Brewster v. Pike
| Decision Date | 13 May 1985 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 80-0131-A,83-0275-A. |
| Citation | 608 F. Supp. 1163 |
| Parties | Joyce H. BREWSTER, Plaintiff, v. G. Wayne PIKE, et al., Defendants. Joyce H. BREWSTER, Plaintiff, v. Buford E. SHOCKLEY, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Virginia |
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Harriet D. Dorsey, Blacksburg, Va., for plaintiff.
James P. Jones, Bristol, Va., Kenneth W. Thorson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Richmond, Va., for defendants.
FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
This discrimination case is before the court upon remand from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit directing this court to prepare written findings of fact and conclusions of law. On April 4, 1983, this court entered a bench opinion in the above cases finding that the plaintiff was entitled to relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Due to the length of time which has expired and the many volumes of evidence in this case, this court entered an Order directing the plaintiff and the defendants to submit proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. In addition, the court has reviewed the briefs filed in the appellate court.
Upon consideration of what has occurred in this case since the original bench opinion, the court notes that much clarification and correction is warranted. Many issues were raised in the Court of Appeals which were not addressed at all by this court. Further, this court made certain rulings which appear to have been based upon an improper assumption and are, therefore, in error. Other errors of the court and counsel, coupled with the case law that has developed since the trial, necessitate a thorough review of each aspect of the case to bring order to the action.
Initially, the court must correct an error that arose out of the confusion as to which party was the appellant in this case. The court was under the impression that defendants were the appellants and entered an Order on July 13, 1983, directing appellants to order a transcript of the entire hearing and to bear the cost of its preparation. The state defendants apparently shared the court's mistaken view and sought to be relieved of the duty to pay for the transcript. Despite the confusion, it was always the intention of the court that the appellant should pay for the transcript of the trial. Upon return of the case from the Fourth Circuit, this court learned that Joyce H. Brewster was the appellant. Therefore, in accordance with the previous Orders, the court shall direct the plaintiff-appellant to reimburse the state defendants for the cost of the transcript.
In the bench opinion of April 4, 1983, the court stated as follows:
You've each agreed that I should consider the two sex-discrimination claims, that is the claim under the Equal Pay Act and the case of actual sexual discrimination under what I refer to as the Burdine test. Probably, it should be more clearly called the McDonnell-Douglas test because it began with McDonnell-Douglas Corporation v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973).
In the Court of Appeals, the plaintiff-appellant alleged that this court erred in not considering a different standard of proof in the Equal Pay Act Case. This contention is absolutely correct and had this been called to the court's attention, it would never have rendered a bench opinion. The plaintiff may well have waived this argument; however, it is grossly unfair to this plaintiff, who has been treated very unfairly by the state in this case and throughout, to be the victim of a misunderstanding on the part of the court and counsel. The court, therefore, is of the opinion that, in order to be fair to the plaintiff, it should now consider the equal pay claim separately and under standards different from those of the Title VII case.
In the bench opinion and throughout the prior proceedings in this court, the court did not rule on the contention made by the defendants that a deputy sheriff, which the plaintiff claimed to be, is not an "employee" within the meaning of either the Equal Pay Act or Title VII. While the court discussed the issue at some length in a memorandum opinion entered earlier in this case, no final ruling was made. This issue, however, has now been presented and argued in the briefs in the Fourth Circuit and warrants further review in light of more recent cases.
The relationship between a sheriff and a deputy sheriff, which has great bearing on this issue, has been considered and ruled on by this court and Judge Kiser in the Western District of Virginia since this case. Thus, the court is of the opinion that it should rule on this important issue.
With regard to attorney's fees, the decision in Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983), decided since this case, clarified the appropriate considerations where such fees are awarded. Assuming that, at the conclusion of the case, the judgment is still in favor of the plaintiff, the attorney's fees should be considered in light of Hensley v. Eckerhart.
Furthermore, this case was decided based upon the court's interpretation of Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527, 101 S.Ct. 1908, 68 L.Ed.2d 420 (1981), which has been the subject of numerous interpretations including two en banc decisions by the Fourth Circuit. In view of these more recent interpretations of Parratt v. Taylor, this court will now reconsider the question of liability under Section 1983.
The court will, therefore, be discussing issues beyond those which were considered in the bench opinion rendered at the conclusion of the trial in this case.
The Plaintiff, Joyce H. Brewster, became an employee of the Wythe County Sheriff's Department in June, 1968, and remained with the Sheriff's Department until December 31, 1979. Until 1974, plaintiff was employed as a secretary and her duties were entirely secretarial in nature. Subsequently, plaintiff began to combine her secretarial duties with those of a matron. In the spring of 1974, having completed correctional officers' training school, plaintiff was appointed to the position of deputy sheriff and was relieved of her secretarial duties. She worked full-time in the jail as a corrections officer until December 31, 1979.
During the plaintiff's tenure with the Wythe County Sheriff's Department, plaintiff's salary, as well as that of all full-time deputies, was determined ultimately and solely by the State Compensation Board, with the Commonwealth of Virginia paying two-thirds of this amount. The remaining one-third was paid by the county in which the deputy sheriff was employed, through its elected Board of Supervisors. The Board of Supervisors and the State Compensation Board based their decisions upon recommendations made by the Sheriff. The Sheriff had the right to appeal to state court a decision of the State Compensation Board. Likewise, the county Board of Supervisors had the right to appeal an adverse decision regarding county employees. The particular employee, however, did not have any redress under the law. Thus, a deputy sheriff could not file suit against the State Compensation Board when pay was denied. Unless the Sheriff or Board of Supervisors took up the cause by going to court, a deputy sheriff was left without a remedy. Although the Sheriff controlled the manner of execution of duties by appointees and had the exclusive power to hire and fire, new positions had to be approved by the Board of Supervisors and, ultimately, by the State Compensation Board. Thus, opportunities for advancement were dependent upon the Sheriff, the Board of Supervisors, and the State Compensation Board who were all, collectively, Mrs. Brewster's employer.
As early as June 18, 1974, Sheriff Shockley certified that Mrs. Brewster devoted more than fifty percent of her time to the duties of corrections officer. Under the applicable standards, such a person should be paid as a corrections officer. Each subsequent year, Sheriff Shockley continued this certification. Nevertheless, the Board of Supervisors and the Compensation Board refused to accept this certification or to reclassify the plaintiff and pay her accordingly until July 1, 1977. When she was reclassified, Mrs. Brewster was not given credit for her previous years of service as a full-time corrections officer. She was, therefore, paid on a scale several steps below the level she would have reached by 1977 had she been reclassified in 1975. This formed the primary basis for the plaintiff's lawsuit.
The court finds that prior to 1977, the plaintiff was the only corrections officer assigned to female prisoners, that she worked forty hours per week on a regular shift, and that she was on call twenty-four hours a day. Her duties required the same skills, effort, and responsibility as that of a male corrections officer. In addition, the plaintiff was subject to the rules, regulations, and personnel policies applicable to all other county employees, including uniform policies regarding vacations, sick leave, promotions, and pay scales. While male corrections officers generally cared for male inmates, she also cared for juvenile offenders and, occasionally, for male prisoners. The plaintiff also searched prisoners at the jail, transported prisoners, served as chief jailer when necessary, and was called upon to handle violent prisoners. She handled mail and kept jail records for all prisoners. Like the male correction officers, she spent one hundred percent of her time fulfilling the duties of a corrections officer. The plaintiff was on call at all times and actually worked more hours than was normal for male corrections officers.
It is undisputed that Mrs. Brewster's duties remained the same from 1975 through 1979. No change in her duties occurred in July, 1977, when she was reclassified. The court finds that there is no credible evidence tending to show that the plaintiff devoted less than fifty percent of her...
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