E.I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company, Inc., Petitioner/cross-Respondent v. National Labor Relations Board, Respondent/cross-Petitioner

Petitioner E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company seeks review of an order of the National Labor Relations Board requiring it to reinstate a discharged employee with backpay. The Board asks for enforcement of its order. Jurisdiction exists under 29 U.S.C. §§ 160 (e)-160(f). We deny enforcement of the Board’s order.

I.

FACTS

Henry Burke, the employee whose discharge produced this lawsuit, worked for nearly ten years at a nonunion facility owned by du Pont. Burke had been involved in a series of disputes with du Pont. This one began when he was recovering from a workplace accident and du Pont docked his pay for an unauthorized visit to his doctor. Burke thereupon refused to sign his time card and was suspended.

On the following day Burke’s supervisor called him to work, read him an “interview record” of performance deficiencies, and asked him to sign an acknowledgment that he had been read its contents. Burke refused, as he had on previous occasions. The supervisor then called Burke’s “second-level” supervisor, who produced a “Development Program” for Burke which listed conditions for his continued employment. Among these were adherence to medical appointment procedures, an…