Opinion ID: 430902
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: John Page

Text: 74 Page asserts in his individual claim that despite the fact that he had prior experience as a tack welder, he was initially assigned to work as a grinder in the helper classification, while white employees with no prior experience were assigned to assist fitters. Page complains that the only time he was assigned to assist a fitter was when a white helper was absent or unable to perform the task at hand. He claims that his initial assignment as a grinder in the helper classification delayed his promotional progress. The district court noted, however, that Page failed to note or indicate any prior welding experience on his application for employment. 75 In his trial testimony, Page compared his progress to that of Charles Lott, a white employee. Page testified that it took him approximately fifty-five months to promote from helper to Welder A, while Lott advanced to the Welder A classification approximately thirty-eight months after his initial hire date. The district court noted that while it is clear that Lott progressed faster than plaintiff Page, the record shows that other white employees hired at the same time or after Page required a longer period of time to progress to the Welder A classification than did Page. For example, J.L. Jackson, a white employee hired as a Helper C, required seventy-five months to progress to Welder A, and K.G. Bailey, another white employee, required sixty-one months to progress to Welder A. Moreover, the district court noted that some minority employees progressed from helper to Welder A faster than Page and Lott. J. Garcia, a Mexican-American employee, was hired as a Helper C and progressed to Welder A within thirty-two months of the initial hire date. R.C. Santee, a black employee, was hired as a Helper C and progressed to the Welder A classification within thirty-six months of the initial hire date. 76 Page also compared his progress to that of Clarence Cole, a white employee, who was hired as a Helper C. Page complains that it took him two years after hire to be promoted to Helper C but that within two months of hire, Cole was promoted from Helper C to the learner welder position, a promotion Page did not obtain for another eight months. Upon further comparison, the evidence shows that while it took Page longer to advance to the learner welder position, he progressed to the Welder A classification faster than did Cole. 77 Page additionally claims that throughout the course of his employment he performed work outside his job classification without having been properly reclassified or adequately paid. During the time he was classified as a helper, Page performed some work as a painter. He was never classified as a painter nor was he paid a painter's wages. Page also claims he continuously performed Welder A type work throughout 1969 without being properly reclassified. The district court noted that under Wyatt's employment policies, a less skilled employee may improve his skill by working with and under the close supervision of a more skilled employee. Thus, it was not uncommon at Wyatt for a welder with a lower classification to be assigned to work with an A classification employee and to perform tasks included in the job description of the higher classification. The court found no evidence that white and minority employees were treated differently in this context. We conclude that the district court's findings on this issue are supported by the record, and thus reject Page's claims of discrimination on this issue. 78 Lastly, Page claims that he resigned from employment at defendant's plant due to the company's failure to appoint him as an assistant welding instructor. The district court found that Page was not denied a promotion to that position because of his race, but rather that he voluntarily resigned from his employment with the company. We conclude that this finding too is supported by substantial evidence in the record.