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Court rules faxes are not binding
> CINCINNATI, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- A federal appellate court in Cincinnati
>ruled this week that faxes are not necessarily legally binding if the
>receiving party does not know the communication is coming.
> The case stemmed from a 1991-92 strike by 200 Clow Water System Co.
>workers who were represented by the United Steelworkers.
> The court ruled the Coshocton company, a division of McWane Inc., did
>not violate federal labor law when it hired replacement workers after
>the union transmitted an unconditional fax offer to return to work in
>February 1992.
> The union sent its offer by fax at 4:35 p.m. on a Friday, 25 minutes
>before the plant closed for the day. The intended recipient claimed he
>checked for any communications at 4:30, and when he saw there weren't
>any, went home.
> On Saturday, Clow hired 80 replacement workers.
> The National Labor Relations Board later held that actual knowledge
>of the fax was not required. The board said the parties had communicated
>by facsimile during their negotiations, and that the facsimile was sent
>and received.
> But the appellate court said the union had sent only four facsimile
>transmissions during 13 months of negotiations.
> ``All of these facsimiles contained contract proposals -- a
>communication intended to be examined and considered, not a
>communication having legal import in and of itself,'' the court said,
>ordering the NLRB ruling against Clow must be re-evaluated.
> The court said facsimile and electronic mail are becoming
>increasingly common forms of business communication, however, both
>parties must agree to the use of such media and must be notified when
>messages are sent.
> ``The critical part of this case is that (the fax) was sent only 25
>minutes before the plant closed,'' David Peck, a lawyer with Taft,
>Stettinius & Hollister, the law firm that represented Clow, told United
>Press International Wednesday. ``Normal courtesy is to call first and
>again after to confirm that a fax has been received.''
> The union claimed Clow committed an unfair labor practice by
>permanently replacing economic strikers after the union made an
>unconditional offer, as required by federal law, to return to work.
> But the court said the fax transmission itself wasn't the issue.
> ``The key to this case is simply fair notice,'' the court said in its
>decision. ``If the parties did not agree to the method of communication
>utilized, and if there is no pattern of conduct reflecting acquiescence
>to the method of communication utilized, we will not impute notice of
>the communication to the recipient.
> ``Communication by facsimile has simplified and streamlined the way
>in which business in conducted in this country,'' the court added.
>``This technological advance provides a valuable service and benefit,
>and our holding should not be taken as an indication that parties should
>not use facsimiles to conduct their affairs.''
>--
> C O P Y R I G H T * R E M I N D E R
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_______________________
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-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Joseph Reagle http://rpcp.mit.edu/~reagle/home.html
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