Gandy v. Sullivan County, Tenn.
| Decision Date | 07 July 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. 92-6700,92-6700 |
| Citation | 24 F.3d 861 |
| Parties | 64 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1607, 64 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 43,113, 62 USLW 2763, 128 Lab.Cas. P 33,094, 2 Wage & Hour Cas. 2d (BNA) 44 Rosemarie GANDY, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. SULLIVAN COUNTY, TENNESSEE, and William John McKamey, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Donald F. Mason, Jr. (argued and briefed), D. Bruce Shine (briefed), Kingsport, TN, for plaintiff-appellee.
Mark S. Dessauer (argued and briefed), Hunter, Smith & Davis, Charlton R. DeVault, Jr., Kingsport, TN, John S. McLellan, III, Blountville, TN, for defendants-appellants.
Before: MERRITT, Chief Judge; and MILBURN and SILER, Circuit Judges.
Defendants, Sullivan County, Tennessee and William John McKamey appeal a verdict and award of damages to plaintiff Rosemarie Gandy under the Equal Pay Act provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 206(d)(1). Defendants make three assignments of error. The issue that has created the most confusion, which we address in Part II of this opinion, is defendants' assertion that the statute of limitations barred this action and plaintiff's assertion that the action is covered by the "continuing violations" doctrine. Defendants also make a sufficiency of the evidence claim. They contend that there was not ample evidence upon which a jury could make the necessary finding that a substantial similarity between Gandy's job and the job of her male predecessor existed. Finally, defendants assert that the district court prejudiced the substantial rights of the defendants by comments which exemplified the court's lack of preparation and knowledge of the law in this area. We find no error in the district court's judgment and therefore affirm, 819 F.Supp. 726.
Rosemarie Gandy began employment with Sullivan County in 1978 as a clerk in the Department of Accounts and Budgets. From 1979 to June 30, 1982, she was a Claims Representative in the County's Safety and Insurance Department. From July 1, 1982 through the date of trial in this case, Gandy held the position of "Safety Director" for the County. For approximately 18 months before Gandy became Safety Director, the County employed Steven Lawson as "Assistant Safety Director and Community Development Project Coordinator." Gandy was given the job of Safety Director when Lawson was promoted to Risk Manager.
Under the salary scheme adopted by the County, positions are allocated an alphabetical classification from "A" through "P," with "A" being the lowest paid and "P" being the highest paid. Within each classification, seniority is also recognized through incremental pay raises awarded during the first nine years of service. The County designated Gandy's position as Safety Director as a wage classification "E." In 1984, she was advanced to classification "F" where she remained permanently. During his time as the Assistant Safety Director, Lawson's wage classification was "K;" that classification was raised to "M" upon his promotion to Risk Manager.
When Gandy became Safety Director, Lawson told her that she would receive an "E" classification and be assigned additional responsibilities. He further told her that if she performed the additional duties well, she would be moved into the "K" classification. Beginning in 1983, Lawson actively attempted to have Gandy moved to classification "K." He wrote at least five letters to the County Executive, explaining that Gandy was being underpaid, detailing her abilities and the appropriateness of increasing her salary, and describing the job as being traditionally compensated at level "K." His requests were continually denied. The record reflects that Gandy knew of Lawson's attempts to have her salary increased and made attempts of her own to have her pay increased.
On September 16, 1991, Gandy filed suit against Sullivan County, alleging a willful violation of the Equal Pay Act. She sought backpay for the wage differential between her successor (Lawson) and the wages paid to her from July 1, 1982 forward, and more specifically for the three year period prior to commencement of the suit. After trial before a jury, a verdict was returned for the plaintiff. The jury concluded that Gandy's position as Safety Director and Lawson's former position were essentially equal work, that Gandy was entitled to recover damages from the defendants for unequal pay, and that the defendants' conduct had been willful. Pursuant to a subsequent order of the district court, Gandy was awarded $64,959.80 in compensatory and liquidated damages, attorney fees and costs. Defendants now appeal.
The first issue raised on appeal is whether this action was barred by the statute of limitations. Claims arising under the Equal Pay Act must be filed within three years of the accrual of the cause of action, and plaintiffs may recover for unpaid wages for up to three years prior to the filing of the action when the employer's violation of the Act is found to be willful. 29 U.S.C. Sec. 255(a); Anderson v. City of Bristol, Tennessee, 6 F.3d 1168, 1174 (6th Cir.1993); Miller v. Beneficial Management Corp., 977 F.2d 834, 842 (3d Cir.1992). Gandy alleged, and the jury found, willful violations by the defendant. The defendant contends that the three year limitations period began to run, at the latest, in 1983 when Gandy knew she was being compensated at a rate less than her male predecessor. The defendant concludes that the entire action, filed in 1991, is time-barred.
The district court ruled that the statute of limitations did not bar this action. The court found that Lawson was Gandy's predecessor in the job of Safety Director, that Lawson was paid at a higher rate than Gandy, and that there was no other similarly situated male employee working during the time of the alleged violations. The court, citing E.E.O.C. v. Penton Inds. Pub. Co., Inc., 851 F.2d 835 (6th Cir.1988) and an EEOC interpretive regulation, 1 held that in predecessor/successor equal pay cases such as this, a "continuing violation" is established and the action is not time-barred. Gandy v. Sullivan County, Tennessee, 819 F.Supp. 726, 727 (E.D.Tenn.1993). We agree that the statute of limitations had not expired.
The Equal Pay Act is violated each time an employer presents an "unequal" paycheck to an employee for equal work. Hall v. Ledex, Inc., 669 F.2d 397, 398 (6th Cir.1982) (citations omitted). In Hall, the plaintiff was promoted to her former male supervisor's job, and although given a new title, her new job duties were identical to that of the male predecessor. When the job was retitled and given to plaintiff, the employer decreased the salary by two-thirds. In ruling on a statute of limitations argument by the defendant, we ruled that the defendant had violated the Equal Pay Act each time it presented plaintiff with a paycheck. Id.
Under the Equal Pay Act, a plaintiff's action will not be time-barred as long as at least one forbidden discriminatory act occurs within the relevant limitations period. It is irrelevant that the employer has committed identical illegal acts prior to the limitations period. Dixon v. Anderson, 928 F.2d 212, 216 (6th Cir.1991). To hold otherwise would grant license to employers to discriminate perpetually as long as they have been doing so unchecked for at least three years. See Miller, 977 F.2d at 843 . In this case, Gandy's rights under the Equal Pay Act were violated with every check she received after she replaced Lawson in 1982. Thus, the court properly found that she had a timely cause of action for the violations occurring between 1988 and 1991, the three years immediately prior to filing the action, and that she could properly collect damages for that period.
The plaintiff has argued, and the district court found, that this action was timely based on a theory of "continuing violations" in employment discrimination. The doctrine of continuing violations is a judicially-created one which has been used in two ways: It may provide a court with "jurisdiction" over a cause of action which was filed after the limitations period had run on a discrete discriminatory act triggering the statute. The doctrine also may allow a court to impose liability on an employer for acts committed outside the limitations period. In this case, however, neither issue presents itself: discriminatory acts were committed within the limitations period, and Gandy did not request damages for conduct outside the limitations period.
While repeated denials of equal pay such as this are "continuing in nature," see Hall, 669 F.2d at 398, the legal theory of continuing violations is not really applicable here. "Continuing" wrongs have been described in four categories relative to limitations of actions:
(1) the period limiting actions to recover for all harm may commence upon the occurrence of the first invasion of the plaintiff's rights; (2) each continuation or repetition of the wrongful conduct may be regarded as a separate cause of action for which suit must be brought within the period beginning with its occurrence; (3) the period for all harm may not commence until the defendant ceases his wrongful conduct; and (4) the period for all harm may be postponed until there is a manifestation of compensable harm.
Developments in the Law, Statutes of Limitations, 63 Harv.L.Rev. 1177, 1205 (1950) (emphasis added). The Sixth Circuit, like most other courts, classifies Equal Pay Act claims in the second category: each check paid at the discriminatory rate is a denial of equal pay and a separate violation of the Act. A separate cause of action accrues for each violation and must be filed within the three-year time period beginning with its...
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