Thompson v. Boyle

• Decision Date: 08 July 1980
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 74-1101.
• Parties: Dorothy M. THOMPSON et al., Plaintiffs, v. John J. BOYLE, Public Printer, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

499 F. Supp. 1147

Dorothy M. THOMPSON et al., Plaintiffs, v. John J. BOYLE, Public Printer, Defendant.

Civ. A. No. 74-1101.

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

October 1, 1979.

On Issue of Relief May 20, 1980.

As Amended July 8, 1980.

Nora A. Bailey, Ivins, Phillips & Barker, David M. Dorsen, Sachs, Greenbaum & Tayler, Roderic V. O. Boggs, Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Washington, D.C., for plaintiffs.

Charles F. C. Ruff, U. S. Atty., Royce C. Lamberth, David H. Shapiro, Asst. U. S. Attys., Washington, D.C., for defendant.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

CHARLES R. RICHEY, District Judge.

This class action is brought by five named plaintiffs on behalf of the 324 female Journeyman Bindery Workers of all grades ("JBWs") employed in the Binding Division of the United States Government Printing Office ("GPO") on May 25, 1973. All of the named plaintiffs are grade 4 JBWs who have operated the Smyth sewing machines in the Binding Division as early as 1971.

The defendant, John J. Boyle, is the Public Printer of the United States. He is sued in his official capacity as chief administrative officer of the GPO, which produces printed matter for the United States government. Pursuant to 44 U.S.C. § 305, he classifies all positions in the Production Department, which includes the Binding Division, and establishes the wages paid for these positions.

The plaintiffs allege that the defendant has continued to engage in patterns and practices of sex discrimination against the class in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and Executive Order 11478, 34 F.R. 12985 (1969), as amended by Executive Order 11590, 36 F.R. 7831 (1970). Plaintiffs also allege that defendant's practices violate the Equal Pay Act of 1963, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d), which became applicable to the defendant by 1974 amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act, Pub.L. 93-259, § 6(a)(1).

After exhausting their administrative remedies concerning their Title VII and Equal Pay Act claims, the plaintiffs filed suit on July 24, 1974. The Title VII class was conditionally certified pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.Proc. 23(b)(2) on December 4, 1974. The case was originally tried before the late Judge Waddy in March, 1978, but Judge Waddy died before issuing a final decision; and a new trial was held before this Court from March 7, 1979 through March 22, 1979. At the time of trial, the named plaintiffs and 191 other members of the Title VII class had filed consents to become members of the Equal Pay Act class.

The primary issues before the Court may be stated as follows:

(1) Whether the defendant's requirement that JBWs complete a four-year apprenticeship program before attaining craft bookbinder status is a pattern and practice of sexual discrimination which violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act;

(2) Whether the defendant's classification of all JBW positions as noncraft positions, with lesser pay and opportunities for advancement than those available to craft employees, is a pattern and practice of discrimination under Title VII; (3) Whether the defendant's rule that only craftsmen may compete for supervisory and printing specialist positions constitutes a pattern and practice of sexual discrimination in violation of Title VII;

(4) Whether the defendant violates the Equal Pay Act by refusing to pay wages to JBWs equal to those paid to bookbinders for jobs the performance of which require equal skill, effort and responsibility and are performed under substantially equal working conditions, and whether any such violation is willful.

On the basis of the following findings of fact and conclusions of law, with certain exceptions, these issues are resolved in favor of the plaintiffs. The Court will conduct further proceedings to determine the relief to which the plaintiffs are appropriately entitled.

I. FINDINGS OF FACT.

A. GPO and Industry Practices.

The Binding Division of the GPO is organized on a production line basis to perform all of the hand and machine functions necessary to assemble hard and soft-covered books, pamphlets, bills, passports and the Congressional Record.

Employees in the Binding Division are classified as follows: 1) craft or bookbinder; 2) craft-uprate, earning salaries above the regular craft rate; 3) noncraft, including JBWs and unskilled Printing Plant Workers ("PPWs"), and general grade ("GG"). Craftsmen and craft-uprates supposedly perform jobs which have traditionally been recognized in the printing trades as skilled trades or crafts. These jobs require a four-year apprenticeship. Noncraft employees perform tasks which have been considered unskilled or semi-skilled. Only craftsmen are entitled to compete for supervisory and printing specialist positions.

Regardless of the tasks to which they are actually assigned, all craft employees receive higher wages than noncraft employees. All bookbinders earn $11.16 per hour, regardless of the duties they actually perform. In contrast, the noncraft JBWs are categorized according to job grades 5, 4, 3 and 2, and perform different tasks according to their grade. The five grade 5 JBWs are considered work leaders and they currently earn $8.01 per hour. The 36 grade 4 JBWs, including the five named plaintiffs, who operate the Smyth sewing machines, are paid $7.59 per hour. Grade 3 JBWs operate the Oversewing and Singer sewing machines, earning $7.37 per hour. Grade 2 JBWs, who comprise the majority of the work force, earn $7.17 per hour.

In 1973, 2,015 of the 3,977 Production Department employees were craftsmen. Males held approximately 1,980 of these positions, and 35 females held the remainder. All first-line supervisory positions were retained by males. There were 1,184 positions in the Binding Division. All of the 279 craft bookbinders were males, while 324 of the 325 noncraft JBWs were females. Approximately 80% of the 580 PPWs were males. Approximately 82% of the females in the Production Department as a whole were employed in the Binding Division. As of October 31, 1978, the Binding Division employed 241 craft bookbinders, all but one of whom were male, and 246 noncraft JBWs, all but one of whom were female. The Binding Division still has no female supervisors.

Approximately 75 to 80% of the 279 male bookbinders employed in the Binding Division in 1973 operated various industrial machines used in the bookbinding process. The remaining 20 to 25% of the bookbinders performed some hand work and small machine operations. Only hand bookbinders in the Library Section perform hand craft operations.

Grade 5 JBWs, or Bindery Worker Supervisors, direct JBWs under their supervision. However, they are not permitted to discipline or evaluate JBWs, or to control their leaves; they also receive lower wages than first-line supervisors. The Smyth, Oversewing and Singer sewing machines, operated by grade 4 and 3 JBWs, are the only machines in the Binding Division not operated by bookbinders. JBW machine operators perform the same set up, adjustment and operation functions on their machines that bookbinders perform on the major machines which they operate.

There are two methods by which GPO employees may obtain bookbinder or craft status. The first method is a four-year apprenticeship program, which the GPO has sponsored since 1922; by which some craftsmen employed in the Production Department have been trained. The last GPO apprenticeship class began in 1974. At that time it was announced that the program probably would not be resumed. Only a limited number of GPO bookbinders have completed the GPO apprenticeship program in binding. The remainder, presumably, attained bookbinder or craft status through the second method. This method consists of certification for appointment by a rating panel authorized by the Civil Service Commission. To obtain bookbinder status through this method, one must (1) either complete a four-year apprenticeship in binding or have four years of practical experience, which is substantially equivalent to a four-year apprenticeship and (2) also possess one-year's experience as a journeyman bookbinder.

JBWs are the only noncraft employees other than clerical workers who must meet a minimum experience level to be hired. JBWs are required to serve a two-year apprenticeship in the printing industry and to possess some skills before they enter the GPO. In addition to the two-year apprenticeship required of all JBWs, grades 3 and 4 JBW machine operators must serve an additional eighteen months of training on their machines.

It is the defendant's position that, despite their apprenticeships and job experience, JBWs may attain craft status in the bindery only by entering and completing the GPO four-year apprenticeship program, or by gaining equivalent experience in the private binding industry.

Although under no obligation to do so, the GPO patterns its wage scales, general manning practices, and divisions between craft and noncraft occupations on practices maintained in private industry. Traditionally, it has not been possible for women to obtain craft bookbinder status in the industry, either by undertaking a four-year apprenticeship program, or by obtaining equivalent experience. While men have held skilled positions, women have been permitted to undertake only tasks considered noncraft, which entail only two-year apprenticeships. Major industrial machines have been set up and operated by men, who have been assisted by women. The only major machines operated by women are the sewing machines. Men perform hand binding tasks. Women also perform various hand tasks, including hand sewing, and serve as assistants on the machines operated by men. This widespread practice in the trade is evidenced by the fact that as late as 1969 the Constitution and By-Laws of the International Brotherhood of Bookbinders (the predecessor of the...