Lea v. Cone Mills Corporation, C-176-D-66.

• Decision Date: 29 July 1969
• Docket Number: No. C-176-D-66.,C-176-D-66.
• Citation: 301 F. Supp. 97
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of North Carolina
• Parties: Shirley LEA, Romona Pinnix, and Annie Tinnin, Plaintiffs, v. CONE MILLS CORPORATION, Defendant.

301 F. Supp. 97

Shirley LEA, Romona Pinnix, and Annie Tinnin, Plaintiffs, v. CONE MILLS CORPORATION, Defendant.

No. C-176-D-66.

United States District Court M. D. North Carolina, Durham Division.

July 29, 1969.

Conrad O. Pearson and W. G. Pearson, Durham, N. C.; Chambers, Stein, Ferguson & Lanning, Charlotte, N. C.; and Jack Greenberg, Leroy D. Clark and Robert Belton, New York City, N. Y., for plaintiffs.

Thornton H. Brooks, of McLendon, Brim, Brooks, Pierce & Daniels, Greensboro, N. C., for defendant.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

EDWIN M. STANLEY, Chief Judge.

The plaintiffs, Shirley Lea, Romona Pinnix, and Annie Tinnin, all Negro females residing in Orange County, North Carolina, seek to restrain the defendant, Cone Mills Corporation, from continuing or maintaining any policy or practice limiting or otherwise interfering with the rights of plaintiffs, and others similarly situated, to enjoy equal employment opportunities without regard to race or color, as secured by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.

The case was tried by the Court without a jury. Following the trial, counsel for the parties filed proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law, and briefs, and later appeared before the Court and orally argued their respective contentions.

After considering the entire record, including arguments of counsel, the Court now makes and files herein its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, as follows:

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Plaintiffs, Shirley Lea, Romona Pinnix and Annie Tinnin, are Negro citizens of the United States and the State of North Carolina, residing in Orange County, North Carolina.

2. The defendant, Cone Mills Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "Cone Mills"), is a corporation incorporated and doing business pursuant to the laws of the State of North Carolina.

3. The defendant maintains its principal corporate office and place of business in Greensboro, North Carolina, and also maintains and operates mills, facilities and offices located in various other cities and towns in the State of North Carolina. Among other manufacturing plants, defendant operates a mill known as the Eno Plant, located in Hillsborough, Orange County, North Carolina, for the manufacture of greige (unfinished) goods.

4. As of July 2, 1965, 346 persons were employed in the Eno Plant. Of these, approximately 310 were white employees and 36 were Negro male employees. No Negro females were employed in any capacity at the Eno Plant.

5. Defendant is an employer within the meaning of § 701(b) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b).

6. The Cone Mills' Personnel Policy Manual, applicable to all Cone Mills facilities, including the Eno Plant, which has been in effect since April 1, 1963, establishes company policy for the recruitment and selection of applicants for employment. The primary standard applied is the applicant's ability to perform any job currently vacant, and the manual directs that this standard be applied without regard to race, creed, color, or national origin. When two or more applicants each meet the ability criteria for a particular vacancy, the manual establishes the following priorities for selection among the applicants:

(a) Laid-off employees

(b) Former employees

(c) Persons residing in or near the communities in which Cone Mills plants are located

7. The written hiring procedures of Cone Mills, also applicable to the Eno Plant, are as follows:

(a) The applicant fills out an application form, is interviewed by the personnel manager, and given aptitude and visual tests.

(b) The applicant's work history is investigated, and if found satisfactory, the applicant is further interviewed.

(c) Applicants found satisfactory are then given a physical examination.

(d) Applicants satisfying all such requirements, including the physical examination, are offered employment.

8. When the portion of the Personnel Policy Manual covered by Finding 7 was issued, the testing of applicants referred to in sub-paragraph (a) was optional with various plant managers. All other provisions were mandatory. Testings began at the Eno Plant in November or December of 1965.

9. Prior to July 2, 1965, males, Negro and white, and white females were employed in various job classifications at the Eno Plant. No Negro females had ever been employed in any capacity at the plant as of that date. However, prior to the spring of 1965, no Negro females had ever applied for employment at the plant. While unable to recall specific names, dates or circumstances, the personnel manager and receptionist at the Eno Plant stated that some Negro females did apply for jobs between January 1, 1965, and July 2, 1965.

10. In 1960 or 1961, John Bagwill, the then Vice President for Industrial Relations of Cone Mills, requested and received a review of Cone's hiring policies and procedures with regard to the number of Negroes employed. In 1963, more than one year before the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the previously referred to directive to plant managers was placed in the Personnel Policy Manual. This directive made it mandatory that there be no discrimination on the basis of race in the hiring or promotion of Cone Mills employees. In the summer of 1965, shortly before the effective date of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Cone Mills officials met with all plant managers and reviewed the provisions of the Act and the established company policy. No specific recommendation was made, however, concerning the hiring of Negro females at the Eno Plant.

11. Prior to July 9, 1965, Cone Mills performed some work at some of its plants and mills pursuant to contracts with the United States under Executive Order No. 10925, and therefore was under an obligation to institute an affirmative action program to insure that its hiring and promotional practices were carried out without regard to race, creed, color or national origin of the applicants and employees. There is no evidence, however, that Cone Mills has ever been found in violation of its affirmative obligation to insure non-discrimination.

12. Both before and after July 2, 1965, the practice at the Eno Plant was to accept applications from all applicants, even though no vacancy existed at the time the application was made. The only times no applications were taken were the last week of July of each year when the plant was closed for vacations, and the single period of about one week in June of 1965 when a sign was posted on the door that no applications would be received.

13. No basic changes occurred in the written hiring policies of Cone Mills subsequent to July 2, 1965, except to provide that, in addition to "race, creed, color or national origin," "sex" would not be a consideration in the hiring and promotion of applicants and employees.

14. Because of the requirements of physical strength, certain jobs at the Eno plant are considered "male" jobs, and other jobs, not so physically demanding, are considered "female" jobs. For example, all jobs in the carding department, with the exception of the part-time job of lab technician, are considered male jobs. The classifications of spinner, spool tender, quiller operator, and battery filler, are considered female jobs. Jobs in the cloth room are considered male jobs.

15. This action was instituted on September 15, 1966, and by November 1, 1966, there were five Negro females employed at the Eno Plant.

16. The present personnel manager at the Eno Plant had served in that capacity for at least ten years prior to the filing of the complaint in this action. The personnel manager is also the office manager.

17. With regard to the hiring procedures at the Eno Plant, an applicant for employment is given an application form by the receptionist. When the form has been completed, the applicant is interviewed by the personnel manager to determine the applicant's work history. The interview also covers the determination of facts concerning the priorities enumerated in Finding 6, such as whether the applicant is a former Cone Mills employee, whether he resides in a community near a Cone Mills facility, and whether he has friends or relatives working at the plant in question. This interview is conducted without regard to the existence of a vacancy. When there is a vacancy, an interview, under certain circumstances, is scheduled between the applicant and the supervisor in whose department the vacancy exists. If the applicant is satisfactory and a vacancy exists, the applicant is given a physical examination. If the application passes the physical examination, he is given the job.

18. If the applicant is not offered a job at the time the application is made, the application is placed on the top of a stack of previously filed applications on the desk of the personnel manager. It is expected that applications will be renewed approximately every two weeks to assure the personnel manager that the applicant is still interested in a job. As applications are renewed, they are placed on top of the stack and the renewal date recorded. If an applicant does not renew his application within approximately two weeks, his application stays on the bottom of the stack. At some point between two weeks and a month, applications which have not been renewed are filed in an alphabetical file. If a renewal is subsequently made, the application is removed from the alphabetical file, the renewal date is noted thereon, and the application is again placed on top of the stack.

19. When a vacancy exists and no prospect fitting the qualifications happens to apply personally, the personnel manager examines the files of current applications for a suitable prospect. If there is such an application on file, the applicant is contacted by telephone, postcard or through the references he has given on the application. After a satisfactory physical examination, he is offered the job. If no applicant with experience is available,...