Opinion ID: 755768
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Allocation of Additional Staffing

Text: 21 Austin also alleges that, because of her sex, age, and race, Ford refused to hire any assistants to aid her even though Ford hired assistants for several of her co-workers. At the outset, Austin's prima facie case of sex discrimination in the allocation of staffing must fail. Because Austin admits that two other similarly situated women employees--Mona Feigenbaum and Annette Nieves--received additional staffing, and because she has alleged no other fact raising an inference of sex discrimination, Austin has not alleged circumstances giving rise to an inference of [ ] discrimination on the basis of sex. See Woroski, 31 F.3d at 108. 22 Austin's pleadings, however, do meet the minimal threshold of a prima facie case of age and race discrimination in staffing allocation. Austin alleges, for example, that the employees who received additional staffing were not black. Similarly, Austin alleges that both prior to and after her tenure with Ford, when collection responsibilities [were] considerably less, at least two employees who were younger than Austin together assumed her job responsibilities. 23 Ford responds that Austin has admitted a sufficient business reason for Ford's refusal to provide Austin additional staffing: that in 1992 Austin negotiated a 15% salary increase in exchange for agreeing to handle the entire credit and collection function without assistance. Austin alleges, however, that in forcing her to choose between either receiving a 15% salary increase or receiving an assistant and a salary decrease, Ford imposed more onerous employment conditions upon Austin than upon other, white employees. She alleges that co-employees Mona Feigenbaum, Annette Nieves, Tim Dressler, and supervisor Polesky, none of whom are black, each received temporary and/or permanent assistants but were not required to receive a salary decrease. These allegations are sufficient to make out a prima facie case of race discrimination. Similarly, Austin's contention that two younger employees staffed her position prior to and after her tenure, despite Ford's insistence during Austin's tenure that the position be handled by one person alone, raises the minimal inference of age discrimination necessary to establish Austin's prima facie case.