Opinion ID: 777187
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Whether the Management Data Set Included the Qualified Individuals.

Text: 44 In support of its argument that the management data set failed to include the qualified individuals, Tidyman's relies upon the Supreme Court's opinion in Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio, 490 U.S. 642, 650, 109 S.Ct. 2115, 104 L.Ed.2d 733 (1989), the seminal case addressing appropriate comparison pools. In Wards Cove, the plaintiffs alleged, inter alia, that the defendant discriminated against black potential employees by either failing to hire them, or hiring them in the lower-wage cannery positions rather than the higher-wage, non-cannery positions. The plaintiffs attempted to introduce evidence comparing the percentages of black and white employees in the cannery positions with the non-cannery positions. Id. at 650, 109 S.Ct. 2115. The Supreme Court found that this comparison analysis could not support a prima facie case of discrimination, because there was no evidence that the employees in the cannery jobs (pool 1) were qualified for the non-cannery jobs (pool 2). Id. at 651, 109 S.Ct. 2115. The Supreme Court found that the analysis between the two pools was therefore not a meaningful measure of discrimination, and that the plaintiffs should have instead introduced evidence comparing the percentage of qualified black persons in the labor market (the qualified labor pool) with the percentage of qualified black persons hired in non-cannery positions (the pool actually hired). Id. at 650, 109 S.Ct. 2115. 45 The general principle of Wards Cove — that the appropriate comparison pool for statistical analysis is the group from which individuals will be chosen for the job action — is appropriately applied in the plaintiffs' analysis, which uses a data set of Tidyman's' management. In Wards Cove, the plaintiffs challenged the hiring practices of the defendant. The appropriate comparison pool in Wards Cove was thus the pool of potential applicants seeking to be hired — i.e., qualified individuals from the general population. 46 In the present case, the plaintiffs challenge the compensation and promotion practices of the defendant. [I]n cases involving claims of promotion and wage discrimination, the employer's own workforce (or a portion thereof) may be the best source for data on the qualified labor market. BARBARA LINDEMAN & PAUL GROSSMAN, EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION LAW 1714 (3d Ed.1996). 12 Tidyman's fills higher management by internal promotions. Therefore, the potential applicant pool — and thus the appropriate comparison pool — for promotions to upper and middle management jobs at Tidyman's is comprised of the current employees in lower management positions. The analysis of Tidyman's' management data base included the qualified individuals under consideration for promotions. See Shidaker v. Tisch, 833 F.2d 627, 631 (7th Cir.1987) (Where a company is shown to promote from within, the relevant labor pool of qualified applicants for upper level positions may be the group of employees in the company from which promotees will be drawn.). 47 Use of a data set comprised of the employer's entire management in a case challenging the failure to promote lower management to higher management and pay equal wages is consistent with the principle of Wards Cove, that the comparison pool for analysis should be the group from which individuals will be chosen for the job action, in this case promotion and payment of higher wages. In the instant case, Dr. Polissar testified to the existence of disparities between the percentages of female and male employees of Tidyman's in terms of their movement from middle or lower management to upper management positions. We find that Dr. Polissar appropriately used the employer management data set for his statistical analysis. 48