Mauter v. Hardy Corp.

Citation825 F.2d 1554
Decision Date31 August 1987
Docket NumberNo. 86-7730,86-7730
Parties45 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 116, 44 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 37,535 Edward J. MAUTER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The HARDY CORPORATION, a corporation, and Air and Piping, Inc., a corporation, Defendants-Appellees.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)

Martha Campbell, Birmingham, Ala., for plaintiff-appellant.

C.V. Stelzenmueller, Burr & Forman, F.A. Flowers, II, Birmingham, Ala., for defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

Before TJOFLAT and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges, and HENDERSON, Senior Circuit Judge.

HENDERSON, Senior Circuit Judge:

This appeal challenges the grant of a motion for summary judgment in an age discrimination suit. Edward J. Mauter (Mauter), brought this action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama against his former employer, The Hardy Corporation (THC), and its sister corporation, Air and Piping, Inc. (API), seeking damages for alleged violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. Secs. 621 et seq., (ADEA). The district court held that Mauter failed to produce any evidence that his termination was motivated by discrimination and therefore found that the defendants were entitled to judgment as a matter of law. We affirm.

At the time of his termination in 1983, Mauter worked as a plumbing estimator for THC in Birmingham, Alabama. THC is a mechanical contracting business controlled by the Marwood Corporation. Although THC's primary business is the installation and service of Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, the company also maintained a small plumbing department in order to provide full service to its customers. Mauter joined the plumbing service of THC in 1956. During the term of the plaintiff's employment with THC, the company operated under contracts with the local sheet metal workers and plumbers unions. Mauter himself left the union when he earned his Master Plumber's license and became the plumbing estimator for the department in 1958.

In the early 1970s, the unionized sector of the mechanical contracting industry began experiencing increased competition from non-union mechanical contractors. Soon thereafter, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), decided a line of cases authorizing "double breasted" or "dual shop" operations. Under these decisions it is lawful for a union business and a non-union business to operate under a certain degree of common ownership and control so long as the companies maintain a separate corporate existence.

In response to the trend in the mechanical contracting industry implementing these decisions, THC's owner, the Marwood Corporation, decided to undertake such a venture in 1975. Therefore, a separate corporation, API, was organized to operate as a non-union HVAC shop. Originally formed as a wholly owned subsidiary of THC, all of API's stock was sold to the Marwood Corporation in 1980, which distributed 20% of the shares to salaried employees of API. Although THC and API share common ownership through Marwood Corporation and are controlled by interlocking boards of directors, the two companies have taken great pains to highlight the autonomous corporate existence of each enterprise in order to appease the NLRB. At all times relevant to this litigation, the businesses operated at different locations and maintained separate books and records. Tom Cordell acted as president of API handling the day-to-day management of the non-union company. Bob Young, THC's president, performed the same function for the union business. Any exchange of management services, tools or equipment between the companies took place pursuant to fair market rental rates. In short, THC and API consciously structured their business relations according to the factors utilized by the NLRB in judging the propriety of double breasted operations. By adhering to strict degrees of separateness, THC avoided liability for unfair labor practices or breach of union contracts.

In 1983, API decided to open a non-union plumbing department to operate in conjunction with its HVAC business just as Mauter's union plumbing crew complemented THC's operations. On April 1, 1983, Cordell employed Harold Robertson, aged 38, as estimator for the API department. Robertson was licensed as a Master Plumber and had several years experience as a project manager and estimator with a non-union plumbing company. It is undisputed that API's non-union plumbing department has flourished under Robertson's leadership.

During this same time period, THC began suffering financial difficulties and labor problems as a result of its union contracts. THC's agreement with the sheet metal workers union expired on May 31, 1983. Union workers continued working on the company's projects while THC engaged in contract renewal negotiations with the union. By the end of July, these negotiations reached a total impasse and the union workers refused to continue working for THC. THC was forced to assign its project agreements to a competitor.

As of September 1, 1983, Young realized that THC's relations with the sheet metal workers union were beyond repair. He suspected that the remaining THC workers planned to file a decertification petition with the NLRB. Since THC would no longer operate as a union shop, it was not economically feasible to maintain a union plumbing department which, according to the undisputed testimony of Bob Young, had been losing money. THC's union contract with the plumbers and pipefitters union expired on August 31, 1983. THC did not renew the plumbing contract.

In mid-September, the management of THC informed Mauter that THC planned to close the union plumbing department and terminate his employment as of October 31, 1983. Mauter was sixty years old. In January, 1984, Mauter filed an age discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and subsequently filed this suit in district court alleging violations of the ADEA. The district court granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment finding that the plaintiff had failed to produce evidence sufficient to establish a prima facie case of age discrimination.

In reviewing the grant of a summary judgment motion, the question is whether there is a genuine issue of material fact. F.R.Civ.P. 56(c). We make this determination viewing all of the evidence in the light most favorable to Mauter, the non-moving party. Sweat v. Miller Brewing Co., 708 F.2d 655, 656 (11th Cir.1983).

In age discrimination cases, this circuit has elected to follow a burden of proof scheme substantially similar to that established for Title VII cases in McDonnell-Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). A person who alleges that he was unlawfully discharged because of age must demonstrate to establish a prima facie case that (1) he is a member of the protected age group, (2) he is qualified for the position he held, (3) he was discharged, and (4) a person outside the protected class replaced him. Krieg v. Paul Revere Life Ins. Co., 718 F.2d 998, 999 (11th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 929, 104 S.Ct. 1712, 80 L.Ed.2d 185 (1984). In situations involving a reduction in force, however, the employer seldom seeks a replacement for the discharged employee. Accordingly, the fourth prong of the prima facie case is altered to require that the plaintiff "produce evidence circumstantial or direct, from which the factfinder might reasonably conclude that the employer intended to discriminate in reaching the decision at issue." Williams v. General Motors Corp., 656 F.2d 120, 129 (5th Cir. Unit B 1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 943, 102 S.Ct. 1439, 71 L.Ed.2d 655 (1982).

Since the plaintiff's job with THC was eliminated, the district court analyzed this case under the reduction in force formulation of the McDonnell-Douglas test. The court concluded that Mauter failed to present any evidence of intentional age discrimination and hence did not establish a prima facie case. On appeal, the plaintiff argues that the district court erroneously concluded that...

To continue reading

Request your trial
90 cases
  • Hansard v. Pepsi-Cola Metropolitan Bottling Co., Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • 21 d2 Fevereiro d2 1989
    ...who had no connection with the plaintiff's termination, not to be sufficient by itself to prove age discrimination. Mauter v. Hardy Corp., 825 F.2d 1554, 1558 (11th Cir.1987); Gray v. New Engl. Tel. & Tel. Co., 792 F.2d 251, 254-55 (1st Cir.1986). We need not address that issue because othe......
  • Welch v. Delta Air Lines, Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia
    • 19 d2 Agosto d2 1997
    ...at issue. McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-03, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1824-25, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973); Mauter v. Hardy Corp., 825 F.2d 1554, 1557 (11th Cir.1987). In 1994, Defendant initiated a massive downsizing effort which resulted in a determination that three instructors woul......
  • Cason Enterprises v. Metropolitan Dade County
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida
    • 11 d2 Agosto d2 1998
    ...evidence of discrimination, a racial slur must be made in the course of the decisional process under challenge. See Mauter v. Hardy Corp., 825 F.2d 1554, 1558 (11th Cir.1987); Movitz v. Pratt & Whitney Co., Case NO. 90-8245-CIV-KING (March 26, 1992 Order Granting Motion for Summary Judgment......
  • Keller v. Hyundai Motor Mfg.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Middle District of Alabama
    • 19 d2 Janeiro d2 2021
    ...situations. Verbraeken v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp. , 881 F.2d 1041, 1045 (11th Cir. 1989) (quoting Mauter v. Hardy Corp. , 825 F.2d 1554, 1557 (11th Cir. 1987) ).Although Keller's case involved a company-wide reduction in force, Keller in particular was replaced by Hyundai. See Def.’s Br. i......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT