Chappell v. GTE Products Corp.

• Decision Date: 14 October 1986
• Docket Number: No. 85-5333,85-5333
• Citation: 803 F.2d 261
• Parties: 42 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 23, 41 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 36,621 Ian C. CHAPPELL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. GTE PRODUCTS CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 261

803 F.2d 261

42 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 23, 41 Empl. Prac.

Dec. P 36,621

Ian C. CHAPPELL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. GTE PRODUCTS CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 85-5333.

United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit.

Argued April 22, 1986.

Decided Oct. 14, 1986.

Kenneth W. Scott (argued), Florence, Ky., Edward S. Monohan, Florence, Ky., for plaintiff-appellant.

David M. Eisenberg (argued), GTE Service Corp., Stamford, Conn., Karen P. Ross, for defendant-appellee.

Before MERRITT and JONES, Circuit Judges, and THOMAS, Senior District Judge. ^*

NATHANIEL R. JONES, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff Ian Chappell appeals from the district court's order granting the defendant GTE Products Corporation's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict in this action alleging a violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. Sec. 621 et seq. (1982). The jury had returned a verdict finding that GTE had discriminated on the basis of age when it laid off Chappell. We affirm the district court's order granting GTE's motion.

Chappell was 56 years old at the time of his layoff from GTE's U.S. Lighting Division (Sylvania). Sylvania manufactures industrial and commercial lighting at the GTE plant in Winchester, Kentucky. The Winchester plant is part of a worldwide operation with 50 to 60 operating plants and laboratories in about 13 countries. From 1979-80, net income from the Winchester plant fell by over 40%, and in July 1980 Sylvania began to implement a major reduction in its salaried personnel. As a result, four layoffs occurred between July 1980 and November 1982.

With the exception of two brief periods, Chappell had worked for Sylvania as a design engineer since 1952. In 1969 Chappell began working at the Winchester plant as a Senior Engineer "A" in the New Product Development Department (NPD) where he stayed until 1980. In 1980, Chappell's position of Senior Engineer was eliminated as part of the first major reduction in salaried personnel. Chappell was transferred to the position of Production Technician. Two incumbent technicians were laid off at that time. Chappell's salary was maintained at Grade 6 level (Senior Engineer) although production technicians were ordinarily paid at Grade 4 level. As a production technician, Chappell worked for four months in the dichroic coating room until he was transferred to the Parabolic Aluminized Reflector (PAR) factory engineering section. He worked there as one of two technicians responsible for the technical and quality control of all PAR functions.

In 1981 Sylvania's Winchester plant suffered a loss of $2.6 million, or 20% of its net income. The company implemented two additional 5% reductions in salaried personnel, neither of which affected Chappell. In November 1982 Sylvania mandated a further 10% reduction in the Winchester plant's salaried work force. Each department head was instructed to eliminate those positions that would least impact the department's operations. In the Production Department, the positions of one Production Technician, one Specification Clerk, and one Project Engineer were designated for elimination.

The three Production Technicians were similar in several respects. Each was a member of the ADEA protected age group (40-70): Chappell was 56, Manuel Shewmaker was 54, and William Berry was 47. In addition, each was a long-time Sylvania employee with nearly 25 years of work experience. In performance appraisals, however, the three technicians had been rated differently. There were five different ratings an employee could receive: "excellent," "commendable," "fully satisfactory," "provisional," and "unsatisfactory." Berry's performance rating ranged from "commendable" to "fully satisfactory;" Shewmaker's rating was consistently "fully satisfactory;" Chappell's rating ranged from "average-good" to "unsatisfactory." Chappell was the Production Technician selected for layoff at this time. The other Production Department employees laid off were outside the protected age group: a Project Engineer aged 32 and a Specification Clerk aged 34. Chappell was officially laid off on November 19, 1982.

The plant closed down for two weeks following the final layoff. According to the GTE supervisor's testimony, a decision was made during this two week hiatus to eliminate the position of Production Supervisor in the Relight and Packing Department. That position was being held by Jo Ann Miller, who was 41 years of age and had been employed by Sylvania for eighteen years. Miller had an excellent performance record and was one of the few female supervisors in the plant. Because the layoff objectives had already been achieved, GTE transferred Miller to the Production Technician position previously held by Chappell out of its desire to retain a consistently fine employee and the need to satisfy affirmative action responsibilities.

Chappell filed suit in the district court alleging that his layoff and the subsequent transfer of Miller to his former position was a violation of the ADEA. The jury returned a verdict for Chappell finding that GTE discriminated on the basis of age when Chappell was laid off. The district court granted GTE's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, concluding that the record was devoid of any evidence that age was a determining factor in GTE's decision to lay Chappell off. Moreover, the court concluded that there was no evidence that age had anything to do with Miller's transfer to the position of Production Technician.

A judgment notwithstanding the verdict is a question of law that is freely reviewable on appeal. The issue raised by a j.n.o.v. is whether there was sufficient evidence to raise a question of fact for the jury. O'Neill v. Kiledjian, 511 F.2d 511, 513 (6th Cir.1975). The legal standard is the same in both the trial court and the court of appeals. In determining whether the evidence was sufficient, the court may neither weigh the evidence, pass on the credibility of witnesses, or substitute its judgment for that of the jury. Instead, the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party against whom the motion was made, drawing from that evidence all reasonable inferences in his favor. Morelock v. NCR Corp., 586 F.2d 1096, 1104 (6th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 441 U.S. 906, 99 S.Ct. 1995, 60 L.Ed.2d 375 (1979); Gillham v. Admiral Corp., 523 F.2d 102, 109 (6th Cir.1975), cert. denied, 424 U.S. 913, 96 S.Ct. 1113, 47 L.Ed.2d 318 (1976). Although the fundamental principle is that there must be a minimum of interference with the jury, the federal courts do not follow the rule that a scintilla of evidence is enough. A.B. Small Co. v. Lamborn & Co., 267 U.S. 248, 254, 45 S.Ct. 300, 303, 69 L.Ed. 597 (1925). If the court finds that the evidence points so strongly in favor of the movant that reasonable minds could not come to a different conclusion, then the judgment n.o.v. should be upheld. Reeves v. Power Tools, Inc., 474 F.2d 375, 380 (6th Cir.1973).

Jury control devices such as judgment n.o.v. or directed verdict have been recognized by courts as applicable in certain age discrimination cases due to the possibility that sympathy for the plaintiff may present an overriding but impermissible factor in a jury verdict for plaintiff. See Coburn v. Pan American World Airways, Inc., 711 F.2d 339, 343 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 994, 104 S.Ct. 488, 78 L.Ed.2d 683 (1983); Lovelace v. Sherwin-Williams Co., 681 F.2d 230, 242 (4th Cir.1982). "[T]he question for the jury was not whether plaintiff was treated fairly but whether discrimination occurred." Sahadi v. Reynolds Chemical, 636 F.2d 1116, 1117 (6th Cir.1980).

The evidentiary guidelines governing proof in discrimination cases were first set out in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973) (construing Title VII), and the same analysis is generally applied in ADEA cases. Coburn, 711 F.2d at 342. A three-step judicial procedure allocates the shifting burdens of production of evidence by the parties. "[T]he burden of production rests first on the plaintiff to establish his prima facie case, then on the defendant 'to articulate some legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for the employee's rejection,' and finally again on the plaintiff to show that the defendant's reasons were pretextual." Holley v. Sanyo Mfg., Inc., 771 F.2d 1161, 1164 (8th Cir.1985) (quoting McDonnell Douglas, 411 U.S. at 804, 93 S.Ct. at 1825). Although the burden of production shifts, the burden of persuasion remains at all times with the plaintiff. Texas Dept. of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 254-55, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 1094-95, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981).

In cases brought under the ADEA, a plaintiff has the ultimate burden of proving that age was a determining factor in the employer's decision in order to establish liability. Blackwell v. Sun Electric Corp., 696 F.2d 1176, 1180 (6th Cir.1983). When there is more than one reason advanced for an employer's decision, the plaintiff may prevail if he establishes that "but for" a discriminatory motive, the action would not have been taken. Wilkins v. Eaton Corp., 790 F.2d 515, 520 (6th Cir.1986).

To make out a prima facie case, the plaintiff must show that he was in the protected age group (40-70), that he was discharged, that he was qualified for the position and that he was replaced by a younger person. Ackerman v. Diamond Shamrock Corp., 670 F.2d 66, 69 (6th Cir.1982); Wilkins, 790 F.2d at 520. The third element may be replaced with a showing "that he was doing his job well enough to meet his employer's legitimate expectations." See La Montagne v. American Convenience Products, Inc., 750 F.2d 1405, 1409 (7th Cir.1984). In a reduction in force situation where the ADEA plaintiff's position is eliminated and not refilled, the prima facie burden is somewhat heavier. LaGrant v. Gulf & Western Manufacturing Co., 748 F.2d 1087, 1090-91 (6th Cir.1984). In the instant case, ...