Mansfield v. United States

71 Fed. Cl. 687, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 184, 88 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 42,505, 98 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1052, 2006 WL 1836103
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJune 30, 2006
DocketNo. 05-472C
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 71 Fed. Cl. 687 (Mansfield 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
Mansfield v. United States, 71 Fed. Cl. 687, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 184, 88 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 42,505, 98 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1052, 2006 WL 1836103 (uscfc 2006).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

WILLIAMS, Judge.

Plaintiff Judith A. Mansfield, a female employee at the Library of Congress (LOC), alleges that the LOC violated the Equal Pay Act by paying male employees higher wages for doing substantially the same work under similar circumstances. Specifically, Plaintiff claims that she was paid less than four male employees — her supervisor when she was temporarily promoted to his position, two coworkers in the same position and a co-worker she supervised. Additionally, Plaintiff claims that the LOC violated the Equal Pay Act by failing to follow the recommendation of a classification consultant to upgrade her position. Plaintiff seeks back pay, benefits and a retroactive promotion.

This matter comes before the Court on Defendant’s motion for summary judgment.1 Defendant argues that any pay disparity between Plaintiffs pay and that of her male supervisor and co-workers was the result of legitimate business reasons or factors other than gender. Because the record on summary judgment does not establish that Defendant’s articulated reasons justified the pay disparity and because there are genuine issues of material fact regarding the reasons for the disparity, Defendant’s motion is denied.2

Factual Background 3

Plaintiff has been employed by the LOC since July 1, 1969, and has served as the Chief of the Arts and Sciences Cataloging Division (ASCD) since May 1988. Compl. ¶¶ 1, 5, 6; Pl.’s App. at 36, 40. Prior to this, Plaintiff served as an Automated Operations [689]*689Coordinator in Library Services, pay grade GS-13, Step 10, where she worked under the supervision of the Director of Cataloging, Mr. Beacher Wiggins. Compl. ¶ 6; Wiggins Decl. ¶ 6, Def.’s App. at 7, 8. Plaintiff was selected for her current position, Chief of ASCD, pay grade GS-15, by Mr. Wiggins in 1998. Compl. ¶ 6; Wiggins Decl. ¶ 6, Def.’s App. at 8.

At that time, there were eight divisions under Mr. Wiggins’ supervision: Regional and Cooperative Cataloging (senior level pay grade),4 Cataloging Policy and Support (senior level pay grade), Social Sciences Cataloging, History and Literature Cataloging, Arts and Sciences Cataloging, Special Materials Cataloging, Cataloging in Publication, and Decimal Classification. Pl.’s App. at 120. The Chief of each division reported directly to Mr. Wiggins. Id.

Plaintiff’s Tenure As Acting Director for Cataloging: September 2002 — June 2004

In September 2002, then Associate Librarian for Library Services, Winston Tabb, retired. Def.’s App. at 8, Wiggins Deck ¶4. Mr. Tabb was Mr. Wiggins’ direct supervisor. Id. Until Mr. Tabb’s replacement was appointed in August 2003, the LOC detailed Mr. Wiggins to the position of Acting Associate Librarian for Library Services. While Mr. Wiggins was detailed, he assigned Plaintiff to his former position as Acting Director for Cataloging. Id. ¶¶ 5, 7. Plaintiff served in this position from September 2002 until June 2004 and was paid at the Senior Level (SL) pay grade for two nonconsecutive periods of 120 days, from September 2002-Janu-ary 2003, and February-May 2004. Wiggins Deck ¶¶ 7-10, Def.’s App. at 9-10.5 At all other times Plaintiff served in this position, she was paid at the GS-15 level. Id.

Mr. Wiggins explained Plaintiffs temporary promotion as follows:

I ... temporarily promoted [Plaintiff] to the SL pay grade because as Acting Director she would be performing the full range of duties of the position, which is an SL position. Temporary promotions are customary for any detail of a manager or staff member to a higher-graded position.
Under Library of Congress regulations, a staff member may only be temporarily promoted for up to 120 days during any twelve-month period. Temporary promotions to the SL pay grade in excess of 120 days are restricted to those situations where a permanent candidate for the position is being sought and the position is being posted. Therefore, since the position of Director for Cataloging was not being filled, Ms. Mansfield’s temporary promotion could not exceed 120 days.

Wiggins Deck ¶7-8, Def.’s App. at 9. Mr. Wiggins continued to assign Plaintiff the duties of Acting Director after her first 120-day promotion because he “wanted continuity of a single manager leading the directorate and ... had been very pleased with her work during her first 120 days as Acting Director.” Wiggins Deck ¶ 9, Def.’s App. at 10. He stated:

Ms. Mansfield’s gender had nothing to do with my decision to keep her assigned to the duties of Acting Director nor did it have anything to do with the amount of pay she received while assigned to these duties. Moreover, ... she could have declined to continue as Acting Director when the temporary promotion ended. Howev[690]*690er, based on Ms. Mansfield’s explicit agreement in continuing to perform the duties of Acting Director and my desire to have her continue, I allowed her to do so.

Id.

During Plaintiffs tenure as Acting Director for Cataloging, Plaintiff was the immediate supervisor of a male employee — John Byrum, Chief of the Regional and Cooperative Cataloging Division, who was paid at the Senior Level. Wiggins Decl. ¶ 16, Def.’s App. at 13. In June 2004, Plaintiff returned to performing the duties of Chief of ASCD. Id. ¶ 10.

Mr. Wiggins’ Prior Temporary Promotion to Acting Director for Cataloging

In 1995, prior to his permanent appointment as the Director for Cataloging, Mr. Wiggins also was temporarily promoted to Acting Director for Cataloging. From January 1995 to June 1997, he served as Acting Director for Cataloging and was temporarily promoted for three 120-day periods, and paid at the SL grade. Other than during these periods, he was paid his regular GS-15 pay. Wiggins Decl. ¶ 3, Def.’s App. at 7-8. Mr. Wiggins received his first temporary promotion on January 16, 1995, his second temporary promotion on November 12, 1995, and his third temporary promotion on November 10, 1996. Pl.’s App. at 64-68. The LOC posted a vacancy announcement for the Director for Cataloging position on September 17, 1996. Def.’s Reply, App. at 48. Mr. Wiggins’ third temporary promotion was extended on March 10, 1997, until June 8, 1997, when he received his permanent promotion. Pl.’s App. at 158, 64.

The Recommendation to Reclassify the Chief Positions to Senior Level Status in August 2003

Prior to his appointment as Acting Associate Librarian, Mr. Wiggins requested that HRS review the position descriptions for the eight Chief positions in Cataloging because he “had long thought that the Chief positions in Cataloging merited being classified at the SL grade and at the time, three6 of the Chiefs were already at the SL grade and the remaining five positions, including Ms. Mansfield’s position, were at the GS-15 pay grade.” Wiggins Decl. ¶ 11, Def.’s App. at 11. Therefore, in April 2003, HRS hired a classification consultant to review the Chief positions. Id.

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71 Fed. Cl. 687, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 184, 88 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 42,505, 98 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1052, 2006 WL 1836103, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mansfield-v-united-states-uscfc-2006.