Rich v. Martin Marietta Corp.

467 F. Supp. 587, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14175, 20 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 30,111, 22 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 409
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedFebruary 26, 1979
DocketCiv. A. C-3109
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 467 F. Supp. 587 (Rich v. Martin Marietta Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rich v. Martin Marietta Corp., 467 F. Supp. 587, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14175, 20 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 30,111, 22 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 409 (D. Colo. 1979).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

SHERMAN G. FINESILVER, District Judge.

Plaintiffs and the class they represent allege that defendant Martin Marietta *590 Corp. discriminated' against them because of their race, sex, color, or national origin thereby denying them equal employment opportunities in violation of federal law. The claims relate to defendant’s promotional policies. There are also allegations by two of the named plaintiffs (Ms. Rich and Mr. Tafoya) that defendant has retaliated against them for their having filed charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The claims, and this court’s jurisdiction, arise under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e through 2000e-17 (1976) as well as under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and 28 U.S.C. § 1343(4) (1976).

The seven named plaintiffs are black female (Ms. Rich), * black male (Mssrs. Franklin, Langley, Collier, Craig, and Chappel), and Hispano-American male (Mr. Tafoya) citizens of the United States, all of whom reside in the district of Colorado. The class they represent includes all female, black, and Hispano-American employees of Martin Marietta’s Waterton (Colorado) facility as of May 11, 1971.

By stipulation of the parties, the trial was bifurcated. The instant trial was had on the issue of liability alone and was further limited to the issue of liability solely as to the seven named plaintiffs. Broad based discovery has, nonetheless, gone forward and plaintiffs presented plant-wide statistical evidence in support of their individual claims.

We have carefully considered all the evidence adduced at both trials (the matter has been before the court previously) and have reviewed the exhibits and all other matters of record. With the exception of plaintiffs Rich and Chappel, none of the plaintiffs has met their initial burden of establishing a prima facie case of employment discrimination under Title VII. Defendant has rebutted Ms. Rich’s prima facie case but has not rebutted Mr. Chappel’s. We conclude, therefore, that there is Title VII liability towards Mr. Chappel alone of all the named plaintiffs. None of the plaintiffs has succeeded in establishing a case of employment discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1981.

We thus find in defendant’s favor as to six of the plaintiffs, find liability against defendant as to one of the plaintiffs, and will determine Mr. Chappel’s remedy in subsequent proceedings.

Our findings and conclusions follow:

I

This lawsuit had previously been before the court in a trial which resulted in a judgment for defendant on all counts. That judgment in the earlier trial was reversed and the cause remanded to this court, with instructions, for further proceedings. Rich v. Martin Marietta Corp., 522 F.2d 333 (10th Cir. 1975). The Circuit Court reversed and remanded for reconsideration of plaintiffs’ request for additional discovery, for reconsideration of the question of class certification, and for reevaluation of plaintiffs’ claims.

All of plaintiffs’ discovery requests have now been granted. Defendant has spent a large amount of time and money developing and collecting statistical information for plaintiffs. All statistics have been adjusted so as to exclude American Indians and Oriental males. See, Rich, supra, 522 F.2d at 337, 343, 346, and 346 n.12.

The class has been certified according to plaintiffs’ request. Having already conducted full discovery, the parties have agreed to holding separate trials on the individual and class claims. Trial on the issue of liability as to the class will, accordingly, be set in due course.

The court has reevaluated the plaintiffs’ claims. In so doing, we have relied upon the evidence which was presented at the first trial and that which has now been adduced at the second trial. See, Rich, supra, 522 F.2d at 347, 349. We have considered the claims anew and have made findings and conclusions in light of the comments and guidance contained in the Tenth Circuit’s opinion.

*591 Before weighing the supplemental evidence adduced at the second trial, it would be well briefly to review the state of the evidence as it stood at the end of the first trial.

This is a promotions case. At issue are various of defendant’s promotional policies. Defendant has more than one promotion policy because it has more than one class of employee. Defendant, an aerospace manufacturer employing upwards of 5,000 persons at its Waterton plant, 1 groups its employees into three relevant classes. Those categories are “salaried,” “hourly-out-of-unit,” and “hourly-in-unit.”

The salaried employees are professionals, mostly engineers, together with officials or managers. This group accounts for roughly half of defendant’s labor force. The salary grades are designated numerically from 40 to 50. The lowest salary grade is 40, the highest is 50. These employees are promoted from one grade to another strictly on the basis of merit as determined by a “totem pole” evaluation system. Under this system, salaried employees are competitively rated and are ranked, in order of their performance, relative to one another. A salaried employee’s position on the totem pole is highly determinative of the employee’s likelihood of promotion.

The hourly out-of-unit employees include technicians, office and clerical workers, craft (skilled) and operative (unskilled) workers. The hourly out-of-unit grades are designated numerically from 12 to 1, and alphabetically, A and B. 2 The lowest hourly out-of-unit grade is 12, the highest is A, with the normal progression being through the numerical grades to the letter grades. Promotions of these hourly technicians through their own ranks is based upon a combination of qualifications and seniority. A promotion in this category is first offered to the most senior qualified employee in the job family group. A second sort of promotion, a promotion out of the hourly ranks and into the professional category (that is, from “hourly to salary”) is also a possibility. Hourly to salary promotions are made strictly on the basis of merit.

Hourly in-unit employees constitute the third category. These employees are represented by a collective bargaining unit. Promotions in this category are awarded solely on the basis of seniority.

The seven plaintiffs are all long term employees of defendant corporation. As noted, they are black female (Ms. Rich), black male (Mssrs. Franklin, Langley, Collier, Craig, and Chappel), and HispanoAmericans (Mr. Tafoya). They represent varied job progression ladders and careers. Ms. Rich is an engineer, Mr. Franklin an accountant, Mr. Langley a developer, Mr.

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467 F. Supp. 587, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14175, 20 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 30,111, 22 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 409, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rich-v-martin-marietta-corp-cod-1979.