E.E.O.C. v. Chesapeake & Ohio Ry. Co.
| Decision Date | 24 May 1978 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 76-1900,76-2442,s. 76-1900 |
| Citation | 577 F.2d 229 |
| Parties | 17 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 815, 16 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 8332 EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Appellant, v. CHESAPEAKE & OHIO RAILWAY COMPANY Locals 304 and 320, Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees, Appellees. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Appellant, v. The CHESAPEAKE & OHIO RAILWAY COMPANY, Appellee, and Locals 304 and 320, Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees, Defendants, Equal Employment Advisory Council, Amicus Curiae. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
Raj K. Gupta, Atty., Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Washington, D. C. (Abner W. Sibal, Gen. Counsel, Joseph T. Eddins, Jr., Associate Gen. Counsel and Beatrice Rosenberg, Asst. Gen. Counsel, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Washington, D. C., on brief), for appellant.
Jack W. Burtch, Jr., Richmond, Va. (Paul M. Thompson, Christine H. Perdue, Hunton & Williams, Richmond, Va., Joseph B. Geyer, Baltimore, Md., Law Dept., Chessie System, Inc., on brief), for appellees.
Before BUTZNER and RUSSELL, Circuit Judges, and FIELD, Senior Circuit Judge.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission appeals from an order of the district court summarily dismissing claims of sex discrimination brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.) against the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company and claims of racial discrimination with respect to jobs in Richmond, Virginia, that were not subject to the company's bargaining agreement with the Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees (BRAC). The commission also appeals from the judgment of the district court which, after trial, dismissed all claims that the company discriminated against black employees who were subject to the BRAC bargaining agreement at Richmond. Specifically, the commission complains that the district court erred by holding that the company had not discriminated against any employees and by ruling that certain back pay claims were untimely. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
The initial charge was filed with the commission by Jeffreys Drew, Sr., a black employee covered by the BRAC contract who alleged racial discrimination because the company refused to allow him to transfer from a laborer's job to a clerical position and wrongfully forced him to retire as physically unfit. While investigating this charge the commission determined that the company discriminated against women and black employees in filling higher level jobs both within and without the coverage of the BRAC agreement. In its determination of reasonable cause the commission notified the company of its findings of both sex and race discrimination with respect to non-BRAC employees. It specifically noted that no blacks were employed as officials, managers, professionals, or technicians and that no women were employed in other than clerical jobs. It also concluded that the company's minimum height requirement for many jobs discriminated against women as a class. These alleged deficiencies, along with Drew's charge, were the subject of the commission's proposed conciliation agreement.
The court granted partial summary judgment for the company "as to charges of sex discrimination and as to charges of any discrimination outside the Richmond . . . BRAC bargaining unit." It found, based on exhibits and depositions of EEOC officials, that these additional charges were not the outgrowth of a reasonable investigation of the initial charge. It therefore concluded that the principles stated in EEOC v. General Electric Co., 532 F.2d 359 (4th Cir. 1976) were not applicable.
In General Electric we ruled that a suit brought by the commission is not limited to the initial charge; the suit can be based on evidence of other discrimination developed in the course of a reasonable investigation of an initial charge, provided that these illegal practices are "included in the reasonable cause determination of the EEOC and . . . (are) followed by compliance with the conciliation procedures fixed in the Act." 532 F.2d at 366.
It is undisputed that here the commission's information about the employment status of women and non-BRAC employees was obtained from its examination of the company's employment records while it was investigating the initial charge. The statistics showing unequal employment opportunities for women and black workers provide sufficient evidence for the reasonable cause determination. See Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 334-43, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977). A minimum height requirement also may indicate discrimination against women. See Dothard v. Rawlinson, 433 U.S. 321, 328-31, 97 S.Ct. 2720, 53 L.Ed.2d 786 (1977).
The reasonable cause determination is not designed to adjudicate an employer's alleged violations of the Act but to notify an employer of the commission's findings and to provide common ground for conciliation. The commission's investigation of the initial charge reasonably satisfied these requirements, and its determination of reasonable cause and the proposed conciliation complied with § 706(b) of the Act (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(b)). We therefore conclude that the commission conformed to the principles of General Electric and that the order granting the company partial summary judgment must be vacated.
The commission contends that the company discriminated against black employees in the BRAC bargaining unit as a class because until 1972, seniority rosters prevented black laborers from transferring to clerical, messenger, and mail jobs. These restrictions were lifted in 1972, and the commission does not assert that the current seniority system is discriminatory. The commission also raises no issue of discrimination in hirings and layoffs. It does, however, assert that black members of the BRAC bargaining unit who have more employment seniority than white employees holding the preferred positions are presently suffering the effects of past discrimination.
The company asserts that although the BRAC seniority system had a disproportionate impact on black employees in Richmond, it was adopted throughout the entire railroad system without any intention to discriminate. It points out that in other parts of the country the same limitations prevented white laborers from transferring to preferable jobs for the same reasons that blacks were barred from these jobs in Richmond.
Section 703(h) of the 1964 Civil Rights Act (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(...
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