Opinion ID: 445598
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Statistics Regarding Promotions to Supervisory Positions

Text: 35 Plaintiffs contend that the district court erred in its evaluation of statistics. According to plaintiffs, these statistics indicate a pattern of discrimination in the promotion of NLRB professional employees to supervisory positions. Plaintiffs rely on a mathematical formula suggested in Hazelwood School District v. United States, 433 U.S. 299, 97 S.Ct. 2736, 53 L.Ed.2d 768 (1977). Plaintiffs contend that application of the formula shows a statistically significant disparity between blacks and nonblacks in promotions to supervisory positions. Plaintiffs argue that while blacks made up 10.5 percent of the NLRB's professional work force in 1979, only 4.1 percent of the NLRB's supervisors are black. 12 Crucial to the plaintiffs' contention is that the 10.5 percent figure for black professional employees in 1979 represents the relevant figure for comparison. Plaintiffs note that since the NLRB promotes from within the organization, the relevant figure for comparison is the employer's (i.e., the NLRB's) work force, rather than the general population. See Payne v. Travenol Laboratories, Inc., 673 F.2d 798, 826 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1038, 103 S.Ct. 451, 74 L.Ed.2d 605 (1982). Since plaintiffs contend professional employees at the NLRB possess the minimum qualifications for promotion to higher level supervisory and managerial positions at the NLRB, plaintiffs conclude that the racial composition of the NLRB's professional work force (regardless of GS level) is the relevant figure for comparison. Plaintiffs-Appellants' Brief at 46. 36 The district court concluded that the plaintiffs' evidence was not meaningful ... in that it does not provide data regarding the number of qualified Blacks in the pool from which selections were made for supervisory and other managerial positions. Conclusions of Law No. B.9 (emphasis added). 37 This Court has noted [s]tatistical evidence ... must be meaningful. Pouncy, 668 F.2d at 802. In establishing an inference of discrimination from statistical evidence the required comparison [is] to a qualified pool of employees presumptively eligible for promotion. Id. at 803 (emphasis added). Plaintiffs' presentation is not meaningful in at least two respects. First, the entire professional work force of field attorneys and examiners is not the relevant point of comparison since not all of these employees are presumptively eligible for promotion to supervisory levels. Instead, employees are not even rated for consideration until they reach the GS-12 field examiner level or the GS-13 field attorney level. 13 By asserting that the minimum qualification for promotion to higher level supervisory positions is the holding of any professional position, the plaintiffs bring into their comparison lower level employees who are not to be considered for promotion. 14 Cf. Pegues v. Mississippi State Employment Service, 699 F.2d 760, 770-71 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 482, 78 L.Ed.2d 679 (1983) (plaintiff's statistical evidence flawed in failing to take relevant experience into consideration). Second, plaintiffs' selection of the 10.5 percent figure for 1979 is questionable as a basis for comparing promotions to supervisory positions for the period of this litigation (1975-1980) since the number of professional black employees had risen in the immediately preceding years. 15 Thus, the district court did not err in finding the plaintiffs' statistical evidence for supervisory positions unpersuasive. 16 38 Other facts support the district court's conclusion that the statistics failed to establish discrimination in promotion to supervisory levels. There were no statistically significant differences in the promotion rates or waiting times for the GS-12 field examiner or the GS-13 field attorney level (the minimum levels for promotion to supervisory positions) for the post-1976 period. 17 Further, unlike the situation presented to this Court in the Carroll case, the number of black supervisors increased steadily during the period covered by this suit. 18 See Carroll, 708 F.2d at 193 n. 10. The district court's analysis and conclusions regarding the statistical evidence were not clearly erroneous in failing to find an inference of disparate treatment. 39