Meadows v. Ford Motor Co.

62 F.R.D. 98
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Kentucky
DecidedJanuary 16, 1973
DocketCiv. A. No. 7005
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 62 F.R.D. 98 (Meadows v. Ford Motor Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Meadows v. Ford Motor Co., 62 F.R.D. 98 (W.D. Ky. 1973).

Opinion

ALLEN, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Dolores Marie Meadows, suing on behalf of herself and other women similarly situated, the scope of whose class has previously been fixed by this Court, has filed a renewed motion for summary judgment on liability.

The Court had previously overruled a motion for summary judgment filed by plaintiff, but has proceeded to re-examine the pending motion because of new authorities presented to it by the plaintiff.

It appears from the evidence that 54 women have applied for employment on the production line of the Kentucky Trunk Plant since plaintiff filed her application on October 10, 1969. None of these applicants have been employed, and it is admitted by defendant Ford that it has hired 935 production workers between October, 1969 and October, 1971. It is admitted also by Ford that it maintains an employment policy which requires a minimum weight of 150 pounds. An exhibit attached by plaintiff to her memorandum establishes that 80 per cent of all females from 18 to 24 years of age in the population of the United States cannot meet the 150 pound requirement, while 70 per cent of the men in this age bracket do meet that requirement.

It is further established by the deposition of Dr. Charles E. Allen, Ford’s physician, that Ford has made exceptions to its minimum 150 pound requirement for men who weighed between 135 and 150 pounds but has made no exceptions for women. It is also established from Dr. Allen’s deposition that neither the company nor he has made any studies or tests to determine the strength of people weighing over 150 pounds as contrasted with those who weigh 150 pounds. Dr. Allen admits that at no time, although he is the person who is designated by the Company to make physical examinations of all persons seeking employment on Ford’s production line, has he been asked to perform a physical examination on a woman seeking such a job.

In the case of Rosenfeld v. Southern Pacific Company, 444 F.2d 1219 (9th Cir. 1971), summary judgment was rendered by the district court for the plain[100]*100tiff woman employee bringing suit under Title 7, the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The specific position involved was that of an agent-telegrapher and the work requirements which that position entailed could involve as much as 10 hours a day and 80 hours ' a week. The position required the heavy physical effort involved in climbing over and around box cars to adjust their vents, collapse their bunkers, and close and seal their doors. In addition, the employees were required to lift various objects weighing more than 25 pounds and in some instances more than 50 pounds.

The Railroad argued that it was their policy to exclude women generieally from such positions for two basic reasons, one of which was the arduous nature of the work related activity which rendered women physically unsuited for the jobs, and the other reason is not applicable here. The court, in upholding the summary judgment in the district court, stated, in part, on page 1225:

“The premise of Title VII, the wisdom of which is not in question here, is that women are now to be on equal footing with men. Weeks v. Southern Bell Tel. & Tel. Co., 408 F.2d 228, 236 (5th Cir. 1969). The footing is not equal if a male employee may be appointed to a particular position on a showing that he is physically qualified, but a female employee is denied an opportunity to demonstrate personal physical qualification. Equality of footing is established only if employees otherwise entitled to the position, whether male or female, are excluded only upon a showing of individual incapacity. See Bowe v. Colgate-Palmolive Co., 416 F.2d 711, 718 (7th Cir. 1969). This alone accords with the Congressional purpose to eliminate subjective assumptions and traditional stereotyped conceptions regarding the physical ability of women to do particular work.”

In Parham v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, 433 F.2d 421 (8th Cir. 1970), at page 426, the court pointed put that “[i]n cases concerning racial discrimination, ‘statistics often tell much and Courts listen’.” The court held that where the statistics revealed an extraordinarily small number of black employees, except for the most part as menial laborers, there was a violation as a matter of law of Title 7, the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In Bowe v. Colgate-Palmolive Company, 416 F.2d 711, the Seventh Circuit struck down a job restriction imposed by appellee which confined women to jobs not requiring the lifting of more than 35 pounds. The Appellate Court held that the trial court should have entered an injunction prohibiting the company from continuing the weight requirement limitation confined to women only. The court did allow the Colgate-Palmolive Company to retain a 35 pound weight lifting limitation as a general guide-line for all its employees, male and female, however, it required Colgate-Palmolive to notify all of its workers that such of them who desire to do so would be afforded a reasonable opportunity to demonstrate his or her ability to perform more strenuous jobs on a regular basis. In discussing the trial court’s error in not granting a preliminary injunction, the court stated that had the trial court correctly perceived the meaning of BFOQ,' it would have issued an injunction.

In the light of these decisions, it now becomes apparent to this Court that the 150 pound minimum weight requirement as it is administered by Ford, although neutral on its face, is highly discriminatory in practice and violative of the Civil Rights Act, Title 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. The plaintiff is entitled to an injunction prohibiting Ford from continuing its 150 pound minimum weight requirement policy, especially as it is now administered.

The question of what further relief, if any, should be accorded to plaintiff and members of her class is not a [101]*101matter that lends itself to easy resolution by means of the summary judgment procedure. See Bowe v. Colgate-Palmolive Company, supra at page 719. Therefore, a trial must be held to determine the question of damages, if any, to be awarded to plaintiff and other members of her class, and the question of attorneys’ fees to be awarded to plaintiff’s counsel. Also, the Court must reserve until trial its final adjudication as to what type of injunctive relief should be necessary to fully implement the policies of the Equal Opportunity portion of the Civil Rights Act.

The Court has this day fashioned a partial summary judgment and an injunction in accordance with this memorandum opinion. Inasmuch as this action has been on the docket for a rather lengthy period, it is the Court’s wish to assign it to trial at the earliest possible date following a pretrial conference. It is believed by the Court that it would be helpful to the Court and counsel to hold a pretrial conference on the 23rd day of January, 1973, to discuss fully the problems which face the parties and the Court with reference to trial.

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62 F.R.D. 98, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/meadows-v-ford-motor-co-kywd-1973.