Moses Elec Svc Inc v. NLRB ( 2002 )


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  •                   UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    For the Fifth Circuit
    No. 02-60016
    Summary Calendar
    MOSES ELECTRIC SERVICE, INC., and its agent
    EXPRESS PERSONNEL SERVICES,
    Petitioner-Cross-Respondent,
    VERSUS
    NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD,
    Respondent-Cross-Petitioner.
    Petition for Review & Cross-Petition for Enforcement
    of an Order of the National Labor Relations Board
    (26-CA-17904)
    July 15, 2002
    Before DeMOSS, PARKER, and DENNIS, Circuit Judges.
    PER CURIAM:*
    This case is before the Court on the petition of Moses
    Electric Service, Inc. (“the Company”) to review, and the cross-
    application of the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) to
    enforce the decision and order of the Board issued on July 16,
    *
    Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that this
    opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the
    limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
    2001, in which the Board determined that the Company violated
    § 8(a)(3) and (1) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended,
    29 U.S.C. § 151, et seq. (“the Act”), by refusing to hire twelve
    applicants because of their Union affiliation and by discharging
    employee, Stephen Alexander, because of his Union activities. This
    Court will not disturb the Board’s unfair labor practice findings
    if   substantial     evidence     supports          the   Board’s   inferences   and
    conclusions, “even if the Court would justifiably have made a
    different choice had the matter been before it de novo.” Universal
    Camera Corp. v. NLRB, 
    340 U.S. 474
    , 488 (1951), accord, NLRB v.
    Thermon Heat Tracing Services, Inc., 
    143 F.3d 181
    , 185 (5th Cir.
    1998). Because the Board’s findings with respect to the employer’s
    motive in discrimination cases involves “drawing inferences from
    the evidence” based on “the expertise of the Board,” this Court’s
    review   of   such    findings        “is    even    more    deferential.”       Laro
    Maintenance Corp. v. NLRB, 
    56 F.3d 224
    , 229 (D.C. Cir. 1995),
    accord, Valmont Indus., Inc. v. NLRB, 
    244 F.3d 454
    , 463 (5th Cir.
    2001).   Finally, this Court has consistently held that it will not
    displace the administrative law judge’s credibility determinations
    or   inferences,     as     adopted    by    the    Board,   except   in   the   rare
    circumstances        when     those         credibility      determinations      are
    unreasonable or are based on an inadequate or nonexistent reason.
    NLRB v. McCullough Environmental Services, Inc., 
    5 F.3d 923
    (5th
    Cir. 1993).
    2
    Under these standards of review, we have carefully reviewed
    the petition for review, the Board’s order, the briefs, the reply
    brief, and relevant portions of the record itself.           We conclude
    that the Board’s findings of discrimination are supported by
    substantial   evidence   and   that   the   administrative   law   judge’s
    credibility determinations are not unreasonable.        Accordingly, we
    dismiss the Company’s petition for review, and grant the cross-
    application by the Board for enforcement of its order of July 16,
    2001.   The Company, its officers, agents, successors, and assigns
    are hereby ordered to comply therewith.
    3