Opinion ID: 766733
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: 2 The facts of this case are more fully set forth by the district court in its decision, see Wado v. Xerox Corp., 991 F. Supp. 174 (W.D.N.Y. 1998); therefore, we will repeat only those facts particularly pertinent to the issues which we address in detail. 3 In late Fall 1993, Xerox announced plans for a world-wide involuntary reduction in force (IRIF) which would reduce its 97,500 member workforce by about 10,000 persons over the next two to three years. Each decentralized organization within Xerox was responsible for determining whether and by how much its workforce would be reduced. The organizations that chose to eliminate positions utilized the same decision-making process to determine which employees to retain. 4 In each work-unit an immediate supervisor ranked each employee in Work Quality, Work Speed, Work Orientation, and Work Skills, entering the scores on a Contribution Assessment Form (CAF). The Work Quality category purported to measure reliability and accuracy, as well as use of methods, tools, and processes. The Work Speed category was intended to measure the employee's ability to plan, prioritize, execute a plan, and meet due dates. Work Orientation included action orientation, business orientation, team orientation, and customer orientation. Work Skills were assessed as to adequacy, self-development, and continuous learning. The employee was given a score of 0-5 in each of the four areas, for a total of 0-20 points. A group of senior managers then reviewed the CAFs from each work-unit for fairness and consistency and made any adjustments deemed warranted. 5 Subsequent to receiving a final score of 0-20, the employees were stack-ranked on a matrix against other employees from their respective work-units. The vertical axis of the matrix represented the employee's total CAF score and the horizontal axis represented years of service at Xerox, either less than 20 years or greater than or equal to 20 years. Selections for termination were then made in a pattern of assessment score/tenure combinations that favored workers with greater years, with the exception of certain employees with special skills. For example, out of two employees each receiving a CAF score of 12, the employee with less than twenty years with the company was chosen for termination before the employee with more than twenty years at Xerox. A certain percentage of the lowest ranking persons from each unit was selected for termination which became effective January 18, 1994.