## Facts

- Universal Camera Corporation employed Imre Chairman as a maintenance engineer supervising an evening shift.
- A union organizing effort led to an NLRB representation proceeding regarding employee representation.
- Chairman testified at the representation hearing in a manner favorable to the union, despite being cautioned by his immediate supervisor that doing so was a “bad idea.”
- The day after the hearing, Universal’s chief engineer initiated an investigation into Chairman’s conduct; the Board viewed the investigation as prompted by hostility to Chairman’s testimony and aimed at finding grounds to discharge him.
- About a month later, Chairman had a heated workplace dispute with another manager; by the end of the shift, the two shook hands and agreed to move on.
- Approximately three-and-a-half weeks after the dispute, Chairman was discharged, purportedly for “gross insubordination,” based on the other manager’s complaint; the timing and delay in the complaint were not persuasively explained.
- Chairman filed an unfair labor practice charge alleging he was terminated in retaliation for his testimony in an NLRB proceeding.

## Issues

1. Whether Universal unlawfully discharged Chairman because he gave testimony in an NLRB proceeding, in violation of the NLRA’s prohibition on discrimination for participation in Board processes.
2. Whether the discharge and related management conduct interfered with, restrained, or coerced employees in the exercise of rights protected by NLRA § 7.

## Decision

- The NLRB reversed the Trial Examiner’s recommendation to dismiss the complaint.
- The Board found that Chairman was discharged because he testified at the representation hearing and that the asserted “gross insubordination” rationale was pretextual.
- The Board concluded Universal committed unfair labor practices by discriminating against Chairman due to protected participation in Board proceedings and by interfering with employees’ § 7 rights.
- The Board ordered Universal to cease and desist from such conduct and to reinstate Chairman with back pay.

## Legal Principles

- An employer violates the NLRA by discharging or otherwise discriminating against an employee for giving testimony or assisting the NLRB in proceedings under the Act.
- Discriminatory motive may be proven through circumstantial evidence, including proximity in time between protected activity and adverse action, indications of employer hostility, and implausible or shifting asserted justifications.
- The NLRB may reject a trial examiner’s findings, including credibility-related inferences, and make its own findings when supported by substantial evidence on the record.

## Conclusion

The NLRB held that Universal unlawfully terminated an employee in retaliation for testimony at an NLRB representation hearing, treated the employer’s insubordination explanation as a pretext, and ordered reinstatement with back pay and cease-and-desist relief to protect participation in Board processes and employees’ § 7 rights.


In re Universal Camera Corp., 79 N.L.R.B. 379 (1948)