NLRB goes to court for Fuyao documents

Company says subpoena is ‘fishing expedition’

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is asking the federal court in Dayton to order Fuyao Glass America Inc. to provide documents in a case against the company.

An attorney for Fuyao Glass America, in turn, says the subpoena for information is too broad, calling it a “fishing expedition.”

In May, the United Auto Workers filed a charge against Fuyao with the NLRB, alleging that the company discharged an employee, Adam Moffitt, “because of his support” for the UAW, a union that wishes to represent workers at Fuyao’s Moraine plant.

On Tuesday, the NLRB filed a request in federal court, asking that Fuyao be made to provide records the NLRB said it has requested.

According to the NLRB’s filing, the board’s regional office on Oct. 31 directed Fuyao by email to provide the records no later than Nov. 3.

“Respondent has not responded to the Oct. 31 letter,” according to the NLRB’s filing, an application for order requiring obedience to a subpoena.

The board wants an order from the court telling Fuyao to provide all records. It has sought personnel files, attendance records, disciplinary records and other information for all employees terminated by Fuyao for attendance violations since Dec. 1, 2015.

Messages seeking comment were left with Joseph Tansino, an NLRB attorney, and Garey Lindsay, director of the NLRB’s Cincinnati office.

Micah Siegal, assistant general counsel for Fuyao, said the company believes the NLRB is on a “fishing expedition” for information.

The company has tried to work with the NLRB to “focus in” on the types of information it wants, he said.

“We think that the subpoena is overbroad and unduly burdensome, and we welcome the opportunity to have a federal court intervene and assist in limiting the scope of the NLRB’s inquiry,” Siegal said.

Asked about the UAW’s charge that an employee was fired because of support for a union, Siegal said: “Fuyao has never and would never discharge an employee due to their support of the UAW. We are complying with the law.”

Auto glass manufacturer Fuyao is among the Dayton area’s fastest growing manufacturers, with about 2,000 workers in Moraine. The company also has a glass supply plant in Mount Zion, Ill.

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