Daniels v. Westinghouse Electric Corp.

772 F. Supp. 1278, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19276, 56 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1642, 1990 WL 306007
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedNovember 5, 1990
DocketCiv. No. 1:89-cv-2175-ODE
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 772 F. Supp. 1278 (Daniels v. Westinghouse Electric Corp.) 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
Daniels v. Westinghouse Electric Corp., 772 F. Supp. 1278, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19276, 56 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1642, 1990 WL 306007 (N.D. Ga. 1990).

Opinion

ORDER

ORINDA D. EVANS, District Judge.

This sex, race, and age discrimination case is before the court on Defendant's objections to the Magistrate’s Report and Recommendation.

Plaintiff is a white male of forty-seven years. This case arises from the events surrounding his termination from Defendant Westinghouse Electric Corporation (“Westinghouse”) in 1988, when he was forty-five.

Westinghouse hired Plaintiff as an engineer/estimator in 1976. Plaintiff does not hold a degree in engineering, but he does have experience in the electrical, electronics, and other specialized fields. Westinghouse hired him to work for the Westinghouse Instrument Services Company (“Instrument Services”). Initially, his work there consisted of analyzing plans and specifications of electro-mechanical control systems and estimating for bidding purposes the costs of systems installations. After some months, however, he became Projects Engineer and began to manage and supervise the estimation process. He left Westinghouse in 1980 to work for the Bechtel Corporation, but returned to Westinghouse by 1981 to take over the position of Manager of Installation Service. In 1986, he assumed the post of Systems Projects Manager in the newly created Systems Engineering and Training (“SET”) group within Instrument Services. SET was located in Atlanta. As one of the five men in the management group of SET, Plaintiff had broad authority over its operations. There is no dispute that Plaintiff performed his job satisfactorily.

In March, 1988, Mr. Jared Long became General Manager of the larger division of which Instrument Services and SET were each smaller parts. He shows by unrebutted affidavit that he designed a nationwide plan of reorganization of his larger division based on his conclusion that it had profitability and organizational problems. As regards the smaller SET group in particular, he had concluded that substantial losses in that group made reorganization there appropriate. In April, 1988, Long divided Instrument Services into three units, one of which was called Applied Technology Services (“ATS”). He integrated the SET group into ATS. He also selected Mr. Robert Bagwell as National Manager of ATS.

Bagwell states in his affidavit that he decided to cut losses at SET, now a part of ATS, by eliminating four of its five managers. He recommended to Long that three be laid off (including Plaintiff), that one be assigned other duties, and that one be designated interim manager at the Atlanta ATS office.

On April 27,1988, Bagwell notified Plaintiff that Westinghouse would eliminate his position pursuant to a reduction in force and that Westinghouse would lay off Plaintiff effective May 31,1988. Bagwell states that he wished to fill the position of ATS Manager in Atlanta with a person holding, inter alia, a degree in electrical engineering. He hired Ms. LaDoris Harris, a black woman who at the time was twenty-eight years old. Harris had been with Westinghouse for six years prior to being hired as Manager of ATS.

[1280]*1280On October 20, 1988, Plaintiff filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) alleging age, race, and sex discrimination in his termination. On June 29, 1989, the EEOC issued him a notice of the right to sue, and he then filed his complaint in this court on September 26, 1989. No issues are raised herein as to the timeliness of the EEOC charge or the complaint.

The complaint sets forth two claims of discrimination in employment based on race and sex under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq., and one claim of age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621, et seq. (“ADEA”). In essence, Plaintiff alleges that his termination in combination with the hiring of a young black woman as Manager of ATS constitutes unlawful discrimination based on age, race, and sex.

Westinghouse filed a motion for summary judgment on June 4, 1990. The motion was thereafter submitted to the Magistrate, who issued a Report and Recommendation. The Magistrate recommends that the court deny Westinghouse’s motion, concluding that Plaintiff has established a prima facie case on each of his three claims of discrimination.

Westinghouse objects to the Magistrate’s determination that Plaintiff has made out a prima facie case. First, Westinghouse objects to the Magistrate’s finding that a genuine issue exists as to whether Plaintiff was qualified for the position given to Harris. And second, Plaintiff objects to the Magistrate’s conclusion that Westinghouse’s stated reason for terminating Plaintiff could be deemed a pretext for discrimination. The court finds for the reasons set forth below that the Magistrate correctly concluded that Plaintiff raises a genuine issue as to job qualification. However, the court also finds that Plaintiff has not shown evidence of discriminatory intent. For that reason, Plaintiff’s claims must fail. Therefore, the court declines to adopt the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate.

Summary judgment is appropriate only “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the [Defendant] is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). In ruling on Defendant’s motion, the court must view the evidence in a light most favorable to Plaintiff. Adickes v. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 1608, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970). To prevail in its motion for summary judgment, Defendant must show that the evidence is insufficient to establish an essential element of Plaintiff’s case. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2554, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). If Defendant makes a sufficient showing, then Plaintiff “must come forward with ‘specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.’ ” Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corporation, 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) (quoting Fed. R. Civ.P. 56(e)). If the evidence supporting Plaintiff’s claims is insufficient for a jury to return a Plaintiff’s verdict, or is merely colorable or not significantly probative, then Defendant is entitled to summary judgment. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). If, however, reasonable minds could differ as to the import of the evidence, and a reasonable interpretation of the evidence could lead to a Plaintiff’s verdict, then summary judgment is inappropriate. Id. at 251-52, 106 S. Ct. at 2511-12. In addition, the court is mindful of the peculiarly fact-intensive nature of cases involving allegations of discrimination. See, Grigsby v. Reynolds Metals Co., 821 F.2d 590, 595 (11th Cir. 1987).

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Bluebook (online)
772 F. Supp. 1278, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19276, 56 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1642, 1990 WL 306007, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/daniels-v-westinghouse-electric-corp-gand-1990.