Edward G. Budd Mfg. Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

At the suggestion of management, the employees of Edward G. Budd Mfg. Co. (defendant) formed an association with elected representatives to discuss their mutual concerns. Management cooperated with the association and treated its representatives extremely leniently. One representative, Walter Weigand, came and went as he pleased and was drunk while on duty. He also brought a woman called “the Duchess” to the back of the plant yard to introduce to employees. On one occasion, Weigand took another employer to visit the Duchess, then brought him back intoxicated, punched in his timecard, and left him to sleep it off on the representatives’ meeting room table. The company nonetheless gave Weigand full pay and five raises, only one of which reflected a general wage increase throughout the plant. When a union was trying to organize the plant’s employees, Weigand told two other association members he had joined the union and tried to solicit their support. But somebody saw the three association members talking to a union organizer on a street corner. Management called one of the other representatives into the office for an interview the next day and fired Weigand the day after that. The union filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) (plaintiff), claiming the company had unlawfully dominated and supported the association and fired Weigand and one other employee for supporting the union instead. The NLRB ordered the association disbanded and the two discharged employees reinstated. Budd appealed to the circuit court to review the NLRB’s order. The court affirmed that the company unlawfully dominated the association and fired the second employee for union activities in violation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), then turned to the issue of Weigand’s termination.