Brown v. Delta Air Lines, Inc.

• Decision Date: 31 December 1980
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 76-H-1963.
• Citation: 522 F. Supp. 1218
• Parties: Ronald W. BROWN, Plaintiff, v. DELTA AIR LINES, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas

522 F. Supp. 1218

Ronald W. BROWN, Plaintiff, v. DELTA AIR LINES, INC., Defendant.

Civ. A. No. 76-H-1963.

United States District Court, S. D. Texas, Houston Division.

December 31, 1980.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Gordon Cooper, Houston, Tex., for plaintiff.

Richard R. Brann, James T. McCartt, Baker & Botts, Houston, Tex., Gregory L. Riggs, Atlanta, Ga., for defendant.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

CARL O. BUE, Jr., District Judge.

Introduction

Plaintiff, Ronald Brown, a black male, brought this employment discrimination action pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (1978), and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (1974), on behalf of himself and, pursuant to Rule 23(a) and 23(b)(2), Fed.R.Civ.P., on behalf of all other Blacks who have been discriminated against by the defendant, Delta Air Lines, Inc. On February 22, 1980, the Court provisionally certified a class consisting of:

Delta employees in the Stations Department at Houston Intercontinental Airport —i. e., all Delta employees at Houston Intercontinental except those in the Maintenance, In-Flight Service, Flight Operations and Stores Departments.

Order, Brown v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., H-76-1963 (S.D.Tex. February 22, 1980). By Order of June 27, 1980, the Court excluded rejected applicants from the class.¹

The cause was tried to the Court without a jury from August 5 to August 22, 1980. At the conclusion of the evidence on liability, the Court requested additional briefing by the parties and took the case under advisement. Pursuant to Rule 52, Fed.R. Civ.P., the Court hereby enters its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law detailing the reasons for its conclusion that plaintiff has failed to sustain his burden of proving that he or the plaintiff class has been discriminated against by defendant on the basis of race, and that as a consequence the defendant should prevail.

II. Findings of Fact

A. Ronald W. Brown's Individual Claim

1. Plaintiff, Ronald W. Brown, is a black male citizen of the United States and a resident of Houston, Harris County, Texas.

2. Defendant, Delta Air Lines, Inc., is a duly incorporated organization, authorized to do business within the State of Texas, and is an employer within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e (1978).

3. Plaintiff Brown initially was hired by defendant on or about October 9, 1972, as a Customer Service Agent (hereinafter CSA) at the Houston Stations Department of the defendant. Testimony of Ronald Brown; Testimony of Dale Harper; Defendant's Exhibits 1, 14. Plaintiff's duties as a CSA assigned in the ramp services area included the following: preparing the ramp area for flight arrival; separating cargo by type and destination; performing service checks on support equipment and vehicles; inserting and removing wheel chucks and gear-lock pins; unloading and loading cargo manually and with loading systems; observing loading restrictions and limitations; delivering and transferring cargo to customers, other flights and airlines; and performing additional related assignments when necessary. Testimony of Ronald Brown; Defendant's Exhibit 9c.

At certain times throughout his employment as a CSA, plaintiff was assigned to work in the cabin services area of the defendant, where his duties included the interior cleaning of aircraft cabins, the replenishing of depleted supplies on the aircraft, as well as the servicing of water and lavatory facilities. Testimony of Ronald Brown; Defendant's Exhibit 9c. Also for a short period of time, plaintiff was assigned to work on the load desk in the operation services area. Plaintiff's duties on the load desk included the calculation of take-off weight data, and the teletype transmission of operational and maintenance messages. Testimony of Ronald Brown; Defendant's Exhibit 9c.

4. Defendant employs a policy of evaluating its employees on a periodic basis. In defendant's Standard Practice Guide, defendant has delineated a formalized evaluation process, complete with standardized forms and accompanied by instructions for their use. Testimony of Dale Harper; Testimony of Ronald Brown; Defendant's Exhibits 6, 7.

5. During his employment with the defendant, the plaintiff was evaluated formally by his supervisors on numerous occasions. The evaluations received by plaintiff reflect that the quality of the plaintiff's work performance was somewhat erratic. Testimony of Dale Harper; Testimony of A. C. Pickert; Defendant's Exhibit 1. Initially his work performance was acceptable, and on several occasions plaintiff received the commendations of his supervisors. Testimony of Ronald Brown; Testimony of Dale Harper; Testimony of A. C. Pickert; Testimony of William Cannon; Defendant's Exhibit 1. At other times, however, plaintiff's work performance was unsatisfactory. Testimony of Dale Harper; Testimony of A. C. Pickert; Testimony of Harry Foster; Testimony of Louis Casinger. The testimony elicited at trial, together with plaintiff's periodic performance evaluations, reveals that his potential for advancement with defendant was recognized, but also that he often was criticized for lack of attention to his duties, unwillingness to cooperate with supervisors and fellow employees, inability to accept constructive criticism, and of the utmost concern to the defendant, plaintiff's record of absenteeism.² Testimony of Dale Harper; Testimony of A. C. Pickert; Testimony of Louis Casinger; Testimony of Harry Foster; Defendant's Exhibit 1.

6. On numerous occasions throughout his employment, plaintiff was counseled by his supervisors concerning his job performance. He repeatedly was encouraged to improve his performance and after each counseling session, the plaintiff's performance would improve noticeably. Soon thereafter, however, the quality of plaintiff's performance would deteriorate and become erratic once again. Testimony of Dale Harper; Testimony of A. C. Pickert; Defendant's Exhibit 1.

7. Defendant employs a policy of attempting to fill vacancies with qualified persons already employed by the defendant. Testimony of Dale Harper; Testimony of R. E. Ealey; Defendant's Exhibit 4. In implementing this policy and in making the determination as to which applicants are the best qualified, the defendant consults the applicant's personnel records and supervisors. Accordingly, an applicant's work performance and attendance records are very important. Testimony of Dale Harper; Testimony of R. E. Ealey; Defendant's Exhibit 4.

8. On a number of occasions plaintiff submitted requests for promotions to various positions within the defendant.³ Plaintiff became aware of these openings through a company procedure by which all openings within the defendant are posted in its various offices throughout the country. Testimony of Ronald Brown; Testimony of Dale Harper; Testimony of R. E. Ealey; Defendant's Exhibit 45.

9. Although occasionally plaintiff was afforded the opportunity to travel at defendant's expense to Atlanta to interview for vacant positions, plaintiff's requests for promotions always were denied. Testimony of Ronald Brown; Testimony of Dale Harper.

10. The decisions not to promote plaintiff always were made by defendant's management personnel. Based on plaintiff's periodic evaluations, plaintiff's personnel file, and the observations by various supervisors of the plaintiff, defendant's management personnel concluded that plaintiff lacked the necessary qualities and skills to merit promotion. Testimony of Dale Harper; Testimony of A. C. Pickert; Testimony of R. E. Ealey; Defendant's Exhibit 1. As previously indicated, the quality of plaintiff's work performance was erratic and his attendance record was substandard. Refer to Findings 5, 6.

11. Plaintiff, believing that he and his fellow black co-workers were being denied promotions and were being treated discriminatorily and harassed, filed a Charge of Discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (hereinafter EEOC), on January 26, 1976. Plaintiff's Exhibit 1. On August 31, 1976, the EEOC issued its "Notice of Right to Sue Within 90 Days". Plaintiff's Exhibit 5.

12. From January 26 through April 16, 1976, defendant was absent from work due to the recurring effects of an injury that the plaintiff had sustained on a prior occasion while in the defendant's employ. Testimony of Ronald Brown; Testimony of Dale Harper; Defendant's Exhibit 1. From his return to work on April 17 until the time of his final evaluation on June 3, 1976, plaintiff had worked a total of 28 days for the year 1976. Testimony of Dale Harper; Defendant's Exhibit 1.

13. On June 3, 1976, Glyn Grimes, plaintiff's immediate supervisor for the period from April 17 to June 3, conducted an evaluation of plaintiff's work performance. In that evaluation, Mr. Grimes noted that "continued good work habits will lead to promotion as a Senior Customer Service Agent." Testimony of Glyn Grimes; Defendant's Exhibit 1. Shortly after the evaluation on June 3, Mr. Grimes recommended that plaintiff be considered for promotion to Senior CSA. Upon receiving Mr. Grimes' recommendation, Mr. Harper, defendant's Houston Station Manager, conducted a survey among several of plaintiff's supervisors to determine the accuracy of the June 3 evaluation and the subsequent recommendation.⁴ Testimony of Dale Harper; Defendant's Exhibit 1. The survey reflected that none of the plaintiff's supervisors, including Mr. Grimes, were particularly enthusiastic concerning plaintiff's promotability at that time. Testimony of Dale Harper; Testimony of Glyn Grimes; Testimony of Louis Casinger; Testimony of William Cannon; Testimony of Harry Foster; Defendant's Exhibit 1. The fact that plaintiff had worked a total of 33 days during 1976, coupled with the negative comments from plaintiff's supervisors, prompted Mr. Harper to inform the plaintiff that he would be considered for a promotion if he could...