Moore v. Alabama State University

• Decision Date: 23 January 1989
• Docket Number: No. 87-7714,87-7714
• Citation: 864 F.2d 103
• Parties: 48 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1598, 48 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 38,624, 50 Ed. Law Rep. 989 Eunice W. MOORE, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY and Dr. Leon Howard, as President and individually, Defendants-Appellants, Patsy Boyd Parker, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 103

864 F.2d 103

48 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1598,

48 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 38,624, 50 Ed. Law Rep. 989

Eunice W. MOORE, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY and Dr. Leon Howard, as President and individually, Defendants-Appellants, Patsy Boyd Parker, et al., Defendants.

No. 87-7714.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

Jan. 23, 1989.

Solomon S. Seay, Jr., Montgomery, Ala., for defendants-appellants.

Edmon L. Rinehart, Montgomery, Ala., for plaintiff-appellee.

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

Before RONEY, Chief Judge, JOHNSON, Circuit Judge, and TIDWELL, ^* District Judge.

RONEY, Chief Judge:

In this case, the district court awarded Eunice Moore relief on her Title VII sex discrimination claim challenging her removal from a position at Alabama State University. There is no evidence in the record to support the district court's finding that Moore was removed from this position under circumstances that give rise to an inference of sex discrimination. We reverse.

Plaintiff Eunice Moore is a black, fifty-nine-year-old woman and a tenured faculty member at defendant Alabama State University (ASU), located in Montgomery, Alabama. Defendant Leon Howard is the president of ASU. The other named defendants comprise the ASU Board of Trustees, which governs ASU and appoints and grants tenure to the faculty.

On June 29, 1976, plaintiff was employed by ASU under a two-month contract for July 1--August 31, 1976 and a yearly contract as of September 1976, both as Dean of the College of Sciences and Humanities and as Professor. Plaintiff's contract was renewed for each year thereafter and for the years 1981-1982, 1982-1983 and 1983-1984 as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences until August 29, 1984, when plaintiff was notified by Howard that she would not be reappointed Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Howard then appointed plaintiff Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for one month, September 1984. On October 4, 1984, Howard notified plaintiff she would not be reappointed Dean, and on October 18, 1984, issued to her a Notice of Continuing Employment as Professor of Speech Communications, Special Assistant to the President for the year October 1, 1984 to September 30, 1985, at an annual salary of $41,870.00. Plaintiff accepted this appointment with appreciation by letter dated October 30, 1984.

On August 16, 1985, plaintiff received a Salary Worksheet from Nathan Moore, Chairman of the English, Speech, Theatre and Foreign Languages Department, indicating her rank and title for the year 1985-86 as Professor of Speech at a salary of $38,930.00 per year, which is less than the $41,870.00 plaintiff received for the year 1984-1985. By letter dated August 27, 1985, Howard notified plaintiff that she would not be retained in the position of Special Assistant to the President. On September 25, 1985, Howard sent plaintiff a Notice of Continuing Employment as Professor of Speech at a salary of $33,400.00 for nine months but prorated her salary for eight months at $29,690.00 through May 31, 1986 to take account of the fact that plaintiff had been paid as Special Assistant to the President through September 30, 1985.

The position of Special Assistant to the President is not shown on any organizational chart of ASU in effect from September 1983 to the present. No record of any personnel action concerning plaintiff is shown in the minutes of any Board meeting from August 11, 1984 through November 6, 1986.

On February 21, 1986, Moore filed a complaint with the district office of the EEOC in Birmingham, Alabama, charging defendants with discrimination against her on the basis of race, sex, and age when they removed her as Dean and as Special Assistant to the President. Such a filing with the EEOC within 180 days after the alleged discriminatory practice occurred is a prerequisite to a Title VII action. 42 U.S.C.A. Sec. 2000e--5(e); Stafford v. Muscogee Cnty Bd. of Educ., 688 F.2d 1383, 1387 (11th Cir.1982). The EEOC issued Moore a Right-to-Sue letter on August 22, 1986. For purposes of this opinion, we assume without deciding that plaintiff's complaint to the EEOC was timely.

She then filed this Title VII action in the district court. At the close of a bench trial, Moore withdrew her claims of race and age discrimination. The district court held that: (1) Moore was not entitled to any relief on her challenge to her removal as Dean, under either a disparate treatment or disparate impact analysis; (2) Moore was not entitled to any relief on her challenge to her removal as Special Assistant to the President, under a disparate impact analysis. The court held, however, that Moore was entitled to relief on her disparate treatment claim of sex discrimination in her removal from the position of special assistant to the President, because it found that Moore was removed under circumstances which gave rise to an inference of unlawful discrimination. The propriety of this last holding is the only question before this Court.

Where, as here, a disparate treatment case is fully tried, a Court should proceed directly to the ultimate question of intentional discrimination. Carmichael v. Birmingham Saw Works, 738 F.2d 1126, 1129 (11th Cir.1984). As the supreme court stated:

Where the defendant has done...