Kamberos v. GTE Automatic Elec., Inc.
| Decision Date | 16 July 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. 79-1185,79-1185 |
| Citation | 603 F.2d 598 |
| Parties | 20 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 602, 20 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 30,133 Constance KAMBEROS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. GTE AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC, INC., Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Gerald D. Skoning, Chicago, Ill., for defendant-appellant.
Peter B. Carey, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff-appellee.
Before SWYGERT, PELL and BAUER, Circuit Judges.
This is a suit for damages and injunctive relief brought under the provisions of the Equal Opportunity and Employment Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e Et seq. Plaintiff Constance Kamberos alleged that defendant GTE Automatic Electric, Inc. ("GTE") had engaged in discriminatory hiring practices based on sex. After a bench trial, the district court found against defendant on the issue of liability. Plaintiff was granted relief:
(1) Defendant was ordered to pay plaintiff $119,117.20 in backpay covering the period from March 3, 1969 to July 31, 1978.
(2) Defendant was mandatorily enjoined to employ plaintiff as a corporate attorney when the first vacancy occurs in that position.
(3) Defendant was ordered to pay plaintiff $16,000.00 per annum front pay until defendant offers plaintiff a position as corporate attorney.
(4) Defendant was ordered to pay $26,015.00 in attorney fees.
Kamberos v. GTE Automatic Elec., Inc., No. 74 C 151 (N.D.Ill. Aug. 10, 1978).
The defendant appeals from the finding of liability, the appropriateness and computation of the backpay award, the hiring injunction, and the amount of attorney's fees awarded. We affirm the district court's finding of liability, but reverse on the appropriateness of the hiring injunction and the computation of the awards of backpay and attorney's fees.
This controversy began over ten years ago in March 1969. At that time Kamberos, a graduate of the DePaul University Law School in Chicago, was unemployed and registered with the Illinois State Employment Service. GTE was seeking a corporate attorney to fill a position opened by a resignation in June 1968. In August 1968 William McGuire, vice-president of GTE's operation in Northlake, wrote to the deans of the law schools at DePaul, Northwestern and Loyola Universities, and the placement service of the Chicago Bar Association. McGuire's letter indicated that GTE was seeking an associate general attorney:
We would require a man with a real interest in this kind of work and a record of excellent scholarship, with qualities of initiative and imagination, to work in a broad field of corporate legal activity, except trial work. While we would like to have a man who has two or three years actual experience, either in a law firm or corporation, we would consider candidates with less or more qualifications than these.
I can assure you that this is a challenging and worthwhile opportunity for the right man. (Plaintiff's Exhibit 35.)
When efforts to find the "right man" did not produce a candidate, GTE advertised in the Wall Street Journal on March 3, 1969. The advertisement read in pertinent part:
Automatic Electric Company, the largest manufacturer and supplier in the United States of telephone equipment for the independent telephone industry, has an exceptional opportunity in its law department for an attorney with three to five years' experience.
The position involves legal work concerning all areas of the company's activities.
A high academic record and experience in a private law firm or corporate law department is desired.
The salary is competitive and will be based upon the individual's experience and achievement.
Please forward resume and salary requirements, which will be treated in confidence, to:
(Plaintiff's Exhibit 18.)
The day the advertisement appeared, Kamberos was meeting with Carmen Matello, a counselor with the Illinois State Employment Service. Matello asked Kamberos if she was interested in GTE's offer and she responded affirmatively. Matello telephoned Bruce Bullock at defendant's offices and stated that he had an attorney with him who met the qualifications described in the advertisement. 1 Matello read Kamberos' resume to Bullock. Kamberos was seated next to Matello and could overhear the conversation. She testified that when Matello finished reading her resume, Bullock responded, "That's exactly the background we're looking for." Bullock and Matello then arranged for an interview that afternoon. Bullock requested the name of the lawyer and when Matello complied, Bullock asked, "Is it a woman?" Matello responded, "Yes." Bullock then stated that GTE was not interested in hiring a woman: "they were looking for a man." In response, Matello stated, "She has all of the qualifications." Bullock replied that he would not hire her because the job involved working more than eight hours a day. 2 When Matello stated that the Eight-Hour Law did not apply to professionals, Bullock's response was, "We are not interested in a woman."
Kamberos then spoke directly to Bullock on the telephone. Bullock again stated that the Eight-Hour Law precluded her from being considered for the position. At that point, Kamberos reiterated Matello's statement that the law did not apply to professionals. According to plaintiff, Bullock then ". . . kind of laughed" and said ". . . they would not hire a woman for this job."
Kamberos filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") that same day. On March 27, 1969 an EEOC investigator met with M. A. Edelman, defendant's director of personnel, and served Kamberos' complaint upon defendant. The following day Edelman prepared a letter to Kamberos, apologizing for the misunderstanding and asking her to submit a resume. Edelman wrote to the EEOC on April 2 attaching a copy of his letter to Kamberos and reaffirming GTE's position that the incident was caused by a misunderstanding of the Eight-Hour Law. Kamberos testified that she never received the letter and that the first time she saw the letter was in 1973 when she asked the EEOC to attempt to conciliate her dispute with GTE.
Neither the EEOC nor Kamberos took any action on her complaint for over four years. 3 On January 3, 1974 the EEOC issued a "right to sue" letter and plaintiff filed her complaint in the Northern District of Illinois on January 18, 1974.
The appropriate legal standard outlining the burden of proof which a Title VII plaintiff must meet was established by the Supreme Court in McDonnel Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). See also Furnco Construction Co. v. Waters, 438 U.S. 567, 98 S.Ct. 2943, 57 L.Ed.2d 957 (1978); Board of Trustees of the Keene State College v. Sweeney,439 U.S. 24, 99 S.Ct. 295, 58 L.Ed.2d 216 (1978).
The complainant in a Title VII trial must carry the initial burden under the statute of establishing a prima facie case of racial discrimination. This may be done by showing (i) that (s)he belongs to (that sex discriminated against); (ii) that (s)he applied and was qualified for a job for which the employer was seeking applicants; (iii) that, despite h(er) qualifications, (s)he was rejected; and (iv) that, after h(er) rejection, the position remained open and the employer continued to seek applicants from persons of complainant's qualifications. McDonnel, supra, 411 U.S. at 802, 93 S.Ct. at 1824.
"The burden must then shift to the employer to articulate some legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the employer's rejection (of the plaintiff)." Id. If the employer does offer some legitimate reason for the rejection, the plaintiff must then be "afforded a fair opportunity to show that (the employer's) stated reason for (the plaintiff's) rejection was in fact pretext." Id. at 804, 93 S.Ct. at 1825.
Examining the evidence in light of these standards, Kamberos satisfied the requirements for a Prima facie showing of sexual discrimination. 4 The district court found that she was a woman qualified for the position of corporate attorney with GTE, that she was rejected by GTE, and that the position was subsequently filled by a male. GTE's articulated, non-discriminatory reason for its action was that Bullock's refusal to hire Kamberos was an innocently mistaken application of the Eight-Hour Law. In determining that GTE's stated reason was pretextual, the district court correctly applied the McDonnel standard. In reviewing the district court's decision, we are bound to accept its findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous. Stewart v. General Motors Corp., 542 F.2d 445, 449 (7th Cir. 1976), Cert. denied, 433 U.S. 919, 97 S.Ct. 2995, 53 L.Ed.2d 1105 (1977). The district court's finding that GTE's stated reason was pretextual is supported by the evidence. It is unlikely that Bullock was unaware of the amendment to the Eight-Hour Law which had occurred two years earlier considering the large volume of professional applications he handled. Furthermore, Bullock ignored Matello's and Kamberos' protestations that the law did not apply. The argument of a mistaken interpretation of the Eight-Hour Law can be seen only as pretextual in these circumstances. The district court's conclusion that GTE's justification for rejecting Kamberos was pretextual and that GTE discriminated against Kamberos because of her sex must be affirmed.
The purpose of 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e Et seq. is to achieve equality of employment opportunity and to make persons whole for injuries suffered on account of unlawful employment discrimination. Albermarle Paper Co. v. Moody, 422 U.S. 405, 95 S.Ct. 2362, 45 L.Ed.2d 280 (1975). "It follows that given a finding of unlawful discrimination, backpay should be denied only for reasons which, if applied generally, would not frustrate the central statutory purposes." Id. at 421, 95 S.Ct. at 2373. GTE, relying on Taylor v. Phillips Industries, Inc., 593 F.2d 783 (7th Cir. 1979), argues that "before the court may award damages, plaintiff must first establish...
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