Marafino v. ST. LOUIS CTY. CIRCUIT COURT

• Citation: 537 F. Supp. 206
• Decision Date: 29 March 1982
• Docket Number: No. 78-1255C(3).,78-1255C(3).
• Parties: Kathleen MARAFINO, Plaintiff, v. ST. LOUIS COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, and St. Louis County, Missouri, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Missouri

537 F. Supp. 206

Kathleen MARAFINO, Plaintiff, v. ST. LOUIS COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, and St. Louis County, Missouri, Defendants.

No. 78-1255C(3).

United States District Court, E. D. Missouri, E. D.

March 29, 1982.

Everett, Sedey & Van Amburg, Mary Anne Sedey, Clayton, Mo., for plaintiff.

Thomas W. Wehrle, Daniel Bartlett, Jr., Clayton, Mo., Shulamith Simon, Sally E. Barker, St. Louis, Mo., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM

FILIPPINE, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court for a decision on the merits of plaintiff's second amended complaint, following trial to the Court. The complaint alleges that the defendants violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., in refusing to hire the plaintiff because of her sex and because she was pregnant. After consideration of the testimony and exhibits adduced at trial, the parties' briefs and detailed stipulations of fact, and the applicable law, the Court hereby makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law in accordance with Fed.R.Civ.P. 52.

Plaintiff, Kathleen Marafino, is a white female citizen of the United States of America residing in St. Louis County, Missouri. Plaintiff is an attorney duly licensed and qualified to practice law in the State of Missouri, having graduated from the Washington University School of Law in May, 1976 and having been admitted to the Missouri Bar in September, 1976.

Prior to entering law school in the fall of 1973, plaintiff had taught mathematics in junior high schools for six years.

Defendant St. Louis County is a body politic and corporate, organized and existing under the laws of the State of Missouri. St. Louis County is responsible for the payment of the salaries and benefits of the employees serving the Juvenile Division of the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, and all lawful expenditures of such Court.

The Twenty-first Judicial Circuit of the State of Missouri is the defendant Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri (Circuit Court). Each of the Judges of the Circuit Court may retain such office only on approval of a majority of those voting on the proposition at periodic elections. The Juvenile Court of St. Louis County is one of the Divisions of the Circuit Court, and is responsible for the care, protection and discipline of children who come within the jurisdiction of the Court in accordance with Chapter 211, R.S.Mo.1978.

The Judge of the Juvenile Court, subject to the supervisory control of the Circuit Court en banc, has the authority to select and control the employees necessary to carry out the functions of the Juvenile Division, including the employees of the Division's legal department; the Juvenile Court Judge makes hiring and firing recommendations to the Circuit Court en banc. Circuit Court employees are not subject to the civil service laws of St. Louis County or the State of Missouri. At all times relevant to this action, the number of persons under the control of the Court has exceeded fifteen.

The staff attorneys in the legal department represent and advise the chief juvenile officer and all deputy juvenile officers, screen all matters referred to the Juvenile Court for an initial determination as to the sufficiency of the facts, file petitions with the Court, appear before the Court, prepare and try each case before the Court, including felonies, misdemeanors, status offenses, neglect cases, and terminations of parental rights, and handle all appeals to the appellate courts, and other appellate court proceedings. In 1977, there were 18,199 "referrals," or charges against children referred to the Juvenile Court. During the last six months of 1977, there were 2,242 cases of various natures disposed of after hearing in the Juvenile Court.

In addition to the foregoing, staff attorneys occasionally directly counsel the Judge of the Juvenile Court. During the tenure of the Honorable Ninian M. Edwards as Juvenile Court Judge, staff attorneys reviewed with him various court policies, such as the necessity for disclosure of the names of putative fathers, and the development of procedures under the then recent Missouri Supreme Court Rules of Practice and Procedure for the Juvenile Courts.

The legal department was established in June, 1966, when its first attorney, Corinne Richardson, was hired. Richardson has served as the director of the legal department at all times relevant to this action. Since the establishment of the legal department, the following individuals have performed the duties of staff attorney during the designated periods of time:

                Staff Attorney              Period of Time
                Corinne Richardson        6/1/66 to present
                Ann Forrey               9/13/71 to 12/31/72
                Craig Donis              11/1/73 to  3/18/77
                Thomas Zotos             9/10/72 to  5/16/77
                Harold Scheppner         3/26/73 to  8/29/73
                Peter Lumaghi             8/1/74 to 10/5/78
                Roger Keen                7/1/77 to 12/19/80
                William Seely            9/18/77 to present
                Nancy Dunn              11/13/78 to present
                Mary Susan Goodwin       3/15/79 to present
                

In April, 1976, the month before she graduated from law school, plaintiff applied for the position of Attorney I in the legal department of the Juvenile Court. Plaintiff was not hired by the Juvenile Court at that time, and in September, 1976, she commenced employment as a Staff Attorney for the Ombudsman Foundation, Inc., a legal services organization in St. Charles, Missouri. Plaintiff represented clients in matters such as collection cases, child support, and domestic cases, and appeared regularly in court.

In January or February of 1977, plaintiff learned that she was pregnant.

In the spring of 1977, the Juvenile Court had four dockets. Its legal department was authorized to have three attorneys besides Richardson. It was also authorized to have two part-time interns who were law students, who usually worked full-time during the summer.

In April of 1977, two Attorney I positions became available due to the appointment of Craig Donis as a Hearing Officer and the upcoming resignation of Tom Zotos. Corinne Richardson decided to recommend William Seely, then a third-year law student, to Judge Edwards for recommendation to the Circuit Court for one of these positions. Seely was at the time a legal intern at the Juvenile Court and had been since March, 1975. He had been employed as a group leader in the Detention Center of the Juvenile Court of St. Louis County from August, 1972 to June, 1973. From June 1973 to July, 1974, he was a supervisor at the Detention Center. His work as an intern at the Juvenile Court required almost no supervision.

Plaintiff was advised of the other opening, and during the month of April she was interviewed by Richardson and Richardson's assistant, Peter Lumaghi. After interviewing all applicants, Richardson believed that Marafino was the best qualified.

Richardson called plaintiff to advise her that she was the best qualified applicant and that the job was hers if she wanted it. (Judge Edwards generally followed the recommendations of his department supervisors, including Richardson, in making his recommendations to the Circuit Court en banc.) Plaintiff replied that she would take the job. Plaintiff then informed Richardson that she was pregnant and that her child was expected to be born in September of 1977. Plaintiff told Richardson that if hired she would be absent from work for a period of one to two months after the birth of her child. Richardson told plaintiff that that might create a problem.

Shortly afterwards, plaintiff met briefly with Judge Edwards, and also with Richardson and Robert Branom, the Director of Court Services. Judge Edwards was introduced to plaintiff and was made aware of plaintiff's pregnancy; plaintiff informed him that she expected to take a leave of absence of four to eight weeks after the birth of her child. Judge Edwards asked Richardson if the legal department would be able to handle such a schedule. Although Richardson was concerned about being able to cover for plaintiff in her absence, and about plaintiff's training, she felt that she had already given plaintiff her word that she would recommend plaintiff for the job. Richardson simply told Judge Edwards that she thought the department could handle plaintiff's leave of absence. Judge Edwards said that since that was the case, he would recommend plaintiff's employment to the Circuit Court en banc. A starting date of June 1, 1977, was agreed upon for plaintiff's employment.

Upon Richardson's recommendation, Judge Edwards forwarded plaintiff's name to the Court en banc for consideration for the position of Attorney I. Judge Edwards also wrote a memorandum to The Honorable Herbert Lasky, one of the Circuit Court judges, asking Judge Lasky to present plaintiff to the Court en banc at its May 13, 1977 meeting. Judge Edwards was scheduled to be in Columbia, Missouri, on that date. Judge Edwards' memo to Judge Lasky stated that plaintiff was pregnant and that plaintiff's proposed work schedule was acceptable to the Juvenile Court.

Plaintiff did appear before the Court en banc on May 13, 1977. William Seely was also introduced to the Court at that meeting. Judge Edwards was not present. Plaintiff was wearing maternity clothes, and her pregnancy was apparent. Judge Lasky read to the Court the memo he had received from Judge Edwards. Several judges, including Judge Ferris, then Presiding Judge of the Circuit Court, and Judge Ruddy, asked plaintiff questions about her pregnancy. In response to their questions, plaintiff informed the Court that she expected to take a leave of absence of four to six weeks, and that she would return to the job afterwards. (Plaintiff lowered her outside estimate of the length of her leave of absence due to a conversation with her doctor, who told her she would be physically able to return to work two weeks after childbirth.) As for Seely, one of the judges opposed his employment as an Attorney I as...