Opinion ID: 463351
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: failure to recall

Text: 6 Davis claims that Lambert did not recall her following the layoff in October 1981 because of her race. In order to prevail on her claims of discrimination under Title VII or 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1981 3 Davis bears the ultimate burden of persuading the trier of fact that Lambert intentionally discriminated against her. United States Postal Service Board of Governors v. Aikens, 460 U.S. 711, 715, 103 S.Ct. 1478, 1482, 75 L.Ed.2d 403 (1983). A discrimination claim which relies on a disparate treatment theory has three phases: first, the plaintiff must establish by a preponderance of the evidence a prima facie case of discrimination; second, if the plaintiff meets her initial burden of proof, then the burden shifts to the defendant to show a legitimate, nondiscriminatory basis for the disparate treatment; and third, should the defendant carry this burden, then the plaintiff has the opportunity to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the legitimate reasons offered were a pretext to cover a discriminatory motive. See Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 252-53, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 1093, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981); McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-04, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1824-25, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973); Tate v. Weyerhaeuser Co., 723 F.2d 598, 602-03 (8th Cir.1983), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 105 S.Ct. 160, 83 L.Ed.2d 97 (1984). 7 In the present case regarding the failure to recall claim, after Davis made out a McDonnell Douglas prima facie case of racial discrimination, Lambert offered evidence that the white employees recalled to work out-produced Davis and that under the terms of the bargaining agreement, it could rehire less senior workers if they were better qualified. There is evidence in the record that Davis' performance declined in the months preceding 1981 and that the company attempted to work with her to improve her production, but that there was no improvement. Davis claims that she showed Lambert's articulated reason to be pretextual by showing that staplers worked on a line in groups placing completed frames in a common container and thus there was no way anyone could determine how many frames each stapler completed. 8 The district court found that Lambert's decision to not recall Davis and to permanently lay her off had nothing to do with race. The court credited the testimony of Lambert's decisionmakers as honestly believing that they could recall less senior people if they were better qualified and that Davis was not as skillful, productive or efficient as the other staplers. The district court expressly found that Lambert's stated reasons were its true reasons. 9 In accordance with Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure the findings of the district court may not be set aside unless those findings are clearly erroneous. If the district court's account of the evidence is plausible in light of the record viewed in its entirety, the court of appeals may not reverse it even though convinced that had it been sitting as the trier of fact, it would have weighed the evidence differently. Further when findings are based on determinations regarding the credibility of witnesses, Rule 52 demands even greater deference to the trial court's findings. See Anderson v. City of Bessemer City, --- U.S. ----, 105 S.Ct. 1504, 1511-12, 84 L.Ed.2d 518 (1985). 10 Having carefully read the record on appeal and the briefs, we conclude that the district court's findings on this issue were not clearly erroneous. Giving due regard to the district court's opportunity to judge the credibility of witnesses and to resolve conflicts of testimony, we cannot say that Davis' evidence establishes intentional racial discrimination. There is ample evidence in the record to support the district court's findings.