Brooks v. Ashtabula County Welfare Dept.

• Decision Date: 07 May 1981
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. C78-62Y.
• Citation: 535 F. Supp. 366
• Parties: Irene BROOKS, Plaintiff, v. ASHTABULA COUNTY WELFARE DEPARTMENT, Ashtabula County Commissioners, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio

535 F. Supp. 366

Irene BROOKS, Plaintiff, v. ASHTABULA COUNTY WELFARE DEPARTMENT, Ashtabula County Commissioners, Defendants.

Civ. A. No. C78-62Y.

United States District Court, N. D. Ohio, E. D.

May 7, 1981.

Kathryn J. King, Alan I. Goodman, Cleveland, Ohio, for plaintiff.

Mark S. Gervelis, Asst. Prosecutor, Jefferson, Ohio, Malcolm C. Douglas, Cleveland, Ohio, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ANN ALDRICH, District Judge.

This action was brought by the plaintiff Irene Brooks against the defendants Ashtabula County Welfare Department, the Ashtabula County Commissioners, and the Department of State Personnel,¹ alleging sex discrimination in employment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

Ms. Brooks specifically alleges that the Welfare Department has operated and continues to operate under a policy, practice, custom, or usage of discrimination against her, and against other female employees, on the basis of sex in (1) the terms, conditions and privileges of employment; (2) the assignment of job classifications; and (3) areas of promotion. Brooks further alleges that the County Commissioners have acquiesced in these discriminatory practices to her detriment, and to the detriment of other female employees. She seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, compensatory and punitive damages, and attorney's fees. This Court has jurisdiction.

Upon consideration of the evidence adduced at a two-day trial, stipulations, and briefs of the parties, the Court finds that the defendant Department's policies and practices with regard to the terms, conditions and privileges of employment; job assignments and classifications; and advancement and promotional opportunities are discriminatory on the basis of sex, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and also 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Further, the Court finds that the Ashtabula County Commissioners have acquiesced in these discriminatory practices.

FINDINGS OF FACT

I

The Ashtabula County Welfare Department (Department) is under the control of the Ashtabula County Commissioners (Commissioners), pursuant to the provisions of Ohio Revised Code §§ 329.01-329.05. The Department is the body authorized to provide social services to the residents of Ashtabula County including general relief, aid for the aged, aid to dependent children, aid for the disabled, the food stamp program, medicaid, and other specialized programs. The Department is administered by John H. Koren, who has the ultimate responsibility for hiring and promotional decisions. When Koren became the Director in 1959, there were 10 employees in the Department; by 1970, there were 43; and the Department had 74 employees at the time of trial.

Plaintiff Irene Brooks was first employed by the Department on May 1, 1963, and was certified as a Caseworker I on January 15, 1964, at a salary of $330 per month. She had completed over three years toward her college degree, and had three years' experience as a school teacher. Brooks was classified as a Caseworker II in 1964, and in 1967 she was a Caseworker III. Neither of these classifications was at the supervisory level.

When the State of Ohio modified certain of its social services procedures in 1969, case work in the Department was divided between an Intake Section and an Ongoing Section. Brooks was assigned to the Intake Section. Her new duties included processing applications for the various services provided by the Department, and determining eligibility on a periodic basis. Brooks' responsibilities have remained fairly constant since 1969, although her position has since been reclassified by the State of Ohio.

Brooks made requests for a supervisory promotion during the late 1960s; however, Koren advised her to complete the requirements for her college degree. This was despite the fact that Caseworker IV was the supervisory classification for those caseworkers without college degrees. In 1970, Thomas Schullery became Brooks' supervisor and requested her to train and supervise new employees, including caseworkers and some Social Workers who had college degrees. These additional responsibilities were assumed by Brooks at the same time that she carried on her usual duties, and without additional compensation. Brooks made additional requests for promotions through Schullery, who had begun evaluating Brooks' performance and had found her to be a very good employee. Between 1970 and 1973 Schullery, on several occasions, recommended Brooks for promotion to Caseworker IV, but Koren informed him that there were several other people Koren wanted to promote first. Once it became obvious to Schullery that Brooks would not be promoted, he relieved her of her training and supervisory responsibilities.

Additional evidence of the promotion policies and practices of the Department was presented by Brooks.² The witness Judy Beahon (Van Allen), a female with an undergraduate degree in Social Work, was hired by the Department in June, 1969 as a Social Worker I, Step 1, Range 16. In January, 1970, Thomas Schullery, a male with an undergraduate degree in Bible Studies, was hired in the same classification. Schullery became the Supervisor of the Intake Section in May 1970; and he and Beahon were classified and paid equally in January 1971. However, by July 1971, Beahon was a Social Worker II, Step 2, Range 18; and Schullery was a Social Worker III,³ Step 2, Range 21, with a higher salary. By December 1972, Beahon was at her same classification while Schullery moved up to Social Worker IV, Step 2, where he remained until his resignation in 1975. Openings for the positions of Social Worker III and IV, to which Schullery was promoted, were never posted or otherwise announced to the staff.

Paul Fuller was another male who began with the Department after Beahon was hired, with the same rank, unit, and duties as Beahon. Between 1970 and 1974, Fuller advanced from Social Worker I to Social Worker IV;⁴ and in 1973, he was promoted to Supervisor of the new Social Services Unit. There was no posting for this new unit, nor were there postings or competitive examinations for Fuller's position. His promotion was announced, after it was known, at a staff meeting as a result of questioning by other employees.

Beahon's uncontraverted testimony was that she possessed the minimum qualifications for a supervisory position, that she requested promotions, by letter, in 1973, but that Koren never responded.

During the years 1970 through 1975, there were no female employees, in a non-clerical category, with the title, compensation, and duties of supervisor. Koren contends that throughout his tenure female employees have held supervisory positions, commencing with a Mrs. Osborn, who acted as a "working supervisor"⁵ in the late 1960s. He also named Mrs. Kaufman and Mrs. Zalemini. Other witnesses, however, testified that these women never supervised anyone. Kaufman had the title Intake Supervisor, but this is the position Schullery took over in May 1970, and he testified that he supervised Kaufman, although she was classified as a Caseworker IV. Zalemini was in the Medicaid Unit, and there was testimony that she was the only one in the unit for a period of time prior to 1973.

The parties stipulated that during the 1970 through 1975 period, the Department did not post job vacancies, including those at a supervisory level. Moreover, there was no table of organization to show the supervisory chain of command; the number of potential positions at various levels; those positions designated as supervisory, and the numbers of positions and/or departments supervised by those persons in supervisory positions. There also was no policy or procedure for competitive bidding or examinations for promotional vacancies. It was Koren's testimony that the Department has never posted announcements for promotions into supervisory positions because he viewed those decisions as management's prerogative. Although he was aware that the Ohio Administrative Rules required merit selection of employees, Koren viewed those requirements as "recommendations" only.

Supervisors were never required to make written evaluations of the employees on a regular basis. Those evaluations that were written usually were not placed in the employees' files, and were not relied on by Koren when he made promotional decisions. Instead, Koren relied on his personal evaluation of the individuals, using standards established by him. He articulated those standards for supervisory qualifications as including: (1) minimum qualifications as contained in the job specifications provided by the State of Ohio; (2) a positive outlook toward one's fellow man; (3) the ability to absorb rules and regulations; (4) the ability to take and give instructions; (5) the ability to get along with one's fellow man; and (6) an understanding of human need. Koren explained that these standards were not contained in any written documents, but were maintained in his head, and were uniformly and consistently applied by him whenever he made the decision to promote a given employee into a supervisory position.

With regard to Brooks, Koren denied that Schullery had ever recommended her for promotion. However, he did acknowledge that Brooks wrote him letters asking why she was never promoted. He explained that, in his judgment, Brooks was abrasive and judgmental in her attitude; and that she had engendered complaints from other agencies, lawyers, doctors, co-workers, and clients. He also felt that she had a propensity for making arbitrary moral judgments with respect to welfare clients. On cross examination, however, Koren admitted that there was no record of any complaint from any source in Brooks' personnel file. There was also no evidence that Koren ever discussed any complaints or problems with Brooks. Further, Koren did receive favorable evaluations from Schullery,...