Opinion ID: 335108
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: prima facie showing of discrimination

Text: 12 The district court held that the United States failed to prove that the defendants had engaged in discriminatory hiring practices in violation of Title VII and the Fourteenth Amendment. We disagree. Evidence was adduced at trial demonstrating (1) a history of discriminatory practices in the hiring of teachers by Hazelwood prior to the effective date of Title VII, 4 (2) a statistical disparity between the proportion of blacks in Hazelwood's workforce and the proportion of blacks in the labor market, 5 (3) an unstructured decentralized hiring process in which subjective criteria predominate in evaluating candidates, and (4) specific discrimination against 16 black applicants for teaching positions at Hazelwood. After considering this evidence, we conclude that a prima facie case of discrimination was made out by the Government. 13 Proof of racial discrimination in the hiring of teachers prior to the effective date of Title VII included evidence that prior to 1954, Hazelwood employed no black teachers in its all-white schools in accordance with the custom in the county; that from the time that Hazelwood's schools were integrated until 1969, it employed no black teachers; that Hazelwood placed newspaper advertisements for white only teachers in 1962; and that Hazelwood officials have never recruited from any predominantly black college, 6 although they did recruit from predominantly white universities in Missouri and elsewhere. The district court gave little, if any, weight to this evidence, even though it is highly relevant to show that present policies or practices, which appear neutral on their face, perpetuate past discriminatory practices. United States v. T. I. M. E. D. C., Inc., 517 F.2d 299 (5th Cir. 1975); United States v. Jacksonville Terminal Co., 451 F.2d 418 (5th Cir. 1971); United States v. Sheet Metal Workers, Local 36, 416 F.2d 123 (8th Cir. 1969). 14 In the problem of racial discrimination, statistics often tell much, and Courts listen. Alabama v. United States, 304 F.2d 583, 586 (5th Cir.), aff'd per curiam, 371 U.S. 37, 83 S.Ct. 145, 9 L.Ed.2d 112 (1962). Courts frequently have inferred from statistical evidence the existence of a pattern or practice of discrimination. There is virtual unanimity on the proposition that the showing of a statistical disparity between the proportion of blacks in the employer's workforce and the proportion of blacks in the relevant labor market makes out a prima facie case of discrimination in violation of Title VII. Rodriguez v. East Texas Motor Freight, 505 F.2d 40, 53 (5th Cir. 1974); United States v. Wood Lathers, Local 46, 471 F.2d 408, 414 n. 11 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 412 U.S. 939, 93 S.Ct. 2773, 37 L.Ed.2d 398 (1973); United States v. Chesapeake and Ohio Ry. Co., 471 F.2d 582, 586 (4th Cir. 1972), cert. denied, 411 U.S. 939, 93 S.Ct. 893, 36 L.Ed.2d 401 (1973); Rowe v. General Motors Corp., 457 F.2d 348, 357 (5th Cir. 1972); United States v. St. Louis-San Francisco Ry. Co., 464 F.2d 301, 307 (8th Cir. 1972); Carter v. Gallagher, 452 F.2d 315 (8th Cir. 1971), modified on rehearing, en banc, 452 F.2d 327, cert. denied, 406 U.S. 950, 92 S.Ct. 2045, 32 L.Ed.2d 338 (1972). 15 In the present case, the district court found that the United States had failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination on the basis of statistical evidence. However, the record shows that it offered evidence showing that no black teachers were on the Hazelwood faculty until 1969, and that during the 1970-71 school year, it employed only six black teachers out of a staff of 957 (0.6 percent); and by the end of the 1972-73 school year, although Hazelwood's teaching staff numbered 1,107, only 16 (1.1 percent) were black. During the 1973-74 school year, 22 (1.8 percent) of Hazelwood's teaching staff of 1,231 were black. In contrast, over 15 percent of the teachers in the relevant geographical area St. Louis City and County 7 were black in 1970. The district court concluded that this evidence did not constitute a prima facie showing of employment discrimination since less than two percent of the students in the Hazelwood schools are black. It stated: 16 The number of black teachers employed by the Hazelwood district is undeniably meager. Nonetheless, it has kept pace with the small but steadily increasing black enrollment in the district. For the 1970-71 school year the six black teachers hired by the Hazelwood district comprised less than one percent of its total faculty. However, the number of black students enrolled during that period was likewise only one percent of the total district attendance. In 1973 the ratio of black teachers increased to 2%, consistent with a black enrollment in that year of 576 out of 25,166 total students. These figures do not establish the existence of statistical discrimination within the Hazelwood district. 17 392 F.Supp. at 1287-1288. 18 The district court erred in comparing the percentage of black teachers in Hazelwood with the percentage of black students in its schools rather than with the percentage of black teachers in the relevant labor market area. The law is well-settled that the relevant consideration in an employment discrimination case is the statistical disparity between the proportion of blacks in the employer's workforce and the proportion of blacks in the labor market. See, e. g., United States v. Hayes International Corp., 456 F.2d 112 (5th Cir. 1972); Carter, supra, 452 F.2d 315; Parham v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., 433 F.2d 421 (8th Cir. 1970). The level of black student enrollment in Hazelwood school sheds no light whatsoever upon the dispute before us, and the district court clearly erred in absolving Hazelwood of unlawful employment practices on the basis of the paucity of black students in the Hazelwood schools. 19 The demonstrated statistical disparity between the racial composition of Hazelwood's workforce and the relevant labor market is particularly revealing when considered in light of Hazelwood's subjectively-based selection procedures. In Hazelwood, the district court found, each principal is vested with almost total discretion in hiring teachers for his school. All of the elementary and secondary school principals in Hazelwood are white. The only guidance that these principals receive from their superiors is the instruction to select the most competent person available. Principals are free to give whatever weight they desire to subjective factors in making their hiring decisions. Indeed, one principal testified that interviewing an applicant was like dating a girl, some of them impress you, some of them don't. As noted by the district court, the principals all use identical interview forms which contain spaces for evaluation of an applicant's personal attributes, including personal appearance, knowledge of subject area, confidence, personality, and the like. Yet we find no evidence to support the court's finding that through use of these forms substantial uniformity in hiring decisions is achieved throughout the district. 392 F.Supp. at 1289. In fact, no evidence was presented which would indicate that any two principals apply the same criteria objective or subjective to evaluate applicants. In our view, it is more than mere coincidence that the use of such procedures produced only a few black teachers. 20 These hiring procedures are similar in many respects to the promotion procedures considered in Rowe v. General Motors, supra, 457 F.2d 348. In Rowe, a unanimous court of appeals condemned a promotional system in which: 21 (i) The foreman's recommendation is the indispensable single most important factor in the promotion process. 22 (ii) Foremen are given no written instructions pertaining to the qualifications necessary for promotion.    23 (iii) Those standards which were determined to be controlling are vague and subjective.    24 457 F.2d at 358-359. 25 This promotional system, the court of appeals noted, was highly susceptible to the abuses of racial discrimination: 26    (P)romotion/transfer procedures which depend almost entirely upon the subjective evaluation and favorable recommendation of the immediate foreman are a ready mechanism for discrimination against Blacks much of which can be covertly concealed and, for that matter, not really known to management. We and others have expressed a skepticism that Black persons dependent directly on decisive recommendations from Whites can expect non-discriminatory action. 27 Rowe v. General Motors Corp., supra, 457 F.2d at 359 (citations omitted). The hiring procedures used by Hazelwood are similarly susceptible to discrimination. Vague and subjective criteria may disguise discriminatory practices, whether or not that was the original intent. If hiring criteria operate as 'built-in headwinds' for minority groups and are unrelated to measuring job capability, then the absence of discriminatory intent will not serve to redeem them. Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424, 432, 91 S.Ct. 849, 854, 28 L.Ed.2d 158, 165 (1972). Because Hazelwood's hiring procedures have spawned a disproportionately white faculty, we view them with skepticism. 28 The law does not preclude Hazelwood from considering previously announced, non-discriminatory, subjective criteria in deciding whom it will hire, Moore v. Bd. of Educ. of Chidester, 448 F.2d 709, 713 (8th Cir. 1971), as long as such factors are shown to be related to job performance. Griggs, supra, 401 U.S. at 431, 91 S.Ct. at 853, 28 L.Ed.2d at 164. However the law in this Circuit is clear that employment decisions based on subjective standards carry little weight in rebutting charges of discrimination. Green v. McDonnell Douglas Corp., 463 F.2d 337, 352 (8th Cir. 1972), modified, 411 U.S. 792, 803, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1824, 36 L.Ed.2d 668, 678 (1973); Moore, supra, 448 F.2d at 713. The Fourth Circuit is in agreement: 29 Elusive, purely subjective standards must give way to objectivity if statistical indicia of discrimination are to be refuted.    30 (I)n the absence of objective criteria applied to all workers alike, the statistics indicate that race is the only identifiable factor explaining the disparity between the jobs held by white employees and those held by black employees. The proof discloses no objective standards based on education, experience, ability, length of service, reliability, or aptitude to account for the preferential employment of white workers.    31 (I)n sum, the lack of objective guidelines for hiring and promotion and the failure to post notices of job vacancies are badges of discrimination that serve to corroborate, not to rebut, the racial bias pictured by the statistical pattern of the company's work force. 32 Brown v. Gaston County Dyeing Machine Co., 457 F.2d 1377, 1382-1383 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 982, 93 S.Ct. 319, 34 L.Ed.2d 246 (1972) (citations omitted). 33 We hold that statistical evidence demonstrating a disparity between the proportion of blacks in Hazelwood's workforce and the proportion of blacks in the relevant labor market, when considered in light of Hazelwood's hiring procedures involving the use of vague and subjective criteria, indicate a prima facie case of a pattern or practice of employment discrimination in violation of Title VII. Buttressing this aspect of the Government's proof is evidence of actual discriminatory practices in the hiring of teachers during the period prior to the effective date of Title VII and in the rejection of some 16 black applicants discussed below. The Government's proof thus established a prima facie case. Hazelwood offered no evidence adequate to rebut the inference of discrimination created by the aforementioned evidence. We therefore reverse the judgment of the district court. 34