Detroit Edison Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

Supreme Court of the United States · 1979 · Labor Law

Labor LawDuty to furnish informationCollective bargainingGrievance arbitrationConfidentialityEmployment testingNLRA§ 8(a)(5)

Facts

Detroit Edison used a validated psychological aptitude test battery to screen applicants for the Instrument Man B job and promised applicants that their scores would remain confidential. After ten bargaining-unit employees applied and all were rejected based on their test results, the union filed a grievance and requested testing materials; the company provided validation studies, sample questions, scoring procedures, and anonymous raw scores, but refused to disclose the actual test questions, answer sheets, and scores linked to employee names. The company also offered to release named scores if employees signed confidentiality waivers and, before the ALJ, offered to disclose the test battery and answer sheets to a union-selected industrial psychologist, but the union rejected both proposals. The Board nevertheless ordered direct disclosure of all materials to the union, subject to restrictions on copying and dissemination.

Issue

Whether the Board properly required Detroit Edison, under NLRA § 8(a)(5), to disclose directly to the union the actual test battery and answer sheets, and whether the company violated the Act by refusing to disclose employee-linked test scores without the employees' written consent.

Rule

A union's assertion that it needs information to process a grievance does not automatically entitle it to all requested information in the precise form requested. Under § 8(a)(5), the duty to furnish information depends on the circumstances of the particular case, and disclosure obligations must accommodate legitimate and substantial interests such as preserving test secrecy and protecting employee confidentiality; in some situations, a conditional offer of disclosure satisfies the employer's statutory duty.

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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

Prairie Light Systems operates a power station in Toledo, Ohio. During a grievance over denied promotions, the union requests the actual booklet and answer key for a validated aptitude exam; the company offers instead to provide the materials only to a union-selected industrial psychologist bound not to disclose the test contents further because the exam's usefulness depends on secrecy.

If the Board orders Prairie Light Systems to give the exam booklet and answer key directly to union representatives subject only to a no-copying and no-dissemination restriction, which result is most consistent with the majority opinion?

Explanation. The majority held that a union's assertion of need does not automatically entitle it to all requested information in the precise form requested. Under § 8(a)(5), disclosure depends on the circumstances, and the Board must accommodate legitimate and substantial employer interests such as test secrecy. Where test reliability depends on secrecy, a direct-disclosure remedy with only limited use restrictions may give scant protection, so requiring direct turnover to the union would be an abuse of remedial discretion.