Jennings v. Tinley Park Community Consol. School Dist. No. 146, 146
| Decision Date | 21 July 1986 |
| Docket Number | D,No. 146,No. 85-1916,146,85-1916 |
| Parties | 41 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 497, 41 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 36,421, 33 Ed. Law Rep. 1060 Kathryn M. JENNINGS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. TINLEY PARK COMMUNITY CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 146; Robert W. Procunier, Superintendent of Community Consolidated School District; and the Board of Education of Community Consolidated School District, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Diane I. Jennings, Lord, Bissell & Brook, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff-appellant.
David P. Kula, Scariano, Kula & Ellch, Chtd., Chicago Heights, Ill., for defendants-appellees.
Before CUDAHY and COFFEY, Circuit Judges, and EVANS, District Judge. *
Plaintiff, Kathryn Jennings, brought a Title VII action against defendants alleging that 1) her employer's policy, which denied overtime wages to secretaries, who were all female, but granted overtime wages to custodians, who were all male, discriminated on the basis of sex; and 2) her discharge was in retaliation for her participation in preparing and delivering a salary study to the Board of Education. The district court ruled for defendants on both claims. We affirm the district court on the underlying Title VII claim and vacate the judgment on the retaliation claim and remand this branch of the case for a new determination.
Jennings served as a secretary to Robert Procunier, Superintendent for Tinley Park Community Consolidated School District No. 146, from November 1973 until June 1979. During that period District 146 employed two groups of employees that it designated as "Class I" employees, secretaries and custodians. "Class I" employees were noncertified, 1 full-time, salaried employees. All secretaries were female; all custodians were male. Custodians were paid one and one-half times their hourly rate for overtime work. Before a custodian was paid overtime his supervisor had to authorize the overtime work. Secretaries were not paid for overtime work. Defendants argued that this was because the secretaries were never required to work overtime.
Beginning in February 1979 the secretaries expressed concern that they were not being paid for overtime, which they asserted that they did in fact perform. The secretaries organized themselves into a "secretarial group" and attempted to meet with Procunier. Procunier refused to meet with the secretaries, but he was aware of their concerns from discussions he had had with Jennings. The secretaries did, however, meet with Assistant Superintendent Noel Swinford. The secretaries also attended a Board meeting to express their opposition to a salary schedule promulgated by Procunier. Despite their efforts, the Board passed the salary schedule. In response, the secretaries prepared a salary study, of which Jennings was the primary drafter. The study was delivered to the Board and Procunier on June 1, 1979.
Subsequently Procunier expressed his displeasure at not having received a copy of the study in advance of its distribution to the Board. The working relationship between Procunier and Jennings changed. He became distant. He stopped his practice of going through the mail with Jennings and even removed a chair from his office so that she would have no place to sit. He instructed her not to answer calls on his personal telephone line.
On June 15 Procunier told Jennings that she had not been loyal and supportive and that he would recommend to the Board that she be terminated. The Board left the matter to Procunier's discretion. The reasons for her discharge were explained in a letter:
It is with considerable reluctance that I terminate your employment as my secretary. Although your technical and professional competence have been outstanding throughout the period of your employment, events of the past 2-3 weeks have generated serious questions relative to your ability to serve me or the Board of Education in an effective manner as required.
The very important element of mutual trust and support which is so essential in the relationship of a personal secretary to the administrator responsible for an operation similar to this school district, has been seriously undermined. As a result of your reluctance to inform me of actions which you and other secretaries took relative to communication with the Board of Education, you have created a situation which is antagonistic to the close, confidential working relationship which is necessary in this office. The deterioration of the level of trust and support leaves no alternative open to me.
It was stipulated that Jennings demonstrated outstanding skills, performed her work well and that defendant had no reason to fire her based on her job performance. Plaintiff continued to perform her work competently after June 1 and Procunier had no reason to believe that she would disseminate confidential material.
Plaintiff brought an action under Title VII. Count I of her Amended Complaint alleged that she had been subjected to unfavorable disparate treatment based on sex. Count II alleged that she was terminated in retaliation for her opposition to the allegedly disparate treatment. Count III alleged the same discriminatory acts on behalf of similarly situated individuals. Class certification was granted. The case was tried before Judge McMillen sitting without a jury in May 1985. At the close of all the evidence he entered judgment for defendants on all counts. No written findings of fact or conclusions of law were made.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination "against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's ... sex...." 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-2(a)(1). In County of Washington v. Gunther, 452 U.S. 161, 101 S.Ct. 2242, 68 L.Ed.2d 751 (1981), the Supreme Court held that a plaintiff may state a claim of sex-based discrimination in compensation under Title VII without proving that he or she was performing a job substantially equal to that held by a higher-paid member of the opposite sex. See Boyd v. Madison County Mutual Insurance Co., 653 F.2d 1173, 1177 (7th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1146, 102 S.Ct. 1008, 71 L.Ed.2d 299 (1982). However, neither Gunther nor Boyd set forth the elements of a prima facie case of sex discrimination when the plaintiff alleges that one category of employees of one sex is discriminatorily denied a benefit that is extended to another category of employees of the opposite sex. See Gunther, 452 U.S. at 166 n. 8, 101 S.Ct. at 2246 n. 8.
It is likely, although perhaps not beyond dispute, that plaintiffs have established a prima facie case. In Boyd an insurance company classified its employees as management personnel, claims adjustors or clerical workers. Both the management personnel and the claims adjustors were considered "professional" employees. All of those positions were filled by men. All of the clerical employees were women. The insurance company adopted a policy under which attendance bonuses were paid to clerical employees, but not to the other employees. Plaintiff, one of the management personnel, alleged that this policy discriminated against him on the basis of his sex in violation of Title VII. We held that plaintiff had established a prima facie case of sex discrimination. Boyd, 653 F.2d at 1178. Similarly, plaintiffs in the case before us have gone a long way toward establishing a prima facie case. All of the secretaries were women; all of the custodians men. Custodians were paid overtime. Secretaries were not. 2
Once a prima facie case is established, the burden shifts to the defendant to show that the difference in treatment was based on a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason. See Boyd, 653 F.2d at 1178. If the defendant successfully carries this burden, then the plaintiff may demonstrate that the offered reason is merely a pretext for discrimination. Id.
The district court apparently thought that defendant had established a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for paying custodians for overtime but not secretaries. The district court found that "the type of work [secretaries] do is different and the reasons the custodians are required to stay over is [sic] different from the reason that the secretaries stay over, whether required as a matter of practice or simply as a voluntary act." Tr. at 363.
[Custodians] have to do their work before they go home in order to have the school ready for work the next day.... So that if a storm comes or if there happens to be some vandalism or perhaps just an unduly dirty classroom, those employees can be asked to stay overtime [to remove snow from sidewalks or to clean the school].
Tr. at 361. The district court found that the secretaries are in a different situation.
Now, as far as the secretaries are concerned, the evidence is that they are seldom, if ever, requested to stay overtime and that they can get their work done during the seven and a half or eight hours that they are in the school building. If they don't get it done on the one day, they can do it on the next day. On the other hand, I don't attach too much significance to the fact that secretaries in many instances, can't get their work done in seven and half hours--Mrs. Gerrisen's testimony was rather clear to that effect--and that they stay over in order to finish it. I don't consider that entirely voluntary.
Although the findings of the district court are not as clear as they might be, we shall attempt to interpret and restate them. The requirement for custodians to work overtime was exigent--there was a specific overtime requirement to correct immediately a condition that would obviously interfere currently with efficient operation of the school. That is, an unshoveled sidewalk, a vandalized building or a dirty classroom presented an...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Luddington v. Indiana Bell Tel. Co., IP 86-1295-C.
...Ass'n v. Novotny, 442 U.S. 366, 369 n. 4, 99 S.Ct. 2345, 2347 n. 4, 60 L.Ed.2d 957 (1970); Jennings v. Tinley Park Community Consol. School Dist. Number 146, 796 F.2d 962, 966-67 (7th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1017, 107 S.Ct. 1895, 95 L.Ed.2d 502 a. Refusal-to-promote claims9 Of the......
-
Drinkwater v. Union Carbide Corp.
...against that practice. See, e.g., Hicks v. ABT Assoc. Inc., 572 F.2d 960, 967-69 (3d Cir.1978); Jennings v. Tinley Park Comm. Consol. School Dist., 796 F.2d 962, 967 (7th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1017, 107 S.Ct. 1895, 95 L.Ed.2d 502 (1987); EEOC v. Crown Zellerbach Corp., 720 F.2d ......
-
Reeder-Baker v. Lincoln Nat. Corp.
...significantly, the employee must reasonably believe that the practice or policy he is opposing violates Title VII. Jennings v. Tinley Park, 796 F.2d 962, 966-67 (7th Cir.1986); Rucker v. Higher Educational Aids Bd., 669 F.2d 1179, 1182 (7th Cir.1982) ("It is good faith and reasonableness, n......
-
Harris v. Marsh
...reason which could explain behavior that otherwise appears discriminatory. Id. See Jennings v. Tinley Park Community Consolidated School District No. 146, 796 F.2d 962 (7th Cir.1986), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 107 S.Ct. 1895, 95 L.Ed.2d 502 (1987); Abrams v. Baylor College of Medicine, 58......