Brady v. Thurston Motor Lines

Decision Date18 January 1984
Docket NumberNo. 82-1238,82-1238
Parties33 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1370, 33 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 34,077 Randy BRADY; James Williams; M. Fox; Jerry Hunter; Francis Pendergrass; Lacy Monds; Cris Watkins; Curtiss Crawford and Lorenzo Mosely, Appellees, v. THURSTON MOTOR LINES, a corporation, Appellant.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

W.T. Cranfill, Jr., Charlotte, N.C. (J.W. Alexander, Jr., Blakeney, Alexander & Machen, Charlotte, N.C., on brief), for appellant.

Michael A. Sheely, Charlotte, N.C., for appellees.

Before WIDENER and PHILLIPS, Circuit Judges, and BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge.

BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge:

This case returns to us from a remand to the district court. Brady v. Thurston Motor Lines, Inc., 673 F.2d 1306 (4th Cir.1982) (unpublished). The district court had ruled that Thurston Motor Lines, Inc., had engaged in discriminatory employment practices against black employees at its terminal in Charlotte, North Carolina, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e, et seq., and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1981. We remanded the case with instructions to clarify the allocation of the burden of proof in light of Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981), which was decided after the court's entry of judgment. The district court then amended its judgment to specify the burden of proof it imposed on each of the parties. 532 F.Supp. 893.

We affirm the judgment on all issues save two. In summary, we hold: (1) the district court properly allocated the burden of proof between the parties; (2) its findings are entitled to review under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52(a); (3) the judgment that Thurston discriminated against Randy Brady, Jerry Hunter, Michael Fox, Francis Pendergrass, and James Williams is affirmed; (4) the judgment that Thurston discriminated against Curtiss Crawford is reversed; (5) lack of claimants has mooted the issue of class certification dealing with initial job placement; in all other respects the judgment pertaining to the class is affirmed; and (6) the court did not abuse its discretion in ordering injunctive relief or in awarding attorneys' fees. We deny the employees' motion to strike a portion of the appendix submitted by Thurston.

I

As a preliminary matter, Thurston raises two objections to the judgment entered on remand. First, it argues that the district court's modification of its order neither satisfied the mandate of this court nor adhered to Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981). Second, Thurston urges that the findings of fact entered by the district court cannot be reviewed under the "clearly erroneous" standard of Rule 52(a) but rather are subject to the "careful scrutiny" of EEOC v. Federal Reserve Bank, 698 F.2d 633, 641 (4th Cir.1983), cert. granted sub nom. Cooper v. Federal Reserve Bank, --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 334, 78 L.Ed.2d 305 (1983).

In response to our remand, the district court reviewed the evidence against Thurston and its notes of the trial. It then amended its judgment to reflect more clearly the method of proof it used. The district court wrote that it "did not put any burden of proof upon the defendant, but did require the plaintiff to sustain the burden of proof as to every essential element of the claim of each plaintiff and the claims of the class (emphasis in original). It added that the "defendant has had no burden of persuasion " and that the "plaintiffs on every issue in this case have always had the burden of proof."

After the district court concluded its proceedings on remand, the Supreme Court announced its decision in U.S. Postal Service v. Aikens, --- U.S. ----, 103 S.Ct. 1478, 75 L.Ed.2d 403 (1983). In that case, the Court noted that the ultimate factual question in an employment discrimination case is simply " 'whether the defendant intentionally discriminated against the plaintiff.' " 103 S.Ct. at 1482. The plaintiff has the burden of persuading the court to believe his own explanation of the employer's motivation in making an employment decision. As in any case, however, the plaintiff may prove his claim by direct or circumstantial evidence. 103 S.Ct. at 1481 n. 3.

The district court's analysis of the evidence and its imposition of the burden of proof are consistent with the principles explained in Aikens and Burdine. On remand, it has complied with our mandate.

Thurston's second contention, that the district court's findings of fact are not entitled to review under Rule 52(a), is without merit. Thurston relies on our recent decision in Federal Reserve to support its argument. In that case, the district court itself actually made no findings of fact as that term is used in Rule 52(a). Rather, the district court in its original Memorandum of Decision confined itself to a "purely conclusory statement ... of ultimate fact" and directed counsel for the plaintiff to submit proposed findings of subsidiary facts. 698 F.2d at 640. We held that, where a district court's findings of fact are the result of such a "one-sided" presentation of the evidence, the findings will be subject to "careful scrutiny" on review. 698 F.2d at 640-41.

Here, in contrast, the district court demonstrated that its findings of fact were the result of an independent and impartial inquiry. First, its original Memorandum of Decision contains a detailed discussion of the individual claims made without findings proposed by plaintiffs' counsel. While the discussion of class relief was more general, the decision as a whole is far more than a purely conclusory statement of ultimate fact.

Moreover, presentation of facts to the district court was not one-sided. Unlike the procedure followed in Federal Reserve, the district court asked for proposed findings of fact from both parties before entering its judgment. Thurston was given an opportunity to press its views upon the court by submitting extensive proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law.

In addition, the district court on remand re-examined its findings of fact and conclusions of law. It supplemented its findings with respect to the class and to each named plaintiff. In contrast to Federal Reserve, appellate review is now concerned with the record as supplemented by the proceedings on remand.

II

Thurston is a large interstate trucking firm which transports a variety of commodities. All plaintiffs worked at its terminal. They were among the more than 400 persons employed by Thurston there at any given time during the period in question--January 1, 1973, to May 31, 1977. The terminal is a large warehouse with 80 freight doors on 3 sides of the building. Warehousemen load and unload trucks largely by hand or with the aid of dollies and fork-lifts. They are supervised by line foremen, who in turn answer to supervisors. The terminal manager is the ultimate authority at the terminal.

The terminal also employs a number of clerical workers. Among these are OS & D (overage, shortage, and damage) clerks, whose job it is to locate and handle certain types of freight. Others are billing, rating, tracing, and general office clerks. Thurston employs a number of truck drivers. These include switchers, who switch cabs to trailers and back trucks into the freight doors, city drivers, and trip-rate or long-distance drivers.

Eighty-one percent (87 of 107) of all black employees hired at the terminal between January 1, 1973, and May 31, 1977, were placed as warehousemen. This compares to 48 percent (240 of 500) of all white terminal employees hired during the same period. The evidence also disclosed that 27 percent of all warehousemen hired were black, while only 7 percent of all other terminal hires were black. There were no black supervisors at the terminal before 1974. The ratio of white to black promotions as a percentage of the white and black work forces for the 1973-76 period ranged from a high of 5.7:1 in 1974 to a low of 1.4:1 in 1973. At no time during the years in question were the proportions either equal or in favor of black employees. From 1973 to 1976, 13 white employees were transferred to clerical positions, compared with no black employees. Over the same period, 14 white employees became driver-trainees, while only 1 black employee entered the program.

There were no written job descriptions or qualifications at Thurston. Only nonsupervisory, nonclerical job openings were posted at the terminal, at least until May 1976. Employees interested in these openings made their bids orally to the supervisors. There was no written system of promotion or transfer. There was apparently only one vague criterion for promotion or transfer: "the best qualified." Who was best qualified was determined on an entirely subjective basis; there was no formal or even informal evaluation system at the terminal. The supervisor's recommendation was necessary for promotion or transfer. All persons responsible for hiring were white, and the supervisory force at the terminal was "basically all white."

There was no written system or guidelines for discipline at the terminal. The type of system used by a foreman, whether progressive warnings or summary termination, differed from person to person. "Common sense" was the only guide to discipline. The court also found that black employees suffered proportionally more involuntary terminations than white employees as a consequence of this system. In 1976, for example, 22.8 percent of the black work force was involuntarily terminated, compared with 13.9 percent of the white work force. The black percentage of involuntary terminations exceeded the white proportion for three of the four years in the 1973-76 period, and the percentages were almost equal in the fourth year. Finally, the court found instances of retaliatory discharges.

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