David Stark submitted an application to the maintenance department of Wyman-Gordon Co. Stark was a journeyman millwright with nine years’ experience at a neighboring company at the time of his application to Wyman-Gordon. Stark was vice president of the local industrial workers’ union. In his preliminary interview with the company, Ms. Peevler asked if Stark was involved in union activity, and Stark detailed his involvement to her.
She informed Stark that Wyman-Gordon was a nonunion shop and asked how he felt about this. Peevler’s notes from the interview characterize Stark’s response to this question as “seems to lean toward third-party intervention.” Company officials testified that Stark’s qualifications were “exactly what we were looking for,” but he was not hired. Stark claimed that he was discriminated against. Wyman-Gordon denied that any discrimination had occurred. Is a job applicant (as opposed to an employee) entitled to protection from antiunion discrimination? On the facts of this case, has any discrimination taken place? [Wyman-Gordon Co. v NLRB, 108 LRRM 2085 (1st Cir)]