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FRANKS V. BOWMAN TRANSPORTATION CO., INC., 424 U. S. 747 - Volume 424 - 1976 - Full Text - US Supreme Court Center - USSC Cases - Nolo
US Supreme Court Center > Volume 424 > FRANKS V. BOWMAN TRANSPORTATION CO., INC., 424 U. S. 747 (1976) > Full Text
FRANKS V. BOWMAN TRANSPORTATION CO., INC., 424 U. S. 747 (1976)
Franks v. Bowman Transportation Co., Inc., 424 U.S. 747 (1976)
Franks v. Bowman Transportation Co., Inc.
No. 74-728
1. That petitioner Lee, the named plaintiff representing the class in question, no longer has a personal stake in the outcome of the action because he had been hired by respondent employer and later was properly discharged for cause does not moot the case. An adverse relationship sufficient to meet the requirement that a "live controversy" remain before this Court not only obtained as to unnamed members of the class with respect to the
Page 424 U. S. 748
underlying cause of action, but also continues with respect to their assertion that the relief they have received in entitlement to consideration for hiring and backpay is inadequate without further award of entitlement to seniority benefits. Pp. 424 U. S. 752-757.
4. Denial of seniority relief for the unnamed class members cannot be justified as within the District Court's discretion on
Page 424 U. S. 749
the grounds given by that court that such individuals had not filed administrative charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under Title VII, and that there was no evidence of a "vacancy, qualification, and performance" for every individual member of the class. Nor can the denial of such relief be justified as within the District Court's discretion on the ground that all award of retroactive seniority to the class of discriminatees will conflict with the economic interests of other employees of respondent employer. The District Court made no mention of such considerations in denying relief, and to deny relief on such a ground would, if applied generally, frustrate the "make whole" objective of Title VII. Pp. 424 U. S. 770-779.
BRENNAN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which STEWART, WHITE, MARSHALL, and BLACKMUN, JJ., joined, and in Part I of which POWELL, J., joined. BURGER, C.J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, post, p. 424 U. S. 780. POWELL, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, in which REHNQUIST, J., joined, post, p. 424 U. S. 781. STEVENS, J., took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Page 424 U. S. 750
Petitioner Franks brought this class action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia against his former employer, respondent Bowman Transportation Co., and his unions, the International Union of District 50, Allied and Technical Workers of the United States and Canada, and its local, No. 13600, [Footnote 2] alleging various racially discriminatory employment practices in violation of Title VII. Petitioner Lee intervened on behalf of himself and others similarly situated alleging racially discriminatory hiring and discharge
Page 424 U. S. 751
policies limited to Bowman's employment of over-the-road (OTR) truck drivers. Following trial, the District Court found that Bowman had engaged in a pattern of racial discrimination in various company policies, including the hiring, transfer, and discharge of employees, and found further that the discriminatory practices were perpetrated in Bowman's collective bargaining agreement with the unions. The District Court certified the action as a proper class action under Fed.Rule Civ.Proc. 23(b)(2) and, of import to the issues before this Court, found that petitioner Lee represented all black applicants who sought to be hired or to transfer to OTR driving positions prior to January 1, 1972. In its final order and decree, the District Court subdivided the class represented by petitioner Lee into a class of black nonemployee applicants for OTR positions prior to January 1, 1972 (class 3), and a class of black employees who applied for transfer to OTR positions prior to the same date (class 4).
On petitioners' appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, raising for the most part claimed inadequacy of the relief ordered respecting unnamed members of the various subclasses involved, the Court of Appeals affirmed in part, reversed in part, and vacated in part. 495 F.2d 398 (1974). The Court of Appeals
Page 424 U. S. 752
held that the District Court had exercised its discretion under an erroneous view of law insofar as it failed to award backpay to the unnamed class members of both classes 3 and 4, and vacated the judgment in that respect. The judgment was reversed insofar as it failed to award any seniority remedy to the members of class 4 who after the judgment of the District Court sought and obtained priority consideration for transfer to OTR positions. [Footnote 3] As respects unnamed members of class 3 -- nonemployee black applicants who applied for and were denied OTR positions prior to January 1, 1972 -- the Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's denial of any form of seniority relief. Only this last aspect of the Court of Appeals' judgment is before us for review under our grant of the petition for certiorari. 420 U.S. 989 (1975).
Respondent Bowman raises a threshold issue of mootness. The District Court found that Bowman had hired petitioner Lee, the sole-named representative of class 3, and had subsequently properly discharged him for cause, [Footnote 4] and the Court of Appeals affirmed. Bowman argues that, since Lee will not in any event be eligible
Page 424 U. S. 753
for any hiring relief in favor of OTR nonemployee discriminatees, he has no personal stake in the outcome, and therefore the question whether nonemployee discriminatees are entitled to an award of seniority when hired in compliance with the District Court order is moot. Bowman relies on Sosna v. Iowa, 419 U. S. 393 (1975), and Board of School Comm'rs v. Jacobs, 420 U. S. 128 (1975). That reliance is misplaced.
It is true as Bowman emphasizes that Sosna was an instance of the "capable of repetition, yet evading review" aspect of the law of mootness. Id. at 419 U. S. 399-401. And that aspect of Sosna was remarked in Board of School Comm'rs v. Jacobs, supra, a case which was held to
Page 424 U. S. 754
be moot. [Footnote 6] But nothing in our Sosna or Board of School Comm'rs opinions holds or even intimates that the fact that the named plaintiff no longer has a personal stake in the outcome of a certified class action renders the class action moot unless there remains an issue "capable of repetition, yet evading review." [Footnote 7] Insofar as the concept of mootness defines constitutionally minimal conditions for the invocation of federal judicial power, its meaning and scope, as with all concepts of justiciability, must be derived from the fundamental policies informing the "cases or controversies" limitation imposed by Art. III.
"As is so often the situation in constitutional adjudication, those two words have an iceberg quality, containing beneath their surface simplicity submerged complexities which go to the very heart of our constitutional form of government. Embodied
Page 424 U. S. 755
in the words 'cases' and 'controversies' are two complementary but somewhat different limitations. In part, those words limit the business of federal courts to questions presented in an adversary context and in a form historically viewed as capable of resolution through the judicial process. And in part those words define the role assigned to the judiciary in a tripartite allocation of power to assure that the federal courts will not intrude into areas committed to the other branches of government."
Baker v. Carr, 369 U. S. 186, 369 U. S. 204 (1962). Given a properly certified class action, Sosna contemplates that mootness turns on whether, in the specific circumstances of the given case at the time it is before this Court, an adversary relationship sufficient to
Page 424 U. S. 756
fulfill this function exists. [Footnote 8] In this case, that adversary relationship obviously obtained as to unnamed class members with respect to the underlying cause of action and also continues to obtain as respects their assertion that the relief they have received in entitlement to consideration for hiring and backpay is inadequate without further award of entitlement to seniority benefits. This becomes crystal clear upon examination of the circumstances and the record of this case.
The unnamed members of the class involved are identifiable individuals, individually named in the record. Some have already availed themselves of the hiring relief ordered by the District Court and are presently employed as OTR drivers by Bowman. Tr. of Oral Arg. 23. The conditions of that employment are now, and, so far as can be foreseen, will continue to be, partially a function of their status in the seniority system. The rights of other members of the class to employment under the District Court's orders are currently the subject of further litigation in that court. Id. at 15. No questions are raised concerning the continuing desire of any of these class members for the seniority relief presently in issue. No questions are raised concerning the tenacity and competence of their counsel in pursuing that mode of legal relief before this Court. It follows that there is no meaningful sense in which a "live controversy" reflecting the issues before the Court could
Page 424 U. S. 757
be found to be absent. Accordingly, Bowman's mootness argument has no merit.
The black applicants for OTR positions composing class [Footnote 9] are limited to those whose applications were put
Page 424 U. S. 758
in evidence at the trial. [Footnote 10] The underlying legal wrong affecting them is not the alleged operation of a racially discriminatory seniority system, but of a racially discriminatory hiring system. Petitioners do not ask for modification or elimination of the existing seniority system, but only for an award of the seniority status they would have individually enjoyed under the present system but for the illegal discriminatory refusal to hire. It is this context that must shape our determination as to the meaning and effect of § 703(h).
On its face, § 703(h) appears to be only a definitional provision; as with the other provisions of § 703, subsection (h) delineates which employment practices are illegal, and thereby prohibited, and which are not. [Footnote 11] Section 703(h) certainly does not expressly purport to qualify or proscribe relief otherwise appropriate under the remedial provisions of Title VII, § 706(g), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(g), in circumstances where an illegal discriminatory act or practice is found. Further, the legislative history of § 703(h) plainly negates its reading as limiting
Page 424 U. S. 759
or qualifying the relief authorized under § 706(g). The initial bill reported by the House Judiciary Committee as H.R. 7152 [Footnote 12] and passed by the full House on February 10, 1964, [Footnote 13] did not contain § 703(h). Neither the House bill nor the majority Judiciary Committee Report [Footnote 14] even mentioned the problem of seniority. That subject thereafter surfaced during the debate of the bill in the Senate. This debate prompted Senators Clark and Case to respond to criticism that Title VII would destroy existing seniority systems by placing an interpretive memorandum in the Congressional Record. The memorandum stated: "Title VII would have no effect on established seniority rights. Its effect is prospective, and not retrospective." 110 Cong.Rec. 7213 (1964). [Footnote 15] Senator Clark also placed in the Congressional Record a Justice Department statement concerning Title VII which stated:
"[I]t has been asserted that Title VII would undermine vested rights of seniority. This is not
Page 424 U. S. 760
correct. Title VII would have no effect on seniority rights existing at the time it takes effect."
Id. at 7207. [Footnote 16] Several weeks thereafter, following several in
Page 424 U. S. 761
formal conferences among the Senate leadership, the House leadership, the Attorney General and others, see Vaas, Title VII: Legislative History, 7 B.C..Ind. & Com.L.Rev. 431, 445 (1966), a compromise substitute bill prepared by Senators Mansfield and Dirksen, Senate majority and minority leaders respectively, containing § 703(h) was introduced on the Senate floor. [Footnote 17] Although the Mansfield-Dirksen substitute bill, and hence § 703(h), was not the subject of a committee report, see generally Vaas, supra, Senator Humphrey, one of the informal conferees, later stated during debate on the substitute that § 703(h) was not designed to alter the meaning of Title VII generally, but rather "merely clarifies its present intent and effect." 110 Cong.Rec. 12723 (1964). Accordingly, whatever the exact meaning and scope of § 703(h) in light of its unusual legislative history and the absence of the usual legislative materials, see Vaas, supra at 457-458, it is apparent that the thrust of the section is directed toward defining what is and what is not an illegal discriminatory practice in instances in which the post-Act operation of a seniority system is challenged as perpetuating the effects of discrimination occurring prior to the effective date of the Act. There is no indication in the legislative materials that § 703(h) was intended to modify or restrict
Page 424 U. S. 762
relief otherwise appropriate once an illegal discriminatory practice occurring after the effective date of the Act is proved -- as in the instant case, a discriminatory refusal to hire. This accords with the apparently unanimous view of commentators, see Cooper & Sobol, Seniority and Testing Under Fair Employment Laws: A General Approach to Objective Criteria of Hiring and Promotion, 82 Harv.L.Rev. 1598, 1632 (1969); Stacy, Title VII Seniority Remedies in a Time of Economic Downturn, 28 Vand.L.Rev. 487, 506 (1975). [Footnote 18] We therefore hold that the Court of Appeals erred in concluding that, as a matter of law, § 703(h) barred the award of seniority relief to the unnamed class 3 members.
There remains the question whether an award of seniority relief is appropriate under the remedial provisions of Title VII, specifically, § 706(g). [Footnote 19]
Page 424 U. S. 763
The legislative history supporting
Page 424 U. S. 764
the 1972 amendments of § 706(g) of Title VII [Footnote 20] affirms the breadth of this discretion.
Section-by-Section Analysis of H.R. 1746, accompanying the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 -- Conference Report, 118 Cong.Rec. 7166, 7168 (1972). This is emphatic confirmation that federal courts are empowered to fashion such relief as the particular circumstances of a case may require to effect restitution, making whole insofar as possible the victims of racial discrimination in hiring. [Footnote 21] Adequate relief may well be
Page 424 U. S. 765
denied in the absence of a seniority remedy slotting the victim in that position in the seniority system that would have been his had he been hired at the time of
Page 424 U. S. 766
his application. It can hardly be questioned that ordinarily such relief will be necessary to achieve the "make-whole" purposes of the Act.
"Included among the benefits, options, and safeguards affected by competitive status seniority are not only promotion and layoff, but also transfer, demotion, rest days, shift assignments, prerogative in scheduling vacation, order of layoff, possibilities of lateral transfer to avoid layoff, 'bumping' possibilities in the face of layoff, order of recall, training opportunities, working conditions, length of layoff endured without reducing seniority, length of layoff
Page 424 U. S. 767
recall rights will withstand, overtime opportunities, parking privileges, and, in one plant, a preferred place in the punch-out line."
Seniority standing in employment with respondent Bowman, computed from the departmental date of hire, determines the order of layoff and recall of employees. [Footnote 22] Further, job assignments for OTR drivers are posted for competitive bidding and seniority is used to determine the highest bidder. [Footnote 23] As OTR drivers are paid on a per-mile basis, [Footnote 24] earnings are therefore to some extent a function of seniority. Additionally, seniority computed from the company date of hire determines the length of an employee's vacation [Footnote 25] and pension benefits. [Footnote 26] Obviously merely to require Bowman to hire the class 3 victim of discrimination falls far short of a "make whole" remedy. [Footnote 27] A concomitant award of the seniority credit he presumptively would have earned but for the wrongful treatment would also seem necessary in the absence of justification for denying that relief. Without an award of seniority dating from the time when he was discriminatorily refused employment, an individual
Page 424 U. S. 768
who applies for and obtains employment as an OTR driver pursuant to the District Court's order will never obtain his rightful place in the hierarchy of seniority according to which these various employment benefits are distributed. He will perpetually remain subordinate to persons who, but for the illegal discrimination, would have been in respect to entitlement to these benefits his inferiors. [Footnote 28]
The Court of Appeals apparently followed this reasoning in holding that the District Court erred in not granting seniority relief to class 4 Bowman employees who were discriminatorily refused transfer to OTR positions. Yet the class 3 discriminatees in the absence of a comparable seniority award would also remain subordinated in the seniority system to the class 4 discriminatees. The distinction plainly finds no support anywhere in Title VII or its legislative history. Settled law dealing with the related "twin" areas of discriminatory hiring and discharges violative of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 151 et seq., provides a persuasive analogy. "[I]t would indeed be surprising if Congress gave a remedy for the one which it denied for the other."
Page 424 U. S. 769
Phelps Dodge Corp. v. NLRB, 313 U. S. 177, 313 U. S. 187 (1941). For courts to differentiate without justification between the classes of discriminatees "would be a differentiation not only without substance, but in defiance of that against which the prohibition of discrimination is directed." Id. at 313 U. S. 188.
Similarly, decisions construing the remedial section of the National Labor Relations Act, § 10(c), 29 U.S.C. § 160(c) -- the model for § 706(g), Albemarle Paper, 422 U.S. at 422 U. S. 419 [Footnote 29] -- make clear that remedies constituting authorized "affirmative action" include an award of seniority status, for the thrust of "affirmative action" redressing the wrong incurred by an unfair labor practice is to make "the employees whole, and thus restor[e] the economic status quo that would have obtained but for the company's wrongful [act]." NLRB v. Rutter-Rex Mfg. Co., 396 U. S. 258, 396 U. S. 263 (1969). The task of the NLRB in applying § 10(c) is "to take measures designed to recreate the conditions and relationships that would have been had there been no unfair labor practice." Carpenters v. NLRB, 365 U. S. 651, 365 U. S. 657 (1961) (Harlan, J., concurring). And the NLRB has often required that the hiring of employees who have been discriminatorily refused employment be accompanied by an award of seniority equivalent to that which
Page 424 U. S. 770
they would have enjoyed but for the illegal conduct. See, e.g., In re Phelps Dodge Corp., 19 N.L.R.B. 547, 600, and n. 39, 603-604 (1940), modified on other grounds, 313 U. S. 177 (1941) (ordering persons discriminatorily refused employment hired "without prejudice to their seniority or other rights and privileges"); In re Nevada Consolidated Copper Corp., 26 N.L.R.B. 1182, 1235 (1940), enforced, 316 U. S. 105 (1942) (ordering persons discriminatorily refused employment hired with "any seniority or other rights and privileges they would have acquired, had the respondent not unlawfully discriminated against them"). Plainly the "affirmative action" injunction of § 706(g) has no lesser reach in the district courts.
Albemarle Paper, supra at 422 U. S. 416, made clear that discretion imports not the court's "inclination, but . . . its judgment; and its judgment is to be guided by sound legal principles.'" Discretion is vested not for purposes of "limit[ing] appellate review of trial courts, or . . . invit[ing] inconsistency and caprice," but rather to allow the most complete achievement of the objectives
Page 424 U. S. 771
of Title VII that is attainable under the facts and circumstances of the specific case. 422 U.S. at 422 U. S. 421. Accordingly, the District Court's denial of any form of seniority remedy must be reviewed in terms of its effect on the attainment of the Act's objectives under the circumstances presented by this record. No less than with the denial of the remedy of backpay, the denial of seniority relief to victims of illegal racial discrimination in hiring is permissible
"presuppose a vacancy, qualification,
Page 424 U. S. 772
and performance by every member. There is no evidence on which to base these multiple conclusions."
We read the District Court's reference to the lack of evidence regarding a "vacancy, qualification, and performance" for every individual member of the class as an expression of concern that some of the unnamed class members (unhired black applicants whose employment applications were summarized in the record) may not, in fact, have been actual victims of racial discrimination. That factor will become material however only when those persons reapply for OTR positions pursuant to the hiring relief ordered by the District Court. Generalizations concerning such individually applicable evidence cannot serve as a Justification for the denial of relief to the entire class. Rather, at such time as individual class members seek positions as OTR drivers, positions for which they are presumptively entitled to priority hiring consideration under the District Court's order, [Footnote 31] evidence that particular individuals were not, in fact, victims of racial discrimination will be material. But petitioners here have carried their burden of demonstrating the existence of a discriminatory hiring pattern and practice by the respondents and, therefore, the burden will be upon respondents to prove that individuals who reapply were not, in fact, victims of previous hiring discrimination.
Page 424 U. S. 773
Cf. McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U. S. 792, 411 U. S. 802 (1973); Baxter v. Savannah Sugar Rfg. Corp., 495 F.2d 437, 443-444 (CA5), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 1033 (1974). [Footnote 32] Only if this burden is met may retroactive seniority -- if otherwise determined to be an appropriate form of relief under the circumstances of the particular case -- be denied individual class members.
Respondent Bowman raises an alternative theory of justification. Bowman argues that an award of retroactive seniority to the class of discriminatees will conflict with the economic interests of other Bowman employees. Accordingly, it is argued, the District Court acted within its discretion in denying this form of relief as an attempt to accommodate the competing interests of the various groups of employees. [Footnote 33]
Page 424 U. S. 774
We reject this argument for two reasons. First, the District Court made no mention of such considerations in its order denying the seniority relief. As we noted in Albemarle Paper, 422 U.S. at 422 U. S. 421 n. 14, if the district court declines, due to the peculiar circumstances of the particular case, to award relief generally appropriate under Title VII, "[i]t is necessary . . . that . . . it carefully articulate its reasons" for so doing. Second, and more fundamentally, it is apparent that denial of seniority relief to identifiable victims of racial discrimination on the sole ground that such relief diminishes the expectations of other, arguably innocent, employees would if applied generally frustrate the central "make whole" objective of Title VII. These conflicting interests of other employees will, of course, always be present in instances where some scarce employment benefit is distributed among employees on the basis of their status in the seniority hierarchy. But, as we have said, there is nothing in the language of Title VII, or in its legislative history, to show that Congress intended generally to bar this form of relief to victims of illegal discrimination, and the experience under its remedial model in the National Labor Relations Act points to the contrary. [Footnote 34] Accordingly,
Page 424 U. S. 775
we find untenable the conclusion that this form of relief may be denied merely because the interests of other employees may thereby be affected.
United States v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., 446 F.2d 652, 663 (CA2 1971). [Footnote 35]
Page 424 U. S. 776
With reference to the problems of fairness or equity respecting the conflicting interests of the various groups of employees, the relief which petitioners seek is only seniority status retroactive to the date of individual application, rather than some form of arguably more complete relief. [Footnote 36] No claim is asserted that nondiscriminatee employees holding OTR positions they would not have obtained but for the illegal discrimination should be deprived of the seniority status they have earned. It is therefore clear that, even if the seniority relief petitioners seek is awarded, most if not all discriminatees who actually obtain OTR jobs under the court order will not truly be restored to the actual seniority that would have existed in the absence of the illegal discrimination. Rather, most discriminatees, even under an award of retroactive seniority status, will still remain subordinated in the hierarchy to a position inferior to that of a greater total number of employees than would have been the case in the absence of discrimination.
Page 424 U. S. 777
Therefore, the relief which petitioners seek, while a more complete form of relief than that which the District Court accorded, in no sense constitutes "complete relief." [Footnote 37] Rather, the burden of the past discrimination in hiring is with respect to competitive status benefits divided among discriminatee and nondiscriminatee employees under the form of relief sought. The dissent criticizes the Court's result as not sufficiently cognizant that it will "directly implicate the rights and expectations of perfectly innocent employees." Post at 424 U. S. 788. We are of the view, however, that the result which we reach today -- which, standing alone, [Footnote 38] establishes that a sharing of the burden of the past discrimination is presumptively necessary -- is entirely consistent with any fair characterization of equity jurisdiction, [Footnote 39] particularly
Page 424 U. S. 778
when considered in light of our traditional view that
Certainly there is no argument that the award of retroactive seniority to the victims of hiring discrimination in any way deprives other employees of indefeasibly vested rights conferred by the employment contract. This Court has long held that employee expectations arising from a seniority system agreement may be modified by statutes furthering a strong public policy interest. [Footnote 40] Tilton v. Missouri Pacific R. Co., 376 U. S. 169 (1964) (construing §§ 9(c)(1) and 9(c)(2) of the Universal Military Training and Service Act, 1948, 50 U.S.C.App. § § 459(c)(1) and (2), which provided that a reemployed returning veteran should enjoy the seniority status he would have acquired but for his absence in military service); Fishgold v. Sullivan Drydock & Repair Corp., 328 U. S. 275 (1946) (construing the comparable provision of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940). The Court has also held that a collective bargaining agreement may go further, enhancing the seniority status of certain employees for purposes of furthering public policy interests beyond what is required by statute, even though this will to some extent be detrimental to
Page 424 U. S. 779
the expectations acquired by other employees under the previous seniority agreement. Ford Motor Co. v. Huffman, 345 U. S. 330 (1953). And the ability of the union and employer voluntarily to modify the seniority system to the end of ameliorating the effects of past racial discrimination, a national policy objective of the "highest priority," is certainly no less than in other areas of public policy interests. Pellicer v. Brotherhood of Ry. & S.S. Clerks, 217 F.2d 205 (CA5 1954), cert. denied, 349 U.S. 912 (1955). See also Cooper & Sobol, 82 Harv.L.Rev. at 1605.
Albemarle Paper, 422 U.S. at 422 U. S. 416. Circumstances peculiar to the individual case may, of course, justify the modification or withholding of seniority relief for reasons that would not if applied generally undermine the purposes of Title VII. [Footnote 41] In the
Page 424 U. S. 780
instant case, it appears that all new hirees establish seniority only upon completion of a 45-day probationary period, although, upon completion, seniority is retroactive to the date of hire. Certainly any seniority relief ultimately awarded by the District Court could properly be cognizant of this fact. Amici and the respondent union point out that there may be circumstances where an award of full seniority should be deferred until completion of a training or apprenticeship program, or other preliminaries required of all new hirees. [Footnote 42] We do not undertake to delineate all such possible circumstances here. Any enumeration must await particular cases and be determined in light of the trial courts' "keener appreciation" of peculiar facts and circumstances. Albemarle Paper, supra at 422 U. S. 421-422.
I agree generally with MR. JUSTICE POWELL, but I would stress that, although retroactive benefit-type seniority relief may sometimes be appropriate and equitable, competitive-type seniority relief at the expense of wholly
Page 424 U. S. 781
innocent employees can rarely, if ever, be equitable if that term retains traditional meaning. More equitable would be a monetary award to the person suffering the discrimination. An award such as "front pay" could replace the need for competitive-type seniority relief. See, ante at 424 U. S. 777 n. 38. Such monetary relief would serve the dual purpose of deterring wrongdoing by the employer or union -- or both -- as well as protecting the rights of innocent employees. In every respect, an innocent employee is comparable to a "holder-in-due-course" of negotiable paper or a bona fide purchaser of property without notice of any defect in the seller's title. In this setting, I cannot join in judicial approval of "robbing Peter to pay Paul."
I also agree with Part II of the opinion insofar as it determines the "thrust" of § 703(h) of Title VII to be the insulation of an otherwise bona fide seniority system from a challenge that it amounts to a discriminatory practice because it perpetuates the effects of pre-Act discrimination. Ante at 424 U. S. 761. Therefore, I concur in the precise holding of Part II, which is that the Court of Appeals erred in interpreting § 703(h) as a bar, in
Page 424 U. S. 782
every instance, to the award of retroactive seniority relief to persons discriminatorily refused employment after the effective date of Title VII. Ante at 424 U. S. 762.
My starting point, as it is for the Court, is the decision last Term in Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody, 422 U. S. 405 (1975). One of the issues there was the standards a federal district court should follow in determining whether victims of a discriminatory employment practice should be awarded backpay. The Court began with
Page 424 U. S. 783
an observation about the nature of backpay awards and other relief under § 706(g), the basic remedial section of Title VII:
Ibid., quoting Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U. S. 424, 401 U. S. 429-430 (1971). The second purpose was "to make persons whole for injuries suffered on account of unlawful employment discrimination." 422 U.S. at 422 U. S. 418. Because backpay served both objectives, [Footnote 2/2]
Page 424 U. S. 784
The Court today, relying upon Albemarle's holding as to the "make whole" purpose of Title VII, reasons that adequate relief for a victim of discrimination ordinarily will require "slotting the victim in that position in the seniority system that would have been his had he been hired at the time of his application." Ante at 424 U. S. 765-766. Accordingly, the Court concludes that complete retroactive seniority should be treated like backpay, and denied by a district court only for reasons which, applied generally, could not "frustrate" the congressional intent. Ante at 424 U. S. 771. Although the Court recognizes important differences between benefit-type seniority and competitive-type seniority, it expressly includes both in its conclusion that seniority relief presumptively should be available. [Footnote 2/3] For the reasons that follow, I think the
Page 424 U. S. 785
Court's holding cannot be reconciled with § 706(g) or with fundamental fairness.
The expansive language of § 706(g) and the 1972 legislative history support a general directive to district courts to grant "make whole" relief liberally and not refuse it arbitrarily. There is nothing in either of those sources, however, to suggest that rectifying economic losses from past wrongs requires the district courts to disregard normal equitable considerations. Indeed, such
Page 424 U. S. 786
a requirement is belied by the language of the statute itself, which speaks of "such affirmative action as may be appropriate" and such "equitable relief as the court deems appropriate." The Section-by-Section Analysis similarly recognized that, in fashioning "the most complete relief possible," the court still is to exercise "equitable powers." But in holding that a district court, in the usual case, should order full retroactive seniority as a remedy for a discriminatory refusal to hire without regard to the effect upon innocent employees hired in the interim, the Court, to a significant, extent strips the district courts of the equity powers vested in them by Congress.
Similarly, to the extent that the Court today finds a like presumption in favor of granting benefit-type seniority, it is recognizing that normally this relief also will be equitable. As the Court notes, ante at 424 U. S. 773 n. 33, this type of seniority, which determines pension rights, length of vacations, size of insurance coverage and unemployment
Page 424 U. S. 787
benefits, and the like, is analogous to backpay in that its retroactive grant serves "the mutually reinforcing effect of the dual purposes of Title VII," ante at 424 U. S. 767 n. 27. Benefit-type seniority, like backpay, serves to work complete equity by penalizing the wrongdoer economically at the same time that it tends to make whole the one who was wronged.
It is true, of course, that the retroactive grant of competitive-type seniority does go a step further in "making whole" the discrimination victim, and therefore arguably furthers one of the objectives of Title VII. But apart from extending the make-whole concept to its outer limits, there is no similarity between this drastic relief and the granting of backpay and benefit-type seniority. First, a retroactive grant of competitive-type seniority usually does not directly affect the employer at all. It causes only a rearrangement of employees along the seniority ladder without any resulting increase in cost. [Footnote 2/5]
Page 424 U. S. 788
Thus, Title VII's "primary objective" of eradicating discrimination is not served at all, [Footnote 2/6] for the employer is not deterred from the practice.
The second, and, in my view, controlling, distinction between these types of relief is the impact on other workers. As noted above, the granting of backpay and of benefit-type seniority furthers the prophylactic and make-whole objectives of the statute without penalizing other workers. But competitive seniority benefits, as the term implies, directly implicate the rights and expectations of perfectly innocent employees. [Footnote 2/7] The economic
Page 424 U. S. 789
benefits awarded discrimination victims would be derived not at the expense of the employer, but at the expense of other workers. Putting it differently, those disadvantaged -- sometimes to the extent of losing their jobs entirely -- are not the wrongdoers who have no claim to the Chancellor's conscience, but, rather, are innocent third parties.
Hecht Co. v. Bowles, 321 U. S. 321, 321 U. S. 329-330 (1944).
Page 424 U. S. 790
The decision whether to grant competitive-type seniority relief therefore requires a district court to consider and weigh competing equities. In any proper exercise of the balancing process, a court must consider both the claims of the discrimination victims and the claims of incumbent employees who, if competitive seniority rights are awarded retroactively to others, will lose economic advantages earned through satisfactory and often long service. [Footnote 2/8] If, as the Court today holds, the district court may not weigh these equities, much of the language of § 706(g) is rendered meaningless. We cannot assume that Congress intended either that the statutory language
Page 424 U. S. 791
be ignored or that the earned benefits of incumbent employees be wiped out by a presumption created by this Court. [Footnote 2/9]
The first section, § 703(h), has been discussed in the Court's opinion. As there noted, the "thrust" of that section is the validation of seniority plans in existence on the effective date of Title VII. The congressional debates leading to the introduction of § 703(h) indicate a concern that Title VII not be construed as requiring immediate and total restitution to the victims of discrimination regardless of cost in terms of other workers' legitimate expectations. Section 703(h) does not restrict the remedial powers of a district court once a discriminatory
Page 424 U. S. 792
practice has been found, but neither are the concerns expressed therein irrelevant to a court's determination of "appropriate" equitable relief under § 706(g). Although the Court of Appeals read far too much into § 703(h), it properly recognized that the section does reflect congressional concern for existing rights under a "bona fide seniority or merit system."
Also relevant is § 703(j), which prohibits any interpretation of Title VII that would require an employer to grant "preferential treatment" to any individual because his race is underrepresented in the employer's workforce in comparison with the community or the available workforce. [Footnote 2/10] A grant of competitive seniority to an identifiable victim of discrimination is not the kind of preferential treatment forbidden by § 703(j) but, as counsel for the Steelworkers admitted at oral argument, it certainly would be "preferential treatment." [Footnote 2/11] It constitutes a preference in the sense that the victim of
Page 424 U. S. 793
discrimination henceforth will outrank, in the seniority system, the incumbents hired after the discrimination. Moreover, this is a preference based on a fiction, for the discrimination victim is placed ahead of others not because of time actually spent on the job, but "as if" he had worked since he was denied employment. This also requires an assumption that nothing would have interrupted his employment, and that his performance would have justified a progression up the seniority ladder. [Footnote 2/12] The incumbents, who, in fact, were on the job during the interim and performing satisfactorily, would be seriously disadvantaged. The congressional bar to one type of preferential treatment in § 703(j) should at least give the Court pause before it imposes upon district courts a duty to grant relief that creates another type of preference.
In expressing the foregoing views, I suggest neither that Congress intended to bar a retroactive grant of competitive-type seniority in all cases [Footnote 2/13] nor that district
Page 424 U. S. 794
courts should indulge a presumption against such relief. [Footnote 2/14] My point, instead, is that we are dealing with a congressional mandate to district courts to determine and apply equitable remedies. Traditionally, this is a balancing process left, within appropriate constitutional or statutory limits, to the sound discretion of the trial court. At this time it is necessary only to avoid imposing, from the level of this Court, arbitrary limitations on the exercise of this traditional discretion specifically explicated in § 706(g). There will be cases where, under all of the circumstances, the economic penalties that would be imposed on innocent incumbent employees will outweigh the claims of discrimination victims to be made entirely whole even at the expense of others. Similarly, there will be cases where the balance properly is struck the other way.
The Court virtually ignores the only previous judicial discussion directly in point. The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, recently faced with the issue of retroactive
Page 424 U. S. 795
seniority for victims of hiring discrimination, showed a fine appreciation of the distinction discussed above. Meadows v. Ford Motor Co., 510 F.2d 939 (1975), cert. pending, No. 74-1349. [Footnote 2/15] That court began with the recognition that retroactive competitive-type seniority presents "greater problems" than a grant of backpay because the burden falls upon innocent incumbents, rather than the wrongdoing employer. Id. at 949. [Footnote 2/16] The court further recognized that Title VII contains no prohibition against such relief. Then, noting that "the remedy for the wrong of discriminatory refusal to hire lies in the first instance with the District Judge," ibid. (emphasis added), the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit stated:
Ibid. The Sixth Circuit suggested that the District Court seek
Page 424 U. S. 796
enlightenment on the questions involved in the particular fact situation, and that it should allow intervention by representatives of the incumbents who stood to be disadvantaged. [Footnote 2/17]
In attempted justification of its disregard of the explicit equitable mandate of § 706(g), the Court today relies almost exclusively on the practice of the National Labor Relations Board under § 10(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 160(C). [Footnote 2/18] It is true
Page 424 U. S. 797
that, in the two instances cited by the Court and in the few others cited in the briefs of the parties, [Footnote 2/19] the Board has ordered reinstatement of victims of discrimination "without prejudice to their seniority or other rights and privileges." But the alleged precedents are doubly unconvincing. First, in none of the cases is there a discussion of equities either by the Board or the enforcing court. That the Board has granted seniority relief in several cases may indicate nothing more than the fact that, in the usual case, no one speaks for the individual incumbents. This is the point recognized by the court in Meadows, and the impetus for its suggestion that a representative of their interests be entertained by the district court before it determines "appropriate" § 706(g) relief.
I also suggest, with all respect, that the Court's appeal to Board practice wholly misconceives the lesson to be
Page 424 U. S. 798
drawn from it. In the seminal case recognizing the Board's power to order reinstatement for discriminatory refusals to hire, this Court, in a reasoned opinion by Mr. Justice Frankfurter, was careful to emphasize that the decision on the type and extent of relief rested in the Board's discretion, subject to limited review only by the courts.
". . . All these and other factors outside our domain of experience may come into play. Their relevance is for the Board, not for us. In the exercise of its informed discretion, the Board may find that effectuation of the Act's policies may or may not require reinstatement. We have no warrant for speculating on matters of fact the determination of which Congress has entrusted to the Board. All we are entitled to ask is that the statute speak through the Board where the statute does not speak for itself."
Phelps Dodge Corp. v. NLRB, 313 U. S. 177, 313 U. S. 194-196 (1941) (emphasis added). The fallacy of the Court's reliance upon Board practice is apparent: the district courts under Title VII stand in the place of the Board under the NLRA. Congress entrusted to their discretion the appropriate remedies for violations of the Act, just as it previously had entrusted discretion to the Board. The Court today denies that
Page 424 U. S. 799
discretion to the district courts, when, 35 years ago, it was quite careful to leave discretion where Congress had entrusted it. It may be that the district courts,after weighing the competing equities, would order full retroactive seniority in most cases. But they should do so only after determining in each instance that it is appropriate, and not because this Court has taken from them the power -- granted by Congress -- to weigh the equities.
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