Graff v. Eaton, 88-146

• Decision Date: 30 August 1991
• Docket Number: No. 88-146,88-146
• Citation: 157 Vt. 321,598 A.2d 1383
• Court: Vermont Supreme Court
• Parties: , 60 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 990 Nancy GRAFF v. Milton EATON, Individually and as Secretary of Vermont Agency of Development and Community Affairs, and State of Vermont.

Page 1383

598 A.2d 1383

157 Vt. 321, 60 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 990

Nancy GRAFF v. Milton EATON, Individually and as Secretary of Vermont

Agency of Development and Community Affairs, and

State of Vermont.

No. 88-146.

Supreme Court of Vermont.

Aug. 30, 1991.

William W. Pearson, John H. Tarlow and Andre D. Bouffard of Downs Rachlin & Martin, Burlington, for plaintiff-appellant.

Jeffrey L. Amestoy, Atty. Gen., Montpelier, Richard W. Norton, Special Asst. Atty. Gen., Rutland, and Geoffrey A. Yudien, Asst. Atty. Gen., Montpelier, for defendants-appellees.

Before ALLEN, C.J., PECK and GIBSON, JJ., BARNEY, C.J. (Retired) and SPRINGER, District Judge (Retired), Specially Assigned.

GIBSON, Justice.

Plaintiff appeals from a jury determination that defendants did not discriminate against her on the basis of gender when she was not hired on a flextime schedule as editor of Vermont Life magazine. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

Plaintiff was hired as acting editor of Vermont Life in June 1983, shortly after the acrimonious dismissal of the prior editor. She began her editorship on a part-time basis, but it gradually evolved into a full-time commitment. Pleased with her performance as acting editor, then Secretary of the Agency of Development and Community Affairs, Milton Eaton, encouraged plaintiff to apply for the permanent position. At first, plaintiff declined to do so, citing her desire to care for her infant son; eventually, she changed her mind. The Vermont Life advisory board found plaintiff to be the most qualified candidate, and Eaton offered her the job of permanent editor.

Plaintiff conditioned her acceptance on the State giving her a flexible work schedule. Although a certain degree of flexibility was inherent in the editor's position, a flextime schedule had never been officially sanctioned for any of the previous editors, all of whom had been men. Eaton refused to grant plaintiff a flextime schedule, stating that it was inappropriate in light of the recent managerial instability following the prior editor's dismissal. At one point during the discussions, plaintiff claims Eaton stated that if he gave her flextime, every female state employee with small children would also want a flexible schedule. Eaton testified that he did not recall making the remark. Because the conflict over flextime was never resolved, plaintiff never accepted the State's offer. Eventually, a male was chosen as the magazine's editor and no flextime schedule was provided.

Plaintiff filed suit against Milton Eaton, individually and in his representative capacity, the Vermont Agency of Development and Community Affairs, and the State of Vermont, claiming that, in violation of Vermont's Fair Employment Practices Act, 21 V.S.A. §§ 495-496, the Agency refused to hire her on a flextime schedule because of prohibited sex stereotyping. Following a two-week trial, the jury returned a verdict for defendants. On appeal, plaintiff claims that (1) the jury instructions improperly allocated the burdens of proof, and (2) defendants' closing argument was improper and prejudicial.

Plaintiff first contends that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury that once a plaintiff proves that gender was a motivating factor in the employment decision, an employer may avoid liability only by proving that it would have made the same decision even if it had not taken the plaintiff's gender into account. ¹ We agree and conclude that the omission requires that we reverse and remand the case.

The Fair Employment Practices Act, which makes it unlawful for an employer "to discriminate against any individual because of [her] ... sex," 21 V.S.A. § 495(a)(1), is patterned on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-2000e-17, State v. Whitingham School Board, 138 Vt. 15, 17, 410 A.2d 996, 997 (1979); "[t]he standards and burdens of proof under state law are identical to those existing under federal law." Cobb v. Dufresne-Henry, Inc., 603 F.Supp. 1048, 1053 (D.Vt.1985). Nevertheless, in contrast to the federal act, ² jury trials are permitted in actions under the Vermont act; therefore, we need not follow every nuance of federal court pronouncements on Title VII in FEPA actions. See, e.g., Stork v. International Bazaar, Inc., 54 Wash.App. 274, 282-83, 774 P.2d 22, 26-27 (1989) (citing undue complexity and potential jury confusion, court declined to adopt federal method of allocating burden of proof for cases brought under state age discrimination law patterned after Title VII).

Under current federal law, "[t]he critical inquiry ... is whether gender was a factor in the employment decision at the moment it was made." Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 490 U.S. 228, 241, 109 S.Ct. 1775, 1786, 104 L.Ed.2d 268 (1989). When the plaintiff proves that a discriminatory reason, such as gender, played a motivating factor in an employment decision, the burden of persuasion then falls upon, and remains with, the employer to prove "by a preponderance of the evidence that it would have made the same decision even if it had not taken the plaintiff's gender into account." Id. at 258, 109 S.Ct. at 1794. Placing the burden of proof on the employer in such situations is appropriate because, once the plaintiff has shown that an illegal, discriminatory motive was a factor in the employer's decision, the reason for applying the McDonnell Douglas formula ³--to uncover the motives involved in the employment decision--no longer exists. See Grant v. Hazelett Strip-Casting Corp., 880 F.2d 1564, 1568-69 (2d Cir.1989). In Price Waterhouse, the Court ruled that the following evidence was sufficient proof of a discriminatory motive to place the burden of persuasion on the employer: (1) the employer heavily relied on stereotypical comments submitted by colleagues in connection with the plaintiff's application for partnership; (2) female candidates for partnership in previous years had been evaluated in sex-based terms; and (3) the decisionmaker's spokesman told the plaintiff after the decision had been made that, in order to improve her future chances for partnership, she should "walk more femininely, talk more femininely, dress more femininely, wear make-up, have her hair styled, and wear jewelry." 490 U.S. at 235-36, 109 S.Ct. at 1782-83.

In the instant case, plaintiff presented evidence that gender was a motivating factor in Eaton's decision not to hire her. In addition to testifying that preceding male editors had enjoyed flexible work hours, ⁴ plaintiff testified that defendant Eaton told her: "Nancy, if I give you flextime, then every woman in state government with small children will want flextime." ⁵ The jury should have been instructed that if it found that plaintiff had shown by a preponderance of the evidence that gender was a motivating factor in the refusal to hire plaintiff on a flextime schedule, then defendants must show by a preponderance of the evidence that the same decision would have been made even absent the discriminatory motive. See Grant, 880 F.2d at 1569 (citing Price Waterhouse court held that it was for jury to decide whether evidence, if believed, showed that age played a motivating role in decision). Instead, the court gave, in relevant part, the following instruction:

The Defendant has come forward with evidence claiming that it did not accept plaintiff's condition of employment for one or more legitimate, that is, nondiscriminatory, reasons. In order to prevail, plaintiff must prove to you by a preponderance of the evidence that the reasons claimed by the defendant are a pretext. That is to say, the reasons the defendant is using are a cover-up of a discriminatory reason. If you decide the defendant's reasons are a cover-up of a discriminatory reason, then your verdict shall be for the plaintiff. If not, then your verdict shall be for the defendant.

To put it another way, if you find that there are mixed reasons for plaintiff's not being hired, legitimate and discriminatory, then you are to decide a simple question. If plaintiff would have been denied the editorship given her condition of employment, without any influence from the fact that she was female, then the plaintiff has not proven her claim and your verdict shall be for the defendant.

On the other hand, if you decide her gender did prevent her condition of employment from being accepted, regardless of other reasons, then your verdict shall be for the plaintiff.

At no time did the trial court indicate to the jury that, if it were to find plaintiff had shown that gender was a motivating factor in the employment decision, then defendants had to prove that they would have made the same decision even absent the discriminatory motive. By failing to mention defendants' burden of proof, these instructions were erroneous and prejudicial.

Because of the erroneous instructions, we cannot affirm the jury verdict in this case unless we conclude that, as a matter of law, plaintiff's evidence was insufficient for the jury to determine that gender was a motivating factor in defendants' decision not to hire her on a flextime schedule. We cannot so conclude. As the Court in Price Waterhouse pointed out, stereotypical remarks made at work do not necessarily prove that gender was a motivating factor in a particular employment decision; "[t]he plaintiff must show that the employer actually relied on her gender in making its decision." 490 U.S. at 251, 109 S.Ct. at 1791. Such stereotypical remarks, however, "can certainly be evidence that gender played a part." Id. (emphasis in original). ⁶ Certainly, comments such as the one offered into evidence here, which implies that an impermissible criterion was a factor in the employment decision, are sufficient evidence for the jury to conclude that the employer's decision was, at least in part, discriminatory, thereby placing the burden of persuasion on the employer to prove that the same decision would have been made absent the...