Eileen Lynch v. S. David Freeman, Charles H. Dean, Jr., and Richard M. Freeman as Members of the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority

817 F.2d 380
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJuly 9, 1987
Docket85-6020
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 817 F.2d 380 (Eileen Lynch v. S. David Freeman, Charles H. Dean, Jr., and Richard M. Freeman as Members of the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Eileen Lynch v. S. David Freeman, Charles H. Dean, Jr., and Richard M. Freeman as Members of the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority, 817 F.2d 380 (6th Cir. 1987).

Opinions

LIVELY, Chief Judge.

The plaintiff appeals dismissal of her Title VII action in which she charged her employer with sex discrimination. Her several claims of discrimination were based principally on the employer’s failure to furnish adequate, sanitary toilet facilities at the worksite where the plaintiff was employed. The district court conducted a bench trial, after which it issued an opinion containing extensive findings of fact and conclusions of law.

I.

The plaintiff was hired by the Construction Service Branch (CSB) of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as a carpenter apprentice. She began working in November 1979 at an electrical generating plant at Cumberland City, Tennessee where TVA was making major modifications. Most of this work was carried on in an open area adjacent to the main building of the plant, referred to as the “powerhouse.” The construction site covered three acres and contained two portable toilets for women, one at each end of the work area. There were also 21 other portable toilets on the site, not designated by sex, but primarily used by men.

The portable toilets were dirty, often had no toilet paper or paper that was soiled, and were not equipped with running water or sanitary napkins. In addition, those designated for women had no locks or bolts on the doors and one of them had a hole punched in the side. To avoid using the toilets, Ms. Lynch began holding her urine until she left work. Within three days after starting work she experienced pain and was advised that the practice she had adopted, as well as using contaminated toi[382]*382let paper, frequently caused bladder infections.

The powerhouse was off limits to construction workers. It had large, clean, fully equipped restrooms and the plaintiff testified that some of the men she worked with used them regularly and were not disciplined. In late December 1979 or early January 1980 Ms. Lynch began using the powerhouse restrooms occasionally after her doctor diagnosed her condition as cystitis, a type of urinary tract infection. When the infection returned in February, the plaintiff began using a restroom in the powerhouse regularly and she had no further urinary tract infections. She admitted at trial that she knew use of the indoor restrooms by CSB personnel was prohibited.

In early January 1980 the carpenters’ union business agent told Ms. Lynch that he had received complaints that she was loafing on the job and performing her work unsatisfactorily. He identified the complainant as James Fogg, the general foreman under whom the plaintiff worked. The plaintiff denied loafing on the job and requested more formal evaluations of her work. In these evaluations she was generally rated good or fair. On April 16, 1980, Mr. Fogg saw Ms. Lynch at the powerhouse and issued a warning letter which stated that the plaintiff had violated job Rule No. 7, entitled “Loafing, Wasting of Time, or Eating During Work Hours.” The warning letter stated “this is an unauthorized area for Construction Service Branch personnel____ [Y]ou may be discharged if you again violate this rule within six (6) months of the above violation.” The plaintiff protested the warning letter, stating that it did not reflect the true nature of the incident. She also wrote to the manager of construction for TVA complaining that Mr. Fogg had singled her out for reprimands and stating that she used the powerhouse restroom because it was common knowledge that the portable toilets were not hygienically acceptable for women. A few days later she wrote the equal employment opportunity office of TVA, claiming that she was being subjected to discrimination and that it was inevitable that she would be discharged for using the powerhouse restrooms.

On May 1 James Fogg saw Ms. Lynch enter the powerhouse and called the construction superintendent, George Riddle, to meet him where the plaintiff came out of the powerhouse and returned to her work area. Mr. Riddle told her she was fired and directed her to collect her belongings and leave. TVA issued a notice of termination which gave the reason for discharge as “Unsatisfactory Conduct in Work Area.” Ms. Lynch filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and received a right to sue letter. This action followed.

II.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq., permits a plaintiff to base a claim of employment discrimination on two separate theories— disparate treatment and disparate impact. A plaintiff may proceed on either or both theories; no election is required. Rowe v. Cleveland Pneumatic Co., 690 F.2d 88, 92 (6th Cir.1982). To prevail on a claim of disparate treatment a plaintiff must show that her employer intentionally discriminated against her. Direct evidence of intent is not required; the plaintiff can establish intent by proof of “actions taken by the employer from which one can infer, if such actions remain unexplained, that it is more likely than not that such actions were ‘based on a discriminatory criterion illegal under the Act.’ ” Furnco Construction Corp. v. Waters, 438 U.S. 567, 576, 98 S.Ct. 2943, 2949, 57 L.Ed.2d 957 (1978), quoting Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 358, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 1866, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977). In a disparate treatment case, the trial court must consider all evidence of discriminatory intent — circumstantial as well as direct. United States Postal Service v. Aikens, 460 U.S. 711, 714 n. 3, 103 S.Ct. 1478, 1481 n. 3, 75 L.Ed.2d 403 (1983). A trial court’s finding on the issue of intent to discriminate is a pure question of fact, subject to review under the “clearly erroneous” standard of Rule 52(a), Fed.R.Civ.P. Pullman-Standard v. Swint, 456 U.S. 273, [383]*383287-88, 102 S.Ct. 1781, 1789-90, 72 L.Ed.2d 66 (1982). The discriminatory intent that must be shown is actual motive, “not a legal presumption to be drawn from a factual showing of something less than actual motive.” Id. at 289-90, 102 S.Ct. at 1790-91.

A claimant proceeding under the disparate impact theory is not required to prove an intent to discriminate. In such a case, the trial court is concerned with “the consequences of employment practices, not simply the motivation.” Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424, 432, 91 S.Ct. 849, 854, 28 L.Ed.2d 158 (1971) (emphasis in original). Disparate impact cases typically are concerned with facially neutral practices or standards that in fact work to place a disproportionate burden on a discrete group of employees who are protected under Title VII.

A plaintiff has the ultimate burden of persuasion regardless of the theory under which she proceeds. If a plaintiff makes a prima facie case under the disparate treatment theory, the burden of production shifts to the defendant to articulate a legitimate nondiscriminatory explanation for its actions.

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

Related

Brianna Bolden-Hardge v. California State Controller
63 F.4th 1215 (Ninth Circuit, 2023)
Ward v. Shelby County
W.D. Tennessee, 2021
Legg v. Ulster County
Second Circuit, 2020
Pat Chandler v. Regions Bank
573 F. App'x 525 (Sixth Circuit, 2014)
Speers v. University of Akron
189 F. Supp. 2d 759 (N.D. Ohio, 2002)
Goins v. West Group
635 N.W.2d 717 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2001)
Marian Anderson v. WBMG-42
253 F.3d 561 (Eleventh Circuit, 2001)
Audrey Jo Declue v. Central Illinois Light Company
223 F.3d 434 (Seventh Circuit, 2000)
Albaugh v. Columbus Div. of Police
725 N.E.2d 719 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1999)
Chipman v. Grant County School District
30 F. Supp. 2d 975 (E.D. Kentucky, 1998)
Ohio Civil Rights Commission v. Kent State University
717 N.E.2d 745 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1998)
Crabbs v. Copperweld Tubing Products Co.
114 F.3d 85 (Sixth Circuit, 1997)
Crabbs v. Copperweld Tubing Products Company
114 F.3d 85 (Sixth Circuit, 1997)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
817 F.2d 380, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eileen-lynch-v-s-david-freeman-charles-h-dean-jr-and-richard-m-ca6-1987.