National Labor Relations Board v. Transportation Management Corp.

Background

Sam Santillo was a bus driver who talked with Teamsters officials and distributed union cards to coworkers. His supervisor, George Patterson, expressed anger and threatened to “get even.” Santillo was fired a few days later for leaving keys in a bus and taking unauthorized breaks. Santillo filed a complaint with the labor board, which found Patterson had antiunion animus and that the employer’s stated reasons were a pretext. The Board applied its Wright Line test and ordered relief; a federal appeals court refused to enforce that decision, prompting Supreme Court review because Circuits disagreed on the proper test.

Reasoning

The Court addressed whether the Board may let an employer escape liability by proving, as an affirmative defense by a preponderance of the evidence, that the worker would have been fired for valid reasons even if antiunion bias played a role. The Court said the General Counsel must prove that protected union activity was a contributing or motivating factor in the firing. If that showing is made, the employer may then prove it would have fired the worker anyway. The Court found this allocation of burdens permissible under the statute and supported by prior Board practice and related decisions about mixed-motive cases.

Real world impact

The ruling leaves the labor board responsible for showing union activity helped cause a discharge, but it also lets employers avoid remedies if they can prove by a preponderance they would have acted the same for legitimate reasons. The decision resolves the Circuit split in favor of the Board’s Wright Line approach and will shape how future union-organizing firing disputes are decided.