This National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision addresses the Employer's Request for Review of a Regional Director's Decision and Direction of Election. The Employer sought to exclude dental employees from a proposed bargaining unit of doctors and medical employees. The Board denied the Employer's request, finding that it raised no substantial issues warranting review.

The core of the legal analysis centers on the "overwhelming community of interest" standard established in American Steel Construction, Inc., a standard that dictates when employees must be included in a bargaining unit. The Board agreed with the Regional Director's conclusion that the dental employees did not share such an overwhelming community of interest with the petitioned-for doctors and medical employees, meaning there was no rational basis to exclude them.

The Employer did not dispute several key findings by the Regional Director: that medical and dental employees were organized into separate departments, lacked common supervision, and had no evidence of employee interchange. Furthermore, the Board affirmed the Regional Director's finding that the dental employees' job duties, skills, and education were distinct from those of the medical employees. While the Employer presented evidence of a limited degree of functional integration due to an integrated care model, the Board found this insufficient. Citing WideOpenWest Illinois, LLC, the Board determined that this integration did not demonstrate regular dependence between the two groups to accomplish their tasks.

The Board acknowledged evidence of a high level of contact between medical and dental employees through work-related consultations, referrals, and handoffs, as well as shared off-duty facilities. However, drawing on precedent from Casino Aztar and J. C. Penney Co., the Board concluded that even if this contact favored the inclusion of dental employees, it would not alter the ultimate outcome of the decision.

The Employer's reliance on the "diversity" discussion in Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, U.S., Inc. was rejected. The Board clarified that Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, U.S., Inc. concerned a self-determination election where the question was whether employees could be included in an existing unit if they shared a sufficient community of interest. In the present case, the operative question was whether the excluded dental employees must be included because they shared an overwhelming community of interest with the petitioned-for employees.

Consequently, the Board did not address the Regional Director's determination regarding whether registered dental hygienists qualified as "professionals" under Section 2(12) of the Act, as this issue was rendered moot by the decision to exclude the dental employees from the unit.

Finally, the Petitioner's motion to strike the Employer's Request for Review was denied. The Board found that the Request for Review complied with the requirements of Section 102.67(e) of the Board's Rules and Regulations and was a self-contained document.

Significant Cases Cited

• American Steel Construction, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 23 (2022): This case established the "overwhelming community of interest" standard for determining when employees must be included in a bargaining unit.
• WideOpenWest Illinois, LLC, 371 NLRB No. 107 (2022): This case clarifies that functional integration does not support inclusion in a bargaining unit unless there is regular dependence between groups to accomplish their tasks.
• Casino Aztar, 349 NLRB 603 (2007): This case addressed the significance of employee contact and shared facilities in community of interest determinations.
• J. C. Penney Co., 328 NLRB 766 (1999): This case also examined the weight of employee contact and functional integration in community of interest analysis.
• Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, U.S., Inc., 373 NLRB No. 99 (2024): This case distinguished between the criteria for inclusion in a self-determination election and the mandatory inclusion of employees based on an overwhelming community of interest.

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