Ste. Marie v. Eastern R. Ass'n

• Decision Date: 16 October 1978
• Docket Number: No. 75 Civ. 4736 (RLC).,75 Civ. 4736 (RLC).
• Citation: 458 F. Supp. 1147
• Parties: Theresa J. STE. MARIE, Individually and on behalf of all other persons similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. EASTERN RAILROAD ASSOCIATION and Traffic Executive Association, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

458 F. Supp. 1147

Theresa J. STE. MARIE, Individually and on behalf of all other persons similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. EASTERN RAILROAD ASSOCIATION and Traffic Executive Association, Defendants.

No. 75 Civ. 4736 (RLC).

United States District Court, S. D. New York.

October 16, 1978.

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Sue Wimmershoff-Caplan, New York City, for plaintiffs.

Conboy, Hewitt, O'Brien & Boardman, New York City, for defendants by Myron D. Cohen, David Rees Davies, New York City, of counsel.

ROBERT L. CARTER, District Judge.

OPINION

The Underlying Charge

In August, 1974, plaintiff filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") accusing defendant, Eastern Railroad Association ("ERA"), of maintaining policies and practices that discriminated against her as a female employee because of her sex. The charge cited two acts of alleged sex discrimination — (1) the refusal in May, 1974 to allow plaintiff to enroll in evening accounting courses under the company's tuition refund program and (2) ERA's failure or refusal to act favorably on plaintiff's application of June 18, 1974, for appointment to the position of Manager, Freight Department. EEOC referred the charge to the New York State Division on Human Rights. That agency issued its determination on October 24, 1974, finding a lack of probable cause and ordering the complaint dismissed. Plaintiff appealed, and on May 16, 1975, the State Human Rights Appeal Board affirmed dismissal of the complaint.

Complaint and Class Determination

On June 30, 1975, EEOC issued its right to sue letter, and on September 26, 1975, plaintiff filed the instant complaint on behalf of herself and all other female employees who allegedly are being victimized by unfair employment practices in re the terms and conditions of employment of the ERA in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. Plaintiff moved to certify the class to include all of defendant's¹ female employees. Defendant opposed the motion for certification of the proposed class of all female employees on the ground that plaintiff, for a variety of reasons, could not adequately represent a class so broadly defined. Defendant's arguments were rejected, and on October 20, 1976, the court ordered the class certified under Rule 23(b)(2), F.R.Civ.P., and the class as certified was defined as all female employees of the defendant organization. In her case here, plaintiff seeks an injunction prohibiting defendant from continuing the practices alleged to violate Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a) and (b)², a declaratory judgment that such practices contravene the above cited provisions, damages and attorney fees. The matter was tried before the court between January 31 and February 10, 1978. On the second day of the trial, the parties agreed to limit the trial to issues of liability only. Subsequently, proposed findings of fact, conclusions of law and post-trial memoranda were submitted.

Overall Organizational Structure of Eastern Railroad Association

ERA is an unincorporated association which the 23 major railroads in the eastern part of the United States established on November 1, 1970, to provide administrative services and supervision of the Traffic Executive Association ("TEA"), the Eastern Weighing and Inspection Bureau ("EWIB") and the Railroad Perishable Inspection Agency ("RPIA"). Overall administration of ERA is performed by two administrative committees, composed of representatives of the member lines, and day to day executive supervision and administration of ERA rests with Charles L. Smith, President of ERA and Chairman of TEA.

TEA

TEA, functioning since 1877, deals with rates, classifications, allowances and charges. Within TEA is the General Freight Traffic Department (GFTD). This department analyzes rate proposals and recommends to ERA member lines whether to approve or disapprove their adoption. It is the largest department within TEA and offers its employees opportunity for acquiring technical skills in the handling of transportation and traffic problems. There are technical positions in the department (junior, intermediate and senior rate clerk) for which attendance at Advanced Traffic School is considered desirable, and advancement to the upper echelons of the ERA and TEA is said to require experience and knowledge as a rate clerk. Not an inconsiderable number of those now holding exalted positions in the organization, however, were not required to attain their present eminence on the junior, intermediate, senior rate clerk escalator, and a number of defendant's executives did not attend Advanced Traffic School or, if enrolled, did not complete the course.

Publication Services is the second largest department in TEA. It has two main divisions — a Tariff Services Bureau and a Data Processing Center. The Tariff Services Bureau compiles, publishes and files with the appropriate government agency rates, rules and regulations for the member lines. The Data Processing Center provides data processing and computer programming for ERA and member lines. As with GFTD, normal lines of progression seem clear through intermediate technical positions, e.g., junior, intermediate, and senior tariff compiler; key input operator, supervisor, key input section, console operator, programmer (junior, intermediate, senior), and systems programmer, but thereafter the steps upward are not so precisely outlined.

It had long been TEA's policy to encourage all male employees in GFTD to attend Advanced Traffic School, and to further this policy a tuition refund program was adopted. Under that program 50% of tuition costs of those attending Advanced Traffic School was paid on enrollment, with the balance of the tuition being reimbursed on satisfactory completion of the course and employment at TEA continuously for 6 months thereafter. Until recently, no such encouragement and assistance were given to female employees, and indeed, women were not employed as rate clerks until approximately 1972. There was testimony that Joseph Liebscher, a long time employee of TEA and currently ERA's Comptroller who interviews new hirees, did not acquaint female employees with the tuition refund program or indicate to them the desirability of attending Advanced Traffic School. There was also testimony that David Rogers, Director, Publications Services and Tariff Publishing Officer, actively encouraged all tariff compilers to attend Advanced Traffic School and those in data processing to improve their knowledge by attending an IBM institute or university such as New York University offering courses in computer science technology. The tuition refund program has been expanded to include the latter programs. Indeed, it is fair to say that the current program embraces any continuing educational curriculum that would render the employee more useful to the ERA. While Liebscher should be more conscientious in providing information to new employees about the organization's policy, the program as currently administered is free of any taint of discrimination, and all female employees know about the program or have ready access to such knowledge.

Administration and General Services

The Administration and General Services Department performs general personnel and housekeeping functions for all units of the ERA. It maintains personnel records, handles payroll, payroll taxes, and administers employee benefit and health plans. Its chief officer is the comptroller.

Eastern Weighing and Inspection Bureau ("EWIB")

This organization polices weight agreements between railroads and shippers, investigates loss and damage claims and provides various inspection and loading services in connection with railroad cars. Until 1970, EWIB was a constituent part of TEA, but with the formation of ERA that year, EWIB was placed directly under the jurisdiction of that agency subject to the immediate supervision of the Inspection Services Department. A majority of the employees in EWIB are inspectors. There are various district offices located throughout the geographical area in which member lines of the ERA operate and from which the inspectors work. These offices are headed by district managers. Promotion to district manager is made by the general manager of the Inspection Services Department, subject to the approval of the President of ERA. A director of EWIB is appointed with the approval of the President of ERA.

Railroad Perishable Inspection Agency ("RPIA")

This agency became a part of ERA in 1970. It performs inspection and loading services, investigates loss and damage claims in respect of perishable commodities, i. e., vegetables, meats and frozen foods. The principal job category here, as in EWIB, is inspector. It operates district offices in some 32 cities. When the agency began functioning in the 1930's, no formal educational qualifications were needed for employment. Since 1940, an RPIA inspector is required to have a minimum of 2 years college in agriculture, biology or bacteriology. This is the only defendant agency which mandates precise educational requirements as a condition of employment.³ A district inspector heads each district office, a district manager is responsible for each home district, and a regional manager heads each region. There is a director and manager of RPIA. Both are appointed on the recommendation of the President of ERA.

RPIA is the only ERA constituent to be governed by a collective bargaining agreement. The agreement requires that all but excepted positions must be bulletined before they can be filled. The excepted positions — director, manager, district inspector, assistant district inspector, chief clerk, assistant accountant, three office managers, dry freight inspectors and secretaries employed at ERA headquarters, Two Penn Plaza in New York — need not be bulletined. Appointments to these excepted positions (other than director and manager) are made on the recommendation of...