E.E.O.C. v. Guardian Pools, Inc.

• Decision Date: 05 October 1987
• Docket Number: No. 86-5382,86-5382
• Citation: 828 F.2d 1507
• Parties: 44 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1824, 45 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 37,571, 56 USLW 2264 EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellant, Cross-Appellee, v. GUARDIAN POOLS, INC., Defendant-Appellee, Cross-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 1507

828 F.2d 1507

44 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1824,

45 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 37,571, 56 USLW 2264

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION Plaintiff-Appellant, Cross-Appellee, v. GUARDIAN POOLS, INC., Defendant-Appellee, Cross-Appellant.

No. 86-5382.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit.

Oct. 5, 1987.

Rynthia Manning Rost, E.E.O.C., Washington, D.C., for E.E.O.C.

J. David Richeson, Richeson & Brown, Ft. Pierce, Fla., James G. Brown, Richeson & Brown, Orlando, Fla., Young T. Tindall, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., for defendant-appellee, cross-appellant.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Before JOHNSON and CLARK, Circuit Judges, and MORGAN, Senior Circuit Judge.

CLARK, Circuit Judge:

In this case, which is making its second appearance before this court, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) appeals from a district court order awarding Jill Crozier $6,100 in back pay, approving prejudgment interest at the rate of six percent, and denying other women back pay as a contempt sanction. Guardian Pools, Inc. (Guardian), the defendant below, cross-appeals the determination that Crozier is entitled to back pay for a period of 26 1/2 months. We vacate the decision below and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

FACTS

In April, 1979, the EEOC filed a complaint against Guardian under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e et seq. (1982), after Jill Crozier was refused the job of pool service attendant during October, 1974. A male applicant was subsequently asked to apply for the position that Crozier had been told was filled. The EEOC alleged that Guardian intentionally discriminated against women in its recruitment, hiring, training, and assignment policies and practices, in violation of Sec. 703(a) of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-2(a). Record, Vol. I, Tab 1. The complaint also alleged that Guardian had advertised job openings for men only, in violation of Sec. 704(b), 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-3(b). The EEOC sought (1) a permanent injunction to prevent Guardian from continuing its discriminatory employment policies and practices; (2) an order to eradicate the effects of discrimination by affirmative action; and (3) an order to compensate those persons, including Crozier, affected by Guardian's unlawful employment practices with back pay, plus interest.

Crozier subsequently found employment with a typesetting company. She quit in January, 1975 and went to New Jersey for approximately six weeks. In August, 1975, she enrolled full time in Broward Community College's Fine Arts program. During college, she worked part-time in a grocery store, averaging 30 to 35 per week. After graduation in 1977, she worked as an unpaid apprentice to her jewelry instructor for nine months. Subsequently, she worked as a meat wrapper, at a desk job with a sunglasses manufacturer, and in jobs relating to jewelry design and sales. Since 1978, she has worked as an independent jewelry contractor.

On January 11, 1980, the EEOC filed an amended complaint, alleging a class action against Guardian on behalf of all female On April 22, 1981, the district court entered a partial final judgment order against Guardian for its discriminatory treatment of women and refusal to hire Crozier. The district court enjoined Guardian from violating Title VII by refusing to hire women or by advertising positions for a specified sex. The district court also ordered Guardian to actively recruit women and to decrease the ratio of male to female employees to 2:1. Until the ratio was obtained, Guardian was directed to hire two women for every three vacancies. The order also set forth the minimal procedures Guardian was to use in reviewing employment applications, and the reporting procedures Guardian was to use to keep the EEOC informed of its progress. In addition, the district court ordered Guardian to publicize notices that advise women who could establish to the satisfaction of the court that they had applied for or that they had been deterred from seeking employment with Guardian after October 18, 1972 that they may be entitled to an award of back pay or other relief. The district court retained jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of its order for a period of two years. On July 24, 1981, the district court entered another partial final judgment order, which corrected clerical mistakes contained in the previous one. The order was affirmed by this court without opinion on December 12, 1982.

applicants denied employment during the prior two years, and on behalf of women who are or will be in the future deterred from seeking employment with Guardian. Record, Vol. I, Tab 27.

Between August, 1981 and January, 1983, the EEOC filed three motions for a show cause order and contempt judgment against Guardian on the ground that it refused to comply with the hiring and reporting requirements imposed by the district court. After the EEOC filed its fourth motion on August 31, 1983, the district court referred the matter to a magistrate, who conducted hearings during September and October, 1983. By order filed October 18, 1983, the magistrate found Guardian in contempt for withholding payroll records from the EEOC, misstating the number and ratio of women hired between April, 1981 and October, 1982, misstating the number of people employed as pool service attendants, and failing to hire women in the numbers or ratio required by the district court's order of April 22, 1981. Guardian did not seek review of this order.

The parties reconvened in November, 1983 to determine the question of sanctions. The parties announced virtual agreement and, at the magistrate's suggestion, executed an agreed order on sanctions. The magistrate apparently modified the agreement only slightly by ordering Guardian to pay the EEOC a compensatory payment of $1,200 for costs. The "Agreed Order on Sanctions" provided that Guardian would file a weekly report of its hiring practices, and report any applicant hired. Record, Vol. III, Tab 120, Exh. A. If the report did not reflect the required ratios, Guardian was to be fined $250 per week. Id. If no report was filed, the fine would $500 per week. Id. The magistrate stated that because "further hearings are to be scheduled on money-damages owed to third persons, I choose not to recommend a large compensatory payment." Record, Vol. II, Tab 114 at p 4. The transcript of the hearing on sanctions confirms that the parties agreed to litigate the question of back pay as a contempt sanction at a later date. Exh. 6S at 2. The district court issued a contempt judgment on December 29, 1983, which found Guardian in contempt from April, 1981 until October, 1983, and implemented the sanctions proposed by the magistrate.

Pursuant to the district court's partial final judgment, which found that Crozier and others were entitled to a reasonable award of back pay, the magistrate conducted hearings on January 31, and February 1, 1984. At the hearings, Crozier testified that had she been hired by Guardian in mid-October, 1974, she probably would not have returned to school on a full-time basis. Exh. 5S at 33. However, Guardian claimed that the cutoff date should be either when she left for New Jersey, or when she enrolled in college full-time. Exh. 7S at 33. The magistrate issued its order and recommendation On December 3, 1984, the district court ordered the magistrate to reconsider Crozier's back pay award because he had failed to specify the basis for his recommendation. The district court accepted the magistrate's recommendation that the interest rate be six percent. The district court relied on 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1961 to determine the rate of post-judgment interest, which prior to its amendment provided that the interest rate be determined by reference to state law. The district court reasoned that Florida's interest rate governing judgments entered on or prior to October 1, 1981, was six percent, and that the judgment in this case had been entered during April, 1981.

on February 14, 1984, finding (1) a probable employment period of 26 1/2 months, i.e., from mid-October, 1974 until December 31, 1976; and (2) that had Crozier worked at Guardian during this time, she would have received $6,100 more than she reasonably earned elsewhere. The magistrate did not provide any clue as to how he arrived at the $6,100 figure. The magistrate then added six percent simple interest to the award, as of January 1, 1977, making the total amount $8,708, excluding post-judgment interest. The magistrate declined to award compensation to the class of approximately 26 female applicants not hired during the period of contempt because it found that these claims had not been adequately litigated. The magistrate permitted the EEOC to pursue administrative action on behalf of these women without prejudice.

Upon reconsideration, the magistrate again determined that 26 1/2 months was the time Crozier would have worked at Guardian. The magistrate also found that Crozier did not remove herself from the job market when she traveled to New Jersey for four to six weeks, and that she did exercise reasonable self-help to mitigate her losses. However, the magistrate again failed to provide a explanation of the $6,100 back pay award, or the December 31, 1976 cutoff date.

On March 18, 1986, the district court found that the magistrate's supplemental order provided "sufficient specificity." The district court affirmed the magistrate's recommendation regarding Crozier, denied the class claim for sanctions without prejudice to the institution of presumptive administrative proceedings, and terminated the reporting requirements that had been imposed on Guardian by the magistrate on December 28, 1983. Although Guardian failed to achieve the required quota and ratios, the court denied the class relief because there was no showing of actual prejudice. Final judgment...