Opinion ID: 474061
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: applicant and promotion.

Text: 50 Since the court properly decertified the applicant class and found that appellants failed to make a prima facie case regarding the promotion class, none of the individual applicant or promotion plaintiffs benefited from the Craik burden shifting presumption. Roby, 775 F.2d at 963. The individual plaintiffs therefore needed to prove that [they] belong[ed] to a protected class, applied for ... available job[s] for which [they were] qualified, but [were] rejected under circumstances which allow the court to infer unlawful discrimination. Craik, 731 F.2d at 469. See also McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1824, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). The burden then shifts to the defendant to articulate legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for the employment decisions. If the defendant proves such legitimate reasons, the burden then shifts back to the plaintiffs to show that the reasons are pretextual. Craik, 731 F.2d at 469. 51 Curtis Long, Gary Rogers, Judy Kerr, Reginald Henderson, Teresa Baxter, Louise Baltimore, Jesse Gatewood, Arlen Jones, Barbara Wallace, Jannice Bush, Gwendolyn Wright, Mary Tomlin, Ella Peterson, Mary Sue Kemp, Harold Jackson, Sandy Savannah Carter and Corneida Lovell all testified, as anecdotal witnesses, to having been denied promotions. Evirta Lee Johnson and Rupert Hemphill testified to having been denied employment after application. While the court's findings as to these individuals were likely not clearly erroneous, we need not reach the merits of their claims. None of these individuals was a named plaintiff or intervenor in any of these consolidated actions, and, as indicated, they can only recover as class members. Since the applicant and promotion classes were properly disposed of by the court, these individuals cannot recover in this case. Clark, 673 F.2d at 929; McDowell, 575 F.Supp. at 1067. 52 Cedell Briggs complained of not being promoted from a position where she was functioning as a counselor aide to the position of counselor. The Counselor I position requires a college degree in psychology or a related field, and at no time has Briggs possessed a degree. While Briggs did perform some of the functions of a counselor, she at no time performed or was capable of performing all of those functions. The required degree is necessary to acquire knowledge in human behavior, and skills in testing and in dealing with groups and difficult problems. Briggs failed to show that she applied for a position for which she was qualified, and she also failed to show that the degree requirement did not bear a demonstrable relationship to successful performance of the [job] for which it is used. Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424, 431, 91 S.Ct. 849, 853, 28 L.Ed.2d 158 (1971). The court's findings regarding Cedell Briggs' promotion claims were not clearly erroneous. 53 Melvin Clayton claimed to have applied for a houseparent position with DYS shortly after receiving his college degree in 1977. He claimed that he was interviewed for the position but was never notified afterward. Greg Lord, a white male, was hired in the position, and DYS has no record of Clayton's application or interview. It is DYS's standard policy to keep all applications on file and to interview all applicants whose qualifications come close to meeting the job requirements. Clayton failed to prove that he applied for this position. 54 Later, in November of 1977, Clayton was hired as a houseparent at DYS's Wrightsville Unit. He applied for a transfer to a houseparent position at the Pine Bluff Unit in January of 1978, and the position was awarded to John Craigg, a white male. Clayton claimed that Craigg had no experience with DYS, but Craigg in fact had seven months experience at Aldersgate, a similar youth institution in Little Rock dealing with troubled children. A panel consisting of one black male and two white males unanimously selected Craigg as being better qualified. The court found that race was not a factor in Melvin Clayton's failure to receive this transfer, and the court's findings regarding Clayton's promotion claims were not clearly erroneous. 55 Delaney Fleming applied for two promotions in 1978 and two in 1979. One of these positions was filled by Dale Charles, a black male. The other three were filled by better qualified white females. We also note that frequent complaints and disciplinary problems regarding Fleming most likely contributed to these promotion decisions. The court found that race was not a factor in promotion decisions regarding Delaney Fleming, and the court's findings are not clearly erroneous. 56 Rose White complained of two promotion denials. White had a high school education and began her state employment in 1972 as a Clerk-Stenographer with Juvenile Services. 7 As the result of several promotions and upgrades, she reached the position of Bookkeeper III by 1976. In 1977 she was promoted to Accountant I. White did not possess the required Bachelor's degree in accounting or a business related field, but her experience was substituted for that requirement by the Qualifications Review Committee at the request of her supervisor. 57 In 1978 White applied for an Accountant II position. The minimum requirements for that position were the same as those for Accountant I. Neither White nor F.D. Smith, the white male awarded the position, met the minimum degree requirement. Smith, however, had an associate degree in Business Administration and had auditing and accounting experience with the Department of Revenue and with DYS. Smith was clearly more qualified than White. 58 White argues, however, that she was judged to have met the minimum qualifications for Accountant I, and that she therefore automatically met the qualifications for Accountant II. She concludes that she was a qualified applicant for the position and that it was awarded to an unqualified white male. We cannot agree with White's contention. We cannot see why the substitution of experience for education in one instance should have a res judicata type of effect. It is logical and not facially discriminatory for the Qualifications Review Committee to consider qualification substitution anew regarding each new position for which an employee applies. In other words, qualification substitution for an employee once does not necessarily lead to automatic qualification substitution each time an employee applies for a new position. Here, neither applicant met the minimum requirements, and the more qualified received the position. 59 White was subsequently passed over for the same position in favor of a black male. The more qualified applicant received the position in that instance also. In 1981 White applied for a Subgrant Administrator II position. White contends that she was obviously qualified because she was interviewed. She did not possess the required education for the position. A black female who met the degree requirement and was more qualified received the position. Rose White failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination, and the court's findings regarding her promotion claims were not clearly erroneous. 60 Brenda Jackson complained first of being denied promotion to a Subgrant Administrator III position in late 1979. Arlen Jones, a black male, and Virginia Bonner, a white female, received Subgrant Administrator III positions over Jackson. It is doubtful that either Jones or Bonner met the minimum qualifications for the Subgrant Administrator III position. 61 The minimum qualifications for Subgrant Administrator III were as follows: 62 The formal education equivalent of a Bachelor's degree in business administration, management or related field; plus three years experience in planning, program administration or related field, one of which must be with subgrant programs. 63 Jones had a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and a Master's degree in Secondary Education. These degrees are probably not in related fields, as that term is used in the minimum qualifications. Jones had at least six years of experience in dealing with federal grants and coordinating and monitoring federal programs. Bonner had a Bachelor's degree in Speech Communication, and this degree is also probably not in a related field. She had twenty months experience as a Subgrant Administrator II, but her total planning and grant experience fell one or two months short of the required three years. 64 Jackson, however, also did not technically satisfy the minimum qualifications. Jackson had a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, and she had four years experience as an Accountant I and one year experience as an Accountant II. Whether Jackson had any grant experience is a contested issue, but even if she did, she did not have experience in planning, program administration or related field. 65 It appears that none of the applicants technically satisfied the minimum qualifications, and that absent those requirements the trial court's findings to the effect that Jones and Bonner were the two most qualified applicants for the Subgrant Administrator III position were not clearly erroneous. 66 In 1980 Kay Joiner and Liz Rainwater, two white females, were hired into Subgrant Administrator III positions. Once again, none of the applicants 8 technically satisfied the minimum qualifications, but absent those requirements Joiner and Rainwater were the most qualified applicants for the positions. The court's findings to that effect were not clearly erroneous. 67 Jackson applied in 1980 for the position of Educational Coordinator. Arlen Jones was obviously more qualified for the position due to his Master's degree in Secondary Education. Jackson apparently does not contest the court's findings regarding this position, and those findings were not clearly erroneous. 68 In October of 1981 Jackson applied for a Fiscal Manager position. The minimum qualifications for this position were as follows: 69 The formal education equivalent of a Bachelor's Degree in Public Administration; Management; General Business; Finance; Accounting or related fields; plus three years progressively more responsible experience in a supervisory or leadership capacity. 70 Phillip Hoots, a white male, received the position. 71 While Jackson's Bachelor's degree in Business Administration did satisfy the minimum degree requirement, Hoots' educational qualifications were far superior. Hoots not only had a Bachelor's degree, but also a Master's degree in Public Administration and several hours towards a Doctor of Philosophy degree. While Hoots' experience in management was impressive to say the least, 9 the district court found that it totaled only two and one-half years. He had an additional six months of experience with the State in non-supervisory positions. Jackson arguably had three years experience in a supervisory position. 10 Jackson therefore may have been minimally qualified for the position while Hoots was not. 72 We recognize that an inference of discrimination might be drawn from DYS's possible variance from its written job qualifications to hire a technically unqualified white male over an arguably qualified black female, but we feel that the agency met its burden in articulating a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for this employment decision. DYS needed a person in the Fiscal Manager position with strong managerial experience. While Hoots' two and one-half years of experience did not technically meet the minimum qualifications, his managerial experience was very strong. Almost all of Jackson's experience was supervisory rather than managerial. DYS's reason for varying from its written requirements in this employment decision was not discriminatory or pretextual. 11 The court's findings regarding the promotion claims of Jackson were not clearly erroneous. 73 The court's findings regarding the promotion claims of Linda Nimmer and Janie Allen were not clearly erroneous. The dismissal of their claims will be affirmed without further discussion. 74 The court's findings regarding the promotion claims of John Lewellen and Thomas Broughton contain errors which require remand. The court found that Lewellen applied for a Staff Development Supervisor position in 1974, and that Hayward Hill, a black male, received the position. The record indicates that Lewellen applied for this position twice. A.J. Baker and Carol Cato obtained the positions, and Hayward Hill appears not to have been involved. The court's finding regarding Lewellen's 1974 application was therefore clearly erroneous, and we remand for appropriate new findings and decision on possible discrimination against Lewellen in that instance. The remainder of the court's findings regarding John Lewellen's promotion claims contains no clear error. 75 The court found that Broughton applied for a Staff Development Supervisor position in 1974, and that A.J. Baker, a white male, received the position. The court here made no findings as to whether Baker was more qualified. The court simply found that this application was outside of the relevant class period and did not discuss the matter further. The relevant class period does not place a time limitation on individual claims. The only time limitations on the individual claims in these cases are the appropriate limitation for Secs. 1981 and 1983, and the Title VII time frame limitation (180 days prior to filing EEOC charge). As in the case of Lewellen, we hold that the court's finding regarding Broughton's 1974 application is clearly erroneous. We remand for appropriate new findings and decision on the question whether consideration of this application is time-barred and the question whether the hiring of Baker over Broughton was discriminatory. In the remainder of the court's findings regarding Broughton's promotion claims we find no clear error. 76 Bonnie Brown alleged that she failed to receive several promotions for which she applied. The court found that she applied for a Bookkeeper II position in 1977, and that Don Taylor, a white male with a college degree, received the position. Brown did not possess a college degree. While it appears that the more qualified applicant received the position, we feel that Brown may have been the victim of employment discrimination. Brown stated that the Purchasing Agent in charge of making this employment decision, Ms. Bobbie Riffle, told her that she wanted a male for the position. This testimony was unrebutted and raised the issue of whether sex was a discernible factor in this particular promotion decision. A mixed motive question is therefore presented which seems not to have been considered by the court. 77 We recently discussed mixed motive employment decisions in Bibbs v. Block, 778 F.2d 1318 (8th Cir.1985) (en banc), stating: 78 [O]nce the plaintiff has established a violation of Title VII by proving that an unlawful motive played some part in the employment decision or decisional process, the plaintiff is entitled to some relief. ... However, even after a finding of unlawful discrimination is made, the defendant is allowed a further defense in order to limit the relief. The defendant may avoid an award of reinstatement or promotion and backpay if it can prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the plaintiff would not have been hired or promoted even in the absence of the proven discrimination. 79 Id. at 1323-24 (footnote omitted). We therefore remand with respect to the 1977 Bookkeeper II position. The court is instructed to consider and decide whether Brown sufficiently proved that sex was a discernible factor in this promotion decision. If a violation of Title VII is found, judgment should be entered for Brown and an appropriate remedy should be fashioned pursuant to the procedure set out in Bibbs. In the remainder of the court's findings regarding Brown's promotion claims we discern no clear error. 80