Karcher v. Emerson Elec. Co.

• Decision Date: 06 November 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95-3427,95-3427
• Citation: 94 F.3d 502
• Parties: 71 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1651 Karen M. KARCHER, Appellee, v. EMERSON ELECTRIC CO., Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 502

94 F.3d 502

71 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1651

Karen M. KARCHER, Appellee, v. EMERSON ELECTRIC CO., Appellant.

No. 95-3427.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

Submitted May 16, 1996.

Decided Sept. 4, 1996.

Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing

En Banc Denied Nov. 6, 1996. ^*

D. Michael Linihan, argued, St. Louis, MO (Robert W. Stewart and Michelle M. Cain, on the brief), for appellant.

Jerome J. Dobson, argued, St. Louis, MO (Jonathan C. Berns, on the brief), for appellee.

Before BOWMAN, HEANEY, and WOLLMAN, Circuit Judges.

WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge.

Emerson Electric Company (Emerson) appeals the jury verdict in favor of Karen Karcher on her sex and handicap discrimination claims. On appeal, Emerson raises numerous issues relating to the trial, including: 1) that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law (JAML) on Karcher's failure-to-promote and retaliation claims; 2) that the district court erred in failing to alter or amend the judgment with respect to emotional distress damages and punitive damages; and 3) that it is entitled to a new trial because of erroneous evidentiary rulings and erroneous jury instructions. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

I.

At the time of trial, Karcher was an employee of Alco Controls (Alco), a division of Emerson. Karcher worked at Alco's St. Louis facility, which manufactures refrigerator parts. The St. Louis plant employs more than three hundred hourly workers, who are represented by District No. 9, International Association of Machinists, AFL-CIO (the union). At least one-third of the union employees are female.

Until 1988, there were only three basic types of equipment in the machine shop, the area of the plant where Karcher worked: manual bar feed machines, manual automatic chucker machines, and numerically-controlled machines. The machine shop used two types of employees, set-up workers and operators. The set-up workers manually calibrated the machines to manufacture a particular refrigerator part and were then responsible for maintaining the machine so that it would produce consistently accurate parts. After the machine was set up, the operators ran the machines by feeding the raw materials into the machine, inspecting the completed parts to determine if they met specifications, and making minor adjustments to the machine, if necessary.

In 1988, Emerson purchased two new computerized bar feed machines called Miyanos and two new computerized automatic chucker machines called Pumas. Rather than requiring manual setup as the old machines did, these machines were set up by computer. Thus, where the adjustments in the tooling had previously been made by hand, the set-up person could now make these adjustments by simply pushing buttons on a computer.

Because no plant employee knew how to program or set up the new machines, Emerson initially hired someone outside the company to perform these tasks and to teach these skills to selected male Emerson employees. After Emerson installed the new machines, union and company officials met to negotiate a job classification, wage rate, and selection process for the new set-up jobs. Although the parties dispute the results of this meeting, they agree that the new jobs were classified as "Group 6 general machine shop set-up" (Group 6 set-up positions).

This classification required the employee holding the position to be able to set up any machine in the plant. No Emerson employee was capable of doing this, however, so the parties were required to further negotiate the qualifications for the job. The collective bargaining agreement in place at the time provided that new jobs should be filled "with seniority being the deciding factor, where skill, ability, and physical fitness of the employees' [sic] being considered are relatively equal." This rule could not be applied in a straightforward manner to the Group 6 set-up positions, however, because no employee had direct experience setting up the machines, and the parties disputed what indirect experience would be helpful in undertaking these new jobs.

Both Karcher and Emerson offered the testimony of witnesses who were present at this initial union-employer meeting. One of Karcher's witnesses, Grady Scott (Karcher's step-father), testified that it was his understanding that the new positions would be awarded based solely on seniority. Another of Karcher's witnesses, Tom Bonzo, testified that the positions were to be awarded to the senior bidder with at least six months experience in a machine shop. On the other hand, two of Emerson's witnesses testified that Miyano setup would require prior set-up experience on bar feed equipment and that Puma setup would require prior set-up experience on automatic chuckers. Emerson's witnesses also agreed that workers with prior set-up experience on the old numerically-controlled machines would be qualified to set up both Pumas and Miyanos. According to these witnesses, the senior bidder with the appropriate set-up experience would be awarded the job.

Karcher was hired by Emerson on March 19, 1976. From the time she was hired until the time of trial, she held a variety of jobs at Emerson, including assembler, manual automatic chucker machine operator, drill press operator, bench lathe operator, welder, and tester. Her experience included operating numerically controlled machines and inspecting and finishing parts that had been machined. None of these jobs, however, involved set-up work.

On September 11, 1978, Karcher became the only woman to work in the automatic screw machine department. Although this position was not primarily a set-up position, she began learning some set-up skills on an automatic screw machine while she held this job. On October 23, 1978, she was removed from this job even though she was having no difficulty learning setup on the screw machine.

Karcher applied for two Group 6 set-up positions, one that was posted on October 18, 1990, and another that was posted on February 4, 1992. Karcher was near the top of seniority on the list of applicants for both of these positions. Ten Emerson employees, including Karcher, bid on the first position, with Karcher being the second most senior bidder. Both the most senior bidder and Karcher, as well as the next two senior bidders, were determined to be "not qualified" for the position. Bill Pearson, the fifth senior bidder got the job. Pearson had bar feed set-up experience on the turret lathe as well as trade schooling. The fourth senior bidder, Anna Ryan, was determined to be not qualified despite her set-up experience with another company. Karcher filed charges with the EEOC and the Missouri Commission on Human Rights with respect to the denial of this promotion. Nine employees, including Karcher, bid on the second job. The senior bidder, after being determined to be not qualified, withdrew his bid. Karcher, the next senior, was again determined to be not qualified. A male employee was given the job.

Between 1988 and 1994, Emerson awarded twenty-six Miyano and Puma set-up positions. All of these positions were awarded to men. Twenty-five of the successful bidders had either set-up experience or experience on the numerically-controlled machines. Grady Scott, however, was awarded a Group 6 set-up position without having either type of experience. ¹ Scott testified that Karcher was more qualified than he was because she had operated numerous machines and equipment.

Karcher's husband, Jerry Karcher (Jerry) was also an Emerson employee, working as a quality assurance supervisor. As part of his job, Jerry was required to attend monthly supervisor's meetings. At these meetings, status reports were presented regarding pending workers' compensation claims and grievances. During the time he held this job, his wife filed at least six workers' compensation claims after being injured on the job in March of 1983. Thus, as part of his job, Jerry attended meetings where his wife's claims were discussed.

In early 1990, Karcher applied for a position in the quality assurance department. Had she been awarded the job, her husband would have been her direct supervisor. At that time, Jerry told his supervisors that were his wife to be awarded the job, he would leave the company to avoid any conflict of interest. When Karcher was informed that her husband would be required to leave the company if she were awarded the job, she withdrew her bid.

In early December of 1991, Karcher learned that another Group 6 set-up position would become available because Scott would be retiring because of ill health. Karcher then attempted to contact Richard Schul, Alco's president, about the potential job opening. Schul refused to see Karcher, informing her that she needed to discuss the matter through the company's chain of command. In response to Karcher's attempt to contact Schul, Jerry's supervisors, Vicki Taylor and Jim Wors, met with him on December 9, 1991, and informed him that they believed that a serious conflict of interest had developed and that he should begin looking for another job. According to Jerry, Wors stated at this time that "since your wife has these lawsuits and cases pending against us, we feel that we are going to give you sixty days to find another job."

Although Jerry did not find another job within sixty days, he was not terminated. He continued to work for Emerson until July 1992, when he was offered a job at Cerro Copper Product Company. He accepted this position, which offered a higher salary but fewer benefits.

In January 1994, Emerson instituted a "safety pays" bingo game. The bingo jackpot started at twenty-five dollars and increased one dollar for every day in which there was not a lost-time accident in the plant. Each employee who signed up for the game received a bingo sheet, and each day without a lost-time accident a number and letter were drawn in the typical bingo manner. Any employee who had a lost-time accident on the job was...