Brown v. State of Tenn.

• Decision Date: 18 November 1982
• Docket Number: No. 81-5369,81-5369
• Citation: 693 F.2d 600
• Parties: 30 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 459, 30 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 33,155 Herbert E. BROWN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. STATE OF TENNESSEE, Tennessee Department of Human Services, Sammie Lynn Puett, Commissioner, Defendants, Tennessee Department of Human Services, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 600

693 F.2d 600

30 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 459,

30 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 33,155

Herbert E. BROWN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. STATE OF TENNESSEE, Tennessee Department of Human Services Sammie Lynn Puett, Commissioner, Defendants Tennessee Department of Human Services, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 81-5369.

United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit.

Argued June 14, 1982.

Decided Nov. 18, 1982.

William M. Leech, Jr., Atty. Gen. of Tennessee, Melinda J. Branscomb, Asst. Atty. Gen., Nashville, Tenn., for defendant-appellant.

Saul Kay, Memphis, Tenn., for plaintiff-appellee.

Before LIVELY and JONES, Circuit Judges, and CECIL, Senior Circuit Judge.

NATHANIEL R. JONES, Circuit Judge.

The State of Tennessee appeals the judgment for plaintiff in this Title VII sex discrimination case alleging discriminatory failure to promote Herbert Brown to the level of his female co-workers. Though affirming the primary findings of fact by the district court, we reverse because as a matter of law the district court findings establish an unrebutted legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for the dissimilar treatment of Mr. Brown.

I.

Herbert Brown is presently and at all relevant times was employed by the State of Tennessee Department of Human Services. He was hired by the state as a senior account clerk in April 1976 in a branch office administering the food stamp program in Shelby County, Tennessee. His job duties required Brown to issue food stamps ¹ as well as to supervise the other issuers in the office. Of the nearly twenty issuing clerks and supervisors in the greater Memphis, Tennessee area, Mr. Brown was the lone male.

Upon each hiring, promotion or demotion, employees automatically serve six months probation. Work is evaluated and probation may be extended but not beyond one year. Brown's probation was extended three months due to a high error rate. His nine-month probation ended in January 1977 when his performance was evaluated as marginal and in need of improvement. His error rate was the principal cause. Due to his evaluation, Brown was demoted from his position of senior account clerk to clerk II, which relieved him of his supervisory duties and triggered another six-month probation, effective February 1, 1977.

Late in January, a weekend break-in occurred at Brown's office which Brown discovered when he arrived at work the following Monday morning. He testified that his cancelled ATP cards for the prior Friday, as well as those of one co-worker, were stolen. A state witness disputed whether any of his co-workers' cards were purloined. The effect of the theft was an inability to reconcile Brown's account for the prior business day. The ATP cards had been cancelled and thus were of no street value.

The state did not call in the police and instead concentrated their investigation of the break-in internally. Several employees, including Brown, were interrogated and were requested to take a polygraph test. Brown and a woman employee, Ms. Wadley, refused. Brown testified that he was told by his immediate supervisor that no repercussions would occur if he refused. Brown once again was requested to submit to a polygraph test and again refused. Both Brown and Wadley were suspended pending their termination. ² Ultimately the notice of termination was rescinded. Brown's six-month probationary period, which began February 1, 1977, was extended an additional six months. Wadley was demoted.

Several months later, the State Department of Human Services reorganized and consolidated several employment grades among the issuing clerks. The reorganization amounted to a promotion and the present clerks were given the opportunity to be promoted upon successful completion of an examination and on their supervisor's accepted recommendation based upon work performance. ³ Nineteen clerks were promoted and one clerk who was unsuccessful on the examination was kept on in order to fill the twenty available positions temporarily. The twentieth position was thus technically left unfilled.

Brown was not promoted although his test score was satisfactory. At first, he ascribed his dissimilar treatment to his probationary status. Later he learned that a female issuing clerk, Noel, who was on probation for reasons of a high error rate and excessive tardiness, was taken off probation early and promoted with the original group of nineteen. On receipt of this information, Mr. Brown concluded that his dissimilar treatment resulted from sex discrimination. ⁴

The EEOC found reasonable cause to believe a violation had occurred. It was unsuccessful in conciliating the dispute and issued Brown a right-to-sue letter.

A relatively brief trial took place before Judge Robert McRae. Although he found the earlier automatic probation on demotion was due to Mr. Brown's error rate, Judge McRae found that the suspension and recommendation for termination, which were later rescinded, were mainly for failing to take the polygraph. Brown was qualified for the promotion since he passed the qualifying test. The court found that his record for job performance, compared to Ms. Noel's record, was not conclusively better or worse. The district court held that there was no legitimate reason to deny Brown what was given to the other employees and that his failure to take the polygraph was "an improper criteria to deprive this man of being reclassified." Appendix at 18. Thus a prima facie case was made, unrebutted by an articulation by the employer of a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason, and judgment was rendered for Brown in a stipulated monetary amount plus attorney's fees and certain ancillary relief.

II.

Both parties argue that a part of the district court findings of fact are clearly erroneous. The state also contends that legal error requires that the verdict be rendered in its favor. The state maintains that Brown did not establish a prima facie case, and Brown argues that the district court did not hold that he was disciplined for his failure to submit to a polygraph test or that if such a finding were made it was erroneous. The state further contends that a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason was established which should have been credited by the court below.

A.

Title VII applies to all discrimination in terms, conditions, privileges and opportunities for employment. See 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-2. "[I]t is abundantly clear that Title VII tolerates no racial discrimination, subtle or otherwise." McDonnell-Douglas v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 801, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1823, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973).

We have applied the four-step McDonnell-Douglas analysis to evaluate the prima facie case of discriminatory failure to promote in Abrams v. Johnson, 534 F.2d 1226, 1230-31 (6th Cir.1976). Accord Sessions v. Rusk State Hospital, 648 F.2d 1066, 1070 (5th Cir.1981); Higgins v. State of Oklahoma ex rel. Oklahoma Employment Security Comm., 642 F.2d 1199, 1201 (10th Cir.1981); see Solo Cup Co. v. Federal Insurance Co., 619 F.2d 1178, 1185-86 (7th Cir.1980).

We agree with Judge J. Skelly Wright, that:

Adjusting the McDonnell formula cases of discriminatory refusal to promote is relatively simple. Thus to make out a prima facie case the plaintiff must show that she belongs to a protected group, that she was qualified for and applied for a promotion, that she was considered for and denied the promotion, and that other employees of similar qualifications who were not members of the protected group were indeed promoted at the time the plaintiff's request for promotion was denied.

Bundy v. Jackson, 641 F.2d 934, 951 (D.C.Cir.1981).

In applying the analysis of McDonnell-Douglas v. Green to the instant promotion case, the state initially disputes the qualifications element of the prima facie case. The state contends that since Brown was on probation at the time of promotion for causes of both his February 1977 demotion and subsequent discipline growing out of the nearly contemporaneous theft, he was not qualified. The district court found that the qualifications for promotion were met by Brown due to his test score and his performance, which was comparable to that of Ms. Noel. ⁵ Noel was also on probation which was scheduled to extend beyond the en masse promotion date, however, she was both removed from probation and promoted on or near the dates of the general promotion. Based on this and other evidence, ⁶ the district court found that Brown's probationary status did not disqualify him for the July 1977 promotion.

The district court resolved conflicting evidence and found that Brown was similarly situated with regard to Noel, the other probationary employee who was promoted. On review of the evidence we have no "definite and firm conviction that an error was made" in finding Brown qualified for the promotion in July 1977. See United States v. U.S. Gypsum Co., 333 U.S. 364, 395, 68 S.Ct. 525, 541, 92 L.Ed. 746 (1948).

The district court held that the state did not articulate a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for the disparate treatment of Mr. Brown. To the contrary, on review of the oral opinion of the district court, we find unmistakable language holding that Brown was not promoted due to his failure to take the polygraph examination. The relevant section of the oral opinion is set out in the margin. ⁷

The inference that the failure to submit to a polygraph test was the cause for discipline draws much support from the record. Plaintiff's attorney established through a director of the Shelby County program, Mr. Bolton, that other than Brown's refusal to take the polygraph examination, he cooperated with the investigation. The Director of Personnel and Training for the Tennessee Department of Human Services, Mr. Chapman, testified that at the time relevant to this action the state held it permissible to discipline an employee for failing to submit to a polygraph test. Furthermore, a letter from Bolton to a superior recommended terminating Brown "based on his refusal to take the...