Cook v. Dixie Cup Division of American Can Co.

274 F. Supp. 131, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7822, 1 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 9807, 1 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 237
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Arkansas
DecidedAugust 2, 1967
DocketCiv. A. No. 1967
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 274 F. Supp. 131 (Cook v. Dixie Cup Division of American Can Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cook v. Dixie Cup Division of American Can Co., 274 F. Supp. 131, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7822, 1 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 9807, 1 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 237 (W.D. Ark. 1967).

Opinion

OPINION

JOHN E. MILLER, Senior District Judge.

On February 20, 1967, the defendant filed its motion, pursuant to Rule 56, Fed.R.Civ.P., for summary judgment upon the issues contained in the allegations of paragraph V of the complaint “for the reason that there are no genuinely controverted issues of fact, and for the reasons stated in the Memorandum in support of this motion, defendant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” The motion was supported by the affidavit of M. A. Reinhard, Manager of the Dixie Products Plant of American Can Company in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and brief of defendant.

On April 22, 1967, the plaintiffs filed a response to the motion for summary judgment, in which they stated:

“That there are genuine controverted issues of fact before the Court in the above entitled cause, that no summary judgment should be entered against the plaintiffs in this cause and that said issues of fact should be [132]*132properly presented before the Court as required according to law.”

Attached to the response is the affidavit of Ronald D. Bartlett, one of the named plaintiffs, and a brief in opposition to the motion for summary judgment.

The plaintiffs are citizens of Arkansas and residents of the City of Fort Smith. The defendant, Dixie Products Plant of American Can Company, is a corporation having an office and a place of business in the City of Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas. The defendant, usually referred to as the Dixie Cup Division of American Can Company, was and is now engaged in the manufacture of cups and plates of different sizes and materials and related products. The American Can Company is a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of New Jersey and is authorized to do business in the State of Arkansas. The court has jurisdiction of the parties and the subject matter.

The plaintiffs are employees of the defendant, and commenced this action to enjoin the defendant from violating 42 U.S.C.A. § 2000e-2, which provides:

“(a) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer-—
“(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or
“(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”

The above is section 703(a) (1) and (2) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 78 Stat. 241.

The material and controverted allegation in the complaint appears as paragraph Y, and is as follows:

“That the defendant, an employer having employees engaged in commerce and in the production of goods for commerce, as aforesaid during the period since July 2, 1965, has repeatedly violated, and is now violating the provisions of the Act by discriminating, within the aforesaid establishment in which such employees are employed, between employees on the basis of sex in the following particulars, to-wit:
“(a) By paying wages to employees in such establishment at rates less than the rates at which defendant pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment for equal work on jobs, the performance of which requires equal skill, effort and responsibility, and which are performed under similar and comparable working conditions, in that the defendant has created two separate departments, Forming Machine (A.M.-P.M. shifts) and Forming Machine (Night Shift). That the classifications within said departments are the same; the functions within the classifications are the same, but that the employees of Forming Machine (A.M.-P.M. shifts) are females and the employees of Forming Machine (Night Shift) are males. That the employees on the A.M.-P.M. shifts earn sums which are $.17 per hour less than those of the Night Shift. That said departments were created by the company and serve the purpose of segregating the male employees and the female employees and to permit the discrimination as heretofore alleged.
“(b) In limiting, segregating and classifying employees in a way which deprives the employees of employment opportunities, and adversely affects their status because of sex in that because of the formation of the two separate departments as aforesaid, the seniority of said employees is limited to said departments and as a result thereof, the male employees being segregated to the Night Shifts are not allowed to ‘bump’ for positions in the A.M.-P.M. shift and the female employees are denied the right to obtain [133]*133positions as aforesaid in the Night Shift.
“(c) In regard to the incidents of employment such as shift preference, bidding on jobs and layoff and recall, rights include sex as a factor in violation of the Act.”

The gist of the claim of plaintiffs is that the defendant is violating the provisions of the Act by discriminating within the establishment in which such employees are employed between employees on the basis of "sex, by paying wages to employees at rates less than the rates at which it pays wages to employees of the opposite sex, for equal work on jobs which require equal skill, effort, and responsibility, under similar and comparable working conditions; that the defendant created two separate departments, Forming Machine (A.M.-P.M. Shifts) and Forming Machine (Night Shift); and that said departments were created by defendant to serve the purpose of segregating the male employees and the female employees and to permit discrimination; that the seniority of employees is limited to the departments, and that the male employees, because of being segregated to the night shifts, are not allowed to “bump” for positions in the A.M.-P.M. shift, and the female employees are denied the right to obtain positions in the night shift.

The only question of fact is whether the defendant is discriminating between male and female employees, and the court is convinced after a consideration of the affidavit of M. A. Reinhard, Manager of defendant, with its exhibit, and the affidavit of the plaintiff Ronald Bartlett, that there is no genuine issue of fact, and that under the applicable law the defendant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

Attached to the affidavit of M. A. Reinhard is a document designated “Labor Contract Interpretation,” which provides that whenever reductions in force affect night shift operators, the employees so affected may replace A.M.P.M. operators in line with their plant seniority. When these moves are made, the applicable rate ($1.85) and job duties will be in force.

“Whenever reductions in force affect A.M. and P.M. Operators, the employees so'affected may replace night shift Operators in line with their plant seniority. In this instance, however, the employees must demonstrate that they can perform all of the duties of the job over the full work cycle during the whole shift on a daily basis. When this has been demonstrated, the employees will be deemed to have the necessary ‘previous experience’ and will receive the' applicable rate ($2.-02).”

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Related

Wirtz v. American Can Co.
288 F. Supp. 14 (W.D. Arkansas, 1968)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
274 F. Supp. 131, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7822, 1 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 9807, 1 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 237, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cook-v-dixie-cup-division-of-american-can-co-arwd-1967.