Lissak v. United States

49 Fed. Cl. 281, 2001 U.S. Claims LEXIS 65, 80 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 40,571, 2001 WL 395313
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedApril 17, 2001
DocketNo. 99-756C
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 49 Fed. Cl. 281 (Lissak v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lissak v. United States, 49 Fed. Cl. 281, 2001 U.S. Claims LEXIS 65, 80 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 40,571, 2001 WL 395313 (uscfc 2001).

Opinion

OPINION

BASKIR, Chief Judge.

This case is before the Court on cross-motions for summary judgment. Plaintiffs, two female employees of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), allege Defendant violated the Equal Pay Act (the Act) by paying them less than male co-workers who perform the same duties. The Court finds that the pay disparity results from a bona-fide, gender-neutral, acceptable personnel policy. Accordingly, Defendant’s motion is granted.

The Court denies Plaintiffs’ cross-motion for summary judgment because, among other reasons, Plaintiffs have failed to establish a prima facie case that they perform the same duties as their three male co-workers.

BACKGROUND

Summary judgment is appropriate when there are no genuine issues of material fact, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See RCFC 56(c); see also Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Each moving party bears the burden of establishing the absence of any disputes of material fact. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). To understand the cause of the pay disparity cited by the plaintiffs, we must trace the employment history of both the Plaintiffs and their male co-workers. The following facts are not in dispute. We will discuss the “equal work” aspect of the case later in the text.

Plaintiffs originally worked for the FAA Air Traffic Service as air traffic controllers in the Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) until September 9, 1981. At that time, they had achieved Full Performance Level Status (FPL) as journeymen, meaning they were certified to operate all of the requisite positions in the Chicago ARTCC. In 1981, the flight controllers’ union (PATCO) called an illegal strike. In response, former President Ronald Reagan discharged all striking employees, including Plaintiffs, and prohibited their re-employment.

In 1993, the ban on PATCO strikers was lifted and they were permitted to reapply for employment with the FAA. In June of 1996, the FAA issued a recruitment notice, and Plaintiffs were rehired as FG-9 level Air Traffic Control Specialists with the potential for promotion to FPL status. They were again stationed at the Chicago ARTCC, which had an FPL pay grade of FG-14.

The male employees cited for comparison were also former PATCO strikers, originally banned from re-employment. The government asserts that their increased pay is ultimately attributable to their later date of reemployment, a difference established by collective bargaining agreements between the government and the FAA flight controllers.

The Agreements

In July of 1998, the air traffic controllers’ successor union (NATCA), executed the first of three collective bargaining agreements with the FAA. These three agreements created a new compensation and classification system for air traffic controllers. This case centers around the differences between two [283]*283groups of former strikers, the “re-entrant Certified Professional Controller (CPC)” and the “PATCO re-hire.” We will address these job categories presently, but first we offer a brief description of the structural changes made to the pay and classification system.

A The First Agreement: Pay Bands and Air Traffic Controller Categories

The first agreement created a new pay system, which implemented two major changes. The first replaced pay grade levels with “pay bands,” or ranges of pay that define a minimum and maximum salary for each position. The pay bands vary depending upon the Air Traffic Control (ATC) level of the facility at which an individual is employed. The ATC levels are ranked 3 through 12, with a ranking of 12 indicating locations with the heaviest and most complex level of air traffic. The Chicago center has an ATC level of 12. The new pay system set target pay bands for fiscal year 2001 and interim pay bands to take effect at various points during a three-year transition period beginning October 1,1998.

The second change divided air traffic controllers into two main categories: (1) Certified Professional Controllers (CPCs), individuals who have achieved FPL status at the facilities to which they are currently assigned; and (2) Developmental Controllers (DCs), individuals who have not achieved FPL status at the facilities to which they are currently assigned. For an ATC level 12 facility like Chicago, the new system also divided DCs into three training levels depending upon the number of positions for which the DC was certified. The three male co-workers at issue had achieved current CPC or FPL status at the Chicago ARTCC. It is disputed whether Plaintiffs had achieved that status.

B. The Second Agreement: Re-entrant CPCs

The NATCA and the FAA executed a second agreement in July, 1998, to implement rules for converting the newly established CPCs and DCs into the pay band system. More important to this case, however, is the fact that the second agreement defined a new job category known as a “re-entrant CPC,” and provided the rules for converting the re-entrant CPC into the new pay system. Under the second agreement, a re-entrant CPC is an individual who was hired as an Air Traffic Controller in the Air Traffic Service after October 1, 1998, who was previously a PATCO striker, and who had previously achieved FPL/CPC Air Traffic Controller status in the Air Traffic Service terminal or en route option.

On October 13, 1998, the FAA hired the three male air traffic controllers at issue in this case and classified them as re-entrant CPCs. Pursuant to the second agreement, the FAA was required to set the three males’ starting salaries at $70,315, which was the minimum allowed in the CPC pay band applicable to ATC level 12 facilities like Chicago. As of the day the plaintiffs filed their complaint, the three males received a basic pay of $73,660. This included their initial salaries, plus the same three pay increases that the plaintiffs and all other air traffic controllers received. The parties do not dispute the calculation of this figure under the agreements.

C. The Third Agreement: PATCO Rehires

It soon became evident that the two labor agreements would incur costs far in excess of the $200 million set aside for flight controller salaries. To alleviate these anticipated cost overruns, the FAA and the NATCA negotiated changes to the new pay system and executed a third agreement in April, 1999. The third agreement is important to this case because it created the “PATCO re-hire” job category and established rules for converting the PATCO re-hires into the new pay system. The third agreement defined a PATCO re-hire as an individual who was hired under a special targeted hiring program prior to October 1, 1998, who was not at the FPL Grade of the facility of record as of October 1, 1998, but who had achieved FPL/CPC status at a previous facility.

Under the agreement, the plaintiffs are “PATCO re-hires.” Prior to the PATCO strike, both plaintiffs had achieved FPL status at the Chicago ARTCC. They both were [284]*284re-hired in 1996, but at the FG-9 level.

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Bluebook (online)
49 Fed. Cl. 281, 2001 U.S. Claims LEXIS 65, 80 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 40,571, 2001 WL 395313, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lissak-v-united-states-uscfc-2001.