Opinion ID: 783195
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Job Comparison

Text: 14 Lawrence's case was premised on the comparison of her work and pay to that of Nick Bonacorso, her immediate successor as the trade show specialist. Under the EPA, the job comparison may appropriately consider immediate predecessors or successors of the plaintiff. Broadus, 226 F.3d at 941-42; see also Peltier v. City of Fargo, 533 F.2d 374, 377 (8th Cir.1976) (The Equal Pay Act does not require that the jobs being compared be performed simultaneously but encompasses situations where an employee of one sex is hired for a particular job to replace an employee of the opposite sex. (citation omitted)). CNF contends that trial testimony and evidence dispositively showed that Lawrence and Bonacorso were performing substantially different jobs, and that Bonacorso was, in fact, performing two jobs-trade show specialist and outside sales person. 15 Whether two jobs are substantially equal `requires a practical judgment on the basis of all the facts and circumstances of a particular case,' including factors such as level of experience, training, education, ability, effort, and responsibility. Hunt v. Nebraska Pub. Power Dist., 282 F.3d 1021, 1029 (8th Cir.2002) (quoting Buettner v. Arch Coal Sales Co., 216 F.3d 707, 709 (8th Cir.2000)). Application of the Equal Pay Act depends not on job titles or classifications but on the actual requirements and performance of the job. EEOC v. Universal Underwriters Ins. Co., 653 F.2d 1243, 1245 (8th Cir.1981) (citation omitted). In all cases, therefore, a court must compare the jobs in question in light of the full factual situation and the broad remedial purpose of the statute. Id. 16 CNF argues that Bonacorso and Lawrence were not performing equal jobs. It argues that after CNF's Kansas City sales force was reduced, Bonacorso was performing two jobs-the trade show specialist and outside sales person. CNF argues that Lawrence's case fails because her only proffered comparison is between her pay while working exclusively on the trade show account, and Bonacorso's pay while he worked both the outside sales position and trade show specialist position after he assumed responsibility for the trade show account when Lawrence resigned in July 1998. 17 Drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of Lawrence, the non-moving party, we conclude it was not unreasonable for the jury to find that the work performed by Lawrence and Bonacorso required equal skill, work, and responsibility, and that the jobs were substantially equal. The evidence indicated that both Lawrence and Bonacorso kept accounts when they moved to the trade show specialist position. Lawrence kept approximately eighty-five accounts, and Bonacorso kept approximately 100 outside accounts. The jury could have found this difference insubstantial given the fact that four months after Bonacorso took over the trade show position, CNF hired Terri Barrett as an inside sales person to assist Bonacorso with the trade show accounts. Barrett spent approximately forty percent of her time assisting Bonacorso with the trade show account, performing tasks such as preparing paperwork, passing and moving out notices, and promoting CNF to the exhibitors by informing them what CNF could do for them. Lawrence worked without an assistant throughout her tenure as the trade show specialist. 18 Both Lawrence and Bonacorso came into the trade show specialist position with experience in CNF's outside sales department. In the trade show specialist position, both received business cards with the designation trade show specialist, both referred to themselves as and considered themselves to be the trade show specialist in the Kansas City terminal. Both were responsible for developing, overseeing, and working the trade show accounts. Both worked closely with show vendors and show management at the trade show sites. This work included quoting rates, credit terms, preparing transportation agreements, and compiling lists of prospective customers for use as sales leads and displaying available services in brochures. Both kept some of their outside sales accounts when they moved to the trade show specialist position. While Bonacorso did keep more accounts, he also benefitted from having an assistant to help him with the trade show account, a benefit not afforded to Lawrence. 19 We conclude there was evidence to support the jury's conclusion that Lawrence and Bonacorso occupied positions requiring substantially equal skill, effort, and responsibility. The resolution of factual disputes is the very function that juries are asked to perform, and it is not within the province of the district court to replace the jury's reasonable findings with its own. Hunt, 282 F.3d at 1030-31 (citation omitted). Accordingly, we affirm the district court's denial of CNF's motion for judgment as a matter of law.