N.L.R.B. v. Florida Memorial College

In 1979 full-time faculty at Florida Memorial College (Florida Memorial) (defendant) voted to join a union comprising several groups of employees. The union was certified by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) (plaintiff), but Florida Memorial refused to bargain with the union on the ground that full-time faculty were considered managerial or supervisory. Under the National Labor Relations Act (the act), such employees were excluded from coverage. The union filed an unfair-labor-practice charge with the NLRB, which sided with the union and ordered Florida Memorial to collectively bargain. The NLRB then sought enforcement of its order. At Florida Memorial, full-time faculty did not have an exclusive organization through which they could exercise authority or provide input. Instead, certain faculty were chosen by the vice president of the college to participate in standing committees, which also included administrators and students. Recommendations of these committees on matters of promotion and hiring could be ignored by the dean. Curriculum, graduation requirements, and enrollment at Florida Memorial were dictated by a college catalog, which faculty had no input into. New courses could be suggested, but they required approval by the academic dean. Florida Memorial had an open admissions process and did not offer tenure to faculty.