Opinion ID: 488842
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: burden of proof on title vii claims

Text: 24 Feazell contends that the district court erred when it allocated the burdens of proof and production according to the structure set forth in McDonnell Douglas under which the burden of production shifts to the defendant to articulate a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for wage disparities once a plaintiff has established a prima facie case of discrimination under Title VII, but the burden of persuasion always remains with the plaintiff alleging sex discrimination. See McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973); Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981). 3 In County of Washington, Oregon v. Gunther, 452 U.S. 161, 101 S.Ct. 2242, 68 L.Ed.2d 751 (1981) the Supreme Court held that the Bennett Amendment to Title VII extended the protection of the four affirmative defenses of the Equal Pay Act to Title VII actions for sex-based wage discrimination and therefore that wage differentials attributable to one of the four affirmative defenses are not unlawful employment practices under Title VII. 4 The Court, however, explicitly refrained from deciding how burdens of proof or production should be structured in a Title VII action premised on a claim of sex-based wage discrimination and the Eleventh Circuit has yet to reach the issue. Feazell contends that when a Title VII claim addresses salary discrepancies between male and female employees performing the same work, the burden of proof should be allocated in the same fashion as in actions under the Equal Pay Act, i.e., the burden that shifts to the defendant to rebut a prima facie case of sex-based wage discrimination should be one of both production and persuasion and not of mere production and should be limited to the four affirmative defenses set forth in the Equal Pay Act. 25 We find it unnecessary to reach this issue because of the pretrial stipulation between the parties in which they agreed that the burdens of proof and production in the Title VII action were governed by the principles enunciated in McDonnell Douglas, Furnco and Burdine. 26 Matters stipulated to in a pretrial order are binding on the parties unless modified and normally cannot be objected to on appeal. See Funding Systems Leasing Corp v. Pugh, 530 F.2d 91, 95 (5th Cir.1976); U.S. v. Tampa Bay Garden Apartments, Inc., 294 F.2d 598, 606 (5th Cir.1961). Pretrial orders control the subsequent course of action unless modified to prevent manifest injustice. Fed.R.Civ.P. 16. Feazell did not attempt to amend the pretrial stipulation and did not object to the application of the McDonnell Douglas framework during trial. She in fact presented her case pursuant to McDonnell Douglas standards. Her first objection to these standards is raised before this court despite the fact that the cases she relies upon existed at the time of her trial. There has been no manifest injustice warranting this court's disregard of the pretrial stipulation and order.