Hodgson v. Corning Glass Works

341 F. Supp. 18, 9 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 735, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14420, 4 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 7817
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 30, 1972
DocketCiv. A. 69-396
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 341 F. Supp. 18 (Hodgson v. Corning Glass Works) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hodgson v. Corning Glass Works, 341 F. Supp. 18, 9 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 735, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14420, 4 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 7817 (M.D. Pa. 1972).

Opinion

OPINION

MUIR, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION.

This suit was commenced by the Secretary of Labor on October 2, 1969, pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq., the Fair Labor Standards Act (“Equal Pay Act”). Plaintiff seeks to enjoin Defendant’s alleged practice of wage discrimination based on sex and to obtain restitution of unpaid wages allegedly due certain female employees of Defendant.

II. FINDINGS OF FACT.

1. Corning Glass Works (“Corning”) is a New York Corporation having its principal offices in Corning, New York. (Stip. of Fact 2)

2. The Wellsboro plant of Corning Glass Works is the only plant involved in this case. (Stip. of Fact 2)

3. There are four separate jobs involved in this litigation: Inspector-Packer, Frost Light Inspector, Position-er-Inspector, and Quality Inspector. (Stip. of Fact 6)

4. Prior to October 16, 1966, except during World War II, only female employees worked in these inspector positions on the day shifts at the Wellsboro plant. (Stip. of Fact 8)

5. Prior to October 16, 1966, except during World War II, only male employees worked in these inspector positions on the steady night shift in the Wellsboro plant. (Stip. of Fact 9)

6. In 1947, the differential in base hourly rates between the jobs of Inspector-Packer and Inspector-Packer Nights was 19 cents an hour, the differential in base hourly rates between the jobs of Frost Light Inspector and Frost Light Inspector Nights was 18 cents an hour, and the differential in base hourly rates between the jobs of Positioner-Inspector and Positioner-Inspector Nights was 19 cents an hour. (Stip. of Facts 36, 42, 45e)

*20 7. On October 16, 1966, these respective differentials were 20 cents an hour, 16 cents an hour, and 20 cents an hour. (Stip. of Facts 37, 43, 45f)

8. The differential in base hourly-rates between the jobs of Quality Inspector and Quality Inspector Nights has increased from 20 cents an hour in 1949 to 22.5 cents an hour on October 16, 1966. (Stip. of Facts 48, 49)

9. These differentials in base rate of pay were in addition to the plant-wide shift differential which has increased from 6 cents an hour in 1947 to 12 cents an hour in 1966 for steady night work. (Stip. of Facts 21-25)

10. Since October 16, 1966, by mutual agreement between the employees’ certified bargaining agent and the Company, women have been permitted to exercise their seniority, on the same basis as male employees, to claim jobs on the steady night shift when vacancies occur and to bump into such jobs during periods when the work force is being reduced. (Stip. of Facts 19, 30, 38, 44, 45a, 79, 85-88, 118, 119).

11. Male and female inspectors who work on the steady night shift inspection jobs involved in this ease have been and are paid at the same base hourly rate. (Stip. of Facts 37, 72, 74, 89, 104)

12. Male and female inspectors who work on the day shifts on the inspection jobs involved in this case have been and are paid at the same base hourly rate. (Stip. of Facts 73, 90)

13. A night shift worker is out of phase with community life and is usually out of phase with family life. (3 N. T. 199-200)

14. Night work, both steady and rotating, interferes with the worker’s physiological (circadian) rhythms. (3 N.T. 200)

15. The first job evaluation plan at Coming’s Wellsboro plant was effective from October 20, 1947, to January 18, 1965, and was called the Stevenson, Jordan and Harrison Plan. It is referred to as the SJ&H Plan. (Stip. of Fact to which Defendant Either Makes Objection or Withdraws a Prior Objection, P-39 at page 19)

16. The SJ&H Plan measured jobs by weighing the following factors: schooling, training, skill, versatility, knowledge, responsibility, surroundings, and hazards. (Stip of Fact to which Defendant Either Makes Objection or Withdraws a Prior Objection, P-50 at page 14)

17. Under the SJ&H Plan, the ratings of these factors differed for each inspector job but the ratings of the surroundings and hazards factors were the same for the day and night shifts for each job. (Stip. of Fact to Which Defendant Either Makes Objection or Withdraws a Prior Objection, P-50 at page 14)

III. DISCUSSION.

Until October 16, 1966, except during World War II, only women worked as Frost Light Inspectors, PositionerInspectors, Inspector-Packers and Quality Inspectors on the day shift at the Wellsboro, Pennsylvania plant of Defendant Corning Glass Works, and only men were permitted to work on the night shift. 1 Plaintiff contends that because the male inspectors on the night shift received a higher hourly base rate of pay than the female inspectors on the day shift, in addition to a plant-wide shift differential, Defendant violated 29 U.S.C. § 206(d) (1) which provides:

“(d) (1) No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such em *21 ployees are employed, between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which he 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 working conditions, except where such payment is made pursuant to (i) a seniority system; (ii) a merit system; (iii) a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or (iv) a differential based on any other factor other than sex: Provided, That an employer who is paying a wage rate differential in violation of this subsection shall not, in order to comply with the provisions of this subsection, reduce the wage rate of any employee.”

In my view, Plaintiff has failed to sustain its burden of proof that the male and female inspectors performed their work “under similar working conditions.” Male inspectors worked on the night shift; female inspectors on the day. Plaintiff contends that the time of day worked is not a “working condition” within the meaning of the statute. Plaintiff relies in part on testimony by Defendant’s expert in .the field of job evaluation that time of day worked is considered a wage condition, not a working condition. (3 N.T. 207, 211-212) Plaintiff also relies on the fact that the criteria evaluated under the job evaluation plans used by Defendant did not include time of day worked, and on selected legislative history. Defendant, on the other hand, points to Murphy v. Miller Brewing Company, 307 F.Supp. 829, 835 (E.D.Wisc.1969) where the Court stated that

“[i]t is not subject to serious dispute that there is some difference in working conditions between the first, second, and third shifts merely because the work is performed at different times of the day.” (Emphasis supplied).

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341 F. Supp. 18, 9 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 735, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14420, 4 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 7817, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hodgson-v-corning-glass-works-pamd-1972.