EEO COM'N v. Kallir, Philips, Ross, Inc.

• Citation: 420 F. Supp. 919
• Decision Date: 08 October 1976
• Docket Number: 75 Civil 401.,No. 74 Civil 3234,74 Civil 3234
• Parties: EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff, and Josephine McGee, Plaintiff-Intervenor, v. KALLIR, PHILIPS, ROSS, INCORPORATED, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

420 F. Supp. 919

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff and Josephine McGee, Plaintiff-Intervenor, v. KALLIR, PHILIPS, ROSS, INCORPORATED, Defendant.

Nos. 74 Civil 3234, 75 Civil 401.

United States District Court, S. D. New York.

October 8, 1976.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Abner W. Sibal, Gen. Counsel, William L. Robinson, Associate Gen. Counsel, Washington, D. C., Delores Wilson, Asst. Gen. Counsel, Frank J. Tuk, Supervisory Trial Atty., E. E. O. C., Philadelphia Regional Office of Gen. Counsel, Paul J. Gontarek, Trial Atty., Philadelphia, Pa., of counsel; Ronald G. Copeland, Regional Counsel, New York Regional Office, E. E. O. C., New York City, for plaintiff.

O'Dwyer & Bernstien, New York City, for plaintiff-intervenor; Thomas A. Holman, New York City, of counsel.

Davis & Gilbert, New York City, for defendant; Edward S. Patterson, New York City, of counsel.

OPINION, FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

EDWARD WEINFELD, District Judge.

This Court, after a trial upon the merits, rendered a decision on July 31, 1975, finding that defendant violated section 704 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,¹ in that its discharge of plaintiff was in retaliation for her filing a charge of discrimination against defendant, and that plaintiff was entitled to an appropriate judgment.² The attorneys for the respective parties were unable to agree on the form of the judgment. Thereupon, on September 30, 1975, this Court ordered a forthwith hearing before the late Magistrate Hartenstine³ to compute the amount of back pay to which plaintiff was entitled, reduced by the amount that she reasonably could have earned since her discharge. At that time the Court observed that it defied understanding why the lawyers "have not been able to sit down and compute these figures yourselves."⁴

Unfortunately the Court's purpose to obtain an expeditious disposition has not been realized. The post-trial proceedings have been marked by unusual delay, much of it due to obstructive and dilatory conduct by defense counsel and unseemly conduct engaged in by both plaintiff and defense counsel at the hearings before the Magistrate.⁵ The testimony on the issues referred to the Magistrate extended over a three-day period, on February 17, 25 and 26, 1976; the transcript exceeds that of the trial record. Much of this is accounted for by petty bickering between counsel and evidential objections that at times bordered on the captious. Further delay was occasioned by submission of proposed findings to the Magistrate.

Magistrate Hartenstine died in July 1976 while the matter was sub judice before him. In an attempt to conclude the matter, this Court, on July 30, 1976, referred the proceedings to Magistrate Schreiber to review the record and to report, which he did on August 31, 1976. The parties were invited to express their views upon the Magistrate's recommendations, and following receipt of their comments and objections, the Court heard the parties in support of their respective positions. The defendant, in opposing the recommendations, requests that since Magistrate Schreiber did not hear or observe the witnesses, the matter again be referred to a Magistrate for a de novo hearing and report on the very issues that were the subject of the reference to Magistrate Hartenstine.

It is now more than fourteen months since this Court rendered its decision that defendant's discharge was retaliatory and unlawful. Plaintiff was discharged on May 15, 1973, more than three years ago. Another reference will serve no purpose except to gain more time for defendant and to delay the judgment day. The original reference was made by this Court out of an abundance of fairness to defendant, since it was evident that upon the trial defendant had failed to counter plaintiff's testimony that despite her best efforts following her discharge all she earned was no more than $1400. There was enough before the Court to have permitted a finding at that time on the award of damages. The reference afforded the defendant a second opportunity to present proof on the issue. There is no need for another reference or additional testimony. The defendant had a full opportunity at the post-trial hearing to examine and cross-examine witnesses and to offer all its proof to negate plaintiff's claim for damages; the record shows it did so. It is time to call a halt to the dilatory tactics of defendant and to award plaintiff the judgment to which she is entitled under the Court's decision.

In passing upon a Magistrate's report the Court is required to review the entire record and come to its own determination on the merits of the matter, to avoid an abdication of judicial responsibility.⁶ The Court has read and studied this record word for word. In addition, the Court had the benefit of demeanor testimony on this as well as other issues during the original trial of this matter. The Court will therefore determine the outstanding issues upon the trial record and the record before Magistrate Hartenstine, and makes the following additional findings of fact and conclusions of law.

GROSS AMOUNT OF BACK PAY

Plaintiff is entitled to be made whole for the losses she sustained as a result of her wrongful discharge.⁷ This includes back pay from the date of discharge to the present, including such increases, if any, as she would have received within that period.⁸ The defendant contends that salary increases were granted by its Executive Committee on an individual basis, depending in each instance upon an evaluation of the employee's performance, and that plaintiff's performance had so deteriorated that she would not have been granted any increase. Accordingly, defendant argues that it would be highly speculative to award any salary increase to plaintiff. The short answer is that where one's conduct has prevented a precise computation of damages, the injured party is not to be deprived of adequate damages. The trier of the fact may draw reasonable inferences from relevant facts, and all doubts are to be resolved in favor of the injured party; the wrongdoer does not become the beneficiary of his own wrongful conduct.⁹ First, this Court has already rejected defendant's contention that McGee's job performance was the cause of her discharge; second, it is a fact that plaintiff received periodic increases; third, plaintiff's co-workers, engaged in similar activities, have received increases within the period here under consideration.

Plaintiff's job performance with defendant during her entire service earned her repeated advances in position and salary. She started in 1967 as an administrative assistant to an account executive at a salary of $8,000 per year. The next year she was promoted to account executive at $9,000 a year; thereafter she received yearly raises to $10,000, $12,500, and $15,000, and finally to $18,000, when she was notified of her discharge on May 15, 1973. She was promoted to account administrator, account executive and senior account executive. While her rise was meteoric, it would be unrealistic to assume she would have continued to receive the large annual raises she received up to the time of her discharge; so, too, it would be unrealistic to assume that she would not have received some increase. The grant of an increase in wages or salary is a normal incident of the way of life in the industrial and commercial world. The evidence warrants a finding that except for defendant's unlawful discharge of plaintiff, she would have, in the normal course of her continued employment with the defendant, received periodic salary increases.

In an effort to reach a fair evaluation of such likely increases, the Court has reviewed the payroll records of defendant's employees within the job category of "account executive" during the years 1973, 1974 and 1975. Each such employee was granted an increase in annual salary in each of those years. While the amount of the individual increases varied, all fell within a range of from seven to twenty per cent. However, plaintiff's basic salary varied substantially from those of some account executives, so that no precise yardstick for comparison purposes may be applied. In view of plaintiff's rapid rise, as the dollar amount of her salary increased, it is probable that the percentage rate of increase would level off. Thus for the first year after discharge the Court deems an increase of ten per cent appropriate; thereafter, seven and a half per cent. Accordingly, the Court computes the gross amount of back pay to which plaintiff is entitled as follows:

                Salary from May 1 to December 1
                1973, at $18,000 per year(10)       $12,000.00
                Salary for 1974                           19,800.00
                Salary for 1975                           21,285.00
                Salary from January 1 to September
                30, 1976, at $22,881.38 per year          17,161.04
                                                         __________
                               Total back salary         $70,246.04
                

In addition to salary, the plaintiff is entitled to receive as part of her back pay award any fringe benefits she would have received had she remained employed by defendant.¹¹ Defendant has already paid to plaintiff her interest in defendant's profit-sharing and pension plans as of the time of her discharge. Further, plaintiff spent $613.14 after her discharge to replace Blue Cross/Blue Shield coverage which defendant had formerly provided, and incurred medical expenses (not covered by her health insurance) of which $1,837.92 would have been reimbursable under defendant's major medical policy. Plaintiff is thus entitled to a total of $2,451.06 in addition to her salary, making a total gross back pay award of $72,697.10.

DEDUCTIONS FROM BACK PAY

Once the gross amount of back pay owed plaintiff has been determined, the burden shifts to the defendant to prove what should be deducted therefrom as "interim earnings or amounts earnable with reasonable diligence."¹² The parties stipulated that plaintiff earned $1,400 as a...