August B. MacEllaro v. Alan J. Goldman, Assistant Director for Technology

643 F.2d 813, 207 U.S. App. D.C. 63
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedMarch 24, 1980
Docket79-1206
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 643 F.2d 813 (August B. MacEllaro v. Alan J. Goldman, Assistant Director for Technology) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
August B. MacEllaro v. Alan J. Goldman, Assistant Director for Technology, 643 F.2d 813, 207 U.S. App. D.C. 63 (D.C. Cir. 1980).

Opinions

PER CURIAM:

Prior to July 26,1972 appellant Macellaro was Chief of Research and Development in the Bureau of the Mint’s Office of Technology at a GS-15 level. As part of a reduction-in-force within the Treasury Department, effective July 26, 1972, that position was abolished. Macellaro’s responsibilities were shifted and he was placed in a new position as Chief Mechanical Engineer at a GS-14 level. By letter dated August 15, 1972 Macellaro, who was then 46 years old, appealed to the Civil Service Commission’s Appeals Examining Office, and in a decision issued on October 5, 1972 that office found no violation of his reduction-in-force rights and upheld his decrease in grade. On October 12, 1972 Macellaro filed an appeal with the Civil Service Commission’s Board of Appeals and Review. In a decision dated April 20, 1973 the Board affirmed the ruling of the Appeals Examining Office. The Board reasoned that a true reorganization had occurred during which functions formerly performed by Macellaro were properly transferred elsewhere. Macellaro did not seek judicial review of the Board’s determination.

As a result of the reduction-in-force and reorganization of the Office of Technology, more than half of Macellaro’s job responsibilities were shifted to the Chief of Industrial Engineering, a position left vacant by the July 1972 transfer of its incumbent. In February 1974, the position of Chief of Industrial Engineering was advertised by the Civil Service Commission as a GS-14/15 position (i. e., allowing promotion from GS-14 to GS-15 without competition). Macellaro applied for the job, but two months after he submitted his application the advertised position was withdrawn at the request of Dr. Alan J. Goldman, Director of the Office of Technology.

On April 18, 1974 a GS-12 “Non-professional Technician” position was advertised by the Civil Service Commission, and eight days later the job was awarded to William F. Smith, who was then 32 years old. In January 1975 Smith was reclassified as an “Industrial Engineer”, and in June 1975 he was upgraded from a GS-12 to a GS-13.

On January 6, 1976 the Acting Director of the Bureau of the Mint, Frank J. MacDonald, reorganized the Office of Technology to change Macellaro’s title from “Chief Mechanical Engineer” to “Engineering Staff”, but his grade remained at GS- . 14.

On May 6, 1976 Dr. Goldman requested the Bureau of the Mint’s Personnel Division to reclassify William Smith’s position from “Industrial Engineer” to “General Engineer”, and on November 7, 1976, that reclassification was approved. As a result of the reclassification Smith received no increase in pay (i. e., he remained at a GS-13 level) or any other benefits, but he did acquire some of the duties formerly assigned to Macellaro prior to the 1972 reduction-in-force. In response to Goldman’s efforts to reclassify Smith, Macellaro filed an administrative complaint of age discrimination with the Treasury Department on June 23, 1976. The complaint alleged that “the position of General Engineer is being structured to function in the same capacity as a position from which Mr. Macellaro was previously RIF’d in order to promote a younger employee, without offering the position to Mr. Macellaro.” By letter dated September 6, 1977 the Treasury Department rendered its final decision denying the administrative complaint because it found no evidence of age discrimination.

On October 5,1977 Macellaro filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that Alan J. Goldman, the Bureau of the Mint’s Assistant Director for Technology, and Frank J. MacDonald, the Bureau of the Mint’s Deputy Director, had violated the Age Discrimination in Employment. Act, 29 U.S.C. § 633a (1976) by “advancing a younger employee, William Smith, who has fewer qualifications to the position of ‘Gen[815]*815eral Engineer’ on May 6, 1976, which position closely resembles the position formerly held by [Macellaro] which was abolished in July 1972 ostensibly as a result of a reduction-in-force (RIF) and reorganization of the Mint.” On December 6, 1977 the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the suit or, in the alternative, for summary judgment. One ground of the motion was that because the 1976 reclassification of Smith did not result in any injury to Macellaro the complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Macellaro filed an opposition to the defendants’ motion, asserting that “[although . . . the reclassification of Mr. William F. Smith did not harm Mr. Macellaro, . . the Smith reclassification is but one act in a long series of acts designed to achieve an unlawful end. Mr. Macellaro has been the victim of a continuing scheme to discriminate against him on account of his age.” In an affidavit accompanying his opposition to the defendants’ motion, Macellaro alleged with greater particularity the events comprising this “continuing scheme”.

After a hearing on June 20, 1978 the District Court, in a written opinion dated July 12, 1978, granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss. The District Court reasoned that Macellaro had failed to file a timely notice of intent to sue with the United States Civil Service Commission as required by 29 U.S.C. § 633a(d) (1976), and that Macellaro had failed to make out a prima facie case of age discrimination because he had conceded that the 1976 reclassification of Smith did not harm him and thus this reclassification could not form the basis of a continuing violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. On July 24, 1978 Macellaro moved the District Court to reconsider its judgment, and, on the same date, the defendants moved the court to amend its opinion. Both motions disputed the District Court’s finding that a timely notice of intent to sue had not been filed with the Civil Service Commission, but Macellaro also argued that the court had “erred in applying the law concerning ‘continuing violations’ to the facts of this case.” By order dated November 17, 1978 the District Court denied Macellaro’s motion to reconsider, but the court did amend its opinion by striking the paragraph concerning the failure to file a timely notice. This appeal by Macellaro followed.

The purpose of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq. (1976) is “to promote employment of older persons based on their ability rather than age; to prohibit arbitrary age discrimination in employment; [and] to help employers and workers find ways of meeting problems arising from the impact of age on employment.” By an amendment that became effective on May 1, 1974 the Age Discrimination in Employment Act’s protections were extended to federal employees, 29 U.S.C. § 633a (1976), and the amendment has been held to apply to cases pending, either administratively or in the federal district courts, on the effective date. See Bunch v. United States, 548 F.2d 336 (9th Cir. 1977). 29 U.S.C. § 633a(a) provides that “all personnel actions affecting [federal] employees or applicants for employment shall be made free from any discrimination based on age.”

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Bluebook (online)
643 F.2d 813, 207 U.S. App. D.C. 63, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/august-b-macellaro-v-alan-j-goldman-assistant-director-for-technology-cadc-1980.