Kyriazi v. Western Electric Co.

527 F. Supp. 18, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15723, 35 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 34,867, 33 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1153
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Jersey
DecidedNovember 17, 1981
DocketCiv. A. 475-73
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 527 F. Supp. 18 (Kyriazi v. Western Electric Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kyriazi v. Western Electric Co., 527 F. Supp. 18, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15723, 35 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 34,867, 33 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1153 (D.N.J. 1981).

Opinion

OPINION

STERN, District Judge.

Kyriaki Cleo Kyriazi filed this Title VII action on behalf of herself and a class of over 10,000 women on April 30, 1973, alleging a pattern of sex discrimination by Western Electric Company (“Western”) at its Kearny, New Jersey facility. With the distribution in August 1981 of over $7 million to plaintiff class members, and with the institution of a four-year affirmative action program, the last chapter in this lengthy litigation has drawn to a close. The complexity of the case, the novelty of the later stages of the proceedings, and the significance of the settlement dictate the issuance of this opinion, which summarizes the proceedings and sets forth the stipulation of settlement and several orders of the Court.

Kyriazi, formerly employed as an engineer at the Kearny plant, alleged in her complaint that Western had discriminated against her on account of sex and had retaliated against her by terminating her employment when she filed charges of discrimination. She also alleged that Western discriminated systematically against women in ten areas: hiring, promotion transfer, layoff, discharge, tuition refund benefits, participation in the Bell Systems Savings Plan, maternity leave, participation in training programs and opportunities for testing. Finally, she alleged that five employees at Western had harassed and abused her, thus conspiring to deprive her of her civil rights in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) and tortiously interfering with her employment, in violation of state law.

With respect to the claims of systematic discrimination against women as a class, the Court, on July 16, 1975, certified a class consisting of:

“all females who are now or at any time since June 9, 1971, have been employed by defendant Western Electric Company, or who sought employment with said company during the pendency of this suit, at the Kearny works organization.”

Discovery continued through mid-1977. Near the close of the discovery process, the Court held that Kyriazi was not required to continue discovery so as to isolate the individual and specific claims of each and every class member. Kyriazi v. Western Electric Co., 74 F.R.D. 468, 471 (D.N.J.1977). See Western Electric Co., Inc. v. Stern, 544 F.2d 1196 (3rd Cir.), rehearing denied, 551 F.2d 1 (1976).

The Court severed the liability and damages portion of the action, and trial before the Court on Stage I — the liability stage— was conducted between July 7, 1977 and December 1, 1977. The Court found, with respect to both the individual and class claims, “that Western systematically denied women the employment opportunities it afforded men in the areas of hiring, promotion and participation in training programs; that it slotted women initially into the lower-paying ‘women’s jobs’ and laid them off in disproportionate numbers in times of economic stress.” Kyriazi v. Western Electric Co., 461 F.Supp. 894, 898 (D.N.J.1978). The Court alsov found that Kyriazi individually “was underrated, underpaid, and denied promotional opportunities by Western because of her sex; that she was harassed by *20 her male co-workers, and that she was terminated on account of her sex and in retaliation for having lodged a complaint of sex discrimination.” Id. The individual defendants were found liable under section 1985(3) and state law. Id. at 949-51. 1

On February 21, 1979, the beginning of Stage II — the remedy stage — of the proceedings, the Court directed that Western, at its expense, send notice to all class members pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(d)(2). All class members still employed at Western or whose addresses were known to Western were sent a notice and a proof of claim form together with a prepaid envelope. Remaining class members, primarily those who were never employed by Western and former employees who had changed address, were located, if possible, by use of their Social Security numbers, in cooperation with the Social Security Administration. Notice was also published in the Sunday edition and in three weekday editions of six local newspapers for two consecutive weeks. All forms of notice made clear that a class member could not participate in Stage II of the- action unless she filed a proof of claim form with the Court postmarked no later than April 9, 1979. In order to explain more fully the status of the lawsuit to class members still employed by Western, the Court directed that counsel for the plaintiff class be permitted by Western to enter the Kearny plant at least once during each shift to meet with class members and discuss the suit. The Court also directed that no class member be denied pay or other benefits for time spent attending such a meeting. Western was prohibited, of course, from retaliating against any woman based on her participation in this action.

The Court’s objectives at the beginning of Stage II were, first, to expedite the appellate process by entering a final order with respect to liability which included an injunction prohibiting those practices found to be discriminatory, and, second, to establish a mechanism for adjudicating the individual remedy claims of the plaintiff class members.

Named plaintiff Kyriazi’s Stage II remedies were to be included in the final order embodying judgment as to Stage I. The method for computing Kyriazi’s back pay and entitlement to reinstatement were set forth in this Court’s opinion of September 13, 1979, which was rendered after a hearing on the issue of her individual damages. Kyriazi v. Western Electric Co., 476 F.Supp. 335 (D.N.J.1979). Pursuant to that opinion, the parties calculated that Kyriazi would receive a back pay award and interest of $103,506.75, and that she would be entitled to reinstatement to a senior engineering position with all benefits and seniority as if she had been employed continuously by Western and promoted to the senior position in 1971. These remedies were set forth in an order of October 9, 1979, attached as Appendix A. The order also required five individual defendants to pay Kyriazi $1,500 each as punitive damages, and prohibited Western from indemnifying those defendants. See id. at 340-41. It also entered judgment on behalf of the plaintiff class as to Western’s liability for classwide discrimination, and .on behalf of Western with respect to certain claims of the plaintiff class which the Court rejected. Counsel fees were awarded against Western for Kyriazi’s individual case and for Stage I of the class action.

In the meantime, the Court established a procedure for adjudication of the Stage II claims. The Court appointed three Special Masters pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 53(a). Bernard Hellring, Esquire, was appointed to serve as the Administrative Special Master, with particular responsibility for assigning hearings among the other Special Masters. These other masters, Thomas F. Campion, Esquire, and Bruce I.

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527 F. Supp. 18, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15723, 35 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 34,867, 33 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1153, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kyriazi-v-western-electric-co-njd-1981.