Siler-Khodr v. Univ. TX Hlth Sci. Ctr. San Antonio

• Decision Date: 24 August 2001
• Docket Number: SILER-KHOD,No. 00-50092,P,00-50092
• Parties: (5th Cir. 2001) THERESA M.laintiff-Appellee, v. THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER SAN ANTONIO; ET AL., Defendants, and THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER SAN ANTONIO, Defendant-Appellant
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 542

261 F.3d 542 (5th Cir. 2001)

THERESA M. SILER-KHODR, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER SAN ANTONIO; ET AL., Defendants, and THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER SAN ANTONIO, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 00-50092

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

Aug. 24, 2001

Joseph Y. Ahmad (argued), Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Anaipakos, Andrew S. Golub, Houston, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Gregory Scott Coleman, Danica L. Milios, Asst. Solicitor General (argued), Austin, TX, for Defendant-Appellant.

Seth Michael Galanter (argued), Jessica Dunsay Silver, Timothy J. Moran, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Civil Rights Div., Washington, DC, for Intervenor.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas

Before POLITZ, DeMOSS, and STEWART, Circuit Judges.

CARL E. STEWART, Circuit Judge:

The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio ("UTHSCSA" or the "University") appeals from a final judgment awarding Dr. Theresa M. Siler-Khodr ("Siler-Khodr") $91,000 back pay and $20,000 of compensatory damages, including costs and prejudgment interest, because the jury found that UTHSCSA had discriminated against Siler-Khodr on the basis of her gender in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e ("Title VII") and paid her unequally in violation of the Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d) ("Equal Pay Act" or "EPA"). For the following reasons, we affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Siler-Khodr began her career at UTHSCSA in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology ("Ob/Gyn Department") as an assistant professor in 1976. She has a Ph.D. in biochemistry, and she is a reproductive endocrinologist specializing in the area of hormones involved with the female reproductive system. Siler-Khodr primarily conducts laboratory research in this field. She also publishes the results of her research, supervises Fellows, and teaches classes. She has also directed clinical and research laboratories. Siler-Khodr became a Full Professor with tenure in 1986, and her supervisor is Dr. Robert Schenken ("Schenken").

Dr. Sydney Shain ("Sydney") is also in the Department and joined the University in 1989. According to UTHSCSA, Sydney was hired in an effort to retain Dr. Rochelle Shain ("Rochelle"), Sydney's wife and one of the four Ph.D. researchers in the Ob/Gyn Department. Rochelle informed Dr. Carl Pauerstein ("Pauerstein"), chair of the Department since 1979, that her husband wanted to leave his job at the Southwest Foundation for Biological Research in San Antonio where he earned $80,000 per year. Pauerstein offered Sydney a job with the University at a salary of $83,000, in part, because he was concerned that Sydney would seek employment outside of San Antonio, causing Pauerstein to lose Rochelle. Siler-Khodr's salary at the time was $64,354. The University also justifies Sydney and Siler-Khodr's difference in pay by asserting that Sydney has been more successful than Siler-Khodr in obtaining grant funding.

The University currently pays Sydney approximately $20,000 per year more than Siler-Khodr. He, however, like Siler-Khodr, 1) has a Ph.D. in biochemistry; 2) primarily conducts laboratory research regarding reproductive endocrinology; 3) publishes the results of his research; 4) supervises departmental Fellows; 5) teaches classes; and 6) is supervised by Dr. Schenken. Similarly, Pauerstein testified at trial that Siler-Khodr and Sydney have essentially the same duties and responsibilities.

Siler-Khodr filed suit in state district court against UTHSCSA, alleging in part violations of Title VII and of the EPA. The University subsequently removed to federal court. At trial, Siler-Khodr presented two studies: 1) the Women's Faculty Association Report conducted by the University in 1994 and 2) a report and testimony of Dr. Mary Gray ("Gray"), an expert statistician and Full Professor of mathematics and statistics at American University, in which she conducted a multiple regression analysis that controlled for a variety of factors.

Both reports indicated that gender significantly affected faculty salaries at the University. After adjusting for confounding factors such as rank, degree, tenure, duration in the institution and age, women tended to earn lower salaries than men. The reports studied salaries university-wide, and neither of them distinguished faculty salaries among medical specialities. The University contends that the Women's Faculty Association report was inherently flawed since, for example, more women tend to be pediatricians than surgeons at medical schools across the country and at UTHSCSA, and surgeons make considerably higher salaries than pediatricians. Moreover, UTHSCSA argues that the report did not analyze salaries within the Ob/Gyn Department and mentioned nothing regarding Siler-Khodr's salary. The University also asserts that Gray's report speaks only to the salary structure throughout the University. The report does not speak to the Ob/Gyn Department or the medical school in particular and does not pertain to Siler-Khodr's individual salary. In response, Siler-Khodr contends that the University offered no expert testimony of its own at trial. Dean James Young ("Dean Young"), dean of the Medical School, however, testified at trial that he disagreed with the Women's Faculty Association study's conclusion. The University also cross-examined Gray's report.

A jury subsequently returned a verdict for Siler-Khodr on the issues of sex discrimination under Title VII and unequal pay under the Equal Pay Act. In addition to ordering back pay in the amount of $91,000 and compensatory damages in the amount of $20,000, it also ordered the University to equalize Siler-Khodr's compensation to that of Sydney and to pay her all sums necessary to accomplish that equalization retroactive to the date the jury returned the verdict. The district court further awarded Siler-Khodr an additional $91,000 in liquidated damages in keeping with the jury's finding under the Equal Pay Act, as well as reasonable attorneys' fees. UTHSCSA moved for a judgment as a matter of law, pursuant to Rule 50(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, that the district court denied. The University now appeals.

DISCUSSION

I.Rule 50(a) Motion and the Sufficiency of Evidence

Rule 50(a) states that "[i]f during a trial by jury a party has been fully heard on an issue and there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to find for that party on that issue, the court may determine the issue against that party and may grant a motion for judgment as a matter of law. . . ." Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a). This Court reviews de novo the trial court's ruling on a Rule 50(a) motion. Travis v. Bd. of Regents of the Univ. of Texas Sys., 122 F.3d 259, 263 (5th Cir. 1997). Moreover, in reviewing a Rule 50(a) motion, this Court "should review all of the evidence in the record . . . [but] must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party, and it may not make credibility determinations or weigh the evidence." Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prod., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 150 (2000). "Credibility determinations, the weighing of the evidence, and the drawing of legitimate inferences from the facts are jury functions, not those of a judge." Id. at 150-51 (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250-51 (1986)).

The district court refused to grant the University's Rule 50(a) motion for a judgment as a matter of law on Siler-Khodr's claims alleging violations of Title VII and the EPA. Title VII states that it is unlawful "to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation . . . because of such individual's sex." 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a). Hence, a Title VII claim alleges "individual, disparate treatment." Plemer v. Parsons-Gilbane, 713 F.2d 1127, 1135 (5th Cir. 1983). Because the facts in a particular Title VII case will differ, the evidence necessary to prove a prima facie case of discrimination under Title VII will vary. Id. However, this Court has noted that although a plaintiff may present:

statistics evidencing an employer's pattern and practice of discriminatory conduct, which "may be helpful to a determination of whether" the alleged discriminatory act against the plaintiff "conformed to a general pattern of discrimination against" members of a protected group. . . . that evidence is "not determinative of an employer's reason for the action taken against the individual grievant."

Id. (citing McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802 (1973) and Terrell v. Feldstein Co., 468 F.2d 910, 911 (5th Cir. 1972)).

In contrast, the EPA has a higher threshold, requiring that an employer not discriminate "between employees on the basis of sex . . . for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions." 29 U.S.C. § 206(d)(1). In short, it demands that equal wages reward equal work. Corning Glass Works v. Brennan, 417 U.S. 188, 195 (1974). Once a plaintiff has made her prima facie case by showing that an employer compensates employees differently for equal work, the burden shifts to the defendant to "prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the wage differential is justified under one of the four affirmative defenses set forth in the Equal Pay Act: (1) a seniority system; (2) a merit system; (3) a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or (4) any other factor than sex." Kovacevich v. Kent State Univ., 224 F.3d 806, 826 (6th Cir. 2000) (citing 29 U.S.C. § 206(d)(1)). The EPA's affirmative defenses have been incorporated into Title VII by the Bennett Amendment to the Act. Id. at 828. "Generally, [however,] a Title VII claim of wage discrimination parallels that of an EPA violation." Id.

A.Statistics

The University contends that the trial court...