George Arakelian Farms, Inc. v. Agricultural Labor Relations Board

George Arakelian Farms, Inc. (Arakelian or petitioner) seeks statutory review (Lab. Code, § 1160.8) of a decision of the *263 Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB or Board) determining that petitioner committed three unfair labor practices and of Board’s order based thereon. (All statutory references will be to the Labor Code unless otherwise specified.)

Arakelian is an agricultural employer (§ 1140.4, subd. (c)) subject to the Agricultural Labor Relations Act (§ 1140 et seq. [hereafter ALRA]). It is a California corporation engaged in the growing, harvesting and marketing of flat and row crops such as alfalfa, cotton, cantaloupes and lettuce in portions of both Riverside and Imperial Counties. At peak it employs over 150 workers. George Arakelian is the president of the corporation.

On charges filed by United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO (UFW), a labor organization within the meaning of subdivision (f) of section 1140.4, ALRB’s general counsel issued a complaint accusing petitioner of eight acts allegedly constituting unfair labor practices. Arakelian filed an answer in essence denying the charges. The case was heard by an administrative law officer (ALO)…

I concur in the majority's conclusions except as to the irrigators and shovelers. In my opinion, there was substantial evidence to support the board’s finding that layoff and refusal to rehire the six irrigators and shovelers constituted an unfair labor practice in violation of Labor Code section 1153, subdivisions (a) and (c). To that extent I respectfully dissent.

The majority’s analysis, particularly as it relates to the unfair labor practice complaint concerning the irrigators and shovelers, focuses excessively upon the sufficiency of the evidence to support the administrative law officer’s (ALO) recommended decision instead of upon the substantiality of the evidence to support the board’s finding. In N. L. R. B. v. Pacific Grinding Wheel Co., Inc. (9th Cir. 1978) 572 F.2d 1343 , the court aptly said of a somewhat similar judicial review approach advocated by the employer: “The company, to maximize the weight of the Administrative Law Judge’s refusal to find a failure to bargain, argues that there is no evidence to support the Board’s overruling of his recommendation. However, this is an incorrect formulation of the issue. The standard of review does not change simply because…

Marco E. Lopez, Carlos M. Alcala, Francis E. Fernandez, Carmen S. Flores, Jerome Cohen, Tom Dalzell, Sanford N. Nathan, Dianna Lyons, Daniel A. Garcia, Federico G. Chavez and Ellen J. Eggers for Real Party in Interest.

OPINION

KAUFMAN, J.

George Arakelian Farms, Inc. (Arakelian or petitioner) seeks statutory review (Lab. Code, § 1160.8) of a decision of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB or Board) determining that petitioner committed three unfair labor practices and of Board's order based thereon. (All statutory references will be to the Labor Code unless otherwise specified.)

Arakelian is an agricultural employer (§ 1140.4, subd. (c)) subject to the Agricultural Labor Relations Act (§ 1140 et seq. [hereafter ALRA]). It is a California corporation engaged in the growing, harvesting and marketing of flat and row crops such as alfalfa, cotton, cantaloupes and lettuce in portions of both Riverside and Imperial Counties. At peak it employs over 150 workers. George Arakelian is the president of the corporation.

On charges filed by United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO (UFW), a labor organization within the meaning of subdivision (f) of section 1140.4, ALRB's general…