Kincade v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.

• Decision Date: 25 November 1987
• Docket Number: No. 75-187-NA-CV.,75-187-NA-CV.
• Parties: Bobby Lee KINCADE, et al. v. The FIRESTONE TIRE & RUBBER CO.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Tennessee

694 F. Supp. 368

Bobby Lee KINCADE, et al. v. The FIRESTONE TIRE & RUBBER CO.

No. 75-187-NA-CV.

United States District Court, M.D. Tennessee, Nashville Division.

November 25, 1987.

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Avon N. Williams, Jr., Nashville, Tenn., Jack Greenberg, Barry Goldstein, New York City, David A. Copus, Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather & Geraldson, Washington, D.C., for plaintiffs.

Daniel Karnes, Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio, William N. Ozier, Bass, Berry & Sims, Nashville, Tenn., for defendant.

MEMORANDUM

JOHN T. NIXON, District Judge.

This is an action brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. At the time the complaint in this matter was filed, the original named plaintiffs fell into the following categories. Plaintiffs Joseph Johnson, Bobby W. Ivy, Emily Henry, and Alice Gail Cook were unsuccessful black applicants for employment at defendant Firestone Tire and Rubber Company's ("Firestone") LaVergne, Tennessee, manufacturing plant. Plaintiffs James O'Dell Hunter and Mary Louise Pope (Fite) were current black employees at the plant. Plaintiffs Bobby Lee Kincade, Thelma M. McHenry and Sharon McHenry were former black employees at the plant. In addition, in an Order entered May 17, 1986, this Court, through the Honorable L. Clure Morton, Chief District Judge, certified the plaintiffs as representatives of a class comprised of the following three subclasses:

(1) black employees at the defendant's LaVergne plant who allegedly were discriminated against because of race in promotion and working conditions;

(2) black applicants of defendant LaVergne plant who allegedly were denied employment because of race; and

(3) black persons who allegedly were discharged because of race by defendant at its LaVergne plant.

Also named as a plaintiff was the Nashville Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ("NAACP").

The nonjury trial of this case was held intermittently beginning on June 23, 1980 and ending on February 28, 1983. This Memorandum constitutes the Court's findings of fact and conclusions of law.

The Court first considers plaintiffs' claims of class-wide racial discrimination. It then considers individual claims of discrimination by the individual named plaintiffs in this action.

I. CLASS CLAIMS

The Court now considers plaintiffs' claims of class discrimination. In support of these claims, plaintiffs rely upon testimony of members of the class and a statistical analysis of the relationship between race and Firestone's employment practices. The Court examines Firestone's employment practices in three separate categories: (1) recruitment, hiring and initial assignments; (2) promotions; and (3) disciplinary actions and discharge practices. For each category, the Court begins by making findings of fact, including a review of the statistical evidence presented by both parties. It then makes conclusions of law with respect to class claims pertaining to each category. Thus, the Court's discussion of plaintiffs' class claims proceeds as follows:

A. Applicable Law

1. Disparate Treatment

2. Disparate Impact

B. Use of Statistical Evidence

C. Recruitment, Hiring, and Initial Assignments

1. Findings of Fact

a. Non-statistical Findings

b. Statistical Proof

2. Conclusions of Law

a. Disparate Treatment

b. Disparate Impact

D. Promotions

1. Findings of Fact

a. Non-statistical Findings

b. Statistical Proof

2. Conclusions of Law

a. Disparate Treatment

b. Disparate Impact

E. Disciplinary Actions and Termination Practices

1. Findings of Fact

a. Non-statistical Findings

b. Statistical Proof

2. Conclusions of Law

a. Disparate Treatment

b. Disparate Impact

F. Summary of Conclusions of Law as to Class Claims

A. Applicable Law

Plaintiffs allege discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. The objectives of Title VII are clearly delineated in 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1) and (2), which make it unlawful:

(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or

(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Two judicial theories have been articulated by the Supreme Court to effectuate these objectives. In McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973), the Court enunciated the disparate treatment theory, and in Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424, 91 S.Ct. 849, 28 L.Ed.2d 158 (1971), the Court articulated the disparate impact theory. Either theory may be applied to a particular set of facts. International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 325, 335 n. 15, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 1849, 1854 n. 15, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977).

"Disparate treatment" ... is the most easily understood type of discrimination. The employer simply treats some people less favorably than others because of their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Proof of discriminatory motive is critical....

Claims of disparate treatment may be distinguished from claims that stress "disparate impact." The latter involve employment practices that are facially neutral in their treatment of different groups but that in fact fall more harshly on one group than another and cannot be justified by business necessity. Proof of discriminatory motive ... is not required under a disparate impact theory.

Id. Thus, these theories merely present alternative foundations upon which a court may base liability.

Title 42 U.S.C. § 1981 provides:

All persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment, pains, penalties, taxes, licenses, and exactions of every kind, and to no other.

This statute reaches only conduct motivated by a discriminatory purpose, and does not apply to practices that merely have a disparate impact on a particular class. General Building Contractors Association v. Pennsylvania, 458 U.S. 375, 388-91, 102 S.Ct. 3141, 3148-3150, 73 L.Ed.2d 835 (1982). The standards for evaluating a plaintiff's claim of purposeful discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 are the same as those applied to a claim of disparate treatment under Title VII. Long v. Ford Motor Company, 496 F.2d 500, 505 (6th Cir.1974).

The Court now examines the disparate treatment and disparate impact theories as they apply to class actions.

1. DISPARATE TREATMENT

To prove class-wide disparate treatment, plaintiffs must show a "systemwide pattern or practice" of intentional discrimination. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 431 U.S. at 336, 97 S.Ct. at 1854-1855. They must show "more than the mere occurrence of isolated or `accidental' or sporadic discriminatory acts. They must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that racial discrimination was the company's standard operating procedure — the regular rather than the unusual practice." Id. (footnote omitted).

The means by which plaintiffs in a class action claiming disparate treatment can meet their burden of proof was articulated by the Supreme Court in Franks v. Bowman Transportation Co., 424 U.S. 747, 96 S.Ct. 1251, 47 L.Ed.2d 444 (1976). In Franks plaintiffs made out a prima facie case by introducing proof of a discriminatory pattern and practice sufficient to create a rebuttable presumption that defendant's decisions were the result of such a pattern or practice. Id. at 773, 96 S.Ct. at 1268. The nature of this presumption was discussed by the Teamsters Court as follows:

The holding in Franks that proof of a discriminatory pattern and practice creates a rebuttable presumption in favor of individual relief is consistent with the manner in which presumptions are created generally. Presumptions shifting the burden of proof are often created to reflect judicial evaluations of probabilities and to conform with a party's superior access to the proof. See C. McCormick, Law of Evidence §§ 337, 343 (2d ed. 1972); James, Burdens of Proof, 47 Va.L.Rev. 51, 61 (1961). See also Keyes v. School Dist. No. 1, 413 U.S. 189, 208-209, 93 S.Ct. 2686, 2697, 37 L.Ed.2d 548. These factors were present in Franks. Although the prima facie case did not conclusively demonstrate that all of the employer's decisions were part of the proved discriminatory pattern and practice, it did create a greater likelihood that any single decision was a component of the overall pattern. Moreover, the finding of a pattern or practice changed the position of the employer to that of a proved wrongdoer. Finally, the employer was in the best position to show why any individual employee was denied an employment opportunity. Insofar as the reasons related to available vacancies or the employer's evaluation of the applicant's qualifications, the company's records were the most relevant items of proof. If the refusal to hire was based on other factors, the employer and its agents knew best what those factors were and the extent to which they influenced the decision-making process.

431 U.S. at 359 n. 45, 97 S.Ct. at 1866-1867 n. 45. The Court further stated that plaintiffs are "not required to offer evidence that each person for whom they ultimately seek relief was a victim of the employer's discriminatory policy. Its burden is to...