Opinion ID: 406179
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Individual and Class Title VII Claims

Text: 27 1. The Classification of Overtime. In 1970 Samuel Hebert was one of nine black Monsanto workers employed as truck helpers in the trucking department. At that time, the truck department was comprised of 22 employees: nine truck helpers, 13 truck drivers, and two dispatchers. All truck helpers were black; 11 out of 13 drivers were black with two white; and the dispatcher was white. 28 In the EEOC charge 7 which forms the basis of individual and class Title VII claims in this action, Hebert alleged that a provision contained in the 1970 collective bargaining agreement negotiated by defendants Monsanto and Union discriminated against black employees in the truck department. The provision in issue allotted overtime within that department on the basis of job classification rather than on the basis of department. Briefly, under the job classification system, when an overtime position existed in a driving position, the assignment was initially offered to all truck drivers sequentially in order of the driver with the lowest accumulated overtime before being offered to a truck helper. Similarly, when an overtime helper vacancy arose, it was first offered to all helpers in order of accumulated overtime before being offered to a truck driver. Under a departmental method, an overtime vacancy would be first offered to the employee within the department having the lowest accumulated overtime irrespective of the nature of the overtime assignment and the job classification of the employee. 29 Plaintiffs contend that a denial of overtime work for helpers obtained from this system. At first blush, this effect is not apparent; the job classification system appears quid pro quo, giving preference to drivers in overtime driving assignments and preference to helpers in overtime helper assignments. Evidence introduced by Monsanto, however, indicated that the change from departmental to job classification overtime allotment in all probability reduced the overtime opportunities available to helpers, although the extent of this reduction is unclear. It was, and apparently remains, Monsanto's practice to assign helpers to assist drivers on overtime only where demonstrable need exists. More drivers would be needed than helpers, and as a practical effect the job classification system would reduce overtime opportunities for helpers. The corollary to reduced overtime opportunities for helpers would be increased overtime opportunities for drivers and the dispatcher. 30 This, in and of itself, however, falls short of establishing a prima facie case of discrimination under Title VII with respect to either the class or Hebert's individual complaint. To the extent that these actions fall into the category of Title VII cases governed by the rule of Griggs v. Duke Power Co., supra, plaintiffs have failed to establish that the system of overtime allotment complained of has an adverse disproportionate impact upon black employees. Clearly, when the system was implemented in 1970, its adverse consequences, if any, were felt only by black employees, since all nine helpers at that time were black. It is equally apparent that the three white employees in the department at that time stood to benefit from the change in overtime allotment. Nevertheless, the majority of black employees in the department also stood to benefit equally with whites, since the majority of blacks in the department in 1970 were employed as drivers. Upon these facts, a prima facie case of disparate racial impact has not been established. No showing has been made that the challenged provision alloted overtime in a significantly discriminatory pattern. See, e.g., Dothard v. Rawlinson, supra (433 U.S.) at 329 (97 S.Ct. at 2726); Griggs, supra (401 U.S.) at 432 (91 S.Ct. at 854), Chrisner v. Complete Auto Transit, Inc., 645 F.2d 1251, 1257 (6th Cir. 1981); Smith v. Olin Chemical Corp., 555 F.2d 1283, 1286-87 (5th Cir. 1977). 8 31 Nor, when viewed as a case of disparate treatment, have plaintiffs sustained their prima facie burden of showing an employment decision from which, if unexplained, an inference of unlawful discriminatory intent can be drawn. The decision at issue to some degree may have favored truck drivers over truck helpers in the overall allotment of overtime work, and for present purposes the Court presumes such was its intended effect. The Court also presumes that defendants were cognizant of the racial composition of the trucking department in 1970. Almost certainly, defendants knew or should have known, at the time the decision was made, that all truck helpers were black. Similarly, defendants would have known that a majority of truck drivers were black, and, indeed, that a majority of black employees in the truck department were drivers. Under these circumstances, a decision favoring truck drivers does not justify an inference of racial discrimination, and plaintiffs introduced no additional evidence to show that the decision proceeded from an intention to treat black employees within the department less favorably on account of race. 9 32 2. The Utilization of Truck Helpers on Overtime. Plaintiffs urge an additional claim of discrimination arising out of Hebert's EEOC charge not directly related to the utilization of the classification system of overtime assignment. Plaintiffs allege that, at a time when truck drivers were all or predominantly white, Monsanto routinely assigned helpers to assist truck drivers on overtime and that Monsanto discontinued the routine overtime assignment of helpers when the majority of truck drivers within the department became black. Plaintiffs produced no credible evidence in support of this contention. Defendants, on the other hand, introduced evidence to show that the issue of assigning truck helpers on overtime had long been a source of contention between employees in the truck department and Monsanto. The evidence presented by Monsanto shows that as early as 1954, when all truck drivers were white, grievances had been lodged by drivers complaining that the company should routinely assign helpers to them on overtime. Monsanto, however, has consistently maintained a policy of assigning truck helpers on overtime only when the necessity for such assistance is established. In sum, a preponderance of the evidence fails to sustain the plaintiff's contention that Monsanto has treated black truck drivers differently from white truck drivers in failing to provide helper assistance during overtime work, or that Monsanto has otherwise discriminated in the assignment of overtime work to any black employee in the trucking department.