Opinion ID: 403759
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Title VII Liability

Text: 94 Title VII prohibits an employer from sexual discrimination among employees in the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1) (1976). It also forbids discriminatory classifications that affect employment opportunities, id. § 2000e-2(a)(2), and discrimination in the provision of training opportunities, id. § 2000e-2(d). Cases in which employees charge their employer with practices of discriminatory treatment based on sex follow an established legal format. First, the plaintiffs must prove a prima facie case: that they were treated differently because of their sex. If they succeed, the responsibility shifts to defendants to come forth with evidence that the practice had a legitimate business purpose. Finally, the plaintiffs have the opportunity to show that defendant's asserted purpose was pretextual. Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981); McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1972); Bundy v. Jackson, 641 F.2d 934, 951 (D.C.Cir.1981). 95 Judge Richey concluded that the plaintiffs had borne their ultimate burden of persuasion with respect to a number of practices at GPO. Specifically, he found first that the division drawn by GPO between the bookbinder and bindery worker classifications foreclosed opportunities within the Bindery. J.A. 192. Also found discriminatory was GPO's failure to provide on-the-job craft training to bindery workers, except by way of the limited, four-year apprenticeship program which gave bindery workers no credit for their own apprenticeship training and forced them to take a pay cut. J.A. 188-92. GPO's requirement that only workers with craft status could compete for supervisory positions was found to have discriminatorily denied plaintiffs access to these positions. J.A. 192. All these violations, Judge Richey held, extended to the entire plaintiff class. 96 In this appeal, GPO concedes that it violated Title VII by failing to provide craft training or supervisory opportunities for the Grade 3 and 4 bindery workers who operated machines. 27 With regard to the lower grade bindery workers, however, GPO contests Judge Richey's finding of Title VII liability. GPO argues that the lower grade bindery workers failed to establish their prima facie case and that GPO established the business necessity of the practices found discriminatory. Plaintiffs in their turn argue that Judge Richey's conclusions on Title VII liability do not go far enough. Judge Richey viewed the separate classification of bookbinders and bindery workers as discriminatory because of its effects upon advancement opportunities within GPO. Plaintiffs, however, urge us to conclude that the maintenance of separate pay scales for craft and non-craft employees at GPO is itself a classification in violation of Title VII. We uphold Judge Richey's liability findings in their entirety. 97 1. The Lower Grade Bindery Workers: Plaintiffs' Prima Facie Case. Plaintiffs' prima facie case of discriminatory denial of access to training and supervisory positions began with numbers: there were no female bookbinders at GPO until 1975; conversely, there was only one male bindery worker; bookbinders received training on new machines but bindery workers did not; only six bindery workers entered the apprenticeship program; the Bindery supervisory ranks were unrelentingly male. The cold numbers were brought convincingly to life, International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States 431 U.S. 324, 339, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 1856, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977), by tales of individual sexual bias and discouragement, J.A. 180-81. 98 GPO argues that this case was insufficient as a matter of law because it did not include individualized showings that the lower grade bindery workers were qualified for and interested in craft training. GPO insists that such showings were made legally necessary to a prima facie case of disparate treatment by McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1972), a seminal decision outlining the steps of Title VII proof. In a suit in which a striker alleged that he had not been rehired because of his race, McDonnell Douglas set out four elements of a prima facie case of discriminatory treatment: 99 (1) the plaintiff belonged to a minority group;(2) the plaintiff had applied for the position at issue; 100 (3) the plaintiff was rejected; and 101 (4) the position remained open after the rejection. 102 411 U.S. at 802, 93 S.Ct. at 1824. McDonnell Douglas, in its own words, however, concern(ed) the order and allocation of proof in a private, non-class action challenging employment discrimination. Id. at 800, 93 S.Ct. at 1823. 103 In a class action, on the other hand, proof that each individual class member is a victim of discrimination is not a necessary component of a prima facie case of a pattern and practice of discrimination. Teamsters, 431 U.S. at 357-62, 97 S.Ct. at 1865-1868; Franks v. Bowman Transportation Co., 424 U.S. 747, 771-73, 96 S.Ct. 1251, 1267-1268, 47 L.Ed.2d 444 (1976). Not until the relief stage, which we discuss infra at pp. 285-296, must evidence be offered that each class member sought or, absent discrimination, would have sought an employment opportunity. Teamsters, 431 U.S. at 362-66, 97 S.Ct. at 1868-1870. Moreover, once an individual employee proves that she sought or would have sought an employment opportunity, the employer must shoulder the burden of proving that the employee was denied the employment opportunity for legitimate reasons. Id. at 362, 97 S.Ct. at 1868; Franks, 424 U.S. at 772, 96 S.Ct. at 1267. 104 Especially in a class action suit alleging patterns of discriminatory conduct, the Supreme Court has explicitly held that convincing statistical evidence of disparity will demonstrate a pattern of illicit, discriminatory treatment. In the words of the Court: 105 We have repeatedly approved the use of statistical proof, where it reached proportions comparable to those in this case, to establish a prima facie case of racial discrimination in jury selection cases .... Statistics are equally competent in proving employment discrimination. 106 Teamsters, 431 U.S. at 339, 97 S.Ct. at 1856 (citations omitted); see also Reynolds v. Sheet Metal Workers, Local 102, --- F.2d ----, 25 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. 837 (D.C.Cir.1981). 28 Statistical evidence of underrepresentation of a protected class may even raise a presumption that an individual employee has suffered from discriminatory treatment, as this circuit has held. Furnco Construction Corp. v. Waters, 438 U.S. 567, 98 S.Ct. 2943, 57 L.Ed.2d 957 (1978); Davis v. Califano, 613 F.2d 957 (D.C.Cir.1979). The statistical case presented by plaintiffs here could hardly have been more convincing, and Judge Richey so found. 29 107 2. The Lower Grade Bindery Workers: GPO's Defense. Once plaintiffs have successfully raised an inference of discriminatory conduct, the responsibility shifts to defendants to bring forth evidence that the practices at issue were established in the legitimate course of business. Given the broad remedial aims of Title VII, Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424, 91 S.Ct. 849, 28 L.Ed.2d 158 (1971), this task is not easy. The employer must show that the practice at issue served some genuine business purpose, or the inference of discrimination will remain. E.g., Chrisner v. Complete Auto Transit, Inc., 645 F.2d 1251 (6th Cir. 1981); Kinsey v. First Regional Securities, Inc., 557 F.2d 830 (D.C.Cir.1977). The employer need not prove that the practice was the wisest or most lucrative but he must bring forth evidence of its legitimacy. Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981); Furnco Construction Corp. v. Waters, 438 U.S. 567, 578, 98 S.Ct. 2943, 2950, 57 L.Ed.2d 957 (1978). 108 GPO contends that it established a defense to plaintiffs' prima facie case by showing that a four-year apprenticeship program was needed to train well-rounded bookbinders. Once again, we decline GPO's invitation to disagree with the trial court's assessment of the evidence. Judge Richey found that bookbinders did not rotate among jobs and did not need the more extensive training, J.A. 176-79. He also found that bookbinders received on-the-job training when bindery workers did not, J.A. 180, and that GPO hired bookbinders without ascertaining whether they had received the allegedly essential training. J.A. 183. Finally, he found that (s)erious disincentives would exist for (bindery workers) considering apprenticeship, J.A. 180, so much so that the program represented a virtually unobtainable goal for them. J.A. 182. Such a program is not a business need but a roadblock, as Judge Richey properly concluded, J.A. 191. 109 GPO also contends that it presented legitimate business reasons for requiring craft status of applicants for promotion, and thus freezing out all bindery workers, including the prevailing Equal Pay Act plaintiffs. A review of the record, however, convinces us that Judge Richey justifiably concluded that GPO did not. Nor is there any allegation here that the challenged GPO practices were part of a bona fide seniority system, see American Tobacco Co. v. Patterson, --- U.S. ----, 102 S.Ct. 1534, 71 L.Ed.2d 748 (1982). 110 3. Separate Classification of Bookbinders and Bindery Workers. Judge Richey concluded that the separate classification of bookbinders and bindery workers violated Title VII only insofar as it foreclosed opportunities for training and advancement within the Bindery. J.A. 203. The plaintiffs object to his refusal to find that the different classification of bookbinders and bindery workers itself violated Title VII and contend that they are owed back pay for the difference between their pay as bindery workers and what they would have earned as bookbinders. 111 In objecting to Judge Richey's refusal to merge the classifications and order back pay accordingly, the plaintiffs in their turn urge us to revise the trial court's assessment of the evidence. Judge Richey found that the plaintiffs had not presented evidence sufficient to raise the inference that GPO had violated Title VII by paying most bindery workers and bookbinders on separate wage scales. His reasoning was that the plaintiffs had failed to show substantial equality between the tasks of bindery workers other than the Smyth operators, on the one hand, and the tasks of bookbinders, on the other. J.A. 203. The record in this case, as we have already held, bears Judge Richey out. Moreover, plaintiffs made no showing beyond the effort to establish their Equal Pay Act case that GPO's wage scales resulted from discrimination. We therefore refuse to disturb Judge Richey's reading of the facts, and uphold his decision not to merge the classifications. 30