Darnell v. Northern Can Systems, Inc.

937 F. Supp. 668, 11 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1150, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3834, 67 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 43,788, 67 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 419, 1995 WL 124702
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedFebruary 22, 1995
DocketNo. 5:93 CV 1947
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 937 F. Supp. 668 (Darnell v. Northern Can Systems, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Darnell v. Northern Can Systems, Inc., 937 F. Supp. 668, 11 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1150, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3834, 67 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 43,788, 67 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 419, 1995 WL 124702 (N.D. Ohio 1995).

Opinion

ORDER

SAM H. BELL, District Judge.

Currently pending before the court is defendant’s motion for summary judgment (docket #21). Plaintiff, Catherine Darnell, instituted this action to recover from her former employer, Northern Can Systems, for its allegedly sexually discriminatory failure to hire her as a packer after layoff as a quality assurance inspector.

I. BACKGROUND

From Spring 1989, until her layoff on April 16, 1993, plaintiff Catherine Darnell worked as a quality assurance inspector for defendant, Northern Can Systems. (Darnell aff. ¶ 6, 7). Northern Can manufactures metal lids for the canning and metal container industry. Defendant employs individuals in job classifications including press operators, packers, quality assurance inspectors, fork lift drivers, electricians, maintenance employees, machine shop employees, tool inspectors, supervisors, shipping clerks and tool crib attendants. Ms. Darnell’s title was always quality assurance inspector. (Darnell aff. ¶ 7). While working as a quality assurance inspector, however, plaintiff would relieve packers during their breaks, absences, and lunch periods. (Darnell aff. ¶ 11). A packer is an entry level position at Northern Can involving “bagging ends, pelletizing, clearing [670]*670jams, cleaning the liner, and completing paperwork.” (Darnell aff. ¶ 10).

In May 1991, plaintiff was laid off from her position as a quality assurance inspector, but was called back less than six weeks later. (Darnell aff. ¶ 14, 16). Plaintiff was again laid off on April 16, 1993, and was never called back (Darnell aff. ¶ 17,18). As she did when previously laid off, plaintiff requested, in lieu of layoff, that she be transferred into a packing position. Id. Ms. Darnell made this request believing that the provisions of the employee handbook indicated that she was entitled to such treatment. Id.

Defendant’s handbook provides the following with respect to layoff:

Employees who are then affected by the reduction shall be allowed to bump an employee of lesser seniority in classifications other than their own on a plant wide basis, if the senior employee has prior experience in the performance of that work at NorTech.

(Def. Ex. G p. 9). With respect to this policy, where a “senior employee is laid off and has neither worked previously in a lower classification or otherwise has not been fully trained to perform the duties of a lower classification, the senior employee is not permitted to displace the junior employee.” (Bogovich aff. ¶ 3). According to defendant, this is precisely the situation in which Ms. Darnell found herself at the time of layoff: “Because Ms. Darnell had never worked on a full time basis as a packer, she was not considered by Northern Can to be qualified to seek a transfer or bump to the packer classification in lieu of layoff.” (Bogovich aff. ¶ 6).

Plaintiff contends, however, that men who were similarly lacking in full time packing experience were permitted to bump into the packer position even though she was denied the same opportunity. Consequently, Ms. Darnell believes she has been discriminated against on the basis of her sex and has filed the instant lawsuit. Defendant now moves this court for summary judgment on plaintiff’s claims.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently summarized the standard of review governing motions for summary judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56:

Summary judgment is appropriate where “there is no genuine issue of material fact ... and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”.... [The] court must view all facts and inferences drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.
The moving party has the burden of conclusively showing that no genuine issue of material fact exists. Nevertheless, in the face of a summary judgment motion, the nonmoving party cannot rest on its pleadings but must come forward with some probative evidence to support its claim.
“By its very terms, this standard provides that the existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact.” The dispute must be genuine and the facts must be such that if they were proven at trial, a reasonable jury could return a verdict in favor for the nonmoving party. If the disputed evidence “is merely colorable or is not significantly probative, summary judgment may be granted.”

LaPointe v. United Autoworkers Local 600, 8 F.3d 376, 378 (6th Cir.1993) (citations omitted). With this standard in mind, the Court shall analyze the defendant’s present motion.

III. LAW AND ANALYSIS

Defendant contends that plaintiff cannot present enough evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact with respect to her discrimination claim.

Absent direct evidence of discriminatory intent, claims of discrimination brought under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., must be analyzed within the framework articulated in McDonnell Douglas v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1972) and Texas Department of [671]*671Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981). Mitchell v. Toledo Hosp., 964 F.2d 577, 582 (6th Cir.1992); Terbovitz v. Fiscal Court of Adair County, 825 F.2d 111, 114-15 (6th Cir.1987). The McDonnell Douglas/Burdine formula allows the plaintiff to create the inference of discrimination by establishing a prima facie case. In order to make this prima facie ease, the plaintiff must show that (1) she was a member of a protected class, (2) she was subjected to an adverse employment action, (3) she was qualified for the position, and (4) either that she was replaced by someone outside the protected class or that “ ‘a comparable non-proteeted person was treated better’ ” than she was. Manzer v. Diamond Shamrock Chems. Co., 29 F.3d 1078, 1081 (6th Cir.1994); Mitchell v. Toledo, 964 F.2d at 582. If the plaintiff makes a prima facie case, the burden of production shifts to the defendant to produce evidence of a non-diseriminatory reason for its action. Manzer, 29 F.3d at 1082 (citing Burdine, 450 U.S. at 254, 101 S.Ct. at 1094). Once the defendant offers a nondiscriminatory explanation, the burden shifts back to the plaintiff to demonstrate that the defendant’s proffered explanation is a mere pretext for discrimination. Id.

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937 F. Supp. 668, 11 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1150, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3834, 67 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 43,788, 67 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 419, 1995 WL 124702, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/darnell-v-northern-can-systems-inc-ohnd-1995.