Jefferies v. Harris County Community Action Ass'n
| Decision Date | 21 April 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 77-1848,77-1848 |
| Citation | 22 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 974,615 F.2d 1025 |
| Parties | 22 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 974, 22 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 30,858 Dafro M. JEFFERIES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. HARRIS COUNTY COMMUNITY ACTION ASSOCIATION et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Jesse R. Funchess, Houston, Tex., for plaintiff-appellant.
Ernesto Valdes, Houston, Tex., for defendants-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Before TUTTLE, GOLDBERG and RANDALL, Circuit Judges.
In this Title VII case, Appellant Jefferies appeals from a district court order dismissing after trial her claim that her former employer, Harris County Community Action Association (HCCAA), violated Section 703(a) of Title VII 1 by discriminating against her on the basis of race and sex in failing to promote her and in terminating her employment, and violated Section 704(a) of Title VII 2 by terminating her employment in retaliation for filing an EEOC charge and for opposing allegedly unlawful employment practices. 3 The decision below is reported at 425 F.Supp. 1208 (S.D.Tex.1977). Jefferies, a black woman, worked for HCCAA from February 13, 1967 until she was terminated effective April 26, 1974. HCCAA was a non-profit corporation which received some of its funds from the federal government.
Jefferies was employed in 1967 as Secretary to the Director of Programs, and was later promoted to Personnel Interviewer in 1970. Between 1970 and April, 1974 she applied several times for promotions to various positions within the agency, but her efforts were unsuccessful. Jefferies was a union steward from 1970 until her termination, and during her seven years with HCCAA, Jefferies filed many grievances on her own behalf and on the behalf of union members.
On April 2, 1974 a notice was posted announcing two vacancies for Field Representative positions which were to be open until April 11. Jefferies immediately applied. The newly vacant Field Representative positions had been staffed by a white female and a black male. On the day of her application for the vacant position, Jefferies saw a completed "personnel action" form which indicated that Eddie Jones, a black male, had already been hired for the position of Acting Field Representative. Jefferies complained to the Acting Personnel Manager and to Mario Silva, the Acting Executive Director of HCCAA. Silva told her that the posting was a mistake, since the position was only temporary.
Believing she was a victim of discrimination, Jefferies xeroxed the Jones "personnel action" form and sent it with other personnel materials to Janet Walker, Chairman of the HCCAA personnel committee and a member of the HCCAA Board of Directors. Instead of providing the help Jefferies had anticipated, Walker brought the dissemination of the records to Silva's attention. In response to Walker's expression of concern that the documents were confidential agency material, Silva commenced an investigation on April 23, 1974. Jefferies' supervisor recommended to Silva that she be placed on probation, according to HCCAA guidelines, but on the advice of others Silva decided to terminate her pursuant to other HCCAA guidelines for "conduct prejudicial to the interest of HCCAA" as of April 26.
Prior to her termination, Jefferies complained to her supervisors about the Jones promotion, and wrote a memorandum to her immediate supervisor on April 23. She filed EEOC complaints on April 24 and May 2. Formal notice was sent by the EEOC to HCCAA on or after April 28. In June, 1974, the personnel committee conducted a hearing on the Jones promotion and on Jefferies' discharge, which she attended. The committee approved the termination.
Trial testimony established that 60-70% of the employees at HCCAA were female. In April, 1974 female employees held sixteen out of thirty-six supervisory positions within the agency and several women occupied positions on the Board of Directors of HCCAA. No women were department heads. Jefferies' undisputed testimony established that every position for which she had applied had been filled by males or non-black females. Jefferies was never told she was unqualified for any of these positions, and the district court found that she "handled in an acceptable and efficient manner her work tasks and assignments." 425 F.Supp. at 1209.
The district court dismissed Jefferies' claim of race and sex discrimination in HCCAA's failure to promote her and its decision to terminate her. In addition, the district court dismissed her claim of retaliatory firing.
Jefferies urges us to reverse the district court for four reasons. She argues that: (1) the district court erred by dismissing her claim of race and sex discrimination; (2) the district court's findings of fact were clearly erroneous; (3) the district court erred by refusing to consider the correctness of HCCAA's decision to terminate her; and (4) the district court erred by failing to determine that she was denied due process of law.
We affirm the district court's decision in part and vacate and remand in part for further findings of fact and conclusions of law consistent with this opinion.
In her complaint, Jefferies charged that HCCAA discriminated against her in promotion "because she is a woman, up in age and because she is Black." Jefferies objects to the district court's finding that she failed to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that HCCAA's failure to promote her was based on race or sex discrimination. In addition, she contends that the district court erred by failing to address her claim that HCCAA discriminated against her on the basis of both race and sex. Although the pleadings were worded ambiguously and are subject to varying interpretations, we think that under the liberal federal concept of notice pleading, Jefferies' complaints articulated claims of discrimination in promotion based on sex or race or age and, in the alternative, sex and race and age. The age discrimination claim did not materialize as a live issue at trial and is not before us on appeal. However, the claims of race discrimination, sex discrimination, and discrimination based on both race and sex were properly raised in the pleadings and at trial. Therefore, because Jefferies contends that the district court erred in its consideration of each of her claims of discrimination in promotion, all are properly before us on appeal.
We agree with the district court that Jefferies failed to prove race discrimination in promotion. Jones, who was promoted in an acting capacity to the job Jefferies sought, was black. As we recognized in Adams v. Reed, 567 F.2d 1283, 1287 (5th Cir. 1978), where both the person seeking to be promoted and the person achieving that promotion were women, "because the person selected was a woman, we cannot accept sex discrimination as a plausible explanation for (the promotion) decision." See also Jenkins v. Caddo-Bossier Ass'n, 570 F.2d 1227, 1228-29 (5th Cir. 1978). We therefore affirm the district court's finding that race discrimination played no part in the failure to promote Jefferies.
Jefferies contends that the district court erred in its determination that she did not prove sex discrimination in promotion by a preponderance of the evidence. In order to establish a prima facie case, a plaintiff must show that (1) she belongs to a group protected by Title VII, (2) she applied for and was qualified for a job for which the employer was seeking applicants, (3) despite her qualifications she was rejected, and (4) after her rejection the position remained open and the employer continued to seek applicants among persons having plaintiff's qualifications. McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1824, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973); Burdine v. Texas Department of Community Affairs, 608 F.2d 563, 567 (5th Cir. 1979). Once the plaintiff establishes a prima facie case of sex discrimination, the employer then has the burden of articulating a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the employment decision. See, e. g., id. at 567; Corley v. Jackson Police Department, 566 F.2d 994, 998-99 (5th Cir. 1978). We have recently made clear that " 'articulating' a legitimate reason involves more than merely stating fictitious reasons; legally sufficient proof is needed before the trier of fact can find plaintiff's proof rebutted." Burdine, 608 F.2d at 567. Once the plaintiff's prima facie case has been successfully rebutted, the plaintiff must be given a fair opportunity to show that the reason articulated by the employer is in fact a pretext for discrimination. McDonnel Douglas, 411 U.S. at 804, 93 S.Ct. at 1825; Burdine, 608 F.2d at 567.
In addressing Jefferies' claim of sex discrimination in promotion, the district court stated:
Plaintiff also has failed to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that any consideration was given to gender or a sex classification in the selection of Jones instead of plaintiff for the position of Field Representative . . . . Allegations of irregular promotion practices violative of HCCAA guidebook procedures in the selection of Jones do not automatically translate into a showing of unlawful sex discrimination.
Additionally, the preponderating evidence demonstrates that HCCAA does not discriminate generally on the basis of sex. The evidence establishes that in April, 1974, female employees held sixteen out of thirty-six supervisory positions within the agency, and that several women occupied positions on the Board of Directors of HCCAA. Prior to the Jones promotion, one of the Field Representative positions was held by a female. There simply is no evidence to indicate that any sexual classification was utilized by defendants . . . in appointing Jones to the vacant position . . . .
The problem with the district court's...
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