Opinion ID: 696580
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Grant of Summary Judgment To the College

Text: 18 Strag first contends, on appeal, that the district court erred in granting summary judgment to the College, arguing that the district court improperly invaded the province of the jury by essentially making findings of fact in favor of the College. The College argues, in response, that summary judgment was appropriately granted because (1) Swain was not a proper comparator for Strag's Equal Pay Act claim, and (2) the wage differential between Strag and Swain was based on factors other than gender, and was thus not actionable under the Equal Pay Act. Because Strag failed to put forth a proper prima facie case under the Equal Pay Act, and because the College sufficiently bore its burden of setting forth convincing genderneutral justifications for the salary disparity between Swain and Strag, we affirm. The Equal Pay Act provides: 19 No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such employees are employed, between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions, except where such payment is made pursuant to (i) a seniority system; (ii) a merit system; (iii) a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or (iv) a differential based on any other factor other than sex.... 20 29 U.S.C. Sec. 206(d)(1) (emphasis added). 21 This Court has held that in order to establish a prima facie case under the Equal Pay Act, the plaintiff bears the burden of showing that she (1) receives lower pay than a male co-employee (2) for performing work substantially equal in skill, effort, and responsibility under similar working conditions. The comparison must be made factor by factor with the male comparator. Houck v. Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 10 F.3d 204, 206 (4th Cir.1993). Additionally, the plaintiff must identify a particular male comparator for purposes of the inquiry, and may not compare herself to a hypothetical or composite male. Id. This Court has held, moreover, albeit in dicta, that, in setting forth a prima facie case, 22 isolated incidents or random comparisons demonstrating disparities in treatment may be insufficient to draw a prima facie inference of discrimination without additional evidence that the alleged phenomenon of inequality also exists with respect to the entire relevant group of employees. 23 Id. at 206-07 (emphasis added). 24 Once a plaintiff has sufficiently established a prima facie case of salary discrimination against her employer under the Equal Pay Act, the burden then shifts to the employer to prove, by a preponderance of evidence, that the pay differential is justified by the existence of one of the four statutory exceptions set forth in Sec. 206(d)(1): (1) a seniority system, (2) a merit system, (3) a system that measures earnings by quantity or quality of production, or (4) a differential based on any factor other than sex. Id. at 207. See also Fowler v. Land Management Groupe, Inc., 978 F.2d 158, 161 (4th Cir.1992). If this burden is successfully carried by the employer, the plaintiff's claim must fail unless the plaintiff can satisfactorily rebut the defendant's evidence. 25 In Soble v. University of Maryland, 778 F.2d 164 (4th Cir.1985), this Court addressed the first step in bringing an Equal Pay Act action--establishing a prima facie claim--in a case that presented itself in much the same procedural posture as the instant case. In Soble, the district court had granted summary judgment to the University of Maryland in a case in which Soble, a female assistant professor, brought an action against the University under the Equal Pay Act because she was denied a salary equal to that paid to male faculty members who also held the rank of assistant professor at the University. 778 F.2d at 167. In affirming the grant of summary judgment in favor of the University, we held that Soble had failed to establish a prima facie case because, although she demonstrated the existence of a salary disparity, she failed for three reasons to show that she performed work substantially equal in skill, effort, and responsibility to her male comparators. Id. First, the Court found that Soble, by comparing her salary with salaries of teachers in other departments, failed to make an appropriate wage comparison for the purpose of establishing a prima facie case under the Equal Pay Act; in particular, the Court found that the other departments in the university required distinctive skills, thus foreclosing any comparison Soble might make. Id. Second, the Court, in comparing Soble's skills to that of other assistant professors in her own department, found that she, unlike the other professors, did not hold a degree in dentistry, and instead held degrees only in sociology and social work; thus, Soble lacked a proper basis on which to make a salary comparison. Id. Finally, the Court held that the only other non-dentist in Soble's department, a male, had a masters in business administration, taught dental management, and carried a considerably heavier teaching load than did Soble. Id. Accordingly, the Court, finding that Soble could not rest on the bare allegation in her complaint that she is receiving lower pay for work comparable to that performed by male members of the dental faculty, found that a prima facie case was not properly established. Id. Indeed, the Court affirmed the grant of summary judgment in favor of the University on the ground that even viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Soble, there existed no genuine issue of material fact suggesting that the salary differential in that case was based on gender discrimination. Id. 26 In Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Aetna Insurance Co., 616 F.2d 719 (4th Cir.1980), we addressed the second prong of a court's inquiry under the Equal Pay Act--i.e., even if a prima facie case is sufficiently set forth, whether the defendant has properly shown by a preponderance of evidence that the pay differential is motivated by any factor other than sex. In the case, a female insurance writer claimed that she was paid less than a male co-employee because of gender discrimination. 616 F.2d at 720. This Court, in finding that the district court had correctly held that the salary differential was based on a factor other than sex, described the scope of the four statutory exceptions to the Equal Pay Act, in particular addressing the most general exception for salary differentials based on any other factor other than sex: 27 Three specific exceptions and one broad general exception are [ ] listed. It is the intent of this committee that any discrimination based upon any of these exceptions shall be exempted from the operation of this statute. As it is impossible to list each and every exception, the broad general exclusion has been also included. Thus, among other things, shift differentials, restrictions on or differences based on time of day worked, hours of work, lifting or moving heavy objects, differences based on experience, training, or ability would also be excluded. 28 Id. at 725 (emphasis in original), quoting H.R.Rep. No. 309, 88th Cong., 1st Sess. 3, U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1963, p. 687. Under this analysis, the Court found that the differential compensation system in that case was sufficiently based on factors other than sex--in particular, experience and background--such that an Equal Pay Act violation was not made out. Id. at 726. Specifically, the Court stated: 29 If the record were barren of substantial justification or concrete standards for hiring [the male comparator], the argument might be entitled to consideration--but the record amply supports the conclusion of the district court that the decision to hire [the male comparator] rested on a more solid foundation than mere subjectivity. Aetna needed an experienced casualty underwriter to fill the void left by Garrett, but more importantly, it needed an agent to expand its business in the commercial casualty field. [The male comparator] had a strong background in the commercial casualty area; he had supervisory experience; and he demonstrated in his interview that he had the personality traits to succeed as an underwriter and later as a supervisor and a manager. An element of subjectivity is essentially inevitable in employment decisions; provided that there are demonstrable reasons for the decision, unrelated to sex, subjectivity is permissible. 30 Id. (emphasis added). See also Ritter v. Mount St. Mary's College, 814 F.2d 986, 993 (4th Cir.1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 913, 108 S.Ct. 260, 98 L.Ed.2d 217 (1987) (finding that a difference in qualifications between the plaintiff and her male comparator can constitute a factor other than sex for the purpose of showing that a particular salary difference is not actionable under the Equal Pay Act); cf. Brewster v. Barnes, 788 F.2d 985, 992 (4th Cir.1986) (finding that the defendants could not show that the wage differential was due to a factor other than sex where the defendants never attempted to determine if the plaintiff was eligible for a comparable wage to that of her comparator). 31 In the instant case, the district court awarded summary judgment to the College on the ground that there existed no genuine issue of material fact that the salary discrepancy between Strag and Swain was based on gender discrimination. In particular, the district court found that: (1) Strag failed properly to set forth a prima facie case, and (2) even if a prima facie case were established, the College sufficiently demonstrated that the salary differential was justified by gender-neutral factors. Several considerations support our affirmance of the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the College. 32 First, the case law described above makes clear that, in order for a plaintiff initially to establish a prima facie case under the Equal Pay Act, she must show not only that she is being paid lower wages than her male comparator, but also that she is performing work substantially equal in skill, effort and responsibility to her comparator under similar working conditions; i.e., the male job comparator must be properly selected. In Soble, supra, for example, this Court held that a male professor hired to teach in a department other than the one by which the plaintiff was employed, did not constitute a proper male comparator because different departments in universities require distinctive skills that foreclose any definitive comparison for purposes of the Equal Pay Act. Under the same rationale, Strag's choice of Swain as a male comparator is improper in the instant case because: (1) Swain is employed by the Biology department of the College, while Strag is employed by the Mathematics department, two departments requiring different skills and responsibilities, and (2) as noted in the affidavits supporting the College's motion for summary judgment, Swain has more responsibilities than does Strag because he not only teaches normal lecture classes, but also instructs lab classes which require extra preparation. In particular, Swain is responsible for preparing for extra classes, supervising lab assistants, and writing and grading extra exams; moreover, lab classes are generally longer than usual lecture classes. Additionally, the record demonstrates clearly that Swain is the only full-time instructor for several science courses, including biology, botany, zoology and genetics, while Strag shares responsibility with other math teachers for the courses she teaches, and does not teach many of the advanced math courses. Strag, therefore, did not put forth a sufficient prima facie case under the Equal Pay Act because she failed to identify an appropriate comparator in her own department against whom her starting salary could be properly compared by the district court. As stated in Soble, supra, an Equal Pay Act plaintiff cannot rest on the bare allegation that she is receiving lower pay for equal work; she must also show that the comparison she is making is an appropriate one. Soble, 778 F.2d at 167. In the instant case, Strag failed to make a proper comparison, and thus did no more than prove that she and Swain are paid different salaries. That, on its own, is not actionable under the Equal Pay Act. 33 Second, this Court has recently suggested, albeit in dicta, that isolated incidents or random comparisons demonstrating disparities in treatment may be insufficient to draw a prima facie inference of discrimination without additional evidence that the alleged phenomenon of inequality also exists with respect to the entire relevant group of employees. Houck v. Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 10 F.3d at 206-07 (emphasis added). Although the absence of such evidence of systemic discrimination in the instant case may not alone be enough to defeat an Equal Pay Act claim, it, combined with Strag's improper identification of a male comparator, suggests that the district court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of the College on the ground that a proper prima facie case was not established. 1 34 Third, even if a prima facie case has been properly established by Strag, the burden shifts to the College to prove by a preponderance of evidence that the salary disparity is based upon one of the four enumerated statutory factors--here, that the salary difference is based on a factor other than sex; the College has clearly carried that burden here. In the proceedings before the district court, the College, in support of its motion for summary judgment, put forth numerous uncontradicted affidavits detailing the gender-neutral reasons for hiring Swain at a $33,000 starting salary under the Special Salary Provision of the College's Salary Plan. Indeed, the affidavits leave no doubt that Swain was extremely well known and respected in the College community for his innovative Coastal Biology class, that he had established a reputation as an excellent and innovative teacher with a great deal of experience, and that he used state-of-the-art technology in his classes which other teachers do not use. Additionally, the record makes clear that: (1) Swain had 24 years of teaching experience, as compared to Strag's nine years; (2) Swain's salary at the public high school would have been $30,000 for the 1987-88 school year, as compared to Strag's $17,220 salary at the East Carolina University; (3) Swain was unwilling to take a pay cut in order to teach at the College, while Strag was willing to do so in order to avoid a long commute; and (4) Swain was a much better known teacher than Strag, and the administrators felt that hiring him may attract more students to the College. Most significant, the fact that Swain was paid more by the College than even his male colleagues, one of whom was the Chairman of the Science Department, with 14 years more seniority than Swain, clearly suggests that the higher wage paid to Swain as compared to Strag was not based on gender, but rather on the sex-neutral factors detailed above. The record therefore clearly supports the district court's determination that the College sufficiently carried its burden of showing that the salary differential between Strag and Swain was based on factors other than sex. See Fowler, 978 F.2d at 161 (holding that gender-neutral justifications--such as that the male comparator has more experience or that the comparator is considered a more important employee--are persuasive reasons for salary disparities, though finding that in that case, the evidence supporting such gender-neutral justifications did not rise to such an overwhelming level that a jury verdict in favor of the plaintiff should be reversed). 35 Fourth, Strag fails satisfactorily to rebut any of the gender-neutral justifications for the salary difference put forth by the College. For example, although Strag points to a list of seven off-scale instructors within her department, this list includes two female instructors; thus, rather than suggesting that women are not given off scale salaries by the College, the list showed only that the College is willing to go off the Salary Plan for female as well as male teachers in rare occasions. More significant, Strag failed to put forth any evidence that she possessed highly exceptional qualifications that would have justified the College giving her an off scale salary. 2 Indeed, she provides this Court with no compelling reason suggesting that the College should have paid her $30,000, when the salary at her previous job had only been $17,220. In the absence of such evidence to rebut the College's gender-neutral justifications for the pay differential, summary judgment was certainly warranted. 36 Last, as held in Soble, Strag cannot defeat a motion for summary judgment merely by resting upon allegations in her complaint that she is paid less than Swain. Thus, her failure to rebut the College's evidence of gender-neutrality in its salary decisions suggests that the district court's grant of summary judgment should not be reversed on appeal. Indeed, although a motion for summary judgment generally should not be granted if there exists a genuine issue of material fact that warrants a trial on the issues, such a motion cannot be denied unless the non-moving party puts forth specific facts evidencing that such a genuine issue does exist. See Allstate Financial Corp. v. Financorp, Inc., 934 F.2d 55, 58 (4th Cir.1991); Temkin v. Frederick County Commissioners, 945 F.2d 716, 718-19 (4th Cir.1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1095, 112 S.Ct. 1172, 117 L.Ed.2d 417 (1992). Strag did not sufficiently carry that burden here. 37