Shidaker v. Bolger

• Citation: 593 F. Supp. 823
• Decision Date: 23 August 1984
• Docket Number: No. 82 C 5635.,82 C 5635.
• Parties: Darlene SHIDAKER, Plaintiff, v. William BOLGER, in his capacity as Postmaster General (United States Postal Service), Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

593 F. Supp. 823

Darlene SHIDAKER, Plaintiff, v. William BOLGER, in his capacity as Postmaster General (United States Postal Service), Defendant.

No. 82 C 5635.

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, E.D.

August 23, 1984.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Richard M. Stanton, Joseph M. Burns, Jacobs, Burns, Sugarman & Orlove, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff.

Bill Hedrick, Elizabeth Landes, Asst. U.S. Attys., Chicago, Ill., for defendant.

FINDINGS OF FACT — CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND ORDER

WILLIAM T. HART, District Judge.

Plaintiff Darlene Shidaker ("Shidaker") sued her employer William Bolger in his capacity as Postmaster General of the United States Postal Service ("Postal Service"). Count I alleges discriminatory failure to promote under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-16 and 39 U.S.C. § 409. Count II seeks review of an administrative appeal of Shidaker's reduction in grade by the Postal Service. Plaintiff alleges that the reduction was in retaliation for her attempt to vindicate the alleged discriminatory failure to promote. Judicial review of the entire administrative record of Shidaker's reduction in grade is limited to determining whether the Postal Service's ostensible reason for the grade reduction, Shidaker's alleged poor performance, is supported by substantial evidence and was not arbitrary or capricious. Coffman v. Bolger, 590 F.2d 1366 (5th Cir. 1979); Alsbury v. United States Postal Service, 530 F.2d 852 (9th Cir.), cert. denied 429 U.S. 828 (1976); Oates v. United States Postal Service, 444 F.Supp. 100 (S.D.N.Y.1978).

FINDINGS OF FACT

A hearing was held by the Court. Shidaker was not called as a witness. Based on the final pretrial order, which is incorporated by reference, and the testimony before the Court, the Court finds the following facts, as of the relevant times, many of which are adopted from the parties' statement of uncontested facts:

(1) Shidaker, began her Postal Service career on September 21, 1962, as Acting Postmaster of Kenilworth, Illinois. She was converted to Postmaster, Kenilworth, Illinois on May 8, 1964. This position was a PES-18.

(2) When Shidaker was appointed Acting Postmaster in Kenilworth, Illinois, it was her first employment in any capacity with the Postal Service or its predecessor Post Office Department, United States of America.

(3) Prior to her appointment at Kenilworth, Shidaker's employment experience was as follows:

1956-1958 — Executive Secretary, "Business Week" (McGraw-Hill), Chicago, Illinois, earning $350.00 per month;

1958-1961 — Office work, Stivers Officer Service, Chicago, Illinois, earning $4.00 per hour;

1961-1962 — Office Manager, Jack Bullock & Associates, Chicago, Illinois, earning $100.00 per week.

(4) The Kenilworth Post Office is an associate post office of the North Suburban Metropolitan Service Center ("MSC"). The associate post offices employ approximately 5,000 employees, including postmasters and supervisors. In 1977 there were 108 associate post offices within the North Suburban MSC. Since 1977, one associate post office has been eliminated, leaving 107.

(5) Kenilworth is the smallest of the associate post offices according to the number of city delivery routes and rural delivery routes. It is a "Class C" post office, which embraces the associate post offices with the smallest delivery operations. In "Class C," Kenilworth ranks with the bottom six post offices by size of delivery operations:

                  Kenilworth          - 3 City delivery routes
                  Fox River Grove     - 3 City delivery routes
                  Genoa               - 3 City delivery routes
                                        3 City delivery routes and 3
                  Marengo             - rural routes
                  Winfield            - 3 City delivery routes
                  Winthrop Harbor     - 3 City delivery routes
                

(6) The Kenilworth post office is located in northern Cook County, Illinois. It serves a village with a population of 3,000. The area is not growing and contains only small commercial establishments and no industrial firms. There are three letter carrier routes. At the relevant time, the authorized complement of employees was 11, including a PES-18 postmaster, one supervisor and four part-time employees. Revenue for fiscal year 1977 was $112,297. In 1978, the position of supervisor was eliminated and the post office was downgraded to PES-15.

(7) On August 18, 1977, Shidaker applied for the vacant PES-22 level postmaster positions at Glenview, Palatine, and Franklin Park, Illinois.

(8) Franklin Park is a medium size first class post office, located in the western section of Cook County serving a population of 35,000. The town contains small industrial and commercial firms, several large manufacturing businesses as well as a switch-yard. There are 29 city routes and four auxiliary routes. The authorized complement of employees is 89, which includes a PES-22 postmaster, seven supervisors and 16 part-time employees. Revenue for fiscal year 1977 was $5,453,725 and operating expenses were $1,674,781.

(9) Palatine is a medium size first class post office located in central Cook County in an area of rapid residential and commercial growth. The office serves a population of 70,000. There are 42 city routes, one rural route and three auxiliary routes. The authorized complement of employees is 109, which includes a PES-22 postmaster and six supervisors. Revenue for fiscal year 1977 was $2,588,283 and operating expenses were $2,094.581.

(10) Glenview is a medium size first class post office located in the northern part of Cook County in a area of growing residential and commercial activity. The office serves a population of 52,000. There are 45 city routes and six auxiliary routes. The authorized complement of employees is 114, which includes a PES-22 postmaster and seven supervisors. Revenue for fiscal year 1977 was $3,648,185 and operating expenses were $2,121,720.

(11) Frank J. Santoro ("Santoro") has been Manager of the North Suburban MSC since August 14, 1976. Santoro and his staff supervise the operation of all of the associate post offices within the jurisdiction of the North Suburban MSC. Santoro and his staff are ultimately responsible for the efficient operation of the associate post offices, providing advice and supervision in such areas as mail processing, customer services, finance and employee and labor relations. Santoro also is responsible for the efficient operation of the North Suburban main mail facility which employs approximately 3,000 employees, including Santoro and his staff and the employees who sort the mail for the associate post offices. Santoro is the immediate supervisor of each associate postmaster.

(12) The North Suburban MSC is subordinate to the Northern Illinois District Office, Oakbrook, Illinois. That Office supervises several MSC's in Northern Illinois. Santoro's immediate supervisor is the Manager, Northern Illinois District. The current District Manager is Richard Koenigs. His predecessor was William Booras ("Booras").

(13) The Northern Illinois District is subordinate to the Regional Postmaster General (RPMG) for the Central Region. The Central Region encompasses 13 states, including Illinois. The RPMG and his staff are located in the Main Post Office, 433 W. Van Buren Street, Chicago, Illinois. The Postmaster General, Washington, D.C., is the immediate supervisor of the (RPMG), Central Region as well as the RPMGs for the Northeastern, Eastern, Southern and Western Regions.

(14) During the relevant time period, the Postal Service had an affirmative action program for women, sometimes referred to as the "women's program."

(15) There were a total of 92 applicants for the postmaster positions in Glenview, Palatine, and Franklin Park, and Shidaker was the only female among them.

(16) The Postal Service has a policy of promoting from within. Ordinarily promotions are made one step at a time, e.g., from a PES-20 to 21.

(17) On November 3, 1977, a Postmaster Screening Board, composed of W. Robert Sleep, Postmaster, Northbrook; Ralph Wright, Postmaster, Oak Park and former postal inspector with jurisdiction over the Kenilworth post office; Richard Skala, Director Customer Services North Suburban MSC; and Walter L. Besteda, Director, Employee and Labor Relations, North Suburban MSC, met to review applications and screen candidates for the positions of Postmaster, Glenview, Palatine, and Franklin Park, Illinois. Besteda is black. No woman was on the Screening Board.

(18) The Screening Board did not interview the applicants. Each Screening Board member scored each applicant individually, for each vacancy, and the results were cumulated. In evaluating the applicants, including Shidaker, the Board had available:

(a) the applicant's "Personal History Summary" which showed the applicant's educational background, including Postal Service courses taken, Postal Service employment experience, non-Postal Service employment experience, participation in civil, fraternal and professional organizations, and awards;

(b) the applicant's "Estimate of Potential" (PS 2577) prepared and submitted by the applicant's immediate supervisor. Form 2577 rates factors such as "motivation," "personal growth," and "capacity to learn."

(c) the applicant's "Analysis of Experience, Background and Potential" which showed the applicant's experience and performance in such matters as labor relations, Equal Employment Opportunity, decision making (problem solving), budget operations, employee development, supervision, supervision of branch operations, planning and scheduling of work, safety and health, customer and community relations and general observations;

(d) the applicant's personnel file; and

(e) any relevant personal knowledge that the Board members had concerning the applicant's work performance. The Screening Board also had available data concerning the community, employee complement, number of carrier routes and dollar revenue of each of the vacant post offices.

(19) During...