Page:Cordúa Restaurants, Inc. v. NLRB (19-60630) (2021) Opinion.pdf/6

 received records from Reichman. Ramirez denied taking such actions and asserted that he only texted Reichman about scheduling. Espinoza also asked Ramirez if he would provide Cordúa access to his personal cellphone and, when Ramirez refused, asked him to put his refusal in writing. Ramirez again declined, stating that he wanted to speak with his lawyer before putting anything into writing. Several times during the meeting, Ramirez asked for permission to call his lawyer. Espinoza denied these requests, telling Ramirez that he could call his lawyer after they finished the meeting.

The next week, on September 10, 2015, Espinoza called Ramirez into a second meeting. Romero, general manager of Churrascos Sugar Land, was also present. Espinoza informed Ramirez that Cordúa was investigating “[a] breach of confidential[] employee records including personal records, some payroll and time records.” Espinoza stated that he had spoken to “various employees” about the investigation. Espinoza then told Ramirez, “Our investigation has revealed that you have worked with other employees that you know had access to employee records. You also were dishonest with me about accessing employee records and about texting [Reichman].” Ramirez responded that he did not ask Reichman for other employees’ records, and that he did not need Reichman to do anything with his own records. Espinoza asked Ramirez to put his response in writing, but Ramirez answered that his attorney instructed him not to sign anything or write anything down. Ramirez asked for permission to call his lawyer, to which Espinoza replied that he could call his lawyer after the meeting. Espinoza concluded, “You violated our employee policies by accessing our employee records. You violated, also, lying to me about texting [Reichman] and accessing confidential employee records.” Espinoza then fired Ramirez. Ramirez filed the instant complaint against Cordúa with the NLRB in the fall of 2015, alleging violations of the NLRA in connection with his firing.
 * C. The NLRB complaint