Kline v. Tennessee Valley Authority

• Decision Date: 11 February 1998
• Docket Number: No. 94-6355,94-6355
• Citation: 128 F.3d 337
• Parties: 75 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 386, 73 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 45,300 Charles A. KLINE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY, Craven Crowell, Johnny H. Hayes, and William H. Kennoy, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 337

128 F.3d 337

75 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 386,

73 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 45,300

Charles A. KLINE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY, Craven Crowell, Johnny H. Hayes, and William H. Kennoy, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 94-6355.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued May 7, 1996.

Decided Oct. 15, 1997.

Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing En Banc Denied Feb. 11, 1998.

Carol S. Nickle (argued and briefed), Jennifer B. Morton (briefed), Legal Assistant, Carol Nickle & Associates, Knoxville, TN, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Albert J. Woodall (argued and briefed), Knoxville, TN, for Tennessee Valley Authority.

Thomas F. Fine (briefed), Richard E. Riggs (briefed), Justin M. Schwamm, Sr., Asst. Gen. Counsel, Knoxville, TN, for Defendants-Appellees Marvin T. Runyon and John Waters.

Justin M. Schwamm, Sr., Asst. Gen. Counsel, Knoxville, TN, for Defendants-Appellees Craven Crowell, Johnny H. Hayes and William H. Kennoy.

Before: MARTIN, Chief Judge; JONES, and RYAN, Circuit Judges.

JONES, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which MARTIN, C. J., joined. RYAN, J. (pp. 352-359), delivered a separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part.

NATHANIEL R. JONES, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff appeals the bench judgment for Defendants in this action alleging age and race discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA") and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The district court found, upon remand from this court for trial, that Plaintiff failed to show that Defendants' reason for Plaintiff's nonselection during a remedial reselection process was false or pretextual, and that under its analysis of St. Mary's Honor Center v. Hicks, 509 U.S. 502, 113 S.Ct. 2742, 125 L.Ed.2d 407 (1993), judgment for Defendants was mandated. We find that the district court misinterpreted relevant Title VII case law by heightening Plaintiff's burden and requiring him to produce direct evidence of discriminatory animus in the reselection procedure. We, therefore, reverse, enter judgment for Plaintiff, and remand this case to the district court for the calculation of damages.

I.

Plaintiff Charles A. Kline, an African-American male, was hired by the Tennessee Valley Authority ("TVA") in 1964 as a machinist apprentice. He worked as a machinist until May 1977, when he became a personnel officer at TVA's Watts Bar nuclear plant. In 1988, TVA undertook an extensive reorganization, which resulted in the elimination of Kline's position. TVA terminated Kline through a reduction in force in September 1988.

Before his termination, Kline learned of and applied for the position of Personnel Officer at TVA's Kingston Fossil Plant. He contacted Keith Leamon, Human Resource Manager for Power Production, to inquire about applying for the Kingston job. Unbeknownst to Kline, Leamon had already prepared a list of candidates for the position. Leamon advised Kline to present his resume to Kingston's plant manager, Fred Clayton. Acting on Leamon's advice, Kline hand-delivered his resume to Clayton.

Upon receipt of Kline's resume, Clayton told his secretary to take the resume to Johnnie Brown, the supervisor of the Kingston plant's services department, and ask Brown to "do something with this." Brown placed Kline's resume in a desk drawer where it remained for the entire selection process and beyond.

Randy Cole, Clayton's successor as plant manager made the final selection for the personnel position. Cole received the list of candidates from Leamon and interviewed the finalists with Brown's help. Cole's first choice, Pete Johnson, was offered the job on August 15, 1988, but declined the position. The position was then accepted by Carol Beckler, a caucasian female, Cole's second choice. Kline was neither considered nor selected for the personnel officer position.

On October 31, 1988, Kline filed a formal complaint of race, age, and reprisal discrimination with the TVA Equal Opportunity ("EO") Office concerning his nonselection. ¹ On December 31, 1990, the TVA's EO Office issued a Final Agency Decision finding that Kline was discriminated against on the basis of age and race when he was not considered for the position. It did not find reprisal discrimination. At the time of the selection Kline was 52 years old. The EO Office ordered TVA to take corrective action by placing Kline in the position with back pay, if, after comparison, he was determined to be better qualified than Beckler, the younger white female who had been selected.

On February 8, 1991, Kline filed this action in the District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee alleging violations of Title VII and the ADEA. Kline challenged some of the findings of the EO Office, and as an alternative remedy, requested that he be placed in the position immediately and receive back pay. Notwithstanding the pending district court action, on February 25, 1991, after conducting a reselection as required by the EO Office, TVA issued a memorandum stating that it had reselected Carol Beckler for the position at the Kingston Plant.

On January 28, 1992, the district court granted TVA's motion for summary judgment as to the allegations set forth in Kline's original complaint. The district court noted that the selection official, Mr. Cole, was unaware of Kline's interest in the position and, therefore, could not have discriminated against Kline in his selection of Beckler. The district court found that while the parties involved in disregarding Kline's resume may have engaged in discriminatory action by so doing, this action could not be attributed to Cole and, therefore, his selection of Beckler was not tainted. The district court found that the remedy provided by TVA's EO Office was adequate. The court stayed dismissal to allow Kline to amend his complaint to challenge the reselection of Beckler.

On May 20, 1992, after Kline amended his complaint to allege discrimination based on age and race ² in the reselection process, the district court granted TVA's motion for summary judgment as to TVA's reselection of Beckler. It found that Kline had made a prima facie case of race and age discrimination, but failed to rebut TVA's legitimate and nondiscriminatory reason for not hiring him. Kline then appealed to this court.

In Kline's first appeal this court found that summary judgment was inappropriate under the circumstances and remanded the case to the district court for trial to determine "whether TVA in fact made a good faith determination that Ms. Beckler was better qualified for the job." Kline v. TVA, No. 92-5919, 1993 WL 288280, at * 5 (6th Cir. July 29, 1993) (per curiam). This court concluded that the evidence presented to the district court was sufficient to eliminate the presumption of discrimination, but was not sufficient to entitle TVA to judgment as a matter of law. Id. at * 5. This court determined that based on the record a jury could disbelieve the reasons articulated for choosing Beckler over Kline. Id.

This court concluded that the corrective action report choosing Beckler over Kline failed to consider the importance of several factors that distinguished the two candidates at the time of the original selection. These are as follows: Kline was a college graduate while Beckler was not; Kline had eleven years of management experience while Beckler had five years of such experience; the corrective action report is silent about Kline's greater experience as a manager, as well as his hands-on experience as a machinist; and interviews may have given Kline the opportunity to demonstrate experience not documented in the Management Appraisal System ("MAS") reviews, which were used as a mechanism to distinguish the candidates (in the reselection process interviews were not held as it was determined that an interview would favor Ms. Beckler since she had been serving in the position since 1988). Id.

On remand, the case was tried before the district court. In addition to the facts established before remand, the district court made several factual findings. First, the district court concluded that the evidence adduced for selecting Beckler clearly supported TVA's reselection decision. Second, it was concluded that TVA's stated reason for selecting Beckler was her greater experience in areas relevant to the Human Resource Officer position and her superior management skills. Third, Kline failed to prove that TVA's reasons were mere pretexts for unlawful discrimination. Fourth, TVA's MAS reviews were proper and objective bases for comparing the relative qualifications of the candidates. Fifth, the failure to interview Kline was in his favor, and he produced no evidence that it was intended to discriminate against him. Sixth, Kline's work as a machinist and possession of a college degree were not relevant criteria in the selection process. Seventh, testimony concerning racist remarks made by Clayton were irrelevant and not credible. Finally, the district court concluded that there was no credible evidence that TVA used or manipulated any of the criteria to justify a discriminatory selection or as a pretext for unlawful discrimination.

The district court framed the issue for trial as "whether age or race was a factor in TVA's 1991 reselection for the Kingston Human Resource Officer position." It found that Kline had made a prima facie case of both race and age discrimination. The court determined that TVA had come forward with proof of a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for the selection--Beckler was more qualified. The court ruled that the reasons had basis in fact and were sufficient to explain the hiring of Beckler over Kline. The district court concluded that Kline failed to show that the stated reason was not the actual reason nor had he shown that the real reason was discrimination. This appeal followed.

II.

On appeal, Kline contends that the district court erred in framing the issue for trial. In addition, Kline argues that...