## Facts

- Ray Brooks operated a small automobile dealership whose employees voted in an NLRB-conducted representation election on April 12, 1951.
- The union (District Lodge No. 727, International Association of Machinists) won the election 8–5 and was certified by the NLRB as exclusive bargaining representative on April 20, 1951.
- Before certification, Brooks received a handwritten letter signed by nine of thirteen employees stating they did not favor union representation.
- After certification, Brooks refused to bargain with the certified union, relying on the employee letter and circuit authority suggesting an employer could refuse to bargain if the union lost majority support shortly after an election without employer misconduct.
- The NLRB found Brooks’s refusal to bargain violated NLRA §§ 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(5) and ordered him to bargain.
- The Ninth Circuit enforced the Board’s order; the Supreme Court granted certiorari due to a conflict among circuits.

## Issues

1. Whether an employer may refuse to bargain with a duly certified union during the post-certification “reasonable period” (ordinarily one year) based on evidence that employees have withdrawn support shortly after the election and without employer fault.
2. Whether the NLRB may require a certification to be honored for a reasonable period measured from the date of certification, absent “unusual circumstances.”
3. Whether informal employee repudiation (e.g., petitions or letters) can displace a recent Board certification when statutory and Board rules bar an immediate decertification election.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court affirmed enforcement of the NLRB’s bargaining order.
- The Court held that an employer presented with evidence that employees have deserted a certified union is not entitled immediately to refuse to bargain.
- The Court approved the NLRB’s policy that a certification from a Board election must be honored for a reasonable period, ordinarily one year, absent unusual circumstances.
- The Court upheld measuring the one-year period from the date of certification rather than the date of the election.
- The Court rejected the view that a small employer should be relieved of this bargaining duty based on size.

## Legal Principles

- After NLRB certification following a Board-supervised election, the union is entitled to a conclusive presumption of majority status for a reasonable period (ordinarily one year) unless unusual circumstances exist.
- During the certification year, an employer must bargain in good faith and may not rely on post-election employee petitions or letters to justify refusal to bargain.
- The availability of informal methods to ascertain majority support does not justify informal repudiation of a recent certification where decertification by election is temporarily precluded.
- “Unusual circumstances” permitting disruption of the certification-year obligation are limited (e.g., union dissolution/defunct status, a schism transferring substantially all members and officers, or drastic changes in the bargaining unit).
- After the reasonable period expires, an employer may seek a Board election or may refuse to bargain if it has a good-faith doubt as to the union’s continuing majority, subject to NLRA constraints.

## Conclusion

The Court held that an employer must bargain with a recently certified union for a reasonable period—typically one year from certification—and cannot use informal evidence of employee dissatisfaction to withdraw recognition during that period absent recognized unusual circumstances.


Brooks v. Nat'l Labor Relations Bd., 348 U.S. 96 (1954)