heated discussion with Macaboy
concerning the new procedure and the petition.3
During this meeting Butler disclosed to Macaboy that
he was a probationary employee; Macaboy then
realized it would be possible to discharge Butler
without having to contend with the grievance-arbitra-
tion procedure. Shortly after the second meeting
Macaboy met with two supervisors. Thereafter,
Butler was told to report to Macaboy's office and was
discharged; no reason was given to him for his
discharge.
Macaboy testified Butler was discharged because
he did not display the requisite degree of empathy
with patients. This conclusion, which Macaboy did
not communicate to anyone until after Butler's
discharge, was based almost exclusively on an inci-
dent he observed the previous week involving Butler's
direction of a patient to an admitting booth by means
of a "thumb jerk" motion. On the other hand,
227 NLRB No. 57
Butler's immediate supervisor, Keys,4 stated, his work
performance was satisfactory, with the exception of a
warning she gave him about being too friendly to
patients, and that she believed he should have been
given further consideration before being discharged.
The General Counsel contended that Macaboy's
asserted reason for discharging Butler was a pretext.
As the Administrative Law Judge correctly found,
Butler would not have been discharged "but for" his
protected concerted activity. Macaboy himself admit-
ted that prior to the events of March 16 he was
contemplating transferring, not discharging, Butler.
Thus the "thumb jerk" incident was clearly not the
real reason for the discharge, and we agree with the
General Counsel's contention that Macaboy's assert-
ed reason was a pretext. We find the discharge to be a
classic violation of Section 8(a)(1) of the Act.5
ORDER
Pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor
Relations Board adopts as its Order the recommend-
ed Order of the Administrative Law Judge as
modified below and hereby orders that the Respon-
dent,
Washington
Hospital Center,
Washington,
D.C., its officers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall
take the action set forth in said recommended Order,
as so modified:
1.
Substitute the following for paragraph 1(b):
"(b) In any other manner interfering with, restrain-
ing, or coercing employees in the exercise of rights
guaranteed by Section 7 of the Act."
2.
Substitute the attached notice for that of the
Administrative Law Judge.
' The Respondent has requested oral argument . This request is hereby
dewed as the record, the exceptions, and the briefs adequately present the
issues and the positions of the parties.
2 All dates refer to 1976 unless otherwise indicated.
3 The Administrative Law Judge found that the first meeting Macaboy
called was for the employees who signed the petition , the second for the
nonsigners. The Employer correctly excepts, as employees from both groups
attended both meetings. We hereby correct the Adnumstrative Law Judge's
inadvertent error which has no effect on our Decision herein.
4 The Respondent employed two personnel named Keys Ida Keys,
Butler's immediate supervisor, and Mabel Keys, a union shop steward. The
Administrative Law Judge's Decision does not specify which "Mrs. Keys"
Butler approached after the first meeting with Macaboy . The record reveals
he spoke to Mabel Keys, the shop steward, about taking the matter up with
the Union.
5 We find it unnecessary to decide this case under the
"Assuming,
Arguendo" rationale used by the Administrative Law Judge as set forth in the
sixth paragraph of sec II, B, of his Decision
WASHINGTON HOSPITAL CENTER
343
APPENDIX
NOTICE To EMPLOYEES
POSTED BY ORDER OF THE
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
An Agency of the United States Government
After a hearing in which both sides had an opportuni-
ty to present their evidence, the National Labor
Relations Board has found that we violated the
National Labor Relations Act. We hereby notify you
that:
Upon the entire record, including my observation of the
demeanor of the witnesses, and after due consideration of
briefs, I make the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. JURISDICTION
Respondent, a District of Columbia corporation, oper-
ates a 900-plus bed hospital in Washington. During the 12
months just prior to issuance of the complaint, it grossed
more than $250,000 and purchased supplies valued at more
than $50,000 which were shipped to it directly from points
outside the District of Columbia.
The National Labor Relations Act gives all
employees these rights:
To engage in self-organization
To form, join, or help unions
To bargain collectively through a repre-
sentative of their own choosing
To act together for collective bargaining
or other aid or protection
To refrain from any or all these things.
WE WILL NOT discharge you for engaging in
protected concerted activities.
WE WILL NOT in any other manner interfere
with you or attempt to restrain or coerce you in
the exercise of the above rights.
WE WILL offer James M. Butler, Jr., immediate
and full reinstatement to his former job or, if that
job no longer exists, to a substantially equivalent
position, without prejudice to his seniority or
other rights and privileges, and we_ will make him
whole for any earnings he lost, plus interest, as a
result of his discharge on March 16, 1-976.
WASHINGTON' HOSPITAL
CENTER -
DECISION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
BENJAMIN K. BLACKBURN, Administrative Law Judge:
The charge was filed on March 22, 1976.1 The complaint
was issued on April 29. The hearing was held in Washing-
ton, D.C., on June 28. The issue litigated was whether
Respondent's discharge of James M. Butler, Jr., on March
16 violated Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations
Act, as amended, because he was discharged for engaging
in protected concerted activities. For the reasons set forth
below, I find that it did, thereby denying Respondent's
motion to dismiss which I took under advisement at the
.close of the hearing.
U. THE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE
A.
Facts
Respondent admits approximately 100 patients on an
average day. Except for those who enter through the
emergency room, they present themselves at an admissions
desk where they are asked to wait in a large lounge area
until Respondent is ready to process them. When Respon-
dent is ready, admitting clerks take them into individual
booths, prepare the necessary papers, and obtain necessary
signatures. Once the paperwork-is in order, patients wait in
the lounge again until escorts conduct them to their rooms.
The admissions department has approximately 40 employ-
ees. They man the office around-the clock. Some 10 or 12
are on duty on the first shift each day.
James M. Butler, Jr., was hired as an admitting clerk on
December 22,1975. His immediate supervisor was Mrs. Ida
Keys, Respondent's assistant director of admissions. When
he was hired_he was given a copy of Respondent's booklet
for employees which states that, new employees are on
probation for 3 months and, in.another place, that they will
be released without severance pay, after verbal warning, if
they do not measure up to the requirements of their jobs
during that period. Butler joined Local 722, the Charging
Party. Local 722's-contract with Respondent covers a.unit
which includes admitting clerks. It provides for a 90-day
probationary period during which the "probationary em-
ployee will not be covered by any of the terms and
conditions of this Agreement, whether or not specifically
excluded, and may be discharged by the Hospital with or
without cause and without recourse to the grievance or
arbitration provisions of this Agreement." It also provides
that Respondent-has the exclusive right to make or, change
rules, regulations, policies, and practices so long as they are
not inconsistent with the terms of the contract.
Prior to March 9, Butler, like all the other admitting
clerks, summoned incoming patients by picking up papers
relating to them at -the admissions desk, calling out their
names in a loud voice from that vantage point, and then
leading them into his booth. When he had completed his
part of the admissions process, he sent them.back to the
lounge with instructions to wait for an escort. Escorts also
located the patients they were to conduct to rooms by
calling out their names.
I Dates are 1976 unless otherwise indicated
344
DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
. Daniel J. Macaboy has been Respondent's director of
patients accounts for 5 years. In early 1976 Respondent's
admissions process was under criticism from the medical
staff. Around the first of February, when, apparently, the
admissions office was between directors. Respondent's
administrator asked Macaboy to assume responsibility for
the process in addition to his other duties. Clifford
Donahue was hired to work under Macaboy as director of
admissions around the first of March.
In an effort to' improve the process, Macaboy spent
several days, beginning on March 9, at the admissions desk.
He concluded that the system of calling out names did not
accord with his theory that admitting clerks and escorts
must possess and demonstrate empathy in order to make
the patients' path into the hospital as painless as possible.
He experimented with a system of jotting down notes as to
the patients' apparel, making the notes a part of the papers
which the admitting clerks picked up at the admissions
desk, and having clerks and escorts locate patients by
looking for the persons wearing the clothes described in the
notes. Once the patient had been located in this manner,
clerk or escort, as the case may be, was instructed to ask
him quietly to follow along.
During the 2 or 3 days when Macaboy experimented with
this system, some of the employees, including Butler, found
it unacceptable. They considered it a waste of time to have
to walk through the lounge and, possibly, adjacent areas
such as restrooms in order to match up notes with clothes.
Butler had the experience of misidentifying one patient and
having the person he approached speak rudely to him. On
one of these days, Macaboy saw Butler jerk his thumb over
his shoulder to direct a patient to his booth after calling out
the patient's name? Macaboy was displeased.
When Macaboy left the desk, the employees went back to
the old system of calling out names for the balance of the
week. However, on the morning of Monday, March 16,
Macaboy ordered Mrs. Keys to put his new system into
effect permanently. Mrs. Keys passed the word to the
employees who were on duty, including Butler. At lunch-
time, Butler drafted a memorandum, as follows:
To: Director of Admitting
Subject: Revision of Admitting Procedures
Date: March 16, 1976
We the undersigned acknowledge the need for a
complete revision'of admitting procedures. However, as
admitting personnel , we also see the need for these
changes to be consistent with employee needs also.
We therefore suggest that all changes be brought to the
attention of the employees and discussedbefore implemen-
tation as policy. A specific example is the presently used
system of writing a description of the people to be
admitted, as opposed to the previous policy of calling a
person's
name. The newly initiated system causes
several problems: (1) fording the described person who
may be at several different locations (bathroom, lobby
shop, etc.) (2) unnecessary waste of time looking for
said person (3) giving other patients an uneasy feeling
by seemingly looking for patients. We the undersigned
acknowledge the need for professionalism & time saving
devices for admitting patients. We therefore view this
policy as inconsistent with these needs . We recommend
that it be dropped and the previous system initiated.
Butler signed the memorandum. He obtained the signatures
of six other employees on duty in the admissions depart-
ment at that time, including an escort named Glenford
Dennis. At the end of the lunch period, Butler gave the
memorandum to Donahue.
Donahue gave it to Macaboy. Macaboy told Mrs. Keys
he wanted to meet with all of the employees. Since calling
all of them together at one time would have brought the
admissions process to a halt, this was accomplished in two
stages. Macaboy first met with all the employees who had
signed Butler's memorandum. Donahue and Mrs. Keys
were also present. The meeting was a heated one. Macaboy
asked who had prepared the memorandum. Butler said he
had. Macaboy asked Butler how much experience he had
had in the hospital business that he was such an expert.
When Butler's answer indicated less than 3 months,
Macaboy realized for the first time that Butler was a
probationary employee. Macaboy said the new system was
better than the old and insisted that the employees at least
give it a fair chance before condemning it. Butler became
upset. He described the unpleasant experience he had had
the week before when he approached the wrong person. He
accused Macaboy of taking the memorandum as a personal
affront. Macaboy did not deny the accusation. Butler's
manner during the meeting was hostile and aggressive. The
other employees present took their cue from him. Butler did
most, although not all, of the talking for the employees.
Dennis asked to be excused, and Macaboy refused to let
him go. Dennis 'told Macaboy he remembered many
.occasions when patients had complained about the length
of time they had to wait before being admitted. The upshot
of the meeting was Macaboy's order that the employees
were to use the new system regardless of their complaints.
As Butler left the meeting, he told Mrs. Keys he was
disatisfied and wanted to pursue the matter further through
the Union. Mrs. Keys said she would arrange a meeting
with a union representative during Butler's lunch hour the
next day.
Immediately thereafter, Macaboy, Donahue, and Mrs.
Keys met with the employees who had not signed Butler's
memorandum. This meeting was much less heated. Maca-
boy explained his new- system and why he thought it was
better than the old. Mary Exum argued against it. The
upshot was the same.
Immediately thereafter, Macaboy discussed discharging
Butler with Donahue and Mrs. Keys. Macaboy mentioned
a conclusion he had reached the week before, based on the
thumb-jerk incident, that Butler lacked the necessary
empathy with the patients to be a satisfactory admitting
clerk. Macaboy, Donahue, and Mrs. Keys agreed that the
attitude Butler had displayed in the meeting put his fitness
2 This is the only significant detail about which there is any conflict in the
record. I do not credit Butler's denial that he made the gesture Macaboy
attributed to him.
WASHINGTON HOSPITAL CENTER
345
for the job of admitting clerk in doubt. Macaboy decided to
take advantage of the fact- Butler was a probationary
employee, thus making Local 722's contract no obstacle, by
discharging Butler forthwith. Donahue' concurred.
Mrs.
Keys asked for a delay of several days in order to give her
an opportunity to study this previously unrevealed side of
Butler's personality. Macaboy decided not to wait.
Immediately thereafter, Mrs. Keys told Butler to report
to Macaboy in his office. Butler refused to go unless a union
representative was present. When Mrs. Keys relayed this
information to Macaboy, he told her to have Butler wait.
Macaboy summoned a union steward to his office. He
relayed this information to Butler through Mrs. Keys.
Butler then went to Macaboy's office. Donahue and the
union steward were also present. Donahue told Butler he
was discharged and gave him a paper to sign. Butler refused
and left the office. Butler was not told the reason for his
discharge.
Respondent has taken no action against.Glenford Den-
nis, Mary Exum, or any other employee who expressed
disagreement with Macaboy's new policy on March 16,
B. - Analysis and Conclusions
The General Counsel contends Butler was discharged for
drafting and circulating the March 16 memorandum among
the other, employees in protest against a change in their
conditions of employment. The -reasons advanced by
Respondent in its answer to the complaint ("unsatisfactory
job performance and qualifications") and in its brief ("the
responsible-supervisor had determined he was not suitable
for the positionhe occupied") are, therefore, a pretext,in the
General Counsel's view.
Respondent's defense has -two facets. One, essentially a
legal argument, is that Butler's activities on March 16 are
not protected. It is summarized in Respondent's brief thus:
The governing law is clear concerning employee
attempts to take up with an employer matters which are
within the exclusive purview of a certified bargaining
representative. The employer may listen and react
(unless the reaction would be contrary to the terms of
an existing collective bargaining agreement) without
committing an unfair labor practice; but the employees
by choosing to ignore their exclusively certified repre-
sentative and proceed on their own, may not then argue
that in doing so they were "protected" by the very law
which established the exclusivity. If an employer may
not rely on clear management rights as set forth in a
collective bargaining agreement, but must treat as
"protected" piecemeal employee attempts to diminish
such rights, there is no incentive to agree in the first
instance. This lesson was heeded by the Supreme Court
in [Emporium Capwell Co. v. Western Addition Commu-
nity Orgainzation, 420 U.S. 50 (1975)]; and it is the law
of this case.
In Emporium Capwell employees were discharged for
picketing to protest alleged racial discrimination after
invoking the grievance procedure contained in the contract
between their collective-bargaining representative and their
employer. They picketed against the advice of their union
because they felt the grievance procedure vas inadequate.
In reversing the Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit and agreeing with the Board that the
discharges did not violate Section 8(a)(1) of the Act, the
Supreme Court first posed the central issue thus:
Before turning to the central questions of labor policy
raised by these cases, it is important to have firmly in
mind the character of the underlying conduct to which
we apply them. As stated, the Trial Examiner and the
Board found that the employees were discharged for
attempting to bargain with the Company over the terms
and conditions of employment as they affected racial
minorities. Although the Court of Appeals expressly
declined to set aside this finding, respondent has
devoted considerable effort to-attacking it in this Court,
on the theory that the employees were attempting only
to present a grievance to their employer within the
meaning of the first proviso to § -9 (a). We see no
occasion to disturb the finding of the Board.. Universal
Camera Corp. v. N.L P, B., 340 U.S. 474, 491(1951). The
issue, then is whether such attempts to engage in
separate bargaining are protected by § 7 of_the Act or
proscribed by § 9(a). [Footnotes omitted.]
Respondent argued that overall national policy required a
limited exception to the principle embodied in Section 9(a)
of the Act that the collective-bargaining agent selected by a
majority of the employees in an appropriate unit- has
exclusive representation rights where some employees seek
to bargain separately with their employer as to the
elimination of racially discriminating employment practices
peculiarly affecting them. It also argued that, if-the Court
fashioned such exception, legitimate employer and union
interests would not be unduly compromised. After discuss-
ing both of these contentions, the Court held thus; .
Accordingly, we think neither aspect of respondent's
contention in support of a right to short-circuit orderly,
established processes for eliminating discrimination in
employment is well-founded. The policy of industrial
self-determination as expressed in §7 does not require
fragmentation of the bargaining unit along racial or
other lines in order to consist with the national labor
policy against discrimination. And in the face of such
fragmentation, whatever its effect on discriminatory
practices, the bargaining process that the principle of
exclusive representation is meant to lubricate could not
endure unhampered.
There is nothing in Emporium Capwell even remotely
apposite to this case. Butler did not seek to bypass the
Union when he drafted his memorandum and got other
employees to sign it. He merely requested Respondent to
reconsider the step it had taken unilaterally. When Maca-
boy made it clear at his meeting with Butler and the other
signers that he would not reconsider; Butler took the first
step toward enlisting the Union's aid when he told Mrs.
Keys he wanted to go further and she promised him a
meeting with a union representative the next day. Such a
sequence of events did not fragment the unit. The principle
346
DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of exclusive representation obviously continued unham-
pered.
The other case which Respondent relies on as establish=
ing the law of this case-Norfolk Conveyor, Division of Jervis
B. Webb Company, 159 NLRB 464 (1966)--is inapposite for
the same reason. There an employee was discharged for
insisting on arguing about wages and working conditions at
a meeting called by the employer to plan a Christmas party.
The Trial Examiner's discussion, adopted by the Board,
begins with a finding that the employee's "discussion of
wages and general working conditions was not `protected
activity' because these were matters to which the Union had
been designated as exclusive bargaining agent." It ends
with the Trial Examiner's "opinion that, on the particular
facts of this case, [he] exceeded the scope of any statutory
protection he might have had when he persisted in his
complaints concerning wages and working conditions after
repeated reminders that the meeting had been called for
discussion of plans for the Christmas party." `What ren-
dered that employee's conduct on that occasion unprotect-
ed was "the fact that, like the dissident employees in
Emporium Capwell, he insisted on acting in derogation of
his collective-bargaining representative. Here there is no
such element either explicit or implicit in Butler's activities
on March 16. I find, therefore, that Butler -engaged in
protected concerted activities when he protested Respon-
dent's new technique for contacting patients during the
admissions process by drafting a memorandum, obtaining
the signatures of other employees, and advocating their
position during a meeting with Respondent's officials.
The other facet of Respondent's defense is a factual
argument.,
Respondent contends
Macaboy discharged
Butler not because of `what Butler did on March 16 but
because,of a decision Macaboy had reached at the time of
the thumb jerk incident the preceding week that Butler
lacked- the necessary empathy with patients to continue as
an admitting clerk. This argument is equally without merit,-
for Macaboy's testimony alone leads inevitably to a
conclusion Butler would not have been discharged on
March 16 but for the fact he led an employee protest
against the change Macaboy had ordered in the way they
were to do their jobs. I find it unnecessary, therefore, to
pass on the pretext issue raised by the General Counsel by
making -a finding as to the thoughts which went through
Macaboy's mind when he overruled Mrs. Keys' suggestion
the discharge be put off for a few days and decided to act
immediately. Assuming; arguendo, that Macaboy, as he
claimed, had only his pre-March 16 observations of Butler
in
mind - when he reached his decision and was not
consciously motivated in any degree by the events of that
day, the result is still a violation of the Act.
There are two crucial segments of Macaboy's testimony.
Both came while he was on direct examination. The first
was his response to a question by Respondent's counsel as
to how he had learned, on March 16, that Butler was a
probationary employee. Macaboy said:
-
I asked Mr. Butler, who was the spokesman at the
first meeting, in fact I think [he] said more than I at the
first meeting-I asked him his experience with the
Hospital and how long he had been there. I was trying
to find out what he was basing his judgment on. Was it
experience? Had he been in the hospital business so
long that he knew that this-procedure wouldn't work[?]
[A]nd at that point he advised he had been_ there
- something less,than three months, and, that is -how it
come to light that he was a probationary employee.
The second came when I inquired whether Macaboy had
reached his decision to discharge Butler before March 16,
thus:
JUDGE BLACKBURN: Before the meetings were held
on March I6th, had you any plans to terminate Mr.
Butler at that time?
Tim wrrNEss: I had made up my mind- that -Mr.
Butler had- to be moved somehow. At that point, I did
not know that he was still a probationary employee.
JUDGE BLACKBURN: When did you make that deci-
sion?
-
Tim wrrNEss: When he told me that he had been
there less than three months.
-
JuDGE BLACKBURN: When did you make the decision
that he had to be moved somewhere? -
TIlE wnNEss: About one or two days before, when
he had given the thumb jerk to the patient.
In other words, Macaboy concluded a day or two before
March 16 that Butler was an unsatisfactory admitting clerk.
He decided at that time only to move him,out of that job.
On March :16, . Macaboy discovered from words Butler
spoke in the context of a protest by employees that he could
discharge
Butler without running, afoul _of the union
contract. Motivated by that discovery, he decided -to
discharge Butler instead of transfer him-to another job. But
for the employees' protest, Butler would not have been
discharged. Since, as already found, the protest sparked by
Butler on March 16 was protected, it follows that he was
discharged as a result of engaging in-protected-concerted
activities, a classic violation of Section 8(a)(1) of the Act.
Upon the foregoing findings of fact and upon the entire
record is this case, I make the following:
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1.
Washington Hospital, Center is an employer engaged
in commerce within the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of
the Act.
2. - Local 722, Hospital, Professional, Technical & Ser-
vice Workers, Service Employees International Union,
AFL-CIO, is a labor organization within the meaning of
Section 2(5) of the Act.
-
3.
By discharging James M. Butler, Jr., on March 16,
1976, for engaging in protected concerted activities, Re-
spondent has violated Section 8(axl) of the Act:
4.
The aforesaid unfair labor practice is an unfair labor
practice affecting commerce within the meaning of Section
2(6) and (7) of the Act.
Tim REMEDY
In addition to the usual cease-and-desist order and
notice, an order requiring Respondent to remedy the unfair
labor practice found by reinstating Butler and making him
whole is required to effectuate the policies of the Act.
WASHINGTON HOSPITAL CENTER
347
Backpay will be computed on a quarterly basis, plus
interest at, 6percent per annum, as prescribed in F.
W.
Woolworth
Company,
90 NLRB 289 (1950), and Isis
Plumbing & Heating Co., 138 NLRB 716 (1962).
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact, conclu-
sions of law, and the entire record in this proceeding, and
pursuant to Section 10(c) of the Act, I hereby issue the
following recommended:
ORDERS
Respondent Washington Hospital Center, Washington,
D.C., its officers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall:
1.
Cease and desist from:
(a) Discharging- employees for engaging in protected
concerted activities.
(b) In any like or related manner interfering with,
restraining, or coercing employees in the exercise of rights
guaranteed in Section 7 of the Act.
2.
Take the following affirmative action necessary to
effectuate the policies of the Act:
(a) Offer James M. Butler, Jr., immediate and, full
reinstatement to his former job or, if that job no longer
exists, to' a substantially equivalent position,
without
3 In the event no exceptions are filed as provided by Sec. 102.46 of the
Rules and Regulations of the National Labor Relations Board, the findings,
conclusions, and recommended Order herein shall, as provided in Sec. 102.48
of the Rules and Regulations, be adopted by the Board and become its
findings, conclusions, and Order, and all objections thereto shall be deemed
waived for all purposes
prejudice to his seniority or other rights and privileges, and
make him whole for any earnings he lost, plus interest, as a
result of his discharge on March 16, 1976.
(b) Preserve and, upon request, make available to the
Board or its agents, for examination and copying, all
payroll records, social security payment records, timecards,
personnel records and reports, and all other records
necessary to analyze the amount of backpay due under the
terms of this recommended Order.
(c) Post at its hospital in Washington, D.C., copies of the
attached notice marked "Appendix." Copies of said notice,
on forms provided by the Regional Director for Regions 5,4
after being duly signed by Respondent's authorized repre-
sentative, shall be posted by Respondent 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-
sonable steps shall be taken by Respondent to insure that
said notices are not altered, defaced, or covered by any
other material.
(d) Notify the Regional Director for Region 5, in writing,
within 20 days from the date of this Order, what steps
Respondent has taken to comply herewith.
4 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 Pursuant to a Judgment
of the United States Court of Appeals Enforcing an Order of the National
Labor Relations Board."