Opinion ID: 501743
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Absence of Individual Victim Testimony

Text: 11 Regarding all major claims at issue--hiring, promotion and compensation--the district court found that EEOC's failure to present testimony of any witnesses who claimed that they had been victims of discrimination by Sears confirmed the weaknesses of the EEOC's statistical evidence. The EEOC, conceding it did not present any witnesses who testified to individual acts of discrimination, 8 argues that the district court gave undue weight to the absence of individual victim testimony. The EEOC cites Bazemore v. Friday, 478 U.S. 385, 106 S.Ct. 3000, 92 L.Ed.2d 315 (1986), International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977), and Hazelwood School District v. United States, 433 U.S. 299, 97 S.Ct. 2736, 53 L.Ed.2d 768 (1977), for the proposition that individual victim testimony is unnecessary. We agree that those cases did not hold that individual victim testimony is necessary to support a finding of intentional discrimination in violation of Title VII. See Hazelwood, 433 U.S. at 307-08, 97 S.Ct. at 2741; Teamsters, 431 U.S. at 339, 97 S.Ct. at 1856. Neither did the district court in this case. We believe the district court accorded this lack of evidence the proper weight. We acknowledge that in Hazelwood School District, 433 U.S. at 307-08, 97 S.Ct. at 2741, the Supreme Court held that [w]here gross statistical disparities can be shown, they alone may in a proper case constitute prima facie proof of a pattern or practice of discrimination. The Court had earlier recognized in Teamsters, 431 U.S. at 339, 97 S.Ct. at 1856, however, that individual victim testimony is useful to bring cold numbers convincingly to life. This court has recognized that examples of individual discrimination are not always required, but we think that the lack of such proof reinforces the doubt arising from the questions about validity of the statistical evidence. Griffin v. Board of Regents, 795 F.2d 1281, 1292 (7th Cir.1986). Similarly, in Garcia v. Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, 660 F.2d 1217, 1225 (7th Cir.1981), we stated: 12 We find very damaging to plaintiffs' position the fact that not only was their statistical evidence insufficient, but that they failed completely to come forward with any direct or anecdotal evidence of discriminatory employment practices by defendants. Plaintiffs did not present in evidence even one specific instance of discrimination. There was no individual to testify how defendant discriminated against him. 13 See also Rossini v. Ogilvy & Mather, Inc., 798 F.2d 590, 604 (2d Cir.1986) (In evaluating all of the evidence in a discrimination case, a district court may properly consider the quality of any anecdotal evidence or the absence of such evidence. (citing EEOC, 628 F.Supp. at 1278 n. 2)). 14 The district court properly recognized the value of anecdotal evidence when it determined that lack of individual victim testimony reinforced its conclusions regarding the deficiencies in the EEOC's statistical evidence. Segar v. Smith, 738 F.2d 1249, 1278 (D.C.Cir.1984), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1115, 105 S.Ct. 2357, 86 L.Ed.2d 258 (1985), is not to the contrary. In Segar, the District of Columbia Circuit stated that when a plaintiff's statistical methodology focuses on the appropriate labor pool and generates evidence of discrimination at a statistically significant level, no sound policy reason exists for subjecting the plaintiff to the additional requirement of either providing anecdotal evidence or showing gross disparities. Id. at 1278. In this case the district court considered the lack of anecdotal evidence only after finding there were major problems with the EEOC's labor pool and determining that the EEOC's statistical evidence was severely flawed. This is in accord with the District of Columbia Circuit's statement in Valentino v. United States Postal Service, 674 F.2d 56, 69 (D.C.Cir.1982), that when the statistical evidence does not adequately account for 'the diverse and specialized qualifications necessary for [the positions in question],' strong evidence of individual instances of discrimination becomes vital to the plaintiff's case. (bracketed material in original) (quoting Wilkins v. University of Houston, 654 F.2d 388, 410 (5th Cir. Unit A Dec. 1981), vacated, 459 U.S. 809, 103 S.Ct. 34, 74 L.Ed.2d 47 (1982)). When experts disagree, as they did here, the court may need the help of live witnesses to relate their actual experiences. 15 The EEOC's reasons for not presenting such individual testimony are not satisfying. The EEOC argues that such evidence would be inappropriate because where 47,000 hires and promotions were at issue ... it would have been impossible to present enough individual demonstrations [sic] of discrimination to meaningfully reflect on the statistics. We do not agree that examples of individual instances of discrimination must be numerous to be meaningful. Even a few examples would have helped bring cold numbers convincingly to life. Teamsters, 431 U.S. at 339, 97 S.Ct. at 1856. Furthermore, we agree with the district judge that considering the ten-year length of the lawsuit and the amount of investigation by the EEOC and information passed by Sears to the EEOC, it is difficult to see how the EEOC could fail to identify at least some members of the alleged huge class of victims it purports to represent. Sears II, 628 F.Supp. at 1325 & n. 82. The EEOC also argues that an individual applicant would not know if she had been discriminated against. While this speculative argument may be more apt for the hiring situation, in which an applicant may not know whether there was a vacancy or the qualifications of other persons who were hired, we agree with the district judge that in the area of promotions and compensation at least, the number of Title VII suits filed by individuals against employers in general seems to fairly refute EEOC's contention. Id. 16