Glenn v. General Motors Corp., Civ. A. No. CV-83-V-5777-NE.

• Citation: 658 F. Supp. 918
• Decision Date: 04 February 1987
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. CV-83-V-5777-NE.
• Parties: Sheila Ann GLENN, et al., Plaintiffs, v. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama

658 F. Supp. 918

Sheila Ann GLENN, et al., Plaintiffs, v. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, Defendant.

Civ. A. No. CV-83-V-5777-NE.

United States District Court, N.D. Alabama, Northeastern Division.

July 10, 1986.

On Motion February 4, 1987.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

James H. Richardson, Gabrielle U. Wehl, Bell, Richardson, Herrington, Sparkman and Shepard, P.A., Huntsville, Ala., Larry Menefee, Blachsher, Menefee & Stein, P.A., Birmingham, Ala., for plaintiffs.

Barry V. Frederick, Charles A. Powell, III, Birmingham, Ala., for defendant.

On Motion for Attorney Fees February 4, 1987.

OPINION AND ORDER

VANCE, Circuit Judge, Sitting by Designation.

The factual and legal statements incorporated in this opinion constitute the court's findings of fact and conclusions of law required by Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a). In this case plaintiffs, Sheila Ann Glenn ("Glenn"), Patricia J. Johns ("Johns"), and Robbie Nugent ("Nugent"), claim that the defendant, General Motors Corporation ("GM"), violated the Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d).¹

The three plaintiffs are employed in the Materials Management Department (previously Tool Stores Department) of the Saginaw Division of GM in three different plants near Athens, Alabama. The plaintiffs currently work in the positions of Materials Management Expediter and Materials Follow-Up Clerk, previously designated Follow-Up and Associate Follow-Up Tool and Die respectively. A Follow-Up basically insures that adequate supplies of tools and operating materials are on hand in the GM plants to meet the minimum levels necessary to keep the plants running. A portion of the information used in the job is computer-generated. Normally, each plant has three Follow-Ups, but at times GM has used less than three. Up to the time of this suit, four women, including plaintiffs, have worked in the Follow-Up position—all other Follow-Ups have been men.

The Plaintiffs

Plaintiff Nugent was hired by GM "off the street" (from outside GM) in 1975 as a level 4 Associate Follow-Up Tool and Die, with salary of $600.00 per month. She was employed in Plant 21. Nugent was the first person hired by GM in a Follow-Up capacity. Nugent was told by GM that she was starting at the bottom of the salary scale but that in six months she would be evaluated on her ability. Nugent became a level 5 Follow-Up with no change in job duties during the second quarter of 1978 at a base monthly salary of $1,100.00. During 1984, her job title was changed to Materials Management Expediter. In 1985, her base monthly salary was $2,385.00. At time of trial, her base monthly salary was $2,505.00, effective January 1986.

Plaintiff Glenn was hired "off the street" by GM in September 1977 as a salaried employee in Plant 21. Glenn was hired into a level 3 stenographer position with a base salary of $755.00 per month. In February 1981 Glenn transferred from the position of stenographer, at a base salary of $1,310.40, to the position of level 4 Associate Follow-Up Tool and Die in Plant 23. Glenn's base salary, after transfer, was $1,441.44 per month. In 1984, Glenn's job title was changed to Materials Follow-Up Clerk. In 1985 her base salary was $2,370.00 per month. At time of trial, her base monthly salary was $2,550.00, effective January 1986.

Plaintiff Johns was hired "off the street" by GM in October 1978 as a salaried employee in the position of secretary to the Plant 22 superintendent. In February 1981 Johns became a level 4 Associate Follow-Up Tool and Die in Plant 22 with a base monthly salary of $1,316.64. Johns currently holds the title of Materials Follow-Up Clerk, and her 1985 base salary was $2,271.00 per month. Her monthly salary at time of trial was $2,405.00, effective January 1986.

The Plaintiffs' Male Counterparts

In September 1975, Richard Tanley transferred from the hourly tool crib job at GM to the position of Associate Follow-Up Tool and Die alongside plaintiff Nugent in Plant 21, at a monthly base salary of $660.00. In April 1978 Tanley was given the level 6 position of supervisor, Tool Stores Department, Plant 22. In 1985 he was the Receiving and Inspection Supervisor. Tanley's job duties did not change when he was promoted from Associate Follow-Up to Follow-Up.

Stephen Downs was hired as an hourly employee at the Saginaw plant in January 1976. His job position was skilled trades— 70 Rate, however, he held the position of forklift driver. His base monthly equivalent salary was $932.35. Downs transferred from hourly to salaried employment, taking the position of Associate Follow-Up Tool and Die in February 1977. He worked in Plant 21 alongside Robbie Nugent. His monthly base salary was $975.00, which increased to $1,075.00 in April 1977. Nugent's monthly base salary for the same period was $878.94. In April 1978 Downs became a Follow-Up, with a base monthly salary of $1,250.00. His job duties did not change. Plaintiff Nugent's base monthly salary at that time was $1,100.00. In 1985 Downs' job title was changed to Materials Management Expediter. In May 1985 he took the position of Senior Materials Management Expediter, a level 6 position. His job duties did not change. In 1985 his monthly base salary was $2,775.00; Plaintiff Nugent's was $2,385.00.

Steven D. Greenlee was hired in April 1979 as an Associate Follow-Up Tool and Die for Plant 22. His monthly base salary was $1,175.00. Greenlee remained an Associate Follow-Up until he was laid off during June 1980. At the time of his layoff, his base monthly salary was $1,545.40. Greenlee was recalled during January 1981 to the same position he had previously held, at a base monthly salary of $1,545.54. During June 1981 Greenlee assumed a level 5 position of supervisor-in-training, and in September 1981 he became a production supervisor. In June 1985 Greenlee held the position of production supervisor.

Harold Wales was hired by GM during June 1977 at an hourly rate as a job setter —30 Rate. He received a monthly equivalent wage of $1,216.57. In May 1978 he transferred to the salaried position of Follow-Up Tool and Die alongside plaintiff Nugent in Plant 21 at a monthly base salary of $1,230.00. One month later he returned to an hourly position. In January 1981 Wales left his position of machine operator —20 Rate, with a monthly equivalent wage of $1,608.22, and resumed the position of Follow-Up Tool and Die in Plant 21, with a monthly base salary of $1,608.22. Harold Wales currently holds the position of Materials Management Expediter. His job duties have not changed. In 1985 his base monthly salary was $2,485.00.

Robert Stephenson was hired by GM in March 1978 as an hourly employee, machine operator—20 Rate; however, in fact he was a crib attendant. His monthly equivalent pay was $1,171.51. Stephenson testified he applied for a salaried Tool Stores position but was hired as an hourly tool crib attendant. During September 1978 he transferred to the salaried position of Associate Follow-Up Tool and Die in Plant 22 at a monthly base salary of $1,220.00. Stephenson held this position until June 1980, at which time he returned to an hourly position as a tool crib attendant, and was paid $1,293.44 per month. He remained an hourly employee until January 1981, at which time he transferred to the position of Associate Follow-Up in Plant 22, with a base monthly salary of $1,564.00. Sometime between September 1982 and September 1983, Stephenson took the level 5 position of Follow-Up. In September 1984 his job title changed to Materials Management Expediter, fifth level. His base monthly salary increased from $1,752.96 to $1,875.66, but his job duties remained the same. GM admitted that Bobby Stephenson was transferred to the position of Associate Tool and Die Follow-Up in 1978 at GM's Plant 22 at a higher base salary than Robbie Nugent was being paid in Plant 21 at the time of Stephenson's transfer.

Billy White was hired by GM in December 1978 as an hourly employee. He held the position of machine operator—20 Rate, with a monthly equivalent pay of $1,608.22. In April 1981 he took the position of Associate Follow-Up Tool and Die in Plant 23, with a monthly base salary of $1,656.46. In 1984 his job title was changed from Associate Follow-Up to Materials Follow-Up Clerk, and during May 1985, he was given a level 5 position as a Materials Management Expediter. White's job duties remained the same. His base salary in 1985 was $2,600.00. White was hired nearest in time to plaintiffs Glenn and Johns.

Jerry Pepper became an Associate Follow-Up in July 1981 at a monthly salary of $1,656.00. Jerry Pepper's job title was changed to Materials Follow-Up Clerk in 1984. In June 1985 Pepper became a level 5 Materials Management Expediter. Despite the change in job, Pepper's duties have remained the same. His 1985 base monthly salary was $2,740.00.

The Pay Disparity

Through 1985 all three plaintiffs earned less than all of their male counterparts in the Follow-Up position in the Tool Stores Department. In fact, the most highly-paid plaintiff made less through 1985 than the lowest-paid man. Plaintiff Nugent was hired as an Associate Follow-Up two months before Richard Tanley was hired in the same capacity, yet Tanley's monthly salary was $60 higher. Plaintiffs Johns and Glenn were hired as Associate Follow-Ups two months before Billy White, yet White's starting Associate Follow-Up salary was $215 per month higher than Glenn's and $336 per month higher than Johns'.

Plaintiffs Glenn, Johns and Nugent each received an "inequity adjustment" shortly after plaintiffs Johns and Glenn filed their EEOC charges. No one else in the Tool Stores Department received an "inequity adjustment." In determining whether to give an "inequity adjustment" to salary, the GM salaried personnel administration looks at the employee's salary in relation to a new hire's salary, the employee's performance and length of service. In August 1983 plaintiff Glenn received an "inequity adjustment" of $150.56. Defendant's...