Carter v. Shop Rite Foods, Inc.

463 F. Supp. 777, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16091, 15 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 7829, 18 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1313
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedMay 2, 1977
DocketCiv. A. No. CA-3-74-620-G
StatusPublished

This text of 463 F. Supp. 777 (Carter v. Shop Rite Foods, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carter v. Shop Rite Foods, Inc., 463 F. Supp. 777, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16091, 15 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 7829, 18 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1313 (N.D. Tex. 1977).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

I.

BACKGROUND

PATRICK E. HIGGINBOTHAM, District Judge.

In 1974, Patricia Carter filed suit on her own behalf as well as a proffered class of females claiming Shop Rite Foods, Inc. (Piggly-Wiggly), her employer, and Amalgamated Meat Cutters Union, Local 540 (Meat Cutters Union), had discriminated on the basis of sex against her and the class she would represent. Ms. Carter charged that Piggly-Wiggly and Meat Cutters Union have excluded females from management, (store manager, assistant store manager, produce manager, clerk in charge, head meat cutter, journeyman meat cutter, apprentice meat cutter, courtesy clerk and supervisor) and otherwise discriminated in terms of job assignments, working conditions and terms of compensation. On September 12,1975, Judge Robert M. Hill certified a class of “. . . those female persons who are presently employed or have been employed since June 6, 1973 at one or more of the defendant’s ‘Piggly-Wiggly’ supermarkets that comprise the Dallas districts”. The certified class issues included (a) job classification, (b) promotional system, and (c) job assignments, working conditions and terms of compensation.

Shop Rite Foods, Inc. (Shop Rite or Piggly-Wiggly) is a New Mexico corporation with its principal office and place of business in Grand Prairie, Texas, a municipality contiguous to the City of Dallas. Shop Rite’s principal business is the operation of a chain of supermarkets and convenience stores in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma, at the time of suit divided into at least seven divisions, each handled by a district manager.

Two unions represent Shop Rite’s employees in the Dallas district. The meat cutters [778]*778and meat wrappers are represented by the Amalgamated Meatcutters Union, Local 540. Other employees are represented by the Retail Clerks Union, Local 368.

Shop Rite was at the time of suit a substantial well-established company operating in much the same markets since 1953. During the long pendency of this suit, Shop Rite’s financial picture has changed substantially, at least the size of its operation in the Dallas district has changed. When Ms. Carter on July 2, 1974 filed her charge with the EEOC, there were 20 “Piggly-Wiggly” stores in the Dallas district. Beginning some time after June, 1975, a number of stores were either “sold” to former store managers or were closed. From May 17, 1975 to about October 19, 1975, the PigglyWiggly stores of the Dallas district were struck by the retail clerks. The “sales” of the Dallas stores occurred during this strike-torn period of the summer of 1975.

Although Ms. Carter had originally sued not only her employer but also the Retail Clerks Union, on June 12, 1975, Judge Hill, at Ms. Carter’s request, dismissed without prejudice the suit as to the union.

This court bifurcated liability and relief and the liability phase was tried to the court. Because the “sales” by Shop Rite to its “former” employees raise substantial questions as to its continuing liability, these findings will be confined to the time period June 6, 1973 to June, 1975. The effects of the “sales” will be factually related to question of relief.

II.

SHOP RITE’S STORE PERSONNEL

This case concerns the hierarchy of a food store. Although there are many stores involved, all had virtually identical personnel structures. At its apex is the store manager supported in turn by the assistant store manager, third man, and produce manager, with a meat cutter on a close, if not the same, level.

The union bargaining unit in ascending order included the third man but not the assistant manager. Although not as marked, there was a descending line after third man, all within the bargaining unit, including checker, office girls, non-food clerks, price checkers, and meat wrappers.

There was no formal policy regarding promotion. Promotion was the decision of those higher up. There were no job descriptions related to job qualifications, nor were job vacancies posted. Promotion was the subjective decision of the superiors. The usual line of progression was promotion from third man, out of the union, to assistant manager and to store manager. It was the policy of Shop Rite at least until June, 1975, to promote its employees to fill management vacancies.

The evidence presents paradigmatic sex discrimination. This is not a case of subtle corporate seduction of female rights to equality of employment opportunity, it is a case of rape. Virtually all checkers were at all times women — the same was true of office girls, non-food clerks, price checkers and meat wrappers. And virtually all stackers, store managers, assistant store managers, third men, meat cutters, district level supervisors and district managers were men. Only possibly two women were ever produce managers despite the fact that from January, 1972 until June, 1976, there were at least 71 vacancies in the position of produce manager, and true to fashion, package boys were boys.

The issues of job assignment and promotion are inevitably intertwined in a personnel structure which locks out. And there must have been a lockout of women from store management. Women are not strangers to the employee rolls of these stores. As late as February 28, 1975, 42% of the food clerks and 100% of the meat wrapper positions were occupied by women. Shop Rite’s EEOC-1 report dated April 27, 1972 revealed 893 employees classified as officials and managers with 865 listed as male — a 97% male management force.

In December, 1973, Shop Rite told its employees that it planned to create a position of head cashier to free the store managers of paper work; that this would be a [779]*779“first step” toward making women managers. Nothing came of the plan.

Shop Rite attempted to explain the paucity of women in management by pointing to the fact that jobs outside the bargaining unit had no job security, required longer hours, and in general were not desirable. This argument ignores several facts. First, why would these undesirable features cut along sex lines? Second, at least through June, 1975, the hierarchy of position was also a hierarchy of compensation. Stated more directly, the “undesirable” jobs paid more. It is true that loss of job security from loss of union membership was a retarding factor. Several of the women who were finally offered management jobs were offered the jobs by a manager who pointedly reminded them of his power thereafter to fire them preemptorily. In other words, the loss of security attendant upon promotion into management was in fact a tool to preserve the predominant male domain. Third, defendant’s position fails to account for the fact that both “third man” and “produce manager” were in the bargaining unit. Despite the absence of the retarding impact of loss of job security, there was no female movement into these positions. This was true despite the fact that both positions paid (at pertinent times) more than checker, the position below.

If all this be insufficient, there was direct evidence of discriminatory purpose and intent in the form of direct testimony.

In sum, Shop Rite’s personnel structure was maintained by job assignment, and it preserved better paying and supervisory jobs for males.

III.

JOINDER OF THE UNION

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Definitions
42 U.S.C. § 2000e

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
463 F. Supp. 777, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16091, 15 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 7829, 18 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1313, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carter-v-shop-rite-foods-inc-txnd-1977.