USEEOC v. MINNEAPOLIS ELEC. STEEL, ETC.

• Decision Date: 17 December 1982
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 4-81-725.
• Citation: 552 F. Supp. 957
• Parties: U.S. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff, v. MINNEAPOLIS ELECTRIC STEEL CASTING COMPANY, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota

552 F. Supp. 957

U.S. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff, v. MINNEAPOLIS ELECTRIC STEEL CASTING COMPANY, Defendant.

Civ. No. 4-81-725.

United States District Court, D. Minnesota, Fourth Division.

December 17, 1982.

Reuben Daniels and Rose Marie Baron, Senior Trial Attys., U.S. E.E.O.C., Milwaukee, Wis., for plaintiff.

Robert J. Hennessey and James M. Strother, Larkin, Hoffman, Daly & Lindgren, Ltd., Minneapolis, Minn., and Kevin P. Light, Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather & Geraldson, Chicago, Ill., for defendant.

MacLAUGHLIN, District Judge.

This is an action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. Plaintiff U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charges defendant Minneapolis Electric Steel Casting Company with subjecting Jannette Rae Olson to different terms and conditions of employment and discharging her because of her sex. The Court has jurisdiction over the parties and action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 451, 1343, and 1345. A trial before the Court was held on August 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, and 31, 1982. By agreement of the parties, this proceeding was limited to the issue of whether the defendant had violated Title VII. The issue of damages, if any, was reserved for another proceeding. This memorandum constitutes the Court's findings of fact and conclusions of law as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52(a).

FACTS

The plaintiff herein is the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), an agency of the United States government charged with the administration of Title VII. The EEOC commenced this suit on November 2, 1981, on behalf of "charging party" Jannette Rae Olson (Olson).¹ Olson, a female resident of Minnesota, was employed by the defendant as a chipper-grinder.

Defendant Minneapolis Electric Steel Casting Company (the Company) operates a steel foundry that is engaged in the manufacture of castings for the mining industry. The foundry is located at 3901 University Avenue, N.E., Columbia Heights, Minnesota. At all times material to this suit, the Company was an employer licensed to do business in Minnesota and engaged in an industry affecting commerce within the meaning of section 701 of Title VII.

On or about July 29, 1979, Olson applied for employment with the defendant. Olson was interviewed by the defendant's labor relations assistant, Dwayne Christiansen (Christiansen), on August 8, 1979. Christiansen discussed with Olson the positions that were open and the defendant's 30-day probationary period for all new employees. Olson was told she could be discharged during the probationary period if her work was unsatisfactory or if she performed her duties in an unsafe manner. Christiansen told Olson that the Company did not have a policy prohibiting the employment of husbands and wives. Olson's husband was an employee of the defendant prior to July 29, 1979, and remained so at the time of trial. Olson did not receive a job offer at her August 8, 1979, interview.

Olson was interviewed again on August 28, 1979, by Daniel Donovan (Donovan), the finishing room superintendent. Donovan told her she was being considered for employment as a chipper-grinder in the cleaning department on the second or third shift. Donovan explained a chipper-grinder's duties, which include removing excess metal from steel castings by using various grinding tools. Among the tools used by a chipper-grinder is a one inch by eight inch horizontal grinder (large grinder), which weighs approximately twenty to twenty-five pounds. The large grinder, which is air powered, has a disc approximately eight inches in diameter and one inch thick that turns at a rate of 8,000 revolutions per minute. Chipper-grinders frequently use the large grinder in performing their duties. During the interview with Donovan, Olson held the large grinder and said that she thought she would not have any difficulty in using it.

After undergoing a medical examination on August 29, 1979, and being told she was physically fit for employment, Olson reported for work on September 4, 1979, as a chipper-grinder on the defendant's second shift. Donovan introduced Olson to her supervisor, Bill Schofield (Schofield). Schofield, who had been promoted to his supervisory position on August 27, 1979, told Olson to concentrate on performing her job in a safe manner and not to be concerned with the quality and quantity of her work. Schofield asked Thomas Holley (Holley) and Steven Beals (Beals), experienced chipper-grinders, to demonstrate for Olson the operation of the grinding equipment and the proper procedures to use in grinding excess metal from the castings.

In performing their jobs, chipper-grinders often work at individual workbenches, which are thirty inches high and three feet square. The legs of the benches are joined by steel braces which are approximately eight to ten inches above the ground. A wire mesh shelf rests on top of the braces. An opaque spark shield is attached to one end of the workbench. See Exhibit B.

The defendant contends it has a safety policy that requires all chipper-grinders to operate the large grinder with both feet on the ground. The policy prohibits chipper-grinders from resting their feet on the wire-mesh shelf of the workbench while operating the large grinder. Schofield testified that this policy is unwritten and not posted anywhere in the work area even though the collective bargaining agreement with union employees requires all safety rules to be posted. Schofield also testified that the unwritten policy was established in 1975 after two employees had been injured. According to Schofield, the policy's goal is to lessen the likelihood of a chipper-grinder being thrown off balance while operating the large grinder. All supervisory personnel and chipper-grinders who testified stated that the large grinder is capable of causing severe injury or even death. Other supervisory personnel confirmed Schofield's testimony concerning the existence and purpose of the unwritten safety policy.

The defendant contends Olson was discharged for continuing to violate this unwritten safety policy after repeated warnings. Olson worked full shifts on September 4, 5, 6, and 7, 1979. On Monday, September 10, 1979, after working about two hours, Olson experienced what she believed was a miscarriage. She reported the possible miscarriage to Schofield, who in turn reported it to Donovan. Both Donovan and Schofield stated that they were quite concerned about the incident. Olson was sent home and did not report to work until Wednesday, September 12, 1979, when she worked a full shift after presenting a medical clearance from her doctor. At the end of her shift on Thursday, September 13, 1979, Olson was asked by Schofield to join him and Donovan in Donovan's office. Donovan told Olson that she was a good worker, but that her employment was being terminated because she could not handle the large grinders.

The parties dispute the length of time Olson had to learn to operate the large grinder, the number of warnings she was given for violating the Company's unwritten safety policy, and the uniformity of the discipline imposed for violations of the policy. The Court finds that Olson operated the large grinder the equivalent of two and a half to three working days before her employment was terminated.² Several employees, including Holley, Dennis Aussing (Aussing), and Alan Peterson (Peterson), testified that it took at least a week of experience in using the large grinder before they were able to operate it properly. These employees also testified that during the first week they used the large grinder they experienced fatigue and numbness in their arms. Olson operated the large grinder for only half of the time needed to adjust to it before her employment was terminated.

The defendant claims it was justified in terminating Olson's employment because she repeatedly ignored warnings concerning her improper use of the large grinder.³ Olson testified that she was verbally warned only one or two times about improperly using the large grinder.⁴ Schofield testified at trial that he warned Olson approximately twenty times over five days about her improper use of the grinder. Donovan testified that he warned her five or six times over four days. Both Schofield and Donovan testified that they remembered the exact time of day each of their warnings occurred even though they made no written record of their warnings and the warnings were given three years prior to trial.⁵

The Court finds Schofield's and Donovan's testimony lacks credibility. Schofield was unable to remember the date and time of day of the fact-finding conference he attended with EEOC officials a year and a half before trial, but he claimed to remember dates and times of verbal warnings given three years before trial. Both Schofield and Donovan appeared to have reconstructed the facts to buttress the Company's claim. The Court finds Olson was warned on occasion about resting her foot on the shelf, but the Court is convinced that these warnings occurred far less frequently than the defendant claims.

The defendant claims it uniformly enforced its unwritten safety policy against males and females, probationary and union employees. The evidence fails to support the defendant's claim. The Court finds that Olson was more closely watched than male employees, that the discipline imposed in her case far exceeded that given any male employee, and that the only discernible reason for this disparate treatment is that Olson is female.

Several male employees testified that they regularly violated the Company's unwritten safety policy by operating the large grinder with one of their feet resting on the workbench shelf. Beals, one of the two employees assigned to instruct Olson in the use of a chipper-grinder's tools, testified that he had a habit of resting the large grinder on his knee while his foot was elevated onto the workbench...