Laborers International Union of North America, Local 872, AFL-CIO

Parnell Colvin and Richard Vela filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) (plaintiff) against the Laborers International Union of North America, Local 872, AFL-CIO (the union). The NLRB’s counsel filed a complaint against the union on Colvin and Vela’s behalf, claiming that the union engaged in various unfair labor practices. The matter proceeded to a hearing before an NLRB administrative-law judge (ALJ). Colvin caused repeated delays in the hearing process. On December 15, 2022, Colvin, who was the NLRB counsel’s next witness, suddenly announced he would be unavailable until February 7, 2023, because of a planned medical procedure. Colvin failed to appear on February 7. Colvin also failed to properly comply with the union’s subpoena duces tecum asking him to produce relevant documents in his possession. He initially claimed not to possess any such documents but later produced some documents when warned that failing to produce documents might harm the NLRB’s case. However, his failure to testify prevented confirmation that he had fully complied with the subpoena. At a video session with the ALJ on July 5, Colvin stated that he would appear at the planned resumption of the hearing on July 31. One business day before that hearing, Colvin again attempted to postpone, explaining that he was waiting for legal advice from an attorney to be appointed in a separate judicial action against the union. Colvin’s statements suggested that he considered the litigation to be more important and lucrative than the NLRB proceeding. Throughout the process, Colvin also failed to comply with NLRB e-filing requirements, uploading his documents as individual pages and causing significant confusion. The ALJ considered the union’s motion to dismiss the complaint against it.