Hameed v. International Ass'n of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Iron Workers, Local Union No. 396

Decision Date03 November 1980
Docket NumberNos. 79-1531,79-1613,s. 79-1531
Parties24 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 352, 24 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 31,392 Walee Abdul HAMEED; Lonnie Vanderson; George Coe; Willie M. Nichols; Johnnie J. Brown; Hiawatha Davis; Willie West, Appellants, v. INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BRIDGE, STRUCTURAL AND ORNAMENTAL IRON WORKERS, LOCAL UNION NO. 396 and Ironworkers Joint Apprenticeship Committee of St. Louis, Missouri, National Iron Workers and Employer Training Program, Appellees. Walee Abdul HAMEED; Lonnie Vanderson; George Coe; Willie M. Nichols; Johnnie J. Brown; Hiawatha Davis; Willie West, Appellees, v. INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BRIDGE, STRUCTURAL AND ORNAMENTAL IRON WORKERS, LOCAL UNION NO. 396, Ironworkers Joint Apprenticeship Committee of St. Louis, Missouri, National Iron Workers and Employer Training Program, Appellants.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Justine Lisser, E.E.O.C., Washington, D. C., argued, for amicus curiae E.E.O.C.

Barry J. Levine, St. Louis, Mo., argued St. Louis Mo., for appellees.

Louis Gilden, St. Louis, Mo., argued, for appellants/cross appellees.

Before LAY, Chief Judge, and BRIGHT and HENLEY, Circuit Judges.

LAY, Chief Judge.

This constitutes the second appeal arising from a class suit brought under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, §§ 701-718, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e to 2000e-17, and 42 U.S.C. § 1981 alleging racial discrimination by the International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Iron Workers, Local No. 396 (Union) in training opportunities, referral methods and wage rates.

Rule filed a complaint in March 1973, naming as defendants the Union, the Ironworkers Joint Apprenticeship Committee of St. Louis, Missouri (JAC), and National Ironworkers and Employer Training Program (MTP). The Union, JAC, and MTP effectively controlled training opportunities in the ironworkers trade in the St. Louis, Missouri, area. Before 1964, all ironworkers in St. Louis were white. In 1964, the federal government and area civil rights organizations began to pressure unions and contractors to increase minority employment opportunities in the construction industry. Increasingly, blacks sought admission to the ironworkers trade. In 1964, the JAC first required a high school diploma, or its equivalent, as a prerequisite for entry into the apprentice program. In 1965, JAC introduced aptitude tests to aid in the selection of apprentices. During the times relevant to this litigation, applicants to the apprentice program had to satisfy four prerequisites: (1) be between 18-30 years of age, (2) present a doctor's certificate of fitness, (3) be a United States citizen, and (4) have a high school diploma or its equivalent. Applicants who satisfied these prerequisites, were then rated on the basis of eight selection criteria: (1) physical ability, (2) past experience, (3) references, (4) written examinations, (5) residence, (6) military service, (7) oral interview, and (8) education. Applicants were admitted to the apprentice program on the basis of their score on these selection criteria. The four prerequisites should be distinguished from the eight selection criteria because the plaintiffs allege that the effect of the high school diploma prerequisite is discriminatory by itself, the impact of the eight criteria is discriminatory by themselves, and the overall impact of the selection process is discriminatory.

In 1970, the Union introduced the minority training program for the purposes of facilitating the entrance of blacks and other minorities into the ironworkers trade. The MTP was established for persons over the apprenticeable age (usually 30), regardless whether the candidate had a high school diploma. Trainees during the years 1970-1973 received slightly less pay than apprentices. The plaintiffs alleged that the separate maintenance of the MTP and apprentice programs and their differential wage rates discriminated against blacks.

Rule and the class also alleged that the work referral system maintained by the Union discriminated against blacks. 1

On remand from the first appeal, the district court enjoined the requirement of a high school diploma as a condition for admission to the Ironworkers Apprentice Program. See Rule v. International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Iron Workers, Local Union No. 396, 471 F.Supp. 1335, 1343 (E.D.Mo.1979). The court also awarded back pay to those individuals in the MTP from 1970 to 1973 who would have, except for the lack of a high school diploma, been qualified to be selected as an apprentice by the JAC. 2 The defendants have appealed those rulings. With minor exceptions, the district court rejected all other class and individual claims. The plaintiffs have appealed, alleging the trial court erred by (1) failing to find a broad pattern of racial discrimination in the JAC selection criteria, (2) applying incorrect legal standards to assess the JAC admission standards, (3) upholding the referral system, (4) failing to provide an adequate remedy, and (5) denying attorney's fees. 3 Although we find the district court was correct in enjoining the use of the high school diploma as a condition of eligibility for selection into the apprentice program, we vacate the judgment below and remand to the district court on the ground that the relief granted is too narrow; we likewise find the district court erred in failing to accord relief to the victims of the discriminatory apprenticeship criteria and failing to award attorney's fees.

A. Diploma Requirement.

We turn first to the defendants' appeal concerning the district court's enjoining the use of the high school diploma as a condition of eligibility for selection to the apprentice program.

In Donnell v. General Motors Corporation, 576 F.2d 1292 (8th Cir. 1978), this court held that the requirement of a high school education, or its equivalent, as a prerequisite to admission to a skilled trades apprentice program, had a disproportionate impact upon blacks in the St. Louis area. Id. at 1296-97. Both Donnell and this case involved a high school diploma prerequisite for a skilled trades apprentice program in an area which includes the St. Louis labor market during the late 1960's and 1970's. The statistics that were found sufficient to establish a prima facie case in Donnell were introduced in this case. This evidence showed that 27.9% of the black males over fourteen and 49.1% of white males over fourteen had completed four years of high school in the St. Louis, Missouri-Illinois Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA). 4

In the proceeding on remand in the district court the defendant made no attempt to dispute the plaintiffs' statistics or to show a business necessity for the diploma requirement. The district court's finding that the high school diploma requirement had a significant disproportionate impact on black applicants to the apprentice program is not clearly erroneous. See Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424, 430 n.6, 91 S.Ct. 849, 853, 28 L.Ed.2d 158 (1971); Donnell, 576 F.2d at 1296-97; Pettway v. American Cast Iron Pipe Co., 494 F.2d 211, 237 n.60 (5th Cir. 1974), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 1115, 99 S.Ct. 1020, 59 L.Ed.2d 74 (1979); Johnson v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 491 F.2d 1364, 1370-72 (5th Cir. 1974); United States v. Georgia Power Co., 474 F.2d 906, 918-19 (5th Cir. 1973); Carter v. Gallagher, 3 FEP Cases 692, 700 (D.Minn.), aff'd in part, rev'd in part, 452 F.2d 315 (8th Cir. 1971), rehearing en banc, 452 F.2d 327, cert. denied, 406 U.S. 950, 92 S.Ct. 2045, 32 L.Ed.2d 338 (1972); United States v. Inspiration Consolidated Copper Co., 6 FEP Cases 939, 948-49, 957 (D.Ariz.1973); United States v. Ironworkers, Local 10, 6 FEP Cases 59, 67 (W.D.Mo.1973) (The same ironworker apprenticeship diploma requirement at issue in this case was found to have a disproportionate impact in the Kansas City area).

The district court also held that the difference in wage rates paid to trainees in the MTP and apprentices in the JAC program was discriminatory. This holding was premised on a finding that the segregation of blacks into the MTP and whites into the JAC program was due in part to the racially discriminatory diploma requirement for the JAC program. Rule III, 471 F.Supp. at 1343. The district court found that plaintiffs had established a prima facie violation of title VII and that defendants had failed to rebut this showing. These findings are not clearly erroneous. 5

We turn now to the plaintiffs' appeal.

B. Apprenticeship Selection Criteria.

Applicants who met the apprenticeship eligibility requirements were then rated on the basis of eight criteria: (1) physical ability, (2) past experience, (3) references, (4) written examinations, (5) residence within the geographic jurisdiction of Local No. 396, (6) military service, (7) oral interview, and (8) education. Applicants whose composite score on these selection criteria was less than 70 were rejected. Applicants whose composite score was above 70 were eligible for admission. The JAC would then determine the number of positions for each year's apprenticeship class and fill these positions with applicants who had the highest composite scores. Plaintiffs contend that the selection criteria had a disproportionate impact upon minorities. In our previous remand, we directed that "(t)he apprentice selection process must be viewed as a whole to discover whether there is a disparate racial impact." 568 F.2d at 565 n.10.

This directive was evidently misunderstood by the district court. First, the district court found that the defendants' use of the diploma eligibility requirement so tainted apprenticeship selection that the overall impact of the selection process was discriminatory. The district court, however, failed to give any effect to this finding beyond enjoining the diploma requirement. 471 F.Supp. at 1340-41. The district court then considered whether a...

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