Reaves v. Marsh

658 F. Supp. 1268, 43 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1235, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3507
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Arkansas
DecidedApril 9, 1987
DocketNo. PB-C-82-419
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 658 F. Supp. 1268 (Reaves v. Marsh) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Reaves v. Marsh, 658 F. Supp. 1268, 43 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1235, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3507 (E.D. Ark. 1987).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

GEORGE HOWARD, JR., District Judge.

The plaintiff, Lillian W. Reaves, (Reaves) a white female, instituted this civil rights action on December 20, 1982, against the Secretary of The Department of the Army of The United States alleging that as an employee of The Department of the Army, Pine Bluff Arsenal, Pine Bluff, Arkansas (Arsenal), she was paid less wages for performing “work assignments substantially similar to work assignments performed by males and denied promotions or job reclassification to higher levels because of her sex.”

The jurisdictional grounds asserted are: 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3) and (4); 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-5(f), (g); and 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201 and 2202.

The following relief is requested:

1. Back pay from December 9, 1980, to January 23, 1983 — the difference in pay that she actually received as a GS-9 archi-tectual technician and that pay she would have received had her job assignment been reclassified as GS-10 during this time frame.

2. Retroactive promotion to a GS-11 commencing January 23, 1983, to February 5, 1984. Reaves argues that she should have been promoted to a GS-11 rather than a GS-10 Engineering Technician on January 23, 1983, but didn’t get the GS-11 until February 5, 1984.

The central question before the Court is whether Reaves, who alleges that she was doing the same work as men with higher grades, was discriminatorily denied a reclassification of her job assignment — Archi-tectual Engineering Technician GS-9 — to GS-10 because of sex.

I.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Equal Employment Opportunity Plan of Action for the fiscal year 1979 for the Arsenal states the following in the forward:

During the past years Pine Bluff Arsenal has experienced both real and significant progress toward full equal employment opportunity for all. However, an analysis of our accomplishment, or lack thereof, reveals that there is much to be accomplished before equal employment opportunity for all is a day-by-day way of life for each member of the “Arsenal family.” The average grade for minority and women employees is nearly two grades below the average grade for the Arsenal. This inequality can only be rectified by strong, affirmative action to select and promote minorities and women for higher level positions. The number of women, except in administrative positions, in the workforce is still below the percentage of working women in our local area. This can be overcome by eliminating the stereotyped images of which type of work a woman should, or should not, do. Likewise, some of our majority employees have not had an equal opportunity [1270]*1270for training, promotions and job enhancement. (Emphasis added)

The Arsenal’s Equal Opportunity Plan for fiscal year 1980 provides, in relevant part:

Chart No. 5 shows the index of representation of the categories of employees in technical occupations at [the Arsenal]. [The Arsenal] has personnel at six grade levels in these occupations. White men are overrepresented in the three highest grades, and underrepresented at the lower grade levels; with one exception (black males at grade GS-5), minority males are underrepresented at all grade levels. White women are overrepresented at the three lowest grade levels and underrepresented at the higher grade levels; with two exceptions (black women at grade GS-3 and American Indian women at grade GS-7) minority women are underrepresented at all grade levels.

In the case of Rogers v. Marsh, 573 F.Supp. 635 (E.D.Ark.1983), Judge Elsijane T. Roy made the following findings regarding the propensities of the Director, Eugene Schatz, white male, of the Civilian Personnel Office of the Arsenal regarding the under-utilization of women and minorities in higher positions:

“5. When a vacancy occurs, the supervisor over that position submits a request to the Civilian Personnel Officer, (CPO) one of the eleven major divisions, Mr. Eugene L. Schatz. The requisition then goes to a position classifier, under Mr. Schatz’s supervision, as are all positions in the Office of Civilian Personnel. The position classifier then verifies that the duties and job titles correspond.

The requisition then goes to a staffing specialist in the Office of Civilian Personnel who determines whether the position should be filled at its current level or re-engineered to a different level, e.g. into an upward mobility position. All actions are under the supervision of Mr. Schatz.”

“7. Mr. Schatz testified that it was his duty to get women and minorities into higher positions and that the plaintiff was in fact ‘under-utilized.’ When asked why he didn’t consider a waiver of the ‘Time-in-Grade’ requirements (which would have been consistent with the stated policy on women and minorities) he said that the plaintiff had not requested such a waiver. The Court finds that instead of giving the plaintiff a fair chance at the position, Mr. Schatz did all that he could to deprive her of that chance because of her sex.” 1

“8. The above circumstances lead to the inescapable conclusion that the defendant intentionally discriminated against Mrs. Rogers.”

Data, acquired during the Army’s investigation of complaints registered by females during the year 1981, including Reaves’ complaint, disclosed that females constituted 37.4% per cent of the workforce in the Metropolitan Pine Bluff, Arkansas area and 33% per cent of Arsenal’s workforce, but women were underrepresented in grades GS-9 and above at the Arsenal; and “[a]ll but two of the 58 Classifications, (GS) positions, at grades GS-12 and above are occupied by men, and white males employees occupy all of the 14 positions above GS-12 level.”2

[1271]*1271The race and gender of the workforce in the Directorate of Facilities Engineering, area in which Reaves was employed, as of August 24, 1984, is as follows:

CLERICAL POSITIONS No males of either race 0
9 white females 69.3
4 black females 30.7
OTHER GS/GM POSITIONS 52 white males 73.2%
9 white females 12.7
10 black males 14.1
1 black female 0 (sic)
WG POSITIONS 152 white males 89.9%
3 white females 1.8
13 black males 7.7
1 black female 0.6
ALL POSITIONS 204 white males 80.6%
21 white females 8.3
23 black males 9.1
5 black females 2.0

ii.

RELEVANT FACTS

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Parker v. Burnley
693 F. Supp. 1138 (N.D. Georgia, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
658 F. Supp. 1268, 43 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1235, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3507, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reaves-v-marsh-ared-1987.