Opinion ID: 199050
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Document Leader Position

Text: Appellant claims that she was discriminated against on the basis of her gender when the Document Leader position was classified as a level 6 position. She bases this contention on the fact that the previous Document Manager was paid at level 7 and the previous Records Management Leader was paid at level 8. However, appellant has failed to make a prima facie showing that the Document Manager and Records Management Leader positions were substantially equal to the Document -11- Leader position, and Smithkline has also established that the different pay levels were based on a factor other than sex. As the district court properly concluded, the position of Document Leader created in 1993 entailed a substantially different set of responsibilities from those of the Document Manager and Records Management Leader positions. For instance, although there was certainly overlap between the duties of the new position and those of the former positions, several important functions of the Document Manager position were omitted from the role of Document Leader, including responsibility for the microfilming program, the handling of new drug applications, and the preparation of annual reviews. The Document Manager was also responsible for evaluating abnormalities in the manufacturing process and recommending solutions when problems arose, as well as informing the management of significant deviations from standard operating procedures and making sensitive decisions regarding drug recalls. We cannot conclude that these uncontested differences in responsibility were insubstantial, and we agree with the district court that appellant failed to make a prima facie showing of discrimination. Although the failure to establish a prima facie case is fatal to appellant's claim, we also mention our agreement with the district court that the different wages paid to appellant and the prior Document Manager and Record Management Leader were based on a factor other than -12- sex. See 29 U.S.C § 206(d)(1)(iv). Smithkline established that both Llivina and Feo were being paid at the level of a prior position pursuant to standing company policies designed, in one instance, to protect employees' salary and grade levels during developmental placements and, in the other, to allow the company to utilize employees at lower level positions without detriment to the employee's compensation. Such programs are factors other than sex within the meaning of the EPA and therefore constitute a legitimate basis for wage differentials. Cf. Handy v. New Orleans Hilton Hotel, 532 F. Supp. 68, 72 (E.D. La. 1982) (noting that wage differential was lawful because, inter alia, higher-paid employee's wage was set pursuant to defendant's Personnel Development Program).