Opinion ID: 537698
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Classic Discrimination

Text: 19 The trial court, citing, Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984), held that since the Company did not have a policy or practice of recalling laid off employees, the right to be rehired was not a term, condition, or privilege of employment. Thus, he held that the failure to rehire was not subject to Title VII scrutiny. In the trial court's view, the lack of a recall policy or practice in effect provided the Company with an absolute defense against what EEOC argued and the trial court explicitly found was discrimination. 20 Title VII applies to the hiring of employees, regardless of whether an employee recall policy exists. 7 It is irrelevant whether the hiring is for the first time or the second time, pursuant to a recall policy or independent of such a policy. Title VII applies equally to those with an existing employment relationship (on-the-job discrimination), those with a past employment relationship (laying-off and refusing to rehire pursuant to a rehiring plan) and those with no employment relationship at all (refusal to hire a new employee or a laid off employee with no right or expectation of being rehired). Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. at 74 n. 5, 104 S.Ct. at 2233 n. 5, 81 L.Ed.2d at 66 n. 5 (Title VII is relevant even in the absence of an existing employment relationship, as where an employer refuses to hire someone.) (Emphasis in original). Discrimination in hiring does not concern the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment ... which was the focus of Hishon, Id., thus the absence of a recall policy is irrelevant to our decision. 21 Wilson, as a former employee with no right to be rehired before other applicants, merits the same protection in the hiring process as a prospective employee with no prior employment with the Company. To grant Wilson no Title VII protection because she had no right to be rehired misstates the law. The only issue is whether Ms. Wilson was denied employment because of her race. 8 22 This is a case of alleged disparate treatment. In such cases, if the plaintiff attempts to prove her claim through circumstantial evidence, then the analytical framework established in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973) is applicable. Bell v. Birmingham Linen Service, 715 F.2d 1552, 1556 (11th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1204, 104 S.Ct. 2385, 81 L.Ed.2d 344 (1984). 23 Where, however, there is direct evidence of discrimination, 9 as in this case, the McDonnell Douglas analysis is inapplicable. Wilson v. City of Aliceville, 779 F.2d 631, 634 (11th Cir.1986) (hereafter Aliceville ). 10 A defendant presented with direct evidence of discrimination in violation of Title VII can only successfully defend by showing by a preponderance of the evidence that the same decision would have been reached even without the discriminatory factor. Aliceville at 634 (citations omitted). 11 24 The Aliceville case is very similar to this one although it was decided on purely evidentiary grounds. In Aliceville a racial slur was made by a person in charge of making employee evaluations and suggestions for rehiring. In our case, Blacks were so subjected to racially hostile remarks by managers and supervisors that the trial court found the atmosphere to be charged with racial hostility. The facts of our case far exceed those in Aliceville. We have consistently found similar sets of facts to be direct evidence of discrimination. See Miles v. M.N.C. Corp., 750 F.2d 867, 873-76 (11th Cir.1985); Bell v. Birmingham Linen Service, 715 F.2d 1552, 1557 (11th Cir.1983). 25 It bears repeating: the trial court found a racially hostile environment; management was aware of the racial hostility; the discriminatory conduct was that of managers who were responsible for employment decisions. It enjoined these practices. This overwhelming evidence of racial hostility constitutes direct evidence of discriminatory intent in management decisions. The Company presented no evidence that it had put aside the illegal activities and motive. Instead, it continues to deny the existence of racial hostility. Accepting the trial court's findings of fact and applying the direct evidence framework, we conclude that EEOC proved that Tina Wilson was discriminated against. 26