Opinion ID: 6536842
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Absence of African-American employees in management positions

Text: Ross briefly argues that the absence of any African-American managers in the transportation division augments the other evidence that the Railroad discriminated against him. The Railroad observes that the ALJ expressly discounted the significance of this fact, stating that [w]ithout more information, it is impossible to determine whether the lack of minority supervisors is an anomaly that suggests discrimination, or the result of insufficient minority applicants. Therefore, the unexplained dearth of minority supervisors is of little, if any, probative or persuasive  value. The Railroad stresses that this passage relies on U.S. Supreme Court precedent indicating the importance of statistical comparisons to establishing a pattern of discrimination. There is some evidence that the absence of minorities in management is attributable to discrimination. Ross testified that when he had been yardmaster, an apparently white employee Ross had been training was promoted into a management position for which Ross had applied. An African-American former employee testified to being turned down for a position for racially suspect reasons. Still, this evidence is anecdotal and certainly not determinative.