Opinion ID: 474061
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: class proof.

Text: 20 Having affirmed the decertification of the hiring and termination classes, it is unnecessary for us to review the court's findings regarding the class evidence in those two classes. We therefore turn our attention to the court's findings regarding the evidence in the promotion class. 21 The stipulated definition of the promotion class was as follows: All Black and female employees of the Department of Human Services who have been denied promotions between April 15, 1976 and August 30, 1982. Discriminatory intent is the key issue under Title VII, Sec. 1981 and Sec. 1983, see Craik v. Minnesota State University Board, 731 F.2d 465, 468 n. 5 (8th Cir.1984); Taylor v. City of St. Louis, 702 F.2d 695, 697 (8th Cir.1983), and in order to make out a case of classwide employment discrimination, appellants needed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant engaged in a pattern or practice of unlawful discrimination in various company policies, that 'discrimination was the company's standard operating procedure--the regular rather than the unusual practice.'  Craik, 731 F.2d at 470 (quoting International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 336, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 1855, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977) ). 22 Appellants attempted to meet this burden at trial with the testimony of several named plaintiffs and class members, and also with the testimony of several officials of DHS. They did not choose to produce statistical evidence comparing promotions among similarly situated minority and non-minority employees. After reciting detailed findings of fact for each witness, the court concluded that appellants had not met their burden of proof as set out in Craik. Appellants challenge this holding on several grounds. 23 Appellants first contend that the court erroneously assumed that it was essential for them to produce statistical evidence and that the court was deceived by appellees' statistical evidence. We observe that while statistical evidence is not essential in proving employment discrimination, it is normally used in this type of case. Id. at 470. We can find nothing in the court's decision which indicates that it in any way punished appellants for not producing statistical evidence. Indeed, if there was punishment, appellants punished themselves by choosing other and perhaps more difficult methods of proving classwide discrimination. 24 The court credited statistics produced by appellees showing that in 1980-81 81.39% of promotions in DHS went to blacks and female whites, and that the figure was 82.9% in 1981-82. Appellants claim that statistical evidence in general, and this evidence in particular, can be deceptive. While in a sense that may be true, we are not prepared to agree with appellants that a data base consisting of promotions denied would have been more appropriate, and we cannot say that the court's decision to credit appellees' statistical evidence was clearly erroneous. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a); Anderson, 105 S.Ct. at 1512. 25 Next, appellants contend that the court erroneously ignored admissions by DHS administrative officials concerning historical and ongoing discrimination, over-representation of protected classes in low level positions, under-representation of protected classes in high level positions, the use of discriminatory and unvalidated educational and experience requirements for positions, the use of subjective criteria in promotion decisions, and the use of affirmative action plans only to mask discrimination. Appellants contend that these admissions established a prima facie case of classwide discrimination, and that the court's findings to the contrary are clearly erroneous. We cannot agree. 26 It is not entirely clear that all of the statements of officials were admissions because none of the officials except DHS Commissioner Baxter was a party opponent. We need not address this question, however, because it is the role of the trier of fact to decide what weight will be given to testimony and we presume that the district court decided the case on the basis of admissible evidence. See Meyer v. United States, 638 F.2d 155, 158 (10th Cir.1980) (court refused to reevaluate weight to be given to admissible evidence because to do so would require us to substitute our judgment for that of the trial court); Employers Mutual Casualty Co. v. Mosqueda, 317 F.2d 609, 612-13 n. 4 (5th Cir.1963) (admissions are mere evidence and the weight to be given them is a matter for the trier of fact). In reviewing the parts of the transcript cited to us by appellants, we note several legitimate reasons for the court's comment that the testimony of these officials did not bolster appellants' case. The most frequently occurring problem with these admissions is that most of them are only opinions or guesses. When asked about ongoing discrimination, the use of unvalidated educational and experience requirements for positions, and other alleged discriminatory DHS conduct, many of the officials stated that they had never seen any evidence on which to base their statements. 5 27 We can sympathize with the trial court's reluctance to base a finding of classwide discrimination by DHS on this kind of evidence, and we cannot say that that court's decision to give little weight to these admissions was clearly erroneous. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a); Anderson, 105 S.Ct. at 1512. See also Grebin v. Sioux Falls Independent School District No. 49-5, 779 F.2d 18, 19-20 (8th Cir.1985) (ignored admissions did not render court's decision clearly erroneous). 28 Finally, appellants contend that their proof as a whole was sufficient to establish a prima facie case of employment discrimination against DHS and that the court's findings to the contrary are clearly erroneous. The only evidence presented by appellants that has not yet been addressed is the testimony of several named plaintiffs and anecdotal witnesses. 29 This testimony indicated that each of these witnesses had applied for one or more promotions during the relevant time frame and that promotions were denied each time. The court set out in detail its findings with respect to each of these witnesses, and in every case it found that appellees had legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for denying the promotions. The two reasons noted most frequently were that the employee did not meet the minimum educational and/or experience requirements for the position, as in Thompson v. McDonnell Douglas Corp., 552 F.2d 220, 222 (8th Cir.1977), and that a more qualified employee received the promotion. We cannot say that these findings were clearly erroneous. 30 We recognize that appellants have made some plausible arguments with respect to the promotion class and that these arguments are not without a basis in the record, but the findings of the trial court also have a firm basis in the record. That court made an acceptable choice between two plausible views of the evidence, and its findings are entitled to respect here. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a); Anderson, 105 S.Ct. at 1512. 31