EEOC v. Chicago Miniature Lamp Works
| Citation | 622 F. Supp. 1281 |
| Decision Date | 30 October 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 79 C 2362.,79 C 2362. |
| Parties | EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff, and Ed B. Randolph, Plaintiff-Intervenor, v. CHICAGO MINIATURE LAMP WORKS, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
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John C. Hendrickson, Margaret Lee Herbert, Daniel Preciado, E.E.O.C., and Claudia Oney, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff-intervenor Ed B. Randolph.
Jerold S. Solovy, William D. Snapp, James A. McKenna, Julia Martin, Marshall J. Schmidt, Jenner & Block, Chicago, Ill., for defendant.
FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") and Ed Randolph ("Randolph") have sued Chicago Miniature Lamp Works ("Chicago Miniature"), charging race-based discrimination against blacks as a class and, in Randolph's case, individually. After a bench trial the parties have supplemented their extensive pretrial submissions by tendering proposed post-trial findings of fact and conclusions of law.
In accordance with Fed.R.Civ.P. ("Rule") 52(a), this Court finds the facts specially as set forth in the following Findings of Fact ("Findings") and states the following Conclusions of Law ("Conclusions"). To the extent if any of the Findings as stated reflect legal conclusions, they shall be deemed Conclusions; to the extent if any of the Conclusions as stated reflect factual findings, they shall be deemed Findings.
1. EEOC is the agency of the United States charged with administration and enforcement of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Act"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e to 2000e-17 ("Title VII") (Stip. ¶ 3).1
2. Randolph is an individual citizen of the United States and a resident of the Northern District of Illinois. Randolph's race is black (Stip. ¶ 4).
3. Until October 1980 Chicago Miniature was a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Illinois, with its only office and factory located at 4433 North Ravenswood Avenue, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. Since then Chicago Miniature has been, and it now is, a division of General Instrument Corporation ("General Instrument"), a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware2 (Stip. ¶¶ 1, 10).
4. Chicago Miniature has been and is engaged in the manufacture and sale of miniature and sub-miniature incandescent and neon lamps and associated components and subassemblies. Its lamp products are sold primarily to original equipment manufacturers for a variety of industrial and consumer product applications (Stip. ¶ 9). Chicago Miniature was and is now an employer in an industry affecting commerce within the meaning of Sections 2000e(g) and (h) (Stip. ¶ 2).
5. Randolph was hired and first employed by Chicago Miniature as a "programmer analyst" (Randolph Tr. 147). He remained employed by Chicago Miniature (receiving one promotion and three salary increases) from November 17, 1975 through approximately February 6, 1978 (Stip. ¶ 16). On March 9, 1978 Randolph filed a timely Charge of Discrimination (the "Charge," P.Ex. 2) with EEOC's Chicago District Office, alleging Chicago Miniature had discriminated against him in denying him a promotion to the position of Data Processing Manager because of his race (Stip. ¶ 5).
6. In investigating the Charge EEOC discovered and investigated evidence indicating Chicago Miniature discriminated against blacks as a class, on account of their race, in recruitment, hiring and promotions (Morgan Tr. 1518-20).
7. On November 9, 1978 EEOC found reasonable cause to believe:
EEOC's findings of reasonable cause to believe were set forth in its November 9 "Letter of Determination" mailed to Chicago Miniature and Randolph (Morgan Tr. 1518-19; P.Ex. 6).
8. EEOC filed this action June 8, 1979. On November 9, 1979 the Court granted Randolph leave to intervene in his own behalf as a party plaintiff.
9. EEOC elected to proceed to trial only with respect to (a) Chicago Miniature's discrimination against blacks as a class in recruitment and hiring for entry-level factory jobs and (b) Chicago Miniature's refusal and failure to promote Randolph because of his race (FPTO Att. I).
10. Jurisdiction and venue are not disputed by the parties (Tr. 2391-97; Stip. ¶ 8).
11. From sometime in 1977 through October 1979 William Curran ("Curran") was chief executive and operating officer of Chicago Miniature, holding the title of Executive Vice-President (Stip. ¶ 12).
12. From about 1972 through August 1980 Armella Simon ("Simon") was employed by Chicago Miniature as its Personnel Manager (Stip. ¶ 13). Since then Magalis Trueva ("Trueva") has succeeded Simon as the person with primary responsibility for filling openings for entry-level employees at Chicago Miniature (Trueva Tr. 1540).
13. From and after May 16, 1979 Donald Howard ("Howard") was employed by Chicago Miniature as its Director of Human Resources (Stip. ¶ 14).
14. Daniel Hoeh ("Hoeh") was employed at Chicago Miniature as Data Processing Manager for a period of approximately eight years ending in October 1977. Hoeh's responsibilities as Data Processing Manager included the hiring of personnel for the data processing department. It was Hoeh who, after interviewing Randolph, hired him as a Programmer Analyst (Hoeh Tr. 17, 25, 58; P.Exs. 9, 37).
15. In accordance with Title VII, Chicago Miniature filed with EEOC EEO-1 reports, signed by authorized Chicago Miniature management personnel (including Simon and Howard), for each of the years 1966 through 1984 (Stip. ¶ 19; P.Exs. 81-95, 172-74). Those EEO-1 reports set forth, by race, sex and national origin, the number of persons employed by Chicago Miniature, as of a given payroll date in each year, in each of nine job categories identified in the reports (Stip. ¶ 20); Elkhanialy 1/16 Tr. 44-45). Entry-level factory jobs are shown in the "operative," "laborer" (none reported) and "service worker" job categories in the EEO-1 reports (Stip. ¶ 23; Simon Tr. 997).
16. All data in EEO-1 reports is3 "employer-generated": It is the employer, not EEOC, that determines the race, national origin and sex of its employees, decides under which of the job classifications employees are reported and makes the numerical count of the employees in each category (Stip. ¶¶ 19, 21-22; Elkhanialy 1/16 Tr. 45; P.Ex. 124 at 2-3).
17. For the years 1970 through 1981 Chicago Miniature's work force composition, as reported in its EEO-1 reports, was as set forth in the table attached as Appendix ("App.") 1 (P.Ex. 124, Table I; P.Exs. 84-95 EEO-1 reports; Elkhanialy 1/16 Tr. 45-58).
18. For the years 1982-83 (after this action was filed), not reflected in App. 1, the number of blacks employed by Chicago Miniature in entry-level operative and service job categories continued to decline. Only because of an overall decline in the work force, their percentage level of representation increased slightly, as follows (Exs. 172-74):
Total Operative & Black Operative & % Black Operative &
Year Service Employees Service Employees Service Employees
1982 160 13 8.1%
1983 146 12 8.2%
1984 112 11 9.8%
Curran's Recognition of Black Underrepresentation
19. Curran acknowledged that in his opinion there were not, during his tenure as chief executive officer of Chicago Miniature, enough blacks within the work force of Chicago Miniature, and that was true on a company-wide basis (Curran Tr. 909).
"Recruitment" by Chicago Miniature
20. Chicago Miniature did not and does not advertise to obtain applicants for entry-level ("operative" and "service") factory jobs (Stip. ¶ 26; Simon Tr. 999, 1020). It did however utilize newspaper advertising to recruit applicants for clerical and typist jobs (Simon Tr. 999-1001).
21. Nor did Chicago Miniature advertise in any form of media "targeted" to black audiences in order to recruit black job applicants or to seek to increase the level of black representation in its work force (Curran Tr. 909-10).
22. Chicago Miniature seldom utilized, and it received few (less than 5%, in Simon's opinion) job applicants by referral from, the State of Illinois unemployment office (Simon Tr. 1002).
23. Instead Chicago Miniature utilized and relied primarily upon word-of-mouth to recruit applicants for entry-level factory jobs. In Simon's opinion approximately 75% of Chicago Miniature's job applicants come to it through word-of-mouth recruiting (Simon Tr. 998, 1025). Most of Chicago Miniature's applicants and employees identified in Findings 52 and 53, and employees testifying for Chicago Miniature, learned of Chicago Miniature through word-of-mouth.
24. Statistical analysis of its applicant flow data confirms Chicago Miniature's heavy reliance upon word-of-mouth recruiting. Analysis shows blacks, who have historically been underrepresented in Chicago Miniature's work force, continue to be underrepresented in its applicant flow, even when the analysis is restricted to nearby areas, and it shows the reverse with respect to Hispanics, who have been heavily represented. It also shows that the geographical distribution of applicants is clustered within an artificially small area (Elkhanialy Tr. 741-43).
25. Chicago Miniature's heavy utilization of and reliance upon word-of-mouth recruiting resulted in the exclusion of blacks from the network of information concerning jobs at Chicago Miniature, gross...
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