Bradford v. Sloan Paper Company, Inc., Civ. A. No. 73-G-1098-S.

• Decision Date: 23 July 1974
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 73-G-1098-S.
• Citation: 383 F. Supp. 1157
• Parties: Wilbert BRADFORD and Ronald McCall et al., Plaintiffs, v. SLOAN PAPER COMPANY, INC., a corp., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama

383 F. Supp. 1157

Wilbert BRADFORD and Ronald McCall et al., Plaintiffs, v. SLOAN PAPER COMPANY, INC., a corp., Defendant.

Civ. A. No. 73-G-1098-S.

United States District Court, N. D. Alabama, S. D.

July 23, 1974.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Demetrius C. Newton, Birmingham, Ala., for plaintiffs.

Charles Kelso, Fisher & Phillips, Atlanta, Ga., Richard F. Ogle, Denaburg, Schoel, Meyerson & Ogle, Birmingham, Ala., for defendant.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

GUIN, District Judge.

This is an action by two black former employees of defendant, Sloan Paper Company, Inc., of Birmingham, Alabama. Plaintiffs allege racial discrimination in their employment in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S. C. § 2000e-1 et seq., and in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. § 1981. This court has jurisdiction by virtue of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f), 42 U. S.C. § 1981, and 28 U.S.C. § 1343(4). Jurisdiction and venue are not contested.

Plaintiffs filed charges of racial discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) which investigated the charges and issued its report finding probable cause in favor of the plaintiffs. Conciliation by the commission was unsuccessful, and plaintiffs timely filed this action originally as a class action. The class action allegations have been dismissed by agreement of the parties, and the case now involves only alleged discrimination against the two individual plaintiffs personally.

The five issues in this case involve alleged racial discrimination toward the plaintiffs in (1) wages, (2) promotions, (3) restroom facilities, (4) harassment and disparate discipline, and (5) discharge from employment. It is settled that the question of whether an employer was guilty of discriminatory employment practices is basically one of fact for determination on a case-by-case basis. United States v. H. K. Porter Company, 296 F.Supp. 40 (N.D. Ala.1968). In addition, the burden is on the plaintiff to prove that the defendant's practices stemmed from racial prejudice. Green v. McDonnell-Douglas Corp., 318 F.Supp. 846 (E.D.Mo.1970); Thomas v. Sloan Paper Co., Civil No. 4184-N (N.D.Ala., filed May 2, 1974).

The plaintiffs in this action, Wilbert Bradford and Ronald McCall, both members of the Negro race, allege that they suffered racial discrimination in their employment by defendant, Sloan Paper Company, at its official warehouse in Birmingham, Alabama. Bradford was employed by Sloan on July 1, 1964, as a warehouse worker. He was discharged by Sloan on July 8, 1971. During this time Bradford worked as a warehouse worker and forklift truck driver. McCall was employed by Sloan Paper Company at its Birmingham warehouse on January 19, 1966, as a warehouse handler and stockman and later as a truck driver. He was discharged on October 18, 1972. Other findings of fact will be indicated as pertinent.

The first issue deals with the allegation that plaintiffs were being paid less than whites doing the same work. The court finds that complaint to be unfounded. Since plaintiffs made as much or more than any white warehousemen or drivers at any point in time, the only possible reference could be to Horace Ramey, the assistant manager at the time plaintiffs were employed. It is admitted that Ramey, who had worked at Sloan for less time than plaintiffs, received higher wages than either Bradford or McCall. However, the circumstances involved in the determination of the salary of Ramey included more than just the fact that he is white. Before going to work for Sloan, Ramey was employed with another paper company where he acquired experience in the type of work that he does at Sloan. Furthermore, he was hired as assistant warehouse manager which in itself entails greater responsibility and thus justifies higher wages. Bradford and McCall may not have known of Ramey's position at the time of their employment, and Ramey may have been engaged in the same basic type of work they were; but he was, nonetheless, the assistant manager, and was entitled to wages commensurate with that position.

Plaintiffs' second contention is that racial discrimination was the basis for their not being promoted ahead of white employees. Plaintiff Bradford also complains that racial bias was inherent in Sloan's failure to give him the job of salesman, which he sought. It is true that plaintiffs were not promoted to the position of assistant warehouse manager. It is also true that Horace Ramey, a white man who had no prior experience with Sloan Paper Company, was hired as assistant warehouse manager. However, Ramey had worked for four years with the Graham Paper Company, serving as assistant warehouse manager for at least a portion of that period. Furthermore, the employers at Sloan were apparently of the opinion that the assistant warehouse manager there needed to be one who was forceful and aggressive and who would be able to "sweat his labor." Whether those qualifications were necessary or not is certainly debatable, but that Ramey possessed these qualities is beyond question.

It should also be noted that there were other blacks employed, with even more seniority than either plaintiff, who would have been in an even better position for promotion than Bradford or McCall. Since the issues of this case are limited to the named plaintiffs, it is incongruous that they should claim racial discrimination because they were not promoted ahead of all other employees, including other blacks. Since the discharge of Bradford and McCall, Ramey has been promoted to warehouse manager and a black long-time employee, Bernard Cargle, has been assigned the position of assistant warehouse manager. Certainly Cargle was much more in line for the position than either Bradford or McCall at the time Ramey was hired. The court finds that there was no discrimination involved in the failure to promote either plaintiff to the position of assistant warehouse manager.

Nor is there any evidence to indicate that plaintiff Bradford was qualified for the position of salesman. Bradford's qualifications consisted of experience in selling insurance for a year before working for Sloan, apparently unsuccessfully, and education at the Sales Training Institute in Birmingham. The training he received from the institute was obtained on a part-time basis through classroom work and correspondence. He completed his training in one and one-half years and actually did not graduate until after his discharge by Sloan. These qualifications were not sufficient to justify Bradford's complaint that racial discrimination was the real basis for his not receiving the salesman's job.

The third issue is concerned with alleged segregation of restroom facilities at Sloan Paper Company. The court finds no basis for this allegation. In the new Sloan warehouse there are two restrooms, one marked "men" and the other marked "women." It is undisputed that during the brief time that a female employee worked in the warehouse she used the women's restroom and all the men, regardless of race, used the men's restroom. There is no evidence that any blacks at all, much less either Bradford or McCall, were ever instructed to use only the men's restroom. The evidence reveals that all employees were to use the women's restroom if the men's room was occupied. The evidence also shows that members of both races did in fact use both restrooms.

The fourth issue propounded by plaintiffs is that they received harassment and disparate discipline because of their race. Both plaintiffs claim they were forced to work without helpers in some jobs that white employees generally had help in. Plaintiffs also assert that they and other blacks were forced to work harder than whites. The court finds that, while plaintiffs did suffer mistreatment, it was not directed against them because of their race. Other employees, including James "Rick" Sweeney and Bobby J. Woodall, both white, felt that they were overworked and harassed. Sweeney and Woodall both quit as a result of these abuses, largely from Horace Ramey.

Plaintiffs' complaints in this regard may not be valid, but they are real. The problem seems to lie more with Ramey and his personality than with racial prejudice. As indicated, Ramey was prone to "sweat his labor" and was hired in part for his aggressive coercive abilities to extract work from the laborers. It is admitted that Ramey drove them all hard. It is also admitted that Ramey has a very quick temper and even engaged in threats of physical violence to the plaintiff McCall. Ramey's actions are in large part indefensible and unwarranted, but they are not founded in racial bias. He was equally offensive to members of both races.

We now come to the fifth and major issue, which deals with the discharge of Bradford and McCall. Wilbert Bradford was fired July 8, 1971, after an argument with Horace Ramey. Bradford had been instructed by Ramey to help Bobby Woodall, a white employee who was getting up orders of paper for Sloan's customers. Bradford began bickering and arguing, stating how much work he could do compared to the other employees. When Bradford made no effort to begin work, even after several opportunities, Ramey "punched his time card" and Bradford was fired.

Bradford insists that he did not know that Ramey was the assistant warehouse manager at the time he was discharged and thus did not want to take orders from Ramey until he was so informed. While the evidence supports the position taken by the management at Sloan that Bradford should have known, the court finds that Bradford did not in fact know that Ramey was his supervisor. No notice was posted concerning Ramey's position; nor were the employees so informed, either by Mr. Pollitt, the manager at Sloan, or by Mr. Blankenship, the warehouse manager. However, when Ramey was promoted to warehouse manager on November 17, 1971, a notice was placed in the warehouse announcing that fact. Thus, the court finds...