Coble v. Hot Springs School Dist. No. 6
| Decision Date | 06 July 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 6,No. 81-1772,A,6,81-1772 |
| Citation | 682 F.2d 721 |
| Parties | 29 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 201, 29 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 32,889, 5 Ed. Law Rep. 718 Martha COBLE, on Behalf of Herself and All Others Similarly Situated, Appellant, v. HOT SPRINGS SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 6; E. Bruce Meeks, Superintendent; Charles L. Fager, C. V. Boyd, Melinda Baran, Robert E. Wheeler, H. Dale Cook and Gary Meek, Individually and as Members of the Board of Directors of Hot Springs School Districtppellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Charles R. White, Little Rock, Ark., for appellees.
Cearley, Gitchel, Mitchell & Roachell, Little Rock, Ark., for appellant.
Before LAY, Chief Judge, STEPHENSON * and McMILLIAN, Circuit Judges.
Martha Coble and other female teachers employed by Hot Springs School District No. 6 appeal from a final judgment entered in the District Court 1 for the Western District of Arkansas finding in favor of the school district on their individual and class claims of sex discrimination in pay, job assignments and promotions to administrative positions, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. For reversal appellants argue that the district court erred in finding that the school district did not discriminate on the basis of sex in (1) not appointing Martha Coble as director of the teachers center, (2) not appointing Susan Chapman as junior high school counselor, (3) paying lower salaries and extra duty stipends to female coaches, (4) failing to promote qualified female teachers to administrative positions, and (5) assigning higher paying jobs to male teachers. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm in part and reverse in part and remand for further proceedings.
In early August 1978, Martha Coble applied for the position of director of the school district's newly formed teachers center. The school district appointed a male teacher, Bill Nipper, as director. Coble then filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in late August 1978. She received a right-to-sue letter and timely filed the present action in December 1979, alleging individual and classwide discrimination against female teachers in pay, job assignments and promotions to administrative positions. The district court certified the action as a class action under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(2). The action was tried in November 1980. The class claims were based upon statistical evidence, circumstantial evidence, and specific instances of alleged sex discrimination. The district court found that Coble had established a prima facie case but failed to prove that the school district's legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for not appointing her as director were pretextual; that Susan Chapman, an individual plaintiff, had established a prima facie case but similarly failed to prove that the school district's legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for not appointing her as a junior high school counselor were pretextual; and that the class plaintiffs failed to establish a prima facie case of sex discrimination in pay, job assignments and promotions to administrative positions. Coble v. Hot Springs School District No. 6, No. 79-6055 (W.D.Ark. June 29, 1981).
We will discuss the individual claims first and then the classwide claims. The Supreme Court recently clarified that findings of fact made by the district courts in employment discrimination cases are subject to the clearly erroneous standard of review in the courts of appeals. Pullman-Standard v. Swint, --- U.S. ----, ----, 102 S.Ct. 1781, 1789, 72 L.Ed.2d 66 (1982) (), rev'g and remanding 624 F.2d 525 (5th Cir. 1980). "A finding is 'clearly erroneous' when although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed." United States v. United States Gypsum Co., 333 U.S. 364, 395, 68 S.Ct. 525, 542, 92 L.Ed. 746 (1948).
Coble alleged that she had been discriminated against on the basis of sex when the school district appointed a male teacher as director of the teachers center. In July 1978, the school district received a federal grant to establish a teachers center. The teachers center is a materials resource and media center for teachers within the school district; it is a facility where teachers can improve teaching skills, develop and revise curricula, and experiment with new teaching methods and materials. The teachers center is managed by the director. The director also organizes professional workshops and seminars. According to the grant proposal, the requirements for the position of director included an awareness of the objectives and problems of the Hot Springs school system, a master's degree, five years teaching experience, some expertise in conducting workshops, experience in pilot testing innovative practices in the classroom, experience as a regular classroom teacher, and some knowledge of administration, including budgeting.
In late July, the school district learned that the grant had been approved and in early August 1978 the policy advisory board of the teachers center met to discuss the budget and the selection of a director. The policy advisory board nominated ten candidates for the position of director and then appointed a five-member committee to interview the candidates and recommend two to the school district superintendent, E. Bruce Meeks. The interview committee members were Elizabeth Jackson, chairperson of the policy advisory board and the school district's supervisor for federal programs; Richard Johnson, a high school teacher; Dorothy Threlkeld, a junior high school teacher; Maurice Dunn, assistant superintendent for elementary education; and William Lane, assistant superintendent for secondary education. The interview committee informally interviewed the nominated candidates and recommended Coble and Nipper to the superintendent. Meeks interviewed both candidates and selected Nipper. The selection was later approved by the school board.
Coble then requested an interview with Meeks to discuss the reasons why she was not appointed as director of the teachers center. At Coble's request, Hal Robbins, assistant executive secretary to the Arkansas Educational Association, accompanied Coble to the August 8, 1978, interview. Dunn was also present. With Coble's permission Meeks tape-recorded the interview; the tape-recording was not introduced at trial. During the interview Meeks stated that he thought that Nipper was the more "available" and "dedicated" of the two candidates and referred to Nipper's attendance record. During the interview Dunn referred to the fact that Nipper was not married and had no "immediate family."
At trial Meeks testified that he had interviewed both candidates recommended by the interview committee and had selected Nipper because Nipper was "the best person for the job." Meeks testified that Nipper had a reputation for "making things happen" and as an "exciting" teacher, had a good concept of the function of the teachers center, and had a better attendance record. Meeks considered the fact that Nipper "never missed" a day of school and virtually "lived at school" to be an indication of his commitment to the school district.
Coble testified that during her initial interview with Meeks (before the selection was made), Meeks stated that he considered her attendance record to be a "strike against her" and questioned her extensively about her children and whether she would be able to handle both the long and demanding hours required by the teachers center and her family responsibilities. Coble further testified that when Meeks called to tell her that he had selected Nipper for the position, Meeks stated that although she possessed qualities that Nipper did not, she had a family.
The district court correctly determined that Coble had established a prima facie case of sex discrimination. See Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine 450 U.S. 248, 252-54 & n.6, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 1093-1094 & n.6, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981); McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1824, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). Coble established that (1) she belonged to a protected group; (2) she applied for and was qualified for a job for which the school district was seeking applicants; (3) despite her qualifications, she was rejected; and (4) after her rejection, the employer filled the position with a person of her qualifications. The district court reviewed both Coble's and Nipper's qualifications and found that Coble had superior educational qualifications because she had more credit hours beyond her master's degree than Nipper and was certified as an elementary principal and elementary supervisor. The district court, however, considered certain subjective criteria were also relevant and concluded that, after considering leadership qualities, ability to work with students and teachers, understanding of the function of the teachers center, general personality, and experience, the two candidates were equally qualified. Coble v. Hot Springs School District No. 6, No. 79-6055, slip op. at 5.
Although the school district argues on appeal that Nipper was more qualified than Coble, the district court's findings on the candidates' qualifications are not clearly erroneous. Both Coble and Nipper are evidently talented and dedicated teachers. As found by the district court, Coble, at the time of trial, had been employed by the school district for thirteen years, had a variety of classroom teaching experience and was currently teaching academically gifted fifth grade students, had thirty credit hours beyond her Master's Degree in Education, and was certified as an elementary teacher, elementary principal, elementary supervisor, and curriculum specialist for grades kindergarten through high school. She...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
McCleskey v. Zant
...are misleading, and such rebuttal may not be made by speculative theories. See Eastland, supra, at 618; Coble v. Hot Springs School District, 682 F.2d 721, 730-31 (8th Cir.1982); Jean v. Nelson, C. Findings of Fact. The court held an evidentiary hearing for the purpose of enabling the petit......
-
Craik v. Minnesota State University Bd.
..."that the individual employment decision was free from that discrimination." Id. at 1136. In contrast, in Coble v. Hot Springs School District No. 6, 682 F.2d 721 (8th Cir.1982), we first analyzed the named plaintiffs' claims under Burdine and concluded that the District Court had erred in ......
-
Minority Police Officers v. City of South Bend
...to discriminatory abuse. Cf. Paxton v. Union National Bank, 688 F.2d 552, 563 n. 15 (8th Cir.1982); Coble v. Hot Springs School Dist. No. 6, 682 F.2d 721, 726 (8th Cir.1982). The plaintiffs' next argument is that the rating system was dominated and controlled by white supervisors and that t......
-
Khan v. Grotnes Metalforming Systems, Inc.
...F.2d 1383, 1389 (11th Cir.1983) (twelve employment decisions over twelve years too few to be meaningful); Coble v. Hot Springs School District No. 6, 682 F.2d 721 (8th Cir.1982) (sample of fifteen employment decisions over a course of eight years "too small to support any inference of a dis......