Hoard v. Teletype Corp.
| Decision Date | 08 May 1978 |
| Docket Number | Civ. No. LR-74-C-381. |
| Parties | Nathaniel HOARD, Plaintiff, v. TELETYPE CORPORATION, Defendant, Richard Davis, Plaintiff-Intervenor. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Arkansas |
P. A. Hollingsworth, Hollingsworth, Bilheimer & Crutcher, Little Rock, Ark., for plaintiff and plaintiff-intervenor.
Richard Mays, Walker, Kaplan & Mays, Little Rock, Ark., for intervenors Burlon Joiner and Alma Gipson.
Robert S. Lindsey, Wright, Lindsey & Jennings, Little Rock, Ark., for defendant.
1. The plaintiff Nathaniel Hoard is black. He was employed by the defendant Teletype Corporation from November 8, 1965 until his discharge on October 16, 1972. He is an appropriate class representative for a Rule 23(b)(2) class consisting of all black employees who allege that they were discharged on account of race by Teletype from December 3, 1971 to September 6, 1977.
2. Richard Davis is black. He has been employed by Teletype since March 16, 1964. He was permitted to intervene by this Court on June 3, 1977. He is an appropriate class representative for all black employees currently employed by Teletype who allege that they were denied promotions to higher ranking positions or denied assignments to jobs paying a higher rate of pay on account of race since December 3, 1971. The higher ranking positions and jobs to which the class alleges it has been denied promotion or assignment to are as follows:
This is a definable class, all of the members can be identified by name. The number in the class is so numerous that joinder is impracticable. The claims of each member of the class involve common questions of law and fact. The challenged practice of not promoting black employees because of their race affects each member of the class in a comparable manner. The claim of the named plaintiff is typical of the claims of the class and the named plaintiff has fairly and adequately represented the interests of the class.
3. Teletype Corporation is an employer within the contemplation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Electric which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Telephone and Telegraph. It has operated a plant in Little Rock, Arkansas since 1957. At all times material to this action, Teletype has been an employer within the contemplation of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b). Since 1970, the work force has varied from a low of 1,200 to the present high of 2,200.
4. Burlon Joiner and Alma Gipson, black discharged employees of Teletype, petitioned to intervene as plaintiffs on October 12, 1977. Permission was subsequently granted.
5. The following black employees who had been discharged by Teletype between December 3, 1971 and September 6, 1977, affirmatively opted into Class I:
Wanda McKee Violet Allen Sharon Greene Paulette Hinton Diane McGhee Barbara Surratt Glenn Robinson James Wiggins Lewis Henderson Raymond Trice
The class of discharged employees was limited by the Court to Nathaniel Hoard and those individuals listed in paragraphs 4 and 5.
6. When the Teletype plant was opened in Little Rock in 1957, it did not hire any blacks as production employees, clerical employees, or employees in any of the categories set forth in paragraph 2. The only blacks that it hired were employed as janitors.
7. The first black employed by Teletype in a position other than as a janitor was hired in 1960. By July 1, 1962, one black was employed in a clerical position, five blacks were employed in production positions in grades 91 through 93, and no blacks were apparently employed in higher positions. As of July 30, 1964, only 28 or 7% of the 393 employees were black. Of these, two were clerical employees, three were janitors, twenty were unskilled production employees, and three were semiskilled production employees.
8. There were blacks living in Little Rock at the time the plant was opened and through 1964 who were qualified for most positions in the company, including production, craft, clerical, professional and supervisory positions. At the time of the enactment of Title VII, blacks were underrepresented in most classifications in the work force at Teletype.
9. Race was a factor in the failure of Teletype to employ blacks other than in janitorial positions in the plant until 1960.
10. Teletype had no affirmative action plan to bring qualified blacks into its Little Rock plant until 1970 when Lafayette Morrison, the Equal Employment Opportunity Coordinator, was sent from the Teletype plant in Skokie, Illinois, to initiate the writing and implementation of an affirmative action plan. Between 1970 and the time of trial, Morrison made 23 visits to Little Rock to assist in affirmative action activities. No EEO coordinator was appointed for the Little Rock plant until 1971. The EEO coordinators appointed by Teletype for the Little Rock facility, were not properly trained or given adequate direction and support, and were unable to provide an effective affirmative action program.
11. At the time of trial, of the 119 blacks hired between 1971 and 1974, twenty or 16.5% had advanced to grade 94; six or 5% had advanced to grade 95; and only two or 1.7% were employed at grade levels above 95.
12. At the time of trial, of the 281 whites hired from 1971 to 1974, 47 or 17% advanced to grade 94; ten or 4% had advanced to grade 95; and 24 or 8.5% had advanced to grades above 95.
13. At the time of trial, of the 119 blacks hired between 1971 and 1974, only four were hired into positions above grade 93. Of the 281 whites hired during the same period, 45 were hired into positions above grade 93.
14. At the time of trial, Teletype employed one vice president, two managers and three assistant managers. No black has ever been employed by Teletype in any of those positions.
15. At the time of trial, Teletype employed 22 department chiefs. No black has ever been employed in this position.
16. At the time of trial, Teletype employed 63 section chiefs of whom only five are black. The first black was employed as a section chief in 1970. The second black so employed was the intervenor Richard Davis in 1971.
17. At the time of trial, Teletype employed approximately 45 persons as designers and engineers. These are considered professional positions and most persons holding such positions have appropriate college degrees. Teletype has never employed a black in these positions.
18. At the time of trial, Teletype employed approximately 100 persons in the trade group classifications. Included in these classifications are approximately 50 toolmakers, fifteen electricians, four water and waste treatment plant operators, and three test set makers. Only five blacks are presently employed in the trade group job classifications.
19. At the time of trial, there were 396 employees in grades 95 through 98 of whom 73 or 18.4% were black, and 323 or 81.6% were white.
White % White Black % Black Total
Grade Employees Employees Employees Employees Employees
95 158 78.6 43 21.4 201
96 53 75.7 17 24.3 70
97 102 88.7 13 11.3 115
98 10 100 0 0 10
___ _____ __ ____ ___
TOTAL in
Grades 95-98 323 81.6 73 18.4 396
20. Since September 18, 1959, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) has been the certified collective bargaining representative for hourly rated production and maintenance employees, excluding clerical and professional employees, watchmen, guards and supervisory employees. Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, seniority is a factor but is not controlling in movement of employees within the bargaining unit. In grades 91 and 92, there is plant-wide seniority. In grade 93 experience in a related area is also important and in grades 94 through 98, TGI and TGII experience in a specific production line is important. Within a labor grade, advancement from one pay rate to another is automatic. Management retains final approval of movement within the production unit.
21. In 1970, blacks constituted 18.5% of the population in the Little Rock-North Little Rock Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA). U.S. Bureau of the Census, Census of the Population: 1970, Vol. 1, CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POPULATION, Arkansas, Part 5, Table 174, p. 632. In 1976, blacks constituted 15.5% of the civilian labor force over sixteen years of age and older in the Little Rock-North Little Rock SMSA. Arkansas Employment Security Division, Manpower Information for Affirmative Action Programs (1977).
22. The following statistical chart was prepared by the defendant and is reasonably representative of data submitted by the defendant for the purpose of showing that since 1970 Teletype has employed blacks in the classifications shown in a ratio reasonably related to the blacks in the community available and qualified for such positions:
1970-1977 1977
% Black % Black % Black
Availability Employment Employment
Manager 2.95
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