Butler v. Matsushita Communication Industrial Corp. of U.S.A.

203 F.R.D. 575, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21471, 81 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 40,738, 2001 WL 1181350
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedSeptember 20, 2001
DocketCiv.A. No. 3:00-CV-131-JTC
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 203 F.R.D. 575 (Butler v. Matsushita Communication Industrial Corp. of U.S.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Butler v. Matsushita Communication Industrial Corp. of U.S.A., 203 F.R.D. 575, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21471, 81 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 40,738, 2001 WL 1181350 (N.D. Ga. 2001).

Opinion

ORDER

CAMP, District Judge.

This case is before the court on Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss [# 20-1] and Defendants’ Motion for a More Definite Statement [# 20-2],

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs Frederick Butler, Thomas Green, Regie Stevens, and Mohammed Warsame have sued individually, and on behalf of a class, Defendants Matsushita Communication Industrial Corporation of U.S.A. (“MCUSA”) and Matsushita Electric Corporation of America (“MECA”), for a multitude of employment discrimination claims. Plaintiffs have alleged class-wide discrimination in pay and promotions that have injured the class of African-American employees of Defendant. Specifically, Plaintiffs have alleged (1) intentional discrimination against the class and the named Plaintiffs on the basis of race in violation of Title VII; (2) intentional discrimination against the class and the named Plaintiffs on the basis of race in violation of § 1981; (3) racially disparate impact against the class and the named Plaintiffs in violation of Title VII; and (4) unlawful retaliation against Butler, Stevens, and Green.

Defendants ask this Court to “narrow the issues” by dismissing Green as a party to the lawsuit, limiting the claims which might be raised, and requiring Plaintiffs to set forth their retaliation claims with more particularity under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(e).

Butler

Frederick Butler is a black male who has worked at MCUSA for over 12 years. According to Butler he has received only one promotion in this time. Butler was hired as a Technician B in 1988. He claims that he performed his job well and was given extra responsibility beyond that of a Technician B. In 1991 and 1993 he tried to obtain a promotion to Technician A, but was denied, he claims because of his race. In 1995 Butler applied for two different training positions. He claims he was qualified for both positions and familiar with the products involved. Butler alleges that he had superior experience, and at least the same, if not superior educational qualifications, as the white men given the jobs. On October 12, 1995, Butler filed a charge of race discrimination against MCUSA with the EEOC for discrimination in promotional opportunities. He claims that since filing this charge he Has been subjected to retaliatory harassment, including negative performance evaluations, and improper claims of disciplinary infractions. He gives no further details of the claimed retaliation.

Butler was promoted in April of 1996 to the position of Associate Engineer. Butler alleges that a white employee performing “the same basic job” as Butler and who had the same educational qualifications, was [578]*578earning $10-15,000 more than Butler. He also claims that as an Associate Engineer he was paid less in his starting salary than white employees starting in the same position with less education. Butler believes this disparity in compensation is based on his race.

Sometime in 1997, Butler applied for the position of Quality Representative. The job was awarded to a white male who had the same educational qualifications, but less experience than Butler. In October of 1998, Butler learned that a white male named Tim Davis was promoted to Manager of Digital Business Systems. Butler alleges that though he was more qualified than Davis for the job, he was never given the opportunity to compete for it because the job was never posted. Butler alleges that he was denied the opportunity to compete for the position based on his race.

In April of 1999, Butler learned of another white male receiving a promotion for a job that was not posted, for which Butler believes he was qualified. Again, Butler had higher educational qualifications than the person awarded the job. Butler alleges that he asked his supervisor how he could get promoted and she suggested that he get a bachelor’s degree. This qualification, according to Butler, was not required of white employees.

In October of 1999, and April of 2000, white employees were promoted to jobs that were not posted. Butler claims that he had more experience and better educational qualifications than the white employees promoted. Butler claims that he was denied the opportunity to compete for these positions because of his race.

Green

Thomas Green is an African-American male who worked at MCUSA from April 1990 to August 1998. He claims that during his employment he applied for two promotions to posted positions but did not receive either, though he was more qualified than the white males given the jobs. He also claims that there were other higher positions for which he was qualified, but unable to compete for, because the jobs were never posted. He claims these jobs were awarded to less qualified white employees.

Prior to working for MCUSA, Green was a pager technician for General Communications for four years. He also worked another shift at this same time for Contactos Communication repairing transmitters and receivers. At MCUSA, he worked in the cellular/pager group as a CMT. He claims that he was given extra responsibilities beyond those performed by other CMTs. Green was not promoted in the eight years he worked for MCUSA.

In 1995, two positions were posted for Cellular Trainer and Pager Trainer. Green believes he was qualified for both positions because he had a background in cellular and pager products due to his work with General Communications. He applied and interviewed for both positions. Green claims that he was denied both of these positions based on his race. The Cellular Trainer position was awarded to a white male with less experience and educational qualifications than Green. The Pager Trainer position, was not awarded to anyone. When Green inquired as to why the position was not filled, he was told by Ms. Brown from Human Resources, that there was no one qualified within the company. On Green’s interview form, however, it was written that Green was the most qualified candidate for the position. The job was posted again, and awarded to a white male. This individual was on 12-months probation for rejecting a prior position, meaning that he should not have been qualified to take this position. Green believes that he was denied this promotion on the basis of his race.

Green further alleges that two training positions, and four supervisory positions were never posted, but were awarded to white men during Green’s employment with MCUSA. He believes he was denied the opportunity to compete for these positions based on his race. On September 11, 1995, Green filed a charge with the EEOC against MCUSA alleging race discrimination. After receiving a right to sue letter, however, Green did not file a complaint against MCU-SA. He assisted Butler in filing an EEOC charge on October 12, 1995. Green alleges that he was told by an EEOC employee that [579]*579he did not have to sign Butler’s charge because only Butler’s signature was needed to preserve the claims for the class. Green also claims that after filing charges of discrimination, Defendants subjected him to retaliatory discrimination including further exclusion from promotions.

Stevens

Regie Stevens is an African-American male who has worked at MCUSA from 1990 to the present. He began as a Quality Assurance Technician B in the Car Audio Department. In 1997, he was promoted to Technician A. This is the only promotion he has received in ten years.

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203 F.R.D. 575, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21471, 81 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 40,738, 2001 WL 1181350, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/butler-v-matsushita-communication-industrial-corp-of-usa-gand-2001.