Opinion ID: 2996266
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The refusal-to-consider-for-hire charge.

Text: Local 150 also contends that the Board erred when it concluded that Brandt did not violate § 8(a)(1) and (3) of the NLRA by refusing to consider hiring the union-affiliated applicants. To establish a refusal-to-consider-for-hire violation, the record must show: “(1) that the respondent excluded applicants from a hiring process; and (2) that anti-union animus contributed to the decision not to consider the applicants for employment.” FES, 2000 WL 627640, at . As in a refusal-to-hire case, the burden then shifts to the employer to demonstrate that it would not have considered the applicant even in the absence of union affiliation. Id. If the employer meets this burden, the Board will not find a violation. Id. 34 No. 02-1044 Local 150 contends that Brandt unlawfully refused to consider hiring pro-union applicants because it “manipulated, changed, and altered its hiring practices to make it more difficult for union applicants to apply for positions of employment . . . .” As we have already noted, it is undisputed that Brandt displayed anti-union animus toward the pro-union applicants by making it more difficult for them to obtain and file applications with the company. The ultimate question, however, is whether, notwithstanding this anti-union animus, the pro-union applicants would have been considered for employment with the company. Id. The Board concluded that Brandt did not unlawfully refuse to consider hiring the pro-union applicants because even if the company had not made it more difficult for them to apply (e.g., by requiring photographic identification), they would not have received any consideration under the company’s preferential hiring policy as walk-in applicants, noting “the walk-ins never made it ‘to any other cut . . . . They got deleted immediately.’ ”(quoting Terry Brandt’s testimony before the ALJ). The pro-union applicants were given the same minimal consideration as all other walk-in or unknown applicants, and there is no evidence that the union-affiliated applicants attempted to obtain, or were precluded from obtaining, a referral from one of the company’s supervisors or employees or from one of the EEO service providers used by the company to meet its labor needs. Because substantial evidence supports the Board’s conclusion that it was the union-affiliated applicants status as walk-in/unknown applicants, rather than their union activities, that caused them not to be considered for employment, we find no basis for disturbing the Board’s dismissal of the refusal-to-consider-hiring charge against Brandt. No. 02-1044 35