Opinion ID: 733284
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mistake Defense

Text: 34 This Circuit has acknowledged that an employer's argument that a wage disparity was due to a mistake is a defense within the fourth exception of the Act. See EEOC v. Romeo Community Schs., 976 F.2d 985, 988-89 (6th Cir.1992). In Romeo Community Schools, we concluded that the plaintiff had proven a prima facie case under the Act and went on to consider the employer's affirmative defense that the disparity was due to a mistake. Id. We determined that a genuine dispute of material fact precluded a grant of summary judgment, but not because we found a defense of mistake invalid. Id. at 989. Rather, we found that certain contradictory facts suggested that a mistake was not the true reason for the wage disparity. Id. In other words, an employer may argue that a wage disparity is due to a mistake, i.e. a factor other than sex, but, as with all affirmative defenses under the Act, the employer must prove that  'sex provides no part of the basis for the wage differential.'  Owensboro-Daviess, 523 F.2d at 1031 (emphasis added) (quoting 29 C.F.R. 800.142 (1974)). 35 Here, defendant showed that when Esser's position was reclassified in 1989, the committee that factored his position was advised that life insurance policies could be considered more complex than other types of insurance. Further, it was told that the credit insurance area was a lucrative line of business for insurance companies and that, as a result, the companies would submit materials for approval that would make the program specialist's job more complicated and complex. In 1991, when plaintiff's position was reviewed, the committee found that it had been overly optimistic when it had factored Esser's position, although if the program specialist positions were viewed in a spectrum, the Timmer position would fall towards the low end of the VII level and the Esser position would come out on top of the VII level. Given the elaborate civil service system defendant must apply, we are not surprised that unfortunate errors occur, but as long as such errors are sex-neutral, they are not violations of the Act. Cf. Marshall v. J.L. Hudson Co., No. 4-72932, 1979 WL 1850, at  6 (E.D.Mich. Feb.28, 1979) (acknowledging that mistake may be a defense in the context of an elaborate civil service system). 36 In sum, defendant has come forward with substantial evidence that the wage disparity was caused by an inadvertent misapplication of the job classification system. There is no evidence to the contrary. While under the Act the plaintiff is not required to prove pretext, she still must come forward with evidence demonstrating the existence of a triable issue of fact. See FED.R.CIV.P. 56(e). She has not done so. 37