Brown v. US Steel Corp., 85 C 5459.
| Decision Date | 10 June 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 85 C 5459.,85 C 5459. |
| Parties | James BROWN, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
David L. Cwik, Mary Anne H. Capron, Pretzel & Stouffer, Chartered, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff.
Billy M. Tennant, U.S. Steel Corp., Pittsburgh, Pa., for defendant.
This employment discrimination case is before the Court for a decision on the merits following a bench trial. After hearing testimony, reviewing the trial transcripts and exhibits in their entirety, and examining the credible evidence of record, the Court enters judgment in favor of the defendant, United States Steel Corporation, and against the plaintiff, James Brown.
Plaintiff, James Brown ("Brown"), is a black male. From April, 1968 until July, 1983, Brown was employed by defendant, United States Steel Corporation ("USS"). During his years of employment at USS, Brown performed a variety of assignments at USS's South Works Plant in Chicago, Illinois. USS hired Brown as a laborer. After serving as a laborer for a short period of time, Brown received a series of temporary assignments as a stopper maker helper, a mold setter helper, and a hooker. Eventually, Brown landed a permanent position as a third helper. Seven or eight years later, USS promoted Brown to the position of second helper. For the duration of his employment at USS, Brown held the position of second helper in the No. 4 Electric Furnace Department at South Works.
The No. 4 Electric Furnace Department ("the department") employed approximately 20 foremen and approximately 160 hourly employees. The majority of the foremen were white. Of the 160 hourly employees, approximately 70% were black, 20% were Hispanic, and 10% were white. Prior to 1982, the department served as a back-up to the BOP Shop. Thomas Cuikaj held the position of superintendent of the department. Under Cuikaj's reign, the department lost money for USS. USS eventually attributed this loss to Cuikaj's laxity in enforcing USS's disciplinary and safety policies.
By mid-1982, the world steel market had changed dramatically. Competition from the foreign steel industry had increased. At the same time, demand for competitive materials, such as concrete and plastic, had also increased, undercutting the demand for steel. As the demand for steel decreased, its supply increased, causing prices to drop.
In order to remain competitive within this type of marketplace, USS was forced to reduce its costs. To accomplish this goal, USS essentially initiated a reduction in force. USS substantially curtailed its operations, shutting down the blast furnace and the BOP shop. As a result of this reduction in plant capacity, USS laid off 1,000 to 1,500 employees and demoted many of those who remained. The No. 4 Electric Furnace Department, which had previously operated as a back-up to the BOP Shop, became the sole supplier of hot metal at South Works.
Within the No. 4 Electric Furnace Department, USS conducted a major overhaul. In October, 1982, Carl Besich, the former superintendent of the BOP Shop, replaced Thomas Cuikaj as the superintendent of the No. 4 Electric Furnace Department. When Besich received his assignment to the No. 4 Electric Furnace Department, his superiors instructed him that USS's goal was to lower the price of ingot so that USS could remain competitive and South Works could remain vital. Acting on those instructions, Besich spearheaded an effort to reduce costs and increase productivity within the department. He launched this effort by convening eight to twelve informal meetings with small groups of hourly workers and asking for their suggestions on how to operate the shop more efficiently.1
After receiving this input, Besich introduced several new programs designed to reduce costs and increase productivity. Besich initiated a scrap management program to get the lowest cost scrap loaded correctly and efficiently. He also instituted a crane maintenance program to reduce the incidence of malfunctions at inopportune times, thereby avoiding production delays. In addition, he devised a safety program to minimize the number of employee accidents. He also implemented an employee evaluation program requiring the foremen to rate each first helper on a scale of one to ten in each of eight to ten categories reflecting level of skill and performance. If these employees did not receive a satisfactory evaluation, then they were temporarily removed from their positions on a six-month probationary basis and demoted to the next lowest position.2 Finally, Besich established a program to combat excessive absenteeism and tardiness.
To implement this final program, Besich instructed Robert Sennert, the clerk for No. 4 Electric Furnace Department, to examine the employee attendance cards and compile a list specifying the number of absences (excused or unexcused) and tardinesses for each employee over the preceding two years. After receiving this list from Sennert, Besich analyzed the list to determine which employees had been absent or tardy frequently. Using the names of these employees, Besich then compiled his own list and met with as many foremen as he could to review the list. At the suggestion of some of the foremen, Besich deleted from the list the names of some employees for reasons unrelated to race.3 In its final form, the list contained the names of ten employees, all of whom were black. Besich knew that some of the individuals whose names appeared on the list were black because he had worked with them previously; however, he did not know whether most of the individuals whose names appeared on the list were black. The list included Brown's name.
In March, 1983, Besich published this first "watch list"4 (alternatively coined a "hit list") to the foremen in the No. 4 Electric Furnace Department. In addition to designating the ten individuals with absenteeism or tardiness problems, the list contained some "get tough" language. This language directed the foremen to treat the employees on the list differently from the other employees in the department. Specifically, if an employee on the list reported absent or tardy, then he was to be removed from the line-up until he reported to the foreman, accompanied by his union committeeman, with an explanation for his absence or tardiness and proof to substantiate his explanation. The parties would then meet to review the reason or explanation proffered, and the foreman holding the meeting would determine, in his discretion, whether the reason was acceptable and whether disciplinary action was appropriate.
The "watch list" served several purposes. First, it highlighted for all of the foremen, who worked varying shifts, those employees with records of excessive absenteeism or tardiness. Second, it conveyed to those employees a message that USS would no longer tolerate excessive absenteeism or tardiness. Finally, it enabled USS to increase productivity and to eliminate the costs attendant to excessive absenteeism or tardiness.5
The "watch list" yielded mixed, yet effective, results. Productivity increased; absenteeism and tardiness decreased. Some of the employees on the list improved their work habits and mended their ways. Others simply quit. Still others, such as Brown, were disciplined and ultimately discharged.
USS discharged Brown on July 26, 1983. Eight days before, on July 18, 1983, Brown reported to work tardy. Because his name appeared on the "watch list," Brown's foreman removed him from the line-up. When Brown thereafter appeared with his union committeeman, Brown simply stated that he had been tardy because he overslept. Based on Brown's record, Besich did not consider Brown's excuse to be acceptable, so Besich issued to Brown a five-day suspension subject to discharge.6 During the ensuing five-day period, Besich reviewed Brown's overall disciplinary record for the preceding five years.7
Brown's record revealed that between February, 1979 and July, 1983, USS had disciplined Brown for twenty different infractions involving either violation of plant rules or unsatisfactory work. Specifically, Brown's record disclosed the following:
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Rowe v. Kidd, Civ. A. No. 88-3277.
...Association of American Medical Colleges, 644 F.Supp. 459 (D.D.C.1985), aff'd, 802 F.2d 1483 (D.C.Cir.1986); Brown v. United States Steel Corp., 698 F.Supp. 1375 (N.D.Ill.1988). Although the Plaintiff does not dispute any of the above-recited facts upon which this Court bases its ruling, Pl......