Taliaferro v. Dykstra

• Decision Date: 10 January 1977
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 73-0584-R,75-0298-R.
• Parties: Ruth TALIAFERRO et al., Plaintiffs, v. Vergil DYKSTRA et al., Defendants. Ruth Smith TALIAFERRO, Plaintiff, v. Henry I. WILLETT, Jr., et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia

434 F. Supp. 705

Ruth TALIAFERRO et al., Plaintiffs, v. Vergil DYKSTRA et al., Defendants.

Ruth Smith TALIAFERRO, Plaintiff, v. Henry I. WILLETT, Jr., et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. Nos. 73-0584-R, 75-0298-R.

United States District Court, E. D. Virginia, Richmond Division.

January 10, 1977.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Ruth S. Taliaferro, pro se.

Philip J. Hirschkop, John D. Grad, Alexandria, Va., for plaintiffs.

Walter H. Ryland, D. Patrick Lacy, Jr., Diana J. Pioske, Robert P. Kyle, Richmond, Va., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM

MERHIGE, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Ruth Taliaferro, brings these actions under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to redress alleged sex discrimination practiced at Longwood College, a Commonwealth of Virginia institution of higher learning, and to challenge the constitutionality of her "forced" retirement from that institution. The sex discrimination charge is pursued in the form of a class action¹ while the retirement issue, which is not gender related, is presented solely as an individual action. Plaintiff seeks monetary, declaratory and other appropriate relief. Defendant Willett is the current President of Longwood College and defendant Daniel is the Rector of the Board of Visitors. Jurisdiction is attained pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3). The Court having heard the evidence and considered the arguments of counsel, now makes its findings of fact and conclusions of law.

I. Sex Discrimination:

The allegation of sex discrimination practiced against the plaintiff and the class she represents centers on the promotions and salaries granted to various faculty members. With regard to the class claims, the evidence was largely statistical. For the reasons which follow, the Court concludes that women faculty members at Longwood College were not treated differently from their male counterparts. The evidence reflects that from 1955 to 1975, women have received exactly one-half of the 168 total promotions given. Moreover, since 1967 when Dr. Willett became President of Longwood College, there have been a total of seven chairmanship vacancies in the academic departments. Three females and four males have been appointed to these positions.

Plaintiff presented statistical evidence which reflected that females were compensated at a lower rate than comparable males. The utility of the statistics is, in the Court's view, quite limited as they comingle persons who are paid on a twelve-month basis with those who are compensated only ten months per year. This latter group of persons, while paid on a ten-month basis, actually work only nine months per year. The twelve-month personnel, numbering five out of a total full-time employees of approximately 120, are, however, compensated for a full year of service. The Court concludes that the plaintiff's statistics do not fairly reflect this distinction. Excluding the five twelve-month personnel in the comparison, the salaries of men and women faculty members are about equal for the period of time that Dr. Willett has been associated with Longwood College. Moreover, there is insufficient evidence to give rise to a conclusion that the defendants discriminated against women in the selection of twelve-month personnel. The Court is satisfied that as to the class aspect portion of this litigation, the plaintiff has failed to bear the required burden of proof.

Mrs. Taliaferro's individual claim of sex discrimination must likewise fail. Although there is substantial evidence to support a finding of sex discrimination at her initial hiring,² the defendants in this action were not parties to that discriminatory conduct. In order to recover damages in an action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must establish an affirmative link between the defendants and the conduct complained of. Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362, 96 S.Ct. 598, 46 L.Ed.2d 561 (1976). See also Barrow v. Bounds, 498 F.2d 1397 (4th Cir. 1974). It is the conduct of the named defendants to which the Court must look in determining whether the plaintiff is entitled to relief.

There are no allegations nor was there any evidence that defendant Daniel had any personal involvement in Mrs. Taliaferro's employment. Dr. Willett, as the Court has already indicated, had no prior association with Longwood College until he became its President in December of 1967. The evidence does reflect that at that time at Longwood there was pending a general backlog of promotions affecting both men and women alike. In the spring of 1968, Dr. Willett recommended that a number of faculty members, including the plaintiff, receive what he viewed to be long overdue promotions. The Board of Visitors adopted those recommendations. Plaintiff was then elevated to the position of Associate Professor and received a $900 raise in salary. The evidence discloses that no person benefited from a larger salary increase. Mrs. Taliaferro, however, informed Dr. Willett that it was her view that she was entitled to a full professorship. He in turn advised her that in light of the promotion to the associate level, which she at that time had just received, insufficient time had elapsed to warrant a promotion to full professor.

Plaintiff contends that Dr. Willett discriminated against her in two respects. First, she argues that men were promoted in a relatively shorter time and received a comparatively larger advance than she. Secondly, it is her position that she was unjustly denied a promotion to a full professorship. The first of these positions, in the Court's view, merits little discussion. That Mrs. Taliaferro was not promoted until twelve years of teaching had passed did not set a standard for future promotions. The difficulties Mrs. Taliaferro encountered in securing a promotion prior to Dr. Willett's arriving at Longwood were the product of matters which obviously were in no way attributable to any conduct on the part of the named defendants.³ The evidence reflects that both men and women under Dr. Willett's administration were promoted in shorter time than was the plaintiff.

Plaintiff's claim that she was entitled to a greater salary increase than those she deemed less qualified than herself is closely related to her complaint concerning her failure to be promoted to a full professorship. Salary and rank are correlated. Moreover, it appears that Mrs. Taliaferro's salary at all times fit comfortably within the range of others at her rank. There were men and women earning salaries both above and below the level of Mrs. Taliaferro's salary. Hence, her claim essentially depends on whether she was improperly denied the rank of professor; and if so, whether such deprivation was sexually motivated.

Plaintiff first approached Dr. Willett on the subject of becoming a full professor immediately after her promotion to the associate level in the spring of 1968. At that time, she was advised that it was too soon after one promotion to be considered for another. It appears that no further action was taken until the fall of 1972. An explanation for this inaction lies in the blockage of normal promotional channels in the business education department. Promotions were traditionally initiated by the department chairman. After the establishment of a committee on promotions in 1971, all promotions were channeled through the committee. When the then chairman stepped down from his chairmanship in 1969, the business education department was headed by several "acting" chairmen. These interim department heads declined to recommend any promotions because of their "acting" capacity. Moreover, Mrs. Taliaferro did not request a promotion from the committee despite her right to so do. In October of 1972, plaintiff again contacted Dr. Willett requesting a promotion. The evidence reflects that this was approximately six months prior to her scheduled retirement. Although Dr. Willett did discuss the matter with the Board of Visitors, Mrs. Taliaferro was advised to proceed through normal channels, i. e., via the committee on promotions. By her own admission and the statements of witnesses who testified in her behalf, the plaintiff sought the promotion at that time more for its symbolic significance than for career advancement purposes.

There was evidence that Dr. Willett considered the plaintiff's law degree an equivalent to a Ph.D. and represented it as such to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools for the purposes of accreditation. No satisfactory explanation was provided as to why some males with Ph.D.'s were given full professorships while the plaintiff was not. The burden, however, rests with the plaintiff to prove she was entitled to this rank. There was no evidence of the specific factors considered, and their relative weight, in rendering personnel promotional judgments. Absent such evidence, the Court cannot conclude that Mrs. Taliaferro was improperly passed over for a promotion.⁴

Assuming, however, that Mrs. Taliaferro should have been promoted to professor, the Court finds no evidence that would give rise to a reasonable conclusion that the failure to grant the plaintiff a promotion to a full professorship was motivated by consideration of gender. Indeed, the evidence reflects that since 1968 Dr. Willett's administration has made 116 promotions. Fifty-nine of those were males and 57 females. Thirteen of the 21 persons promoted to full professor have been female. In short, the statistical evidence refutes any conclusion that Dr. Willett discriminated against women in general. Plaintiff's evidence falls short of persuading the Court that he did so with regard to her. Any mistreatment of the plaintiff by these defendants falls in the category of what the Supreme Court described in another context as "incorrect or ill-advised personnel decisions" not rising to the level of a constitutional deprivation. Bishop v. Wood, 426 U.S. 341, 350, 96 S.Ct. 2074, 48 L.Ed.2d 684 (1976). See also Washington v. Davis, 426 U.S. 229, 96 S.Ct. 2040, 48 L.Ed.2d 597 (1976)....