Daniels v. Board of Educ. of Ravenna City School Dist.

• Decision Date: 23 January 1987
• Docket Number: No. 85-3934,85-3934
• Citation: 805 F.2d 203
• Parties: 42 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 744, 44 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 847, 42 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 36,776, 35 Ed. Law Rep. 994 Rosie M. DANIELS; Teresa Chambers, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF the RAVENNA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT; Dr. Robert Webb, individually and as a former member of the Ravenna City School District Board of Education; Barbara Ross, individually and as a member of the Board of Education; Dale Fosnight, individually and as a member of the Board of Education; James Nagella, individually and as a member of the Board of Education; James DiPaola, individually and as a member of the Board of Education, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 203

805 F.2d 203

42 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 744,

44 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 847,

42 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 36,776, 35 Ed. Law Rep. 994

Rosie M. DANIELS; Teresa Chambers, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF the RAVENNA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT; Dr Robert Webb, individually and as a former member of the Ravenna City School District Board of Education; Barbara Ross, individually and as a member of the Board of Education; Dale Fosnight, individually and as a member of the Board of Education; James Nagella, individually and as a member of the Board of Education; James DiPaola individually and as a member of the Board of Education Defendants-Appellees.

No. 85-3934.

United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit.

Argued Sept. 18, 1986.

Decided Nov. 17, 1986.

As Amended on Denial of Rehearing Jan. 23, 1987.

Dennis Haines, Ira J. Mirkin (argued), Green, Schiavoni, Murphy, Haines & Sgambati Co., LPA, Youngstown, Ohio, for plaintiffs-appellants.

John E. Britton (argued), Means, Bichimer, Burkholder & Baker, Cleveland, Ohio, Dennis M. Whalen (argued), G. Frederick Compton, Jr., R. Brent Minney, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, for defendants-appellees.

Before MILBURN and BOGGS, Circuit Judges, and EDWARDS, Senior Circuit Judge.

MILBURN, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiffs-appellants Rosie M. Daniels and Teresa Chambers Pledger ¹ appeal from the district court's judgment in favor of defendants-appellees Ravenna Board of Education, each Board member individually, and Superintendent James Coll in this action alleging employment discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e et seq., the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1981, and the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. The principal issues presented are whether the district court erred in finding that plaintiffs had not established their claim of racial discrimination under the disparate treatment theory and whether the district court erred in declining to modify the final pretrial order to permit consideration of the evidence under the disparate impact theory. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

I.

Plaintiffs, both black women, were employed as teachers by the Ravenna Board of Education ("the Board") until June 1981 when their nontenured teaching contracts were not renewed as a result of their participation in an unauthorized teachers' strike. The Board also failed to renew the nontenured teaching contracts of sixty-eight other teachers who had participated in the strike. Seventeen of the teachers who were not renewed were rehired for the 1981-1982 school year. All of the teachers who were rehired are white. Plaintiffs and a third black teacher whose nontenured contract was not renewed applied for rehire but were denied. Out of sixty white teachers whose contracts were not renewed and who applied for rehire, forty-three were denied.

All applications for teaching positions for the 1981-1982 school year were reviewed by an administrative team. Superintendent Coll instructed each administrative team to "look for the best qualified person to come into the school system and help put the school system back together after the strike." Joint Appendix at 490-91. Superintendent Coll further instructed each administrative team that if they wanted to rehire any of the teachers who were not renewed, they should make a recommendation to that effect and state their reasons. Joint Appendix at 491. Plaintiffs were not recommended for rehire.

Plaintiff Pledger's former position as a fourth grade teacher at Tappan Elementary was assigned to Sue Dyett, a white female who had previously taught at Tappan Elementary. Martha Furey, the Elementary Coordinator, testified that she recommended hiring Sue Dyett rather than plaintiff for the following reasons:

Our goal at the time was to find the very best teachers that we could, and we were also trying to rebuild a fragmented school system, and it was important that we had people that worked together and bring the building together, and I did not get a recommendation from her building principal.

* * *

* * *

[Dyett] was an outstanding teacher in the years that she had taught at Tappan, and she had gone back to school, she had a master's degree in education, so she met the criteria of being an excellent staff (sic), she also was the kind of person that would pull the building back together again, and she was strongly recommended by her building principal and I concurred with that recommendation.

Joint Appendix at 258-61.

Theodore Poole, the principal at Tappan Elementary, testified that he recommended hiring Sue Dyett rather than plaintiff after comparing "[t]heir expertise in the classroom, their ability to use various approaches in motivating children and their past records in attendance and their attitude toward ongoing professional, personal and professional growth and so forth." Joint Appendix at 269-70.

The Board filled other elementary positions for which plaintiffs were qualified but, with the exception of Betty Seymour, these teachers had not participated in the strike. Joint Appendix at 50-56, 339-40. According to Principal Poole, Betty Seymour was hired because "her experience was in a grade close to the one I was trying to fill. She had experience in second (sic), and I was filling the first." Joint Appendix at 270.

Plaintiff Daniels' former position as an EMR (Educable Mentally Retarded) teacher at Brown Junior High was initially filled by Johneita Durant, a black female. After Ms. Durant resigned, Artemis Flag, a black male, was offered the position but declined. Ultimately Leesa Widger, a white female who had not participated in the strike, was hired to fill the position.

Arthur Fesemyer, the Secondary Coordinator, testified that his recommendation of Ms. Widger was based on the recommendations of Dave Spencer, an elementary principal, and Ann Volio, Director of Special Education. Joint Appendix at 222-23. Director Volio testified that she reviewed Ms. Widger's qualifications and concluded that she would be an excellent teacher. Joint Appendix at 253-54. Norman Stikes, Principal at Brown Junior High, testified that, after reviewing the qualifications of each candidate, he recommended that Ms. Widger be hired rather than plaintiff. Joint Appendix at 239-40. The Board filled other EMR positions for the 1981-1982 school year but the teachers hired had not participated in the strike. Joint Appendix at 50-56, 339-40. ²

Following a bench trial, the district court found that the "failure to hire either Daniels or Pledger for the 1981-1982 school year was not motivated by discriminatory intent." The district court refused to modify the final pretrial order to permit consideration of the evidence under the disparate impact theory. Finally, the district court found that the individual members of the Board were not named as parties by either plaintiff in the charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC").

II. DISPARATE TREATMENT

A. Allocation of the Burdens of Proof

Title VII makes it an unlawful employment practice to discriminate against an individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. 42 U.S.C. Sec. 20OOe-2(a). A Title VII violation may be established under the theory of disparate treatment. " 'Disparate treatment' ... is the most easily understood type of discrimination. The employer simply treats some people less favorably than others because of their race, color, religion, sex or national origin." Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 335-36 n. 15, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 1854-55 n. 15, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977). To prevail under the disparate treatment theory, a plaintiff must show that he has been the victim of intentional discrimination. United States Postal Service Board of Governors v. Aikens, 460 U.S. 711, 715 103 S.Ct. 1478, 1481-82, 75 L.Ed.2d 403 (1983); Teamsters, 431 U.S. at 335 n. 15, 97 S.Ct. at 1854-55 n. 15.

The plaintiff in a Title VII disparate treatment case bears the ultimate burden of persuasion on the issue of discriminatory intent. Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 253, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 1093, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981). However, the burden of production shifts. The plaintiff bears the initial burden of establishing a prima facie case of discrimination. Burdine, 450 U.S. at 253-54, 101 S.Ct. at 1093-94; McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1824, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). This initial burden of production is "not onerous," Burdine, 450 U.S. at 253, 101 S.Ct. at 1093, and is satisfied upon a showing of "actions taken by the employer from which one can infer, if such actions remain unexplained, that it is more likely than not that such actions were 'based on a discriminatory criterion illegal under the Act.' " Furnco Construction Corp. v. Waters, 438 U.S. 567, 576, 98 S.Ct. 2943, 2949, 57 L.Ed.2d 957 (1978) (quoting Teamsters, 431 U.S. at 358, 97 S.Ct. at 1866).

Once the plaintiff establishes a prima facie case, the burden shifts to the defendant "to articulate some legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason" for the adverse employment action. Burdine, 450 U.S. at 253, 101 S.Ct. at 1093 (quoting McDonnell Douglas, 411 U.S. at 802, 93 S.Ct. at 1824). The burden of articulating a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the adverse action does not require the defendant to prove the absence of a discriminatory motive in order to rebut the plaintiff's prima facie case. Board of Trustees of Keene State College v. Sweeney, 439 U.S. 24, 25, 99 S.Ct. 295, 296, 58 L.Ed.2d 216 (1978) (per curiam). Moreover, "[t]he defendant need not persuade the court that it was actually motivated by the proffered reasons.... It is sufficient if the defendant's evidence raises a genuine issue of fact as to whether it discriminated against the plaintiff." Burdine, 450 U.S. at 254-55, 101 S.Ct. at 1094-95 (citation and footnote omitted).

If the defendant successfully presents a...