Ross v. Buckeye Cellulose Corp.

733 F. Supp. 344, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15481, 53 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 40,010, 51 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1157, 1989 WL 197820
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Georgia
DecidedAugust 11, 1989
DocketCiv. 86-48-ALB/AMER(DF)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 733 F. Supp. 344 (Ross v. Buckeye Cellulose Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Ross v. Buckeye Cellulose Corp., 733 F. Supp. 344, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15481, 53 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 40,010, 51 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1157, 1989 WL 197820 (M.D. Ga. 1989).

Opinion

FITZPATRICK, District Judge.

These actions were tried before a jury for four months, from September 6,1988 to January 6, 1989, on discrimination actions brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1981. On December 21, 1988, the jury returned verdicts on the liability aspect of the cases, finding liability in only two instances: Plaintiffs Ross and Plant. After additional evidence on January 6, 1989, the jury returned damage verdicts as to the two prevailing Plaintiffs. The court entered final judgment on the Plaintiffs’ section 1981 claims on March 21, 1989. Now before the court are the Title VII claims brought by eleven of the thirteen Plaintiffs. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq.

The Title VII claims of these Plaintiffs are premised on both the disparate treatment and the disparate impact theories of recovery. The court entered judgment on the individual disparate treatment claims of the Plaintiffs on March 21, 1989, pursuant to the Eleventh Circuit’s holding in Lincoln v. Board of Regents, 697 F.2d 928, 934 (11th Cir.1983). 1 Regarding Plaintiffs’ disparate impact theory of recovery, the court heard additional statistical testimony on May 1 and 2, 1989, and oral argument on June 27, 1989. Having carefully considered the entire record, the court sits prepared to rule on the remaining Title VII claims as set forth below in the court’s Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.

Before the court embarks on this complicated history of the employment relations between Plaintiffs and Defendant, however, it must first address Defendant’s Motion to Strike Portions of Plaintiffs’ Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law and Appendices. Defendant seeks to have this court strike certain portions of Plaintiffs’ proposals on the grounds that: (1) Plaintiffs have identified a number of Defendant's employment practices never before questioned and not addressed by Defendant in its proposals; (2) certain of the Plaintiffs’ arguments and appendices would require a reopening of the evidence which should not occur absent grounds which are not present here; and (3) Plaintiffs have attached certain documents as appendices which are not admissible as evidence, represent summaries of various exhibits, and have not been cross-examined by Defendant. The court briefly addressed these contentions at oral argument and trial, and will now rule appropriately.

As to the employment practices being attacked by Plaintiffs, the court finds that Plaintiffs are questioning Defendant’s entire Pay and Progression System (the System), including all of its various elements. In order to attack any particular element of the System, Plaintiffs must assail the entire process. Thus the court will not strike any arguments regarding the several components of Defendant’s Pay and Progression System preliminarily. On May 26, 1988, the court issued its Order granting summary judgment to Defendant on Plaintiff Ross’ discharge claim of disparate impact. In that Order the court ruled that Plaintiff Ross’ termination for “inability to perform job” was not a specific employment practice subject to disparate impact attack. The court will not vacate that ruling. Thus Plaintiff Ross’ termination claim will not be analyzed in the context of this Order. Plaintiff Porter also claims that Defendant’s subjective system of termination had a disparate impact on blacks. Specifically, Porter questions Defendant’s ‘practice’ of terminating employees for “absence and tardiness.” The court finds that this “practice” is, like “inability to perform job,” a general categoriza *347 tion by an employer used to discharge various employees from different types of jobs, and is not a discreet employment practice or procedure such as contemplated by the disparate impact theory of recovery. See Watson v. Fort Worth Bank & Trust, 487 U.S. 977, 108 S.Ct. 2777, 2785, 101 L.Ed.2d 827 (1988). The termination policies of Defendant will not be examined here.

Defendant contends that Plaintiffs are attempting to reopen the record through their proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law by presenting new evidence and theories of recovery. This contention must be viewed in conjunction with Defendant’s third ground for striking portions of Plaintiffs’ proposals regarding the admissibility of certain of the documents appended thereto by Plaintiffs. As stated earlier, this Order will address Plaintiffs’ disparate impact theory of recovery as it relates to Defendant’s Pay and Progression System; no other theory of recovery will be discussed. The court and Defendant have both long been aware of the essential subject matter of Plaintiffs’ claims. Only through the presentation of evidence was Plaintiffs’ theory able to take positive shape and definition. As the evidence developed, the court itself was able to grasp the particular policies and practices which contributed to the entirety of the Pay and Progression System. Because of the necessary place which each element of the System holds in relation to the overall outcome, the court is compelled to allow Plaintiffs to attack the whole System and, necessarily, each of its elements. In arguing this theory to the court, Plaintiffs are allowed to present charts, graphs, summaries, and appendices to further their arguments as well as attempt to aid the court with these documents. While the documents appended to Plaintiffs’ proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law may not be admissible as evidence, the court will not strike them for that reason alone. This portion of the case is being heard by the court sitting without a jury, and this court is more that capable of separating fact from argument. Lest Defendant forgets, this court sat through the entirety of the four month jury trial, ruling on each evidentiary question. The court is well aware of what was ruled admissible evidence. The court considers those documents attached as appendices to Plaintiffs’ proposed findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law to be argument aids, designed to aid Plaintiffs’ attorney in presenting the case, and the court in understanding. Accordingly, the court will proceed based upon the above rulings, by first setting out its Findings of Fact. These initial findings are simply a skeletal recitation of the facts in the case and the court will supplement them as necessary in its Conclusions of Law.

I. FINDINGS OF FACT

A. BUCKEYE’S FLINT RIVER PLANT

Plaintiffs in this action are all black, present or former, employees of Defendant Buckeye Cellulose Corporation. 2 Buckeye is an Ohio corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Procter & Gamble Paper Products Company (Procter & Gamble). Buckeye owns several plants in various states around the country including one in Macon County, Georgia, near Oglethorpe, known as the “Flint River Plant” (the Plant).

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733 F. Supp. 344, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15481, 53 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 40,010, 51 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1157, 1989 WL 197820, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ross-v-buckeye-cellulose-corp-gamd-1989.