Opinion ID: 419216
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Discrimination in Labor Grades 15-20

Text: 25 Turning now to the merits of Moore's case, it is apparent that Moore is relying on little more than an inference of discrimination from the bare absence of black female employees in Labor Grades 15-20 within Hughes' EAST bargaining unit. She points out that black females are concentrated in the lower grades, and implies that the absence of a uniform percentage of black females throughout all labor grades is indicative of a discriminatory employment practice. We rejected this very inference in Pack v. Energy Research & Development Administration, 566 F.2d 1111 (9th Cir.1977) (per curiam). In Pack, the plaintiff sought to establish a prima facie case of sex discrimination by a statistical showing that 98% of the professional employees above a certain level were male, while 95% of the professional employees below that line were female. We agreed with the lower court's finding that no prima facie case was established, stating, No evidence whatsoever was introduced to demonstrate that the lower-grade professional women were qualified to occupy the higher positions or that there elsewhere existed a pool of qualified women applicants. Id. at 1113. The same may be said of Moore's showing regarding the distribution of black females at Hughes. 26 Nor may a prima facie case be established by assuming that any generalized pool of black females within the EAST unit is the appropriate pool for measuring the disparate impact of Hughes' promotions into the upper labor grades. The district court found as a matter of law that the upper-level positions had a manifest requirement for persons possessing special skills. We agree. These grades were composed of jobs whose mere identification signaled the need for qualified employees. 8 Because of the skills required for these upper-level jobs, and because Hughes does not provide training to enable individuals to acquire the requisite skills, 323 of the 470 openings in Labor Grades 15-20 that occurred during the period covered by this suit were filled by outside hires. Persons hired into the upper labor grades averaged 10 years of experience in the trade in which they were hired. 27 Applying the proper method of proof, Moore cannot demonstrate disparate impact in either the promotion or hiring of individuals to fill the skilled positions in Labor Grades 15-20. Moore has not even attempted to show disparate impact in promotion to the upper-level jobs through comparison with the pool of actual promotion applicants. This is understandable. Not a single member of the plaintiff class applied for promotion or transfer into a position in Labor Grades 15-20 during the period covered by this lawsuit. Moreover, Moore has failed to establish that there were any black female employees qualified for the positions in Labor Grades 15-20. Indeed, the district court found specifically that there were no class members in the Occupational Family Group Jobs immediately below the upper level positions from which promotions might have been made. Accordingly, even assuming that a proxy pool of EAST unit employees should be created to test for disparate impact in promotion, Moore has failed to show that any such pool would include class members. There is no prima facie case of disparate impact in the promotion of employees into Labor Grades 15-20. 28 Nor is there any evidence that the plaintiff class was subject to discrimination in the 323 hires into Labor Grades 15-20. Again, not a single class member applied for any of these positions. There was no evidence of the presence of class members among the pool of eligible individuals. Even when Hughes' hiring is compared with the external Los Angeles labor market, there is little to suggest that its hiring practices had a disparate impact on black females. 9 29 In short, Moore has failed to produce any evidence whatsoever of disparate impact in the selection of employees for Labor Grades 15-20. 30