McDaniel v. Mead Corp.

• Citation: 622 F. Supp. 351
• Decision Date: 29 May 1985
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 83-0550-R.
• Parties: Thomas H. McDANIEL, et al, Plaintiffs, v. MEAD CORPORATION, d/b/a Lynchburg Foundry, et al, Defendants.
• Court: United States District Courts. 4th Circuit. United States District Court (Western District of Virginia)

622 F. Supp. 351

Thomas H. McDANIEL, et al, Plaintiffs, v. MEAD CORPORATION, d/b/a Lynchburg Foundry, et al, Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 83-0550-R.

United States District Court, W.D. Virginia, Roanoke Division.

May 29, 1985.

Donald W. Huffman, Bird, Kinder & Huffman, Roanoke, Va., for plaintiffs.

Clifton A. Woodrum, Dodson, Pence, Viar, Young & Woodrum, Roanoke, Va., Charles M. Rice, Kilpatrick & Cody, Atlanta, Ga., for Lynchburg Foundry.

Mark E. Feldman, William H. Lindsey, Eggleston, Glenn & Feldmann, Roanoke, Va., for Mead Corp.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

KISER, District Judge.

This action arises under the Age Discrimination and Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621, et seq., (the "ADEA"). Plaintiffs Thomas H. McDaniel, Ersal Alderman, Troy M. Hawley, Iris W. Sayers, and Jean R. Stokley are former employees of the Lynchburg Foundry Company which is a subsidiary of the Mead Corporation. Plaintiffs allege that they were discharged by the Defendants in October, 1982, based upon their ages in violation of the ADEA. Defendant Lynchburg Foundry has moved for summary judgment alleging that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Defendant Mead Corporation has joined in this motion, and has also alleged additional grounds for summary judgment on its behalf.

I. Statement of Facts

A. Reductions-in-Force at Lynchburg Foundry

Lynchburg Foundry is a corporation engaged in the manufacture of cast metal products. Lynchburg Foundry operates several facilities in and around Lynchburg, Virginia, and one plant in Radford, Virginia. All five Plaintiffs were employed at the Radford plant prior to their termination.

Before 1977, Lynchburg Foundry operated three separate facilities at the Radford plant: the Shell Foundry, the Pipe Foundry, and the "Special" Foundry. In late 1977, Lynchburg Foundry closed the Special Foundry due to decreased demand and opened a new plant, the Medium Castings Foundry ("MCF"). One of the chief customers for MCF products was the Caterpillar Tractor Company. At this time, the Radford work force consisted of approximately 1,425 total employees. Of these employees, 160 were "salaried" employees; the remainder were "hourly" employees.

The terms and conditions of employment for Lynchburg Foundry's hourly employees are governed by a collective bargaining agreement, which provides seniority rights in termination decisions. All five Plaintiffs were salaried employees, and were not covered by a collective bargaining agreement or any other contract. Although Lynchburg Foundry managers usually view seniority as a factor favoring the retention of a salaried employee, they are not required to do so.¹

In March of 1980, changing customer demand resulted in the closing of the Pipe Foundry. The Lynchburg Foundry Corporation terminated several hundred employees, including salaried personnel. Proportionately more salaried employees under the age of 40 were terminated in the March, 1980 force reduction than salaried employees over the age of 40.

Economic conditions continued to decline in the following years, and Lynchburg Foundry undertook force reductions in September, 1980; December, 1980; April, 1981; and May, 1982. Each of these force reductions impacted more severely on salaried employees under the age of 40. For example, in the May, 1982 force reduction Lynchburg Foundry terminated 16% of its under-40 salaried work force, as compared to 6% of its over-40 salaried work force. By May, 1982, the work force at the Radford plant had been cut in half: from 1,425 employees in July, 1979, to 707 employees in May, 1982. Over one-third of the salaried work force had been terminated: from 160 in July, 1979, to 99 in May, 1982.

By the Fall of 1982, a continued decline in customer demand coupled with an impending strike at the Caterpillar Tractor Company resulted in a management decision to close the Medium Castings Foundry. The closing of the MCF resulted in the termination of several hundred additional employees, including 27 salaried employees. All five Plaintiffs were among the 27 salaried employees terminated in this force reduction. According to Donald Carson, the Radford Plant Operations Manager, the closing of the MCF and these force reductions were necessary for the Radford plant to remain in business. Of the 27 salaried employees terminated in October, 1982, 15 were under the age of 40 (representing 42% of the under-40 salaried workforce), and 12 were over the age of 40.

B. The Individual Employment Decisions

1. Thomas E. McDaniel.

McDaniel began work at Lynchburg Foundry in March of 1965. He was promoted to the position of Maintenance Supervisor in the Maintenance Department in 1969. He remained in that position until his termination in October, 1982. McDaniel's immediate supervisor from 1976 to 1982 was Robert Coalson (age 44). There were a total of seven maintenance supervisors employed in October, 1982: David Forbes (age 36), Jack Ratcliffe (age 34), Clarence Sowers (age 51), Willard Jones (age 45), Thomas McDaniel (age 55), David Byrd (age 32), and George Valach (age 44). All seven maintenance supervisors provided general supervision to the hourly maintenance employees. In addition, Jones and Byrd were certified to provide technical supervision to electricians, and Forbes and Ratcliffe were certified to provide technical supervision to machinist-mechanics. Their additional training and certification had come through the joint Lynchburg Foundry/New River Community College Craft Apprenticeship Program. Neither McDaniel, Sowers, or Valach had any specialized training or qualifications in electrical or machinist-mechanic work beyond that acquired on the job.

When the Medium Castings Foundry was closed, three maintenance shifts were eliminated and, accordingly, three maintenance supervisors had to be terminated. Jones was retained as an electrical specialist. Byrd was retained to continue on a special electrical assignment at the Shell Foundry. The Foundry also wished to retain at least one certified machinist-mechanic specialist. Forbes was determined to be the better qualified so he was retained and Ratcliffe was terminated. Of the three remaining supervisors, Sowers was retained because of his seniority (30 years). McDaniel and Valach were terminated.

2. Troy M. Hawley.

Hawley's last continuous service with Lynchburg Foundry began in 1958 when he was employed as an hourly employee in the Special Foundry. Hawley transferred into the Storeroom Department in approximately 1970. The Storeroom Department is responsible for ordering, stocking, and distributing all parts and materials used by Lynchburg Foundry in the production of castings. Hawley's first position in the Storeroom Department was window attendant. In 1974, he was assigned the position of messenger/mail clerk which he held until his termination in October, 1982. The messenger's duties included picking up and delivering mail, distributing interoffice mail, and running errands.

There were nine salaried jobs in the Storeroom Department in 1981. By October, 1982, three of these positions had been eliminated, and the Foundry decided to eliminate three additional salaried positions. The head of the department, Don Wood (age 44), was retained along with Gerald Duncan (age 45), another exempt level supervisor who had been Mr. Wood's assistant for approximately 8 years. The only non-exempt salaried employee retained was Marshal Wirt (age 41). Wirt was a salary grade "D", who had operated the storeroom computer and handled bookkeeping. Hawley's messenger position, a salary grade "A" (the lowest salary grade in the Foundry) was eliminated. Certain of the messenger's duties, such as personal delivery of the mail, were no longer performed. Other responsibilities were assumed by Foundry employees on as-needed basis.

3. Iris W. Sayers.

Sayers was employed by the Foundry in September, 1968. For several years prior to her termination she held the position of Senior Process Clerk in the Payroll Services Department. This was a non-exempt clerical position. As a Senior Process Clerk, Sayers was responsible, along with other clerks, for processing employee time cards and determining the amount of pay for each employee. Sayers' supervisor was Gerald Lyons, the Payroll Supervisor. The staff of the Payroll Services Department had been significantly decreased during earlier force reductions, and the positions of three Payroll Services Clerks had been eliminated. Management decided to eliminate two of the final three Payroll Services Clerk positions in October, 1982, leaving only one Payroll Services Clerk employed.

The three remaining clerks were Sayers (age 58), Scotty Smith (age 42), and Linda Cecil (age 33). Lyons felt that Sayers was the least productive of these three clerks, and was not qualified to conduct the full range of payroll operations. Because Smith was fully qualified in all areas of the payroll operation and had been employed longer than Cecil, Smith was retained. Sayers and Cecil were terminated.

4. Jean R. Stokley.

Stokley was employed by Lynchburg Foundry on May 7, 1962. Stokley held a variety of non-exempt clerical jobs. Prior to 1980, Stokley was a clerk in the Production Control Department. This Department was entirely eliminated in March, 1980, at which time Stokley and her supervisor, Betty Craig, were assigned other positions. Stokley was transferred to the position of switchboard operator which she held until her termination in October, 1982. During this reduction-in-force, Stokley was displaced by her former supervisor, Betty Craig. Craig had been employed in an exempt salaried position as scheduler of the Medium Castings Foundry. Craig and Stokley were both age 54 at the time of this action, but Craig was approximately 5 months younger than Stokley. However, Craig had been employed by the Foundry longer than Stokley and in higher rated positions. Craig took over the...