Originally from Dispute Resolution Journal

This article considers the right of an employee to be represented by a union official at a meeting in which the employer is investigating an incident that may ultimately result in the employee's discipline or discharge. The changing policy of the National Labor Relations Board and the courts' evaluation oi that polity is reviewed. Among the cases analyzed are Ross Gear and Fool Co. in 1945, where the board based its opinion on the employee's organizational rights, and Quality Manufacturing Co. in 1972, in which emphasis was placed on the concerted interests of the employee in question and his or her coworkers. Arbitrators' awards prior to and following the Supreme Court's decisions in Quality and J. Weingarten in 1975 are compared and the question of how to determine when an employee has reasonable grounds for believing that an investigation will lead to disciplinary action is raised.