Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Exxon Corp.

583 F. Supp. 632, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19638, 36 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 34,929, 36 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 306
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedFebruary 9, 1984
DocketCiv. A. No. H-81-1047
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 583 F. Supp. 632 (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Exxon Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Exxon Corp., 583 F. Supp. 632, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19638, 36 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 34,929, 36 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 306 (S.D. Tex. 1984).

Opinion

FINDING OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

SINGLETON, Chief Judge.

The plaintiff Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) instituted this suit, against defendant Exxon Corporation (“Exxon”) claiming that Exxon discriminated against Avis M. Cook on the basis of sex in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (“Title VII”). Mrs. Cook intervened (“Intervenor”) on her own behalf. This court finds that Exxon intentionally discriminated against Intervenor Avis Cook when it denied her a promotion to Transportation Allocator Agency on June 1, 1979.

STIPULATED FACTS

The parties stipulate to the following facts:

Plaintiff EEOC is an agency of the government of the United States.

Since at least July 2, 1965, the defendant has been doing business in the State of Texas, where it is engaged in the production and refinement of oil that moves in interstate commerce and has continuously employed and does now employ more than fifteen (15) employees.

Since at least July 2, 1965, the defendant had continuously been and is now an em[634]*634ployer engaged in an industry affecting commerce within the meaning of Section 701(b), (g) and (h) of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. Section 2000e(b), (g) and (h).

Avis M. Cook was hired in 1951 by Humble Oil and Refining Company, a predecessor of defendant, as a clerk/stenographer in the warehouse department of the Bay-town refinery. Avis M. Cook voluntarily terminated her employment with the Defendant in 1954. Avis M. Cook was rehired by the defendant as a clerk/stenographer at its Baytown facility in the marine department in 1964. Intervenor was employed by defendant for more than fifteen years.

At all times material and relevant to this lawsuit, the marine department of the defendant did not have a written promotion policy.

Mr. Billy Hopper was hired on March 1, 1979 as an Agency Transportation Allocator (“T.A.”). Since July 31, 1976, Mr. Hopper had performed the duties of an Agency T.A. on a part-time contract basis.

Mr. Ignacio Hurtado was given a lateral transfer on June 1, 1979, to the position of Agency T.A. at the Baytown facility. Prior to Mr. Hurtado’s transfer, he had been assigned to the Headquarter’s Fleet Manning Office in Houston.

Avis M. Cook filed Charge No. 064-79-1619 against defendant on June 21, 1979. On October 23, 1980, the Commission sent the defendant a letter stating that the Commission’s conciliation efforts had failed. Defendant received the letter on October 24, 1980.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Intervenor Avis M. Cook is an adult female citizen of the United States and a resident of Texas. In December 1970, Exxon reclassified Mrs. Cook’s position as a steno/clerk to a secretary.

The marine department of the Gulf Coast Branch located at Baytown office was primarily a field support office responsible for Exxon’s marine activities within the confines of the State of Texas. The office coordinated support activities to Exxon’s affiliate owned and operated vessels making port calls within Texas. The office also dispatched two local towboats and associated barges in a floating “filling station” manner to customer vessels at the ports of Houston, Galveston, Texas City, and on occasion to Port Arthur, Beaumont and Freeport.

The office was also responsible for overall coordination of Exxon’s West Gulf lightering operation including the dispatch, coordination of services, and general stewardship of this operation which was comprised of the dedicated use of two Panamanian flag 70,000 ton vessels for complete offloading of Exxon’s V/ULCC’s anchored in the Gulf.

At the Gulf Coast Branch, Exxon employed Agency Transportation Allocators, and Inland Transportation Allocators (“T.A.s”).

All Agency T.A.s were expected to coordinate the needs of vessels assigned to them. Basically, each T.A. was assigned to husband an approximately equal number of vessels as they arrived and to insure that all support activities necessary for a safe, efficient turnaround were carried out with an absolute minimum of frustration to the vessel’s personnel or operators. These activities include arranging for tugs, pilots, and line-handlers for the channel transits and mooring and unmooring of vessels at predetermined berths within ports within Texas. They also included ordering and coordinating delivery of goods and services as required by the vessel’s personnel and operators. These consisted of, but were not limited to, fuel, water, provisions and stores, relief personnel, mail delivery and other equipment services. For vessels engaged in foreign trade or service, T.A.s were also required to prepare government documents, and to file these documents with the appropriate government agency, such as customs for entrance/clearance for the vessel; immigration for crew-related matters; and agriculture for provisions and stores. For all vessels, the assigned T.A. followed the progress of each vessel, not[635]*635ing deficiencies, coping with emergencies, and correcting misunderstandings, etc. to expedite the vessel’s in-port time, to keep this time to an absolute minimum. These duties took up approximately 80% of each T.A.’s time.

In addition to the above general duties, each agency T.A. was also assigned an additional area of responsibility unique to each position. The specialty comprised approximately 20% of each T.A.’s time.

One T.A. was responsible for coordinating the crewing of two locally dispatched towboats. This represented eight personnel. This T.A. was also responsible for interviewing and hiring for these positions, when needed, and for interviewing prospective candidates, when needed, for the ocean fleet. In previous years this T.A. had performed substantial personnel-related duties, such as routine interviewing for the ocean fleet, assisting fleet personnel with benefit transactions, and the like, but many of these duties had been taken over by other offices within Exxon by late 1978. W.A. Scott performed these position-unique duties while he was in the Baytown office.

All agency T.A.s assigned to Baytown covered after hours and weekend responsibilities for the entire Agency office on a weekly rotating basis.

In addition to Agency, three T.A.s were assigned to the Inland office which was responsible for coordinating the delivery of Exxon’s marine fuel sales in the ports of Houston, Galveston, Texas City, Beaumont, Port Arthur and Freeport. These T.A.s receive sales orders from New York and confirmed with local ship agents for deliveries to customer ships. These T.A.s issued loading and discharge orders to terminals and to Exxon’s tows and insured that deliveries were properly made to the vessels. The Inland T.A.s also were responsible for passing billing information back to New York on delivered quantities.

Approximately 80% of the Agency T.A.’s time was spent working in the office. The Agency T.A. was required to board ships from time to time. An Inland T.A. position almost exclusively involved paper work in the office, and never required any boarding of ships.

The Agency T.A. and Inland T.A. were only comparable jobs in the sense that they both carried a salary level of 22-24. Each job, however, required different duties and different skills to perform those duties. The Agency T.A.

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583 F. Supp. 632, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19638, 36 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 34,929, 36 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 306, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/equal-employment-opportunity-commission-v-exxon-corp-txsd-1984.