Barth v. Bayou Candy Co., Inc.

379 F. Supp. 1201, 12 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 197, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8734, 7 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 9378
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Louisiana
DecidedMay 1, 1974
DocketCiv. A. 72-753
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 379 F. Supp. 1201 (Barth v. Bayou Candy Co., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barth v. Bayou Candy Co., Inc., 379 F. Supp. 1201, 12 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 197, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8734, 7 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 9378 (E.D. La. 1974).

Opinion

ALVIN B. RUBIN, District Judge:

On February 7, 1974, the court found that Bayou Candy Co. had engaged in sexual discrimination in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. Plaintiffs have submitted a proposed order detailing the equitable relief to which they feel they are entitled; the defendant has opposed portions of plaintiffs’ proposal, and the court has heard argument from each with respect to their positions. While certain specific relief, as detailed below, *1202 is ordered, some preliminary remarks may be appropriate with respect to that relief not ordered.

Plaintiffs desired that Bayou give all members of the class an opportunity to spend one day familiarizing themselves with the duties of employees in the office, manufacturing, maintenance and shipping departments. But the class members who actually secured employment at Bayou are well aware of the activities in those other departments. Testimony at trial, as well as photographs introduced into evidence, indicated that Bayou is a relatively small manufacturing operation. Thus, each employee is familiar with the duties of her fellow employees. In addition, most, if not all, of the class members employed at Bayou worked in the packaging department. The evidence showed that large windows afford persons in that department an unobstructed view of the work performed in other parts of the plant. In Bowe v. Colgate, Palmolive Co., 7 Cir. 1973, 489 F.2d 896, 1 6 E.P.D. Paragraph 89F3, cited by plaintiffs, there were numerous employees and job classifications. There is no reason that class members should need a familiarization program before deciding whether to apply for a position in the other departments.

Having had its hiring practices declared discriminatory in violation of Title VII at the trial, Bayou now seeks court approval of a plan whereby Bayou would be allowed to require job applicants to submit, in some instances, to physical examinations. While the criteria for deciding when to give these examinations purportedly would be nonsexual in nature, they could in application become a guise for discriminating against prospective female employees and so circumvent the Act’s prohibitions. “Discrimination is not to be tolerated . . . through the unequal application of a seemingly neutral company policy.” Sprogis v. United Air Lines, Inc., 7 Cir. 1971, 444 F.2d 1194, 1198. Should Bayou think pre-employment physical examinations necessary, it may adopt such an alternative proposal, provided it applies it equally in all regards to all prospective employees, regardless of sex.

Remedial Measures

Section 706(g) of Title VII grants the court the power to enjoin employment practices found to be unlawful, as well as award such affirmative relief as is deemed to be appropriate. The court has a special responsibility to see that the relief ordered both brings about an end to discriminatory employment practices and fairly redresses the wrongs suffered by the aggrieved claimants. To these dual ends, the following relief is awarded.

(1) Bayou is enjoined from engaging in sexually discriminatory employment practices of any kind, including, but not limited to, any such practices with respect to all forms of recruitment, whether accomplished by word of mouth, advertisement, communication with employment agencies, or other means.

(2) Bayou is enjoined from utilizing any criteria for employment or job assignment that discriminate on the basis of sex.

(3) Bayou shall not institute a program whereby job applicants will selectively be required to submit to physical examinations as a condition precedent to employment.

*1203 (4) When vacancies arise in the office, manufacturing, maintenance and shipping departments, Bayou is ordered to give class members first preference among applicants seeking the position for a period of one year from the date of this order.

(5) When vacancies arise in any of the departments listed in paragraph number four, above, Bayou shall post notice of it on a bulletin board reserved for official announcements or, if there is no such bulletin board, in some other conspicuous place. This requirement shall continue for a period of one year from the date of this order, as will those specified in numbers six, seven, and eight, below.

(6) Bayou is ordered to mail copies of notices of vacancies in the above departments to all class members no longer employed at Bayou; but such notice shall be limited to those class members specifically requesting it, in writing, from Bayou.

(7) Should any class members denied employment because there were no vacancies in the packaging departments (although vacancies existed in other departments) wish to apply for any vacancies in the shipping, office, maintenance or manufacturing departments, Bayou shall give each of them a maximum of one day in which to familiarize herself with the workings and requirements of positions in those departments.

(8) Bayou is ordered to post the terms of this order on a company bulletin board generally reserved for official notices or, if none is available, in some other conspicuous place. The notice shall conform to example A. (See appendix.)

(9) Bayou is ordered to notify those class members who are no longer employed at Bayou and have not opted out of the class of the terms of this injunction by sending them a first-class registered letter conforming to example B. (See appendix.) Bayou shall prepare and mail this letter within two weeks from the signing of this order and shall furnish a list of the names and addresses of all individuals to whom the letter is sent to the attorneys for the class.

Attorney’s Fees

Section 706(k) of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(k), grants the court, in its discretion, the power to award attorney’s fees to the prevailing party. The court considers that this is an appropriate case for an award. This issue has not been seriously disputed; there is controversy only about its amount.

The recent decision in Johnson v. Georgia Highway Express, Inc., 5 Cir. 1974, 488 F.2d 714, makes clear those factors to be considered in determining the amount of fees to be allowed. Thus, there is no need to restate them here. But it is appropriate to note at the outset, as did the court there,

“[Courts] do not have a mandate under Section 706 (k) to make the prevailing counsel rich .... The statute was not passed for the benefit of attorneys but to enable litigants to obtain competent counsel worthy of a contest with the caliber of counsel available to their opposition and to fairly place the economical burden of Title VII litigation.

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Bluebook (online)
379 F. Supp. 1201, 12 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 197, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8734, 7 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 9378, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barth-v-bayou-candy-co-inc-laed-1974.