Opinion ID: 75924
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Effective Deterrence by Discriminatory Practices

Text: 21 Having established that Stratford and Romanello had real and present interests in applying at Joe's during the actionable period, the EEOC had to show that these claimants effectively were deterred from applying at the 1990 roll call by Joe's discriminatory hiring practices. Both Stratford and Romanello testified that they failed to apply during the actionable period because they were informed by acquaintances in the Miami Beach restaurant community that Joe's did not hire women. (R.17 at 325-27; R.38 at 396-97.) This testimony supports a finding that these claimants effectively were deterred by Joe's reputation for discriminatory hiring practices. The only question is whether the evidence supports a finding that this reputation was caused or perpetuated by Joe's. See Joe's, 220 F.3d at 1281 (explaining that employer may be held liable for discriminatory reputation only if it caused or perpetuated such reputation through some intentional affirmative act). We think that it does. 22 The district court specifically found that, although Joe's did not have an express policy of excluding women from food server positions, it nonetheless had an implicit policy to that effect. See Joe's, 136 F.Supp.2d at 1312-13. According to the district court's factual findings, the owners delegated complete authority over hiring decisions to subordinates who deliberately and systematically excluded women from food server positions based on a sexual stereotype which simply associated `fine-dining ambience' with all-male food service. Id. at 1313. Moreover, although not directly involved in the hiring process, the owners, through their silence, consented to the deliberate and systematic exclusion of women from the serving staff. Id. Finally, the district court found that it was this implicit consent that caused the reputation that Joe's discriminated against women. Id. 23 These findings are supported adequately by the record. Roy Garrett, the night maitre d' at Joe's with authority to hire and supervise food servers, explained that male servers were the accepted thing at Joe's. (R.22 at 1483.) Garrett further testified: It was always tradition from the time I arrived there that it was a male server type of job. And until just recently when we became aware that we had to do other things, ... originally it was traditionally a male place. (R.22 at 1484-85.) Garrett also testified that, in his opinion, Joe's predominantly male wait staff was part of the reason that few women applied for food server positions. (R.22 at 1485-86.) The day maitre d', Anthony Arenson, who also had hiring and supervisory authority over food servers, testified that gender was never mentioned at Joe's because many fine dining establishments throughout the world have an all male staff. I think it was a perception that people didn't even think about. (R.25 at 2057.) Arenson also testified about the specifics of the hiring process. According to Arenson, applicants were judged according to four factors: appearance, articulation, attitude, and application. (R.18 at 678; R.24 at 1969.) Arenson admitted, however, that the assessment of these factors was a subjective process, based on the individual interviewer's gut-feeling. (R.19 at 699; R.25 at 2002-04.) Arenson also testified that Joe's had no female food servers in 1990, and no females were hired as food servers during any of the years from 1987 to 1990. (R.19 at 793, 814.) Robert Moorehead, the general manager at Joe's since 1986, similarly testified that he could not remember any women being hired as food servers from 1986 to 1990, and that this paucity of female food servers did not strike him as odd. (R.22 at 1467.) Nonetheless, Dennis Sutton, a lunch captain who was actively involved in the interview process in 1990, testified that women can perform the job of food server satisfactorily, and Garrett testified that Joe's always had women that were qualified women. (R.22 at 1413, 1428, 1485.) Based on this testimony, we cannot say that the above-referenced factual findings are clearly erroneous. 24 Accordingly, we conclude that the record adequately supports a finding that Stratford and Romanello would have applied in October 1990, but were deterred from doing so by discriminatory hiring practices at Joe's. The EEOC thus satisfied its prima facie case as to these two claimants. Because Joe's did not offer evidence of a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason relative to the October 1990 roll call, the district court's determination that these claimants were subjected to unlawful discrimination must be sustained. See St. Mary's, 509 U.S. at 510 n. 3, 113 S.Ct. at 2748 n. 3 (explaining that if trier of fact finds that prima case is supported by preponderance of the evidence, and defendant fails to meet its burden of producing evidence of non-discriminatory reason, then fact-finder must find unlawful discrimination and render verdict for plaintiff).