706
OCTOBER TERM, 2000
Syllabus
certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the sixth circuit
No. 99-1815. Argued February 21, 2001—Decided May 29, 2001
When co-respondent labor union petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to represent a unit of employees at respondent's residential care facility, respondent objected to the inclusion of its registered nurses in the unit, arguing that they were "supervisors" under § 2(11) of the National Labor Relations Act (Act), 29 U. S. C. § 152(11), and hence excluded from the Act's protections. At the representation hearing, the Board's Regional Director placed the burden of proving supervisory status on respondent, found that respondent had not carried its burden, and included the nurses in the unit. Thereafter, respondent refused to bargain with the union, leading the Board's General Counsel to file an unfair labor practice complaint. The Board granted the General Counsel summary judgment on the basis of the representation determination, but the Sixth Circuit refused to enforce the Board's order. It rejected the Board's interpretation of "independent judgment" in § 2(11)'s test for supervisory status, and held that the Board had erred in placing the burden of proving supervisory status on respondent.
Held:
1. Respondent carries the burden of proving the nurses' supervisory status in the representation hearing and unfair labor practice proceeding. The Act does not expressly allocate the burden of proving or disproving supervisory status, but the Board has consistently placed the burden on the party claiming that the employee is a supervisor. That rule is both reasonable and consistent with the Act, which makes supervisors an exception to the general class of employees. It is not contrary to the requirement that the Board must prove the elements of an unfair labor practice, because supervisory status is not an element of the Board's refusal-to-bargain charge. The Board must prove that the employer refused to bargain with the representative of a properly certified unit; the unit was not properly certified only if respondent successfully showed at the certification stage that some employees in the unit were supervisors. Pp. 710-712.
2. The Board's test for determining supervisory status is inconsistent with the Act. The Act deems employees to be "supervisors" if they
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