Geisler v. Folsom
| Decision Date | 03 July 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 82-5785,82-5785 |
| Citation | 735 F.2d 991 |
| Parties | 34 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1581, 34 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 34,421 Anne GEISLER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Frank FOLSOM, JR., personally and in his official capacity; Dwight Kessel, William C. Tallent, in their official capacity; County of Knox, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Geoffrey P. Emery, Assistant Law Director, Knox County (argued), Knoxville, Tenn., for defendants-appellees.
Dorothy B. Stulberg (argued), Oak Ridge, Tenn., for plaintiff-appellant.
Before LIVELY, Chief Judge, WELLFORD, Circuit Judge, and BROWN, Senior Circuit Judge.
This is an action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e, et seq. (1976), in which the plaintiff charged that she was subjected to discrimination in employment solely because she is a woman. Following a two day bench trial the district court filed a memorandum opinion finding that plaintiff failed to prove unlawful discrimination in wages and working conditions or in promotions and work assignments. The court also found that the defendants had not retaliated against the plaintiff for filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), that the pregnancy leave policy of the defendants complied with federal and state requirements and that plaintiff was not constructively discharged. Judgment was entered for all defendants and this appeal followed.
The plaintiff was employed as an "Engineer I" in the Knox County, Tennessee Department of Air Pollution Control (the Department) from January, 1976 until she resigned in May, 1981. During most of the time of plaintiff's employment there were three positions in the Department designated "Engineer." Mark Mitckes, who had bachelor's and master's degrees in chemical engineering, had the title of Engineer II. The plaintiff had the title Engineer I and Richard West was designated "Engineering Aide." Ms. Geisler has a bachelor's degree in environmental health and had taken graduate courses in environmental engineering. She did not have an engineering degree. West had no collegiate degree, but had long experience in the Department as a pollution inspector. During the time of plaintiff's employment Mitckes was the highest paid person with an "Engineer" title, the plaintiff was next highest paid and West was the lowest paid. For a six-month period West had additional earnings from a contract with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which put his total income above that of the plaintiff. Mitckes and Ms. Geisler dealt with "major sources" of pollution in the county while West was involved primarily in field monitoring. The duties of Mitckes and Ms. Geisler required frequent contact with industry personnel and higher technical qualifications than the work which West performed.
The organization chart of the Department called for a Director and an Assistant Director. The Department was without a permanent Director during much of Ms. Geisler's tenure as an employee. From August, 1979 until October, 1980 Frank Folsom was Acting Director. Dwight Kessel served as Acting Director from December, 1980 until April, 1981. James Lovett
was chosen as Director to succeed Kessel. Under the controlling regulations he was required to serve as Acting Director for a period before formally assuming the position of Director. He was Acting Director when the plaintiff resigned by a letter dated May 15, 1981, effective May 29th.
It is clear from the record that Frank Folsom dealt poorly with professionally trained women employees. Ms. Geisler testified that Folsom refused to deal directly with the women on the professional staff, made demeaning remarks to them and generally made their life at work uncomfortable. She was supported by the testimony of two female environmentalists who worked for the Department. Both testified that the atmosphere changed dramatically for the worse when Folsom succeeded the previous Director, John McDowell. In addition Mark Mitckes testified that in his opinion women were not given equal opportunities with men under Folsom. While admitting that he and Ms. Geisler did not get along well, Folsom denied that he ever discriminated against women.
On July 10, 1980 the plaintiff filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. In the charge she alleged that Richard West had received a salary increase which raised his earnings above hers, that an office assigned to her in August, 1979 was reassigned to West in January, 1980, that new furniture which had been assigned to her office was reassigned to Mark Mitckes, that the "line of communication" between her and Folsom had been broken, that rules and procedures relating to vacation time for male and female employees were not always the same and that major responsibilities had been taken away from the plaintiff and assigned to West.
Following her resignation and receipt of a right to sue letter from the EEOC the plaintiff filed this action. In addition to the matters recited in her charge she alleged in the complaint that the defendants had retaliated against her for filing the charge and that the maternity leave policy of the Department was illegal. At trial she claimed she had been constructively discharged.
To support the claim of retaliation the plaintiff testified that conditions were worse for her and other women in the office after she filed the charge. Further, the day the Department received notice of the charge the three professional women were called to a meeting by Mitckes and told that they were to deal with him rather than Folsom. Mitckes said that Folsom did not know how to deal with these employees.
In support of her claim of constructive discharge the plaintiff testified that the new Director, Lovett, told her, "There is no opportunity for advancement for you here." She said she resigned at that point, because she had been told to get out and had no option. Lovett testified that he never told Ms. Geisler that she had no future in the Department. He said he had not had an opportunity to evaluate the people in the Department when the plaintiff resigned. He told a number of employees, including the plaintiff, that the County was feeling budgetary pressures and that there might be reductions. In fact, the County was not required to operate an air pollution monitoring and control entity and there was a possibility that the Department could be abolished. Lovett also testified that some time after Ms. Geisler resigned he reorganized the Department, changed titles and eliminated the position of Assistant Director.
Contrary to the plaintiff's testimony, Lovett said he did not give West either a promotion or a salary increase after Ms. Geisler resigned; he merely changed West's title and put him in charge of the section he had previously headed. Before resigning the plaintiff had applied for the positions of Director, Assistant Director and Engineer II. The positions of Assistant Director and Engineer II were vacant when Ms. Geisler resigned. After the position of Assistant Director was abolished,
Lovett appointed a Quality Assurance Coordinator who also functioned as Assistant Director. The man appointed had no engineering degree, but possessed extensive administrative experience.
The district court made specific findings with respect to plaintiff's claims as follows:
(1) The payroll records showed that the plaintiff was paid more than West during the entire period of her employment. The extra pay which West received for six months under the EPA contract was for work outside his regular employment.
(2) The three offices assigned to the engineering personnel were substantially the same and the plaintiff took Mitckes' office when he left. The plaintiff had access to a conference room along with other employees and was never denied access to individuals or meetings.
(3) Uniform office hours and time card requirements were instituted by Kessel and were applied uniformly and were non-discriminatory in nature.
(4) The maternity leave policy of Knox County complied with all state and federal regulations. The plaintiff used sick and annual leave for her pregnancy-related absence in September, 1980 and was compensated for her time off except for 4 1/2 days of claimed compensatory time which was denied pursuant to a neutral policy that was uniformly applied.
(5) When the plaintiff voluntarily resigned she indicated to Lovett that she had at least one other job offer in her field. After evaluating the remaining staff Lovett assigned West the title of Enforcement Coordinator without an increase in salary.
(6) The unfavorable conditions which existed during Frank Folsom's tenure did not exist after his departure. The evidence indicated that conditions improved and that plaintiff had her own office and substantial responsibilities when she resigned. Conditions were not so intolerable that plaintiff's resignation amounted to a constructive discharge.
(7) Plaintiff did not make out a prima facie case of disparate treatment in failure to promote her to Director, Assistant Director or Engineer II. Both the Director and Engineer II positions required engineering degrees at the time plaintiff applied, and she did not have the qualifications for either. "Even if she was qualified, we find that plaintiff failed to show that the County's decision to hire an engineer as Director was pretext for discrimination."
The Engineer II position was eliminated in the restructuring and plaintiff submitted her resignation before the Assistant Director position was filled and the staff restructured. Thus, plaintiff withdrew her name from consideration before she was denied promotion to Assistant Director or Engineer II.
(8) Plaintiff did not prove that the decision to hire a man as Quality Assurance Coordinator was a pretextual move to cover a...
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