Easley v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc.

Decision Date22 March 1985
Docket NumberINC,No. 83-2305,ANHEUSER-BUSC,83-2305
Citation758 F.2d 251
Parties37 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 549, 36 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 35,120 Jimmy EASLEY, Andre Griffin and Patricia Murphy, Appellees, v., Appellant.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Thomas C. Walsh, St. Louis, Mo., for appellant.

Kenneth M. Chackes, St. Louis, Mo., for appellees.

Before HEANEY, BRIGHT and JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judges.

BRIGHT, Circuit Judge.

Anheuser-Busch, Inc. (the Company) appeals from the district court's 1 judgment in favor of appellees Jimmy Easley, Andre Griffin, and Patricia Murphy, in an employment discrimination action brought under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1981 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For reversal, Anheuser-Busch contends that the district court erred in (1) excluding most of the testimony of two of its witnesses; (2) finding intentional discrimination against all three appellees; (3) not considering whether appellees would have been hired absent discrimination; and (4) improperly determining the nature and extent of the relief and attorneys' fees granted. We affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.

I. BACKGROUND.

Easley, Griffin, and Murphy, all of whom are black, filed the present civil rights action alleging that Anheuser-Busch discriminated against them in hiring because of their race. All three were unsuccessful applicants for positions as bottlers at the Company's St. Louis plant. At issue are certain hiring practices utilized by Anheuser-Busch between 1978 and 1980.

Prior to 1979, the hiring procedure for bottlers at the St. Louis plant involved a review of written applications, one or more interviews, reference checks, and a physical examination. In 1978, Anheuser-Busch hired 427 bottlers on this basis, 157 (36.7%) of whom were black, and 270 (63.2%) of whom were white. 2

Beginning in February 1979, the Company added to this procedure a written pre-employment test developed by an outside consultant specifically for the bottler job. Anheuser-Busch maintains that it introduced the test in order to have a more objective means of obtaining better qualified employees. 3 The Company contends that it had received complaints from supervisors about the ability of some bottlers hired under the old system, and that certain changes at the plant had underscored the need for obtaining a more competent work force. The changes included introducing more sophisticated machinery into the plant, and running the bottling operation seven days a week, three shifts a day. The change to a continuous operation created a need for additional bottlers, many of whom were hired to work on weekends and holidays to supplement the regular work force. These bottlers were called upon to perform a variety of job assignments under a number of different supervisors. According to Anheuser-Busch, the purpose of the written test was to facilitate the hiring of employees well-suited to performing the various tasks required of bottlers in these changing conditions. Nearly 1,500 applicants took the pre-employment test, roughly 46% of whom were black. Of the 342 bottlers hired under the testing program, 62 (18%) were black, and 280 (82%) were white.

Patricia Murphy submitted a written application for employment with Anheuser-Busch on September 19, 1978, while the old hiring procedure was still in effect. A receptionist in the personnel office informed her that the Company was not hiring at the time, and that her application would be kept on file. She was not interviewed. On the next hiring date, October 15, 1978, the Company hired twenty-seven bottlers from a pool of at least 252 applications then on file (78 white and 174 black). 4 Murphy was not among those selected, and the record contains no information about the racial composition of the group hired. No other hiring took place before the testing program began in February 1979.

Anheuser-Busch called Murphy in to be tested on May 22, 1979. She passed the test and was subsequently interviewed and given a physical examination. Although the Company determined that Murphy was fully qualified and ready for a job as a bottler, she was never hired. The reason for this, according to Anheuser-Busch, was that the demand for bottlers had slacked off by the time Murphy attained "ready" status in July of 1979. In fact, the only hiring after June 24, 1979, occurred in February 1980, when the Company selected 46 (8 blacks and 38 whites) of the applicants then qualified and ready for immediate hiring. 5

Jimmy Easley submitted a written application for employment as a bottler on March 28, 1979, and took the test on June 7, 1979. Andre Griffin applied on April 5, 1979, and took the test on May 18, 1979. Both men failed the test and received no further job consideration.

All three appellees filed timely charges of race discrimination against the Company with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In each instance, the EEOC found reasonable cause to believe the charge was true, and issued notice of a right to sue. This lawsuit followed.

At a three-day bench trial in March 1983, appellees advanced both disparate treatment and disparate impact theories of discrimination. 6 The district court issued a lengthy memorandum opinion holding that Anheuser-Busch had unlawfully discriminated against appellees under both theories. Easley v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc., 572 F.Supp. 402 (E.D.Mo.1983). The trial judge found that Easley and Griffin were entitled to prevail on their disparate impact claims 7 because the pre-employment test that eliminated them from further job consideration had a material adverse impact on black applicants, 8 and the Company failed to demonstrate that the test was a valid selection device that was justified by business necessity. 9 Id. 406, 414-15. Additionally, an alternative selection procedure (the informal pretest hiring procedure), which did not have the same adverse impact on black applicants, was available to the Company and, despite Anheuser-Busch's allegations, had not been shown to be unsatisfactory. Id. at 410.

The district court found in favor of all three appellees under a disparate treatment analysis. 10 The court determined that each had established a prima facie case of racial discrimination under the standard set forth in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1824, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973), by showing that they were black, that they applied and were qualified for the entry-level bottler jobs for which Anheuser-Busch was seeking and hiring applicants, and that they were rejected while the Company hired others similarly qualified. Id. 572 F.Supp. at 413. With respect to Patricia Murphy, the trial court concluded that Anheuser-Busch had failed to articulate any legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for not hiring her, and she was therefore entitled to judgment on her disparate treatment claim under Texas Dept. of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1084, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981). The articulated reason for rejecting Easley and Griffin was their failure to pass the pre-employment test. The court found that because Anheuser-Busch instituted the test with knowledge of its adverse impact, and because the test clearly was not valid, the Company's explanation did not provide a "legitimate defense." Id. 572 F.Supp. at 414. The court further concluded that statistical evidence showing gross disparities in the hiring of black and white bottlers, 11 along with the scheduling of applicants for testing in a manner which resulted in the ineligibility of a majority of black applicants, 12 compelled a finding of intentional discrimination as to all three appellees.

The district court entered judgment awarding appellees backpay together with prejudgment interest, plus enhanced attorneys' fees and expert witness fees. In addition, the court awarded each appellee compensatory damages of $500 for emotional distress. The court also enjoined Anheuser-Busch, "its agents, consultants, contractors, and employees" from discriminating in employment on the basis of race, and from using the same or any similarly discriminatory selection procedure. Finally, the court ordered Anheuser-Busch to provide employment for each appellee with appropriate seniority rights and benefits. Anheuser-Busch appeals from the district court's judgment and award.

II. DISCUSSION.
A. Exclusion of Testimony.

Anheuser-Busch first contends that the district court erred in precluding a substantial part of the testimony of two of the Company's witnesses, Dr. Edmund Gaydos and Dr. Barry Seeskin, because they had not been identified as expert witnesses sufficiently in advance in trial.

On March 11, 1983, ten days prior to the March 21 trial setting, 13 Anheuser-Busch identified both Dr. Gaydos and Dr. Seeskin as witnesses in a pretrial submission witness list, but did not indicate that they would testify as experts. 14 At trial, Anheuser-Busch's counsel stated that he informed plaintiffs' attorney during two conversations in March that the witnesses were experts. However, he did not serve supplemental answers indicating the nature of their expert opinion testimony until the afternoon of March 21.

Neither Dr. Seeskin nor Dr. Gaydos was specially retained to testify at trial. Both were industrial psychologists employed by Anheuser-Busch to work as in-house experts. Because both men had been identified as witnesses, plaintiffs' counsel did not object to their testifying to facts as employees of the Company, but did object to any expert opinion testimony. The district court sustained the objection on the ground that plaintiffs had been denied an opportunity for appropriate discovery, and ruled that both men could testify as ordinary witnesses. However, after each witness had testified briefly and the court had sustained repeated objections on the ground that the testimony was expert in nature, the trial judge concluded...

To continue reading

Request your trial
58 cases
  • Johnson v. Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota
    • 3 d2 Setembro d2 1996
    ...L.Ed.2d 229 (1994) (recognizing the existence of compensatory and punitive damages for violations of Title VII); Easley v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc., 758 F.2d 251, 263 (8th Cir.1985) (allowing compensatory damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1981); Evans v. Ford Motor Co., 768 F.Supp. 1318, 1327 (D.Minn. ......
  • Chambers v. Omaha Girls Club, Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit
    • 25 d4 Fevereiro d4 1988
    ...91 S.Ct. 849, 853-54, 28 L.Ed.2d 158 (1971); McIntosh v. Weinberger, 810 F.2d 1411, 1426-27 (8th Cir.1987); Easley v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc., 758 F.2d 251, 255 n. 7 (8th Cir.1985); Hawkins v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc., 697 F.2d 810, 815 (8th Cir.1983); Kirby v. Colony Furn. Co., 613 F.2d 696, 703 ......
  • Kilgo v. Bowman Transp., Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit
    • 15 d4 Maio d4 1986
    ...775 F.2d 1403, 1417 (11th Cir.1985); Atonio v. Wards Cove Packing Co., 768 F.2d 1120, 1131 (9th Cir.1985); Easley v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc., 758 F.2d 251, 255 n. 7 (8th Cir.1985); Merwine v. Board of Trustees for State Institutions of Higher Learning, 754 F.2d 631, 639 (5th Cir.), cert. denie......
  • International Woodworkers of America, AFL-CIO and its Local No. 5-376 v. Champion Intern. Corp.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • 2 d1 Junho d1 1986
    ...1282 (7th Cir.1983); Strama, supra. 27 Heiar, supra: Strama, supra. 28 Henry v. Webermeier, 738 F.2d 188, 192 (7th Cir.1984). 29 758 F.2d 251, 257 (8th Cir.1985). 30 733 F.2d 559, 571 (8th Cir.1984). 31 Id. 32 676 F.2d 1240, 1244-45 (9th Cir.1982), vacated on other grounds, 461 U.S. 952, 10......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT