Murphy v. Miller Brewing Company, 65-C-272
| Decision Date | 22 December 1969 |
| Docket Number | No. 65-C-272,67-C-101.,65-C-272 |
| Citation | 307 F. Supp. 829 |
| Parties | Virginia MURPHY, Veronika Monostori, and Catherine Pelt, Plaintiffs, v. MILLER BREWING COMPANY, a Wisconsin corporation, Defendant, v. LOCAL UNION NO. 9 OF the INTERNATIONAL UNION OF the UNITED BREWERY, FLOUR, CEREAL, SOFT DRINK AND DISTILLERY WORKERS OF AMERICA, and International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal, Soft Drink and Distillery Workers of America, AFL-CIO, Third-Party Defendants. George P. SHULTZ, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor [Successor to W. Willard Wirtz, Resigned], Plaintiff, v. MILLER BREWING COMPANY, a corporation, v. LOCAL UNION NO. 9 OF the INTERNATIONAL UNION OF the UNITED BREWERY, FLOUR, CEREAL, SOFT DRINK AND DISTILLERY WORKERS OF AMERICA, and International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal, Soft Drink and Distillery Workers of America, AFL-CIO, Third-Party Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Wisconsin |
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Irvin B. Charne, Milwaukee, Wis., for plaintiffs in Case No. 65-C-272.
Herman Grant, Regional Atty., Ruth Provus, John C. Nangle, Attys., Office of Solicitor, U. S. Department of Labor, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff in Case No. 67-C-101.
T. L. Tolan, Jr., and Samuel J. Recht, Milwaukee, Wis., for defendant, Miller Brewing Co.
Lawrence D. Gillick and Howard A. Davis, Milwaukee, Wis., for third-party defendant, Local Union No. 9.
Leonard S. Zubrensky and George F. Graf, Milwaukee, Wis., and James C. Paradise, Cincinnati, Ohio, for third-party defendant, International Union.
The plaintiffs seek injunctive relief and back pay because of alleged sex discrimination in employment practices. The action is brought under the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. ("§ 201") and in particular the Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d).1
The women plaintiffs were employed as laboratory technicians at the Miller Brewing Company ("Miller"). (Hereafter in this opinion, women and men laboratory technicians are referred to as "women and men.") Miller is a Wisconsin corporation with an office and plant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The third party defendants are the Local and International Brewery Workers Union that have the collective bargaining contract with Miller.
Plaintiffs contend that defendant Miller discriminated against the women on the basis of their sex and paid them less than they paid male employees who were performing equal work on jobs under similar conditions requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility. The women plaintiffs seek an award of an amount equal to the difference between the wages paid them and the wages paid the men plus liquidated damages and attorney's fees pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 216(b).2 The Secretary of Labor seeks injunctive relief against continued violation of the Equal Pay Act by Miller.
Miller denies that the lower wage rate paid the women was based on their sex. Miller contends that its job classifications and wage rates were and are now based on factors other than sex and the jobs in dispute were not equal jobs within the meaning of the Act. But Miller asserts that if there has been sex discrimination, it was caused by the Union and the Local which represented women in negotiating the collective bargaining agreements. Therefore, Miller asks for judgment against the Union for any amount for which Miller is liable.
An extensive trial to the court was held. The Court toured the Miller plant and viewed the operation of the laboratories involved in this action. Post-trial briefs have been submitted by all parties, and the Court is now prepared to make its decision, including the findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 52 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Miller is engaged in the production and sale of beer which is sold in interstate commerce within the meaning of the Act. Section 206(d) equal pay has been applicable to Miller's employees since June 11, 1964.
Miller's Milwaukee plant covers about 55 acres and consists of a complex of some 50 buildings, many of which are physically connected.
There are two laboratory facilities which are principally involved in this case—one is the Analytical Lab and the other is the Packaging Lab.
The Analytical Lab occupies a large L-shaped portion of the second floor of the "Research Building." Its lab is equipped with a variety of testing equipment and supplies. The technicians perform tests to analyze and measure the chemical and physical properties and characteristics of (1) the raw materials used in the manufacture of the beer, (2) the beer in the process of manufacture, (3) the packaged beer, and (4) the beer of Miller's competitors. These tests are simple, routine, and standardized; they may accurately be described as "cookbook type" tests. No prior experience is necessary to perform these tests, and the only training required to learn how to perform them is demonstration of the standardized procedures. There are no differences of any significance in terms of the skill, effort, and responsibility required to perform the various tests done in the Analytical Lab.
The Packaging Laboratory consists of three separate laboratory areas: (1) the Materials Quality Control Laboratory ("MQC Lab"), (2) the Air Laboratory ("Air Lab"), and (3) the Bottle House Laboratory ("BHL Lab"). The MQC Lab and BHL Lab are located on the second floor of the Packaging Building which also houses extensive production, bottling, packaging, storage, and shipping facilities. The Air Lab is located in the basement of the Pitch and Rack House where the beer is aged in vast vats.
The MQC Lab is equipped with equipment, much of which is similar to equipment in the Analytical Lab. A variety of tests is performed in the MQC Lab to analyze the materials used in the packaging of beer. The performance of some of these tests requires that technicians go into the production and packaging area of the plant for brief periods of time. The tests performed are simple, routine, and standardized, and may also be described as "cookbook type" tests. They are performed in accordance with specific procedures, and the technicians do not require any prior experience to perform them. As in the Analytical Lab, the only training required is a demonstration of these standardized procedures.
The working conditions in the MQC Lab are similar to the working conditions in the Analytical Lab, and there is no substantial difference in terms of the skill, effort, and responsibility required between the jobs in the Analytical Lab and the MQC Lab.
Four or five technicians have been assigned to the MQC Lab on a full-time basis for periods from one to four and a half years.
During the period January 1961 to January 1965, there were three shifts in the Analytical Lab. These shifts ran from 8 to 4, 3 to 11, and 11 to 7. The second two shifts were not always run. Under the Union contract, women were permitted to work only on the first shift in the Analytical Lab. The men who worked on other shifts in the Analytical Lab received 70 cents per hour more than the women did. This 70 cents per hour was in addition to the contract shift differential of 10 to 16 cents an hour. After January 2, 1965, only the first shift in the Analytical Lab was operated. For several years prior to the effective date of the Equal Pay Act, men and women concurrently and interchangeably performed, on a full-time basis, the tests in the Analytical Lab. On occasion, women trained the men to perform the tests in the Analytical Lab. The women, however, were paid 70 cents an hour less than the men working on the same shift. After the effective date of the Equal Pay Act, men and women continued to perform, on a full-time basis, the tests in the Analytical Lab, doing substantially the same work.
During the period July 10, 1964 to January 2, 1965, the men were transferred out of the Analytical Lab to the Packaging Lab.3 During the period of January 2, 1965 to October 31, 1966, Miller permitted only women to perform tests in the Analytical Lab. The women continued to receive 70 cents an hour less than the men who were transferred from this lab to the Packaging Lab.
On October 31, 1966, Miller resumed its practice of employing men as well as women in the Analytical Lab. At this time, both men and women were paid the same lower hourly rate in that this rate continued to be 70 cents an hour less than that received by the technicians working in the Packaging Lab. Prior to October 1966, women were permitted to work only in the Analytical Lab.
Since January 1957, the Union has been the exclusive collective bargaining agent for all of Miller's technicians. The technicians have been paid at the base hourly rates established by the union contracts. The base rates are increased pursuant to these contracts by a shift differential ranging from 10 to 16 cents an hour for work on shifts other than the first shift.
The technician classifications and base wage rates set forth in the contracts from 1959 to 1965 clearly establish that women received at least 70 cents an hour less than their male counterparts.
Under the 1959-1961 contract, irrespective of which laboratory they worked in, all men were classified as "Laboratory Technicians Packaging Quality Controls"; all women were classified as "Laboratory Technicians Product Quality Control" or as "Laboratory Technicians Statistical Quality Control." The 1959-1961 contract classified technician employees and established base hourly rates as follows:
Laboratory Laboratory Laboratory
Technicians Technicians Technicians
Packaging Product Statistical
Quality Quality Quality
Control Control Control
Effective
6/1/60 $2.90 $2.20 $2.00
The 1961 to 1965 contracts covering the technicians distinguished between male and female...
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