Taylor v. Franklin Drapery Co., Inc., 74CV331-W-4.

• Decision Date: 01 December 1977
• Docket Number: No. 74CV331-W-4.,74CV331-W-4.
• Citation: 441 F. Supp. 279
• Parties: Martha TAYLOR, Plaintiff, v. FRANKLIN DRAPERY COMPANY, INC., et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Missouri

441 F. Supp. 279

Martha TAYLOR, Plaintiff, v. FRANKLIN DRAPERY COMPANY, INC., et al., Defendants.

No. 74CV331-W-4.

United States District Court, W. D. Missouri, W. D.

December 1, 1977.

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Irving Achtenberg, David Achtenberg, Achtenberg, Sandler & Balkin, Kansas City, Mo., for plaintiff.

Robert A. Sneizek, Joseph P. Teasdale, Kansas City, Mo., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

I. INTRODUCTION

A.

Nature of the Action

ELMO B. HUNTER, District Judge.

This is an action in two counts for relief under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended by, inter alia, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.) and under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by, inter alia, the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 (42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq.). Under Count I, plaintiff seeks damages, liquidated damages, costs and attorneys fees as provided in the Equal Pay Act. Under Count II, plaintiff seeks a declaratory judgment and injunction against certain of defendants' employment practices, reinstatement, back pay, interest, attorneys fees and costs. Plaintiff alleges:

1. Defendants paid plaintiff a lower wage than they paid to employees of the male sex although they performed jobs requiring equal skill, effort and responsibility and performed them under similar working conditions.

2. Defendants discriminated against plaintiff with respect to her compensation, terms, conditions and privileges of employment by maintaining a wage structure that discriminates against females as a class.

3. Defendants discriminated against plaintiff with respect to her compensation, terms, conditions and privileges of employment by providing hospitalization benefits to male employees which it denied to female employees.

4. Defendants discriminated against plaintiff with respect to her compensation, terms, conditions and privileges of employment by hiring males into the more desirable positions.

5. Defendants discharged plaintiff because she had opposed practices made unlawful by the EEO Act and filed a charge under the EEO Act.

B. Parties

Plaintiff, Martha L. Taylor, was employed by defendants at their Grandview, Missouri plant from March 27, 1972 to November 21, 1973. Defendant Franklin Drapery Company, Inc., is a Missouri corporation having its principal place of business in Grandview, Missouri. It conducts a drapery and upholstery business and, at all times relevant, was engaged in commerce and the production of goods for commerce. Defendant James David Franklin is the President and principal stockholder of defendant corporation.

While Count I of this action was originally commenced as a collective action under 29 U.S.C. § 216(b),¹ as no other employee of defendant corporation filed with the Court his or her consent to become a party plaintiff to this action, plaintiff Taylor withdrew her request that Count I proceed as a collective action (9-10).²

C. Jurisdiction

This Court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of this action. 29 U.S.C. § 216(b), 28 U.S.C. § 1337, 28 U.S.C. § 1343(4), and 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(3).

II. Background

A. In General

Plaintiff was hired by defendant on March 27, 1972 (39) and terminated on November 21, 1973 (45). Her first week on the job was spent in the workroom making draperies and removing and replacing defective trim (15-16). She was then transferred to the specialty department, where she remained until her termination (16). While in the specialty department, plaintiff sewed on trim and made swags, cascades, different kinds of valances, shutter inserts, tie-backs, Roman shades, bedspreads, and canopies (16-17). Plaintiff's starting salary was $1.75 per hour, but was raised, about a month later, to $1.80 per hour (39). Plaintiff's final paycheck reflected a wage rate of $1.90 per hour (47).

On July 26, 1973, plaintiff filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, charging that defendant

is engaged in unlawful employment practices in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, by discriminating against me because of my sex. I started work in March, 1972, at $1.75/hour and have only received a raise to $1.85/hour. The men there make over $4.00 per hour. There are no women in any higher paying jobs. Hospitalization is not paid for the women. They also do not hire any Negroes.

About a month later (43), Bob Crane, defendant Franklin, and Tom Sloan met with plaintiff to discuss her filing of the EEOC complaint (43; 190; 235). Defendant Franklin explains the purpose of the conference thus:

When we got the complaint, we contacted the EEOC and asked them what would be the best way to start, you know, learning something about this and what we should do. And they recommended that we could start by talking to Mrs. Taylor and see if we could resolve the grievances she had against us.

And we had her come up and come in the office with Bob Crane, Tom Sloan, and myself, and we asked her what the problem was. And she said we had sex discriminated, race discriminated, and wage discriminated. I asked her why she didn't come to me first, and I don't remember what her answer was. That is about the extent of what I remember about the meeting.

Plaintiff contends that, at the conference, it was indicated that, although defendant could not fire her for filing her complaint with the EEOC, he could fire her for performing poorly on the job. In her testimony, plaintiff stated that, at the conference, "Tom Sloan told me that they couldn't fire me but they sure could see my work wasn't any good any more" (43). Mr. Sloan denies having said this to plaintiff (II: 96).

Plaintiff was fired on November 21, 1973 (45), approximately three months after this conference. Defendant, in its service letter to plaintiff, gave the following as the reason for plaintiff's having been fired:

. . . general disruptive attitude which she had apparently fostered for some time, which made it impossible for her to get along with her fellow workers. On November 21, 1973, she engaged in an argument in which she verbally abused one of her fellow workers. After speaking to this fellow worker, it was decided by her immediate supervisor, Mr. Franklin, that it was in the best interest of the company and her fellow workers that she be terminated.³

Approximately fifty days after she was fired, plaintiff filed another complaint with the EEOC. In this complaint, she alleged that defendant corporation had discharged her because she had filed her first complaint with the EEOC.⁴ On June 6, 1974, plaintiff received a "Notice of Right to Sue Within 90 Days" in which she was notified by EEOC that conciliation efforts had failed, that EEOC had chosen not to file suit with respect to plaintiff's charges, and that plaintiff had the right to file a civil action in the federal courts. Suit was filed with this Court on June 21, 1974. The parties agree that all EEOC requirements for the bringing of this action have been fulfilled.

B. An Examination of the Four Departments

Defendant corporation is divided into five departments: workroom, specialty, installation, upholstery, and office (12). Only the functions of the first four of these departments are relevant to the case before the Court.

The Workroom

The primary function of the workroom is to make draperies (12, 61). This requires the employees to carry their own fabric and lining across the room, cut the material, press, sew, and fold the material, and bag drapes (115). The jobs performed in the workroom are primarily of the sewing and seamstress variety, and entail cutting, sewing, tabling⁵ and finishing the fabric.

Defendant has employed, on the average, fifteen or sixteen women, but only four males in the workroom since plaintiff was hired (92, 113). However, none of the males employed in the workroom sewed (83, 92); rather, Mr. Bob Mewmaw and Mr. Donnie Collins served, at different times, as manager of the workroom (92; II: 82), and the two young men employed in the workroom ran errands and did any odd jobs that needed to be performed (113). The testimony indicates that no men ever applied to do any type of sewing work in the workroom for defendant corporation (175; II: 79, 178).

The Specialty Department

Cornices, self-valances, swags, cascades, lambequins, trim, tie-backs, and Austrian valances are among the items made in defendant's specialty department. The women employed in the specialty department were plaintiff, Ocie Parsley, and Elean La-Passer (92, 214); four males were employed in the department.⁶

The women in the specialty department performed such tasks as sewing and making soft treatment and tie-backs (175). Men employed in the specialty department, on the other hand, have always worked on the cornices. Women, however, have never applied for jobs in the Specialty Department to do cornice work (175; 185).

Cornice work involves the following tasks. First, the employee must either go to the lumber yard to pick up the lumber (II: 173) or unload the lumber off of the delivery truck (180). Then, the employee must stack the lumber at the location in defendant's plant where it is to be stored until ready for use (173). When the board is ready for use, the employee must select the appropriate piece of lumber from where it is stored, transfer that piece to be cut, and cut the lumber to the appropriate dimensions (181; II: 173). The employee will then cut the face board out of a 3/8 inch sheet of plywood or particle board having dimensions of four feet by eight feet (181; II: 160). The top and side boards would then be cut from other lumber. The cutting would be done usually with a power saw but sometimes with a hand saw. After the top, side, and face boards were cut into rough shape, they would be nailed together. A pattern would then be applied to the front of the cornice and, using this pattern, the employee would cut the board to its appropriate shape. Felt or foam padding would then be applied,...