EMPLOYER INTERFERENCE, RESTRAINT, COERCION, EMPLOYER CONDUCT AFFECTING ORGANIZING, UNION ACCESS; SOLICITATION, AND OTHER UNION RIGHTS – In General; Prima Facie Case.

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401.00000 – EMPLOYER INTERFERENCE, RESTRAINT, COERCION, EMPLOYER CONDUCT AFFECTING ORGANIZING, UNION ACCESS; SOLICITATION, AND OTHER UNION RIGHTS
401.01000 – In General; Prima Facie Case.

Allegation that public school employer specifically prohibited distribution of “union” information during the 30 minutes before the start of the regular work day stated prima facie allegation of employer interference with protected employee and organizational rights because it was overbroad in its categorical ban on distributing flyers at any time during the workday, without regard to off-duty time, such as employee meal or rest breaks. Allegation that public school employer promulgated, maintained and enforced policy which expressly singled out for prohibition materials of a “union” content at anytime and anywhere in the workplace stated prima facie case of employer conduct that is inherently destructive of protected employee and organizational rights. Although the employer’s representative allegedly clarified that its e-mail message stating a categorical ban on distributing union literature was intended to address questions from school principals and “was not intended to be shared with staff,” school district did not rebut prima facie case where it never claimed to have publicly and unequivocally disavowed either any inadvertent distribution of the message to teachers or its enforcement by one school principal. Additionally, unless an affirmative defense is established on undisputed facts as a matter of law, it will not rebut a prima facie case at the charge investigation stage of PERB’s unfair practice proceedings.