Opinion ID: 401038
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Separate Claim of Racial Discrimination in Grain Work.

Text: 10 Grain work comprises approximately 8% of all longshore work and involves the loading and unloading of ships carrying grain. It is physically less demanding than other types of work because the cargo is pumped rather than carried onto and off of vessels. Grain workers often become covered from head to toe in grain and inhale particles, however, and because of this unpleasantness, a premium is paid for grain work. 11 Pursuant to the Deep Sea Agreement, grain work was allocated equally between the members of the black and white locals. Plaintiffs contend that this practice violated Title VII and § 1981. 12 The district court's original order in this case, dated February 14, 1979, 466 F.Supp. 662, was five years after the trial. In that order, the court found that the 50-50 allocation of grain work was discriminatory, yet it did not find a violation of Title VII. Upon plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration of the issue, the court clarified by saying its earlier holding meant that the contract clause requiring 50-50 allocation was not discriminatory but that it was evidence of the discriminatory potential inherent in a system that maintained segregated local unions. 13 The court then reconsidered plaintiffs' allegation that the practice of 50-50 allocation was discriminatory in and of itself. Again, the court did not find a violation of Title VII. This time its conclusion was based upon its finding that, because longshoremen perform more than one type of work, evidence focusing on only one of these jobs, i.e., grain work, would distort the analysis. The important thing is how (the black longshoreman) fares overall. The court then considered the overall welfare of black longshoremen and concluded that in the Port of New Orleans, they received their proportionate share of work and pay. Thus the court found no discrimination. 14 An appellate court must accept a trial court's findings of subsidiary facts unless clearly erroneous; however, the court's ultimate finding on the issue of discrimination is subject to review free of the clearly erroneous standard. Wright v. Western Electric Co., 664 F.2d 959, 963 (5th Cir. 1981). Furthermore, this Court is not bound to any degree by the district court's conclusions as to the law, Parson v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp., 575 F.2d 1374, 1382 (5th Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 441 U.S. 968, 99 S.Ct. 2417, 60 L.Ed.2d 1073 (1979), nor are we bound by findings of fact based upon erroneous applications of law, Johnson v. Uncle Ben's, Inc., 628 F.2d 419, 422 (5th Cir. 1980), vacated on other grounds, 451 U.S. 902, 101 S.Ct. 1967, 68 L.Ed.2d 290 (1981). We find that the district court's opinion was based upon an erroneous legal conclusion as to the viability of plaintiffs' grain claim. Thus our review of the court's findings of fact is not bound by the clearly erroneous standard of Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a). 15 In concluding that the plaintiffs failed to prove discrimination, the district court misconstrued plaintiffs' allegation. By comparing the overall economic picture of blacks and whites, the court transformed plaintiffs' claim of discrimination in the allocation of grain work into a claim of discrimination in the entire industry. 7 The court erroneously concluded that plaintiffs' segmented claim was not cognizable under Title VII and § 1981. 16 Claims alleging discrimination in only one segment of an employer's workforce are cognizable under Title VII and § 1981. The Supreme Court recognized this principle in one of the landmark Title VII cases, International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977). There, the United States brought suit on behalf of blacks and Spanish-surnamed persons against a large trucking company and the union which represented its employees claiming that the company engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination in the hiring of line drivers. Minorities who were hired allegedly were relegated to the lower paying, less desirable positions and met with insurmountable difficulties in trying to gain promotions and transfers. 17 The government's case consisted of powerful statistical evidence showing a gross disparity between the percentage of minorities in the company's workforce as a whole and those in line driver positions. Those statistics, coupled with the testimony of individuals who recounted over forty specific instances of discrimination, established the government's prima facie case. The company was unable to rebut this evidence, and the government prevailed on the issue. 18 Line drivers only comprised approximately one-fourth of the truck driver positions, yet the Court recognized the validity of the departmentalized claim. The Court did not look to the overall picture of minorities within the company's employ to determine the validity of the claim. Minorities may have fared overall as well as their white counterparts, yet the Court did not consider this factor in evaluating the evidence. The government was permitted to charge discrimination in one job classification only and to prove its case by offering statistical evidence relevant only to that job. 19 In determining whether a particular claim of discrimination in only a segment of an employer's work force is cognizable the operative factor must be the distinctiveness of the segment. In Teamsters, supra, the duties and compensation of line drivers differed from those of other driver positions and thus line drivers constituted a distinct job classification. 20 A similar distinction exists between grain work and other types of longshoring jobs in New Orleans. The tasks performed by grain workers differ from those performed by other longshoremen because of the nature of the cargo involved. Furthermore, the Locals and NOSA traditionally have treated grain work separately from other types of longshore work, as evidenced by the Deep Sea Agreement. The hourly wage paid for grain work is negotiated separately from other types of work. 8 The mode of allocating jobs evenly between the black and white Locals was also unique to grain work. Thus, while longshoremen can and do perform a variety of jobs, the distinctiveness of grain work makes plaintiffs' claim of discrimination in this one area of employment viable under Title VII and § 1981. 21 In fact, the court below recognized the validity of segmented claims within the industry in New Orleans. Although it refused to consider plaintiffs' claims of discrimination in the allocation of grain work, it permitted similar segmented claims with respect to other sectors of the industry. A clear example is the court's consideration of plaintiffs' allegation of discrimination in job assignments in general cargo gangs. Although the court ultimately rejected plaintiffs' claim on the merits, it recognized the segmented claim and considered statistics relevant only to general cargo gangs, not the entire industry. 22 Furthermore, both logic and the policies underlying Title VII dictate the conclusion that a segmented claim is cognizable. Title VII proscribes racial discrimination of any kind in virtually all aspects of employment. There is nothing in the Act to indicate that a claim for discrimination in one distinct category of employment within a plant, industry or office, or even in one job, is not cognizable. 23 Were we to accept defendants' contentions, we would be ruling in effect that an employer may discriminate with impunity as long as it confines such action to some units or departments within the workforce while maintaining an overall facade of equality. An employer guilty of plant or industry-wide discrimination may be a worse offender of Title VII than one who discriminates in only a single department. The remedies awarded to the former's employees as well as the penalties assessed against it may be greater than those imposed upon the latter. As to liability, however, both are equally subject to the prohibitions of Title VII. 24 The cases relied upon by defendants in support of the judgment below are unpersuasive. None of these cases involved the question of whether a segmented claim may be brought against an employer. In Swint v. Pullman-Standard, 539 F.2d 77 (5th Cir. 1976), cert. granted (after an earlier remand), 451 U.S. 906, 101 S.Ct. 1972, 68 L.Ed.2d 293 (1981), plaintiffs alleged that the defendant engaged in a pattern or practice of racial discrimination in departmental assignments within its production plant. To prove their claim, plaintiffs offered statistical evidence of racial disparity in nine of the twenty-eight departments. We discarded the proffered analysis because it focused on only nine of twenty-eight departments. 539 F.2d at 94-95. Instead, we held the proper statistical focus should have encompassed the entire plant and thus plaintiffs' evidence of racial imbalances in a segment of the plant was insufficient to establish a prima facie case of plant-wide discrimination. 25 In E.E.O.C. v. Datapoint Corp., 570 F.2d 1264 (5th Cir. 1978), plaintiffs raised a claim of racial discrimination in hiring and job assignments. They introduced statistical evidence showing gross imbalances in some job categories, but no evidence as to the employer's workforce as a whole. The district court rejected this as proof of a prima facie case. We upheld its decision stating that while plaintiffs' statistical evidence alone might be sufficient to infer discrimination in these job categories ... (to prove) a prima facie case of racial discrimination, such statistics must be relevant, material and meaningful.... 570 F.2d at 1269. Because plaintiffs' claim was one of employer-wide discrimination, the segmented, isolated statistics offered were misleading and therefore meaningless. 26 Contrary to defendants' contention, these two cases do not stand for the proposition that plaintiffs' claim of discrimination in grain work is not cognizable. In both cases, plaintiffs charged the employer with plant-wide discrimination but offered statistical evidence which was limited to small segments of the plant. In denying plaintiffs' claims, we held that the proffered limited statistics were insufficient to prove the broad claims asserted. 27 Here, plaintiffs alleged discrimination in one separate job category within the industry. Naturally, then, their statistics focused on the subject area. Unlike the Swint and Datapoint plaintiffs, they did not offer a segmented statistical analysis as a means of trying to prove industry-wide discrimination. Indeed, that was not their claim. The district court, nevertheless, treated their offer of proof as one for industry-wide discrimination. As such, plaintiffs' statistics certainly would not prove a prima facie case, for the reasons cited in Swint and Datapoint. The court refused to consider plaintiffs' proof in the context in which it was offered, and we find this to be reversible error. 28 Lee v. City of Richmond, 456 F.Supp. 756 (E.D.Va.1978) and Croker v. Boeing Co., 437 F.Supp. 1138 (E.D.Pa.1977), aff'd, 662 F.2d 975 (3d Cir. 1981), also relied upon by defendants, are equally unsupportive. Both cases, as do our decisions set out above, stand only for the proposition that segmented statistical evidence of racial imbalances within a few departments cannot prove a prima facie case of employer-wide discrimination. Neither of these cases addresses the validity of a claim of segmented, departmentalized discrimination such as the one posed by plaintiffs herein. Therefore, they do not support defendants' position in this appeal. 29 We hold that the district court erred in refusing to recognize plaintiffs' claim and in transforming it into one of industry-wide discrimination. 9 Plaintiffs presented a cognizable claim under Title VII and § 1981. We now turn to the merits of that claim.