Opinion ID: 5539
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: dr. straszheim's study.

Text: Dr. Straszheim analyzed the extent to which Olson's actual hiring patterns produced a different black-nonblack employee mix than would be expected if Olson's hiring policies were entirely race-neutral. He did so by two distinct means.
The first approach, which was the focus of the district court's opinion, was to compare Olson's hiring history with the percentage of black food preparation and service workers in the relevant labor market from which Olson's draws its work force. Dr. Straszheim, relying on years of experience in labor, transportation, and urban economic analysis, determined that the relevant labor market was the metropolitan Houston area -- more specifically, the Houston Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, or SMSA, as defined by the United State Bureau of the Census. Using detailed census data for the Houston SMSA, Dr. Straszheim determined that blacks comprise roughly 25.2% of the 2 food preparation and service workers in the Houston SMSA. By comparison, only 8.1% of employees of known race hired by Olson's between 1978 and 1987 were black. Dr. Straszheim refined the Houston SMSA figures to account for travel time to and from Olson's locations and the average travel times for black food preparation and service workers reported in the census data. He also distinguished between the Spring Branch (6 locations), Bellaire (2 locations), and Katy (1 location) labor markets. Based upon the demographics of each of these distinct markets and the relevant travel times, Dr. Straszheim concluded that blacks comprised 19.8% of the relevant labor pool for Olson's Spring Branch and Bellaire locations, and 8.1% for the Katy store. By comparison, blacks comprised 6.5% of hires of known race at Olson's six Spring Branch stores, 12.3% of hires of known race at Olson's two Bellaire-area stores, and 9.4% of hires of known race at Olson's Katy location. Employing standard statistical techniques, Dr. Straszheim concluded that there was less than one chance in 100,000 (.00001) that Olson's observed hiring patterns in the Spring Branch stores could have resulted from truly race-neutral hiring practices, and less than three chances in one thousand (.0026) that Olson's observed hiring patterns in the Bellaire stores could have resulted from truly race-neutral hiring practices. Dr. Straszheim found no statistically significant difference between the number of blacks hired in the Katy store 3 and the number which would be expected based upon black representation in the relevant labor market.
As a separate and distinct means of assessing the raceneutrality of Olson's hiring practices, Dr. Straszheim compared the percentage of blacks among Olson's applicants of known race to the percentage of blacks among Olson's hired employees of known race. The results of this analysis were completely disregarded by the district court's opinion and largely ignored by Olson's own expert, as well as by Olson's counsel in his argument to this court. Between 1984 and 1987, the period for which rejected applications were available, blacks constituted 29.6% of the roughly 1,800 applicants of known race. In the Spring Branch market, 30.1% of the applicants of known race for the relevant period were black; 39.5% in the Bellaire market; and 27.6% in the Katy market. By comparison, roughly 13.2% of the persons of known race hired by Olson's Spring Branch stores during the same time period were black, while blacks constituted 27.3% and 11.1% of the hires of known race for Olson's Bellaire and Katy locations, respectively, for the same period. In light of the racial mix of actual applications made to each of the stores, Dr. Straszheim concluded that the likelihood that Olson's observed hiring patterns resulted from truly race-neutral hiring practices was less than one chance in ten thousand (.0001) for the Spring Branch stores, less than 4 seven chances in one thousand (.0070) for the Bellaire stores, and less than two chances in one thousand (.0020) in the Katy store.