United States v. Virginia

88 F.R.D. 656, 24 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1112, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15553
District Court, E.D. Virginia·Decided December 23, 1980·No. No. 76-0623-R·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

ORDER

WARRINER, District Judge.

This case comes before the Court on the plaintiff’s Motion to Compel Discovery filed 30 July 1980. On 11 August 1980, the defendants filed their Response to the Motion to Compel Discovery, and issue was joined on the question whether in remanding this case the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit intended that new evidence be taken regarding the special qualifications, if any, required for civilian positions. The plaintiff also seeks to reopen discovery to obtain new evidence relating to the general employment practices of the Virginia State Police since 1 July 1973.

I.

This Court entered its final judgment on 24 July 1978. See United States v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 454 F.Supp. 1077 (E.D.Va.1978). In an opinion issued 17 April 1980, the Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part and remanded for further proceedings. See United States v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 620 F.2d 1018 (4th Cir. 1980). The Court of Appeals held, first, that the Title VII claims raised by the plaintiff were improperly dismissed before trial. Id. at 1022. This Court was therefore directed to analyze the charges of discrimination made by the United States under the appropriate Title VII standards. Id. at 1025. Consideration under Title VII, as the Court of Appeals noted, expands the time period under review since Title VII became applicable to State and local governments on 24 March 1972.

The plaintiff is entitled to present new evidence relevant to prove acts of discrimination in which the Virginia State Police may have engaged in the period between 24 March 1972 and 1 July 1973. The Court’s pretrial ruling, which has now been held erroneous, may have foreclosed presentation of such evidence at trial.

It is highly unlikely that any such evidence was precluded at trial. The trial court freely admitted evidence proffered by plaintiffs of alleged discrimination going back to the origins of the Virginia State Police, and continuing up to, through, and after the fifteen-month period in question. However, such pre-1 July 1973 evidence was received by the Court as evidence of post-1 July 1973 discrimination. This intended limitation on the use of such evidence was known to counsel prior to trial. Thus it is conceivable that evidence of discrimination during the relevant period was withheld by counsel as being not worth the time, trouble, cost and effort of presenting it in view of the limitation imposed by the Court. See United States v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 454 F.Supp. at 1081.

In view of this state of affairs the Court will permit additional discovery and hear additional evidence on the period 24 March 1972 to 1 July 1973 provided counsel for plaintiff first file a statement with the Court that he consciously curtailed discovery and the proffer of evidence of discrimination during the relevant period because of the Court’s prior ruling on the limited purpose to be served by such evidence.

Plaintiff also seeks extensive discovery of the hiring practices from 1 July [659]*6591973 to the present. The plaintiff is not entitled to discovery relating to the general hiring practice from 1 July 1973 to the time of the trial, which commenced on 9 February 1978. Because the plaintiff had an adequate opportunity to discover and document alleged acts of discrimination from 1 July 1973 through the close of the trial, and because the Court did not in any way restrict the plaintiff’s presentation of such evidence at trial, the plaintiff will not be permitted to conduct re-discovery as to hiring practices for sworn positions during this time period. The matter of hiring for the civilian positions will be given separate consideration in this opinion.

There is also no basis for the plaintiff’s discovery requests concerning employment practices of the State Police since 1 January 1977. The trial herein took place in February, 1978; thus the plaintiffs have previously had an opportunity to discover and present evidence as to approximately a year following 1 January 1977. To support their request for information as to post-trial employment practices, the plaintiff contends, in the Motion to Compel filed 30 July 1980, that information as to post-trial practices will be necessary to fashion a remedy should the Court find that the defendants have engaged in additional discriminatory practices. However, in the event that the Court makes such a finding, it can then be determined whether an inquiry should be made into the post-trial practices of the defendants and the need, if any, for a remedy for discrimination. At this time, the Court finds that information as to the post-trial practices is not necessary or relevant. The plaintiff will therefore not be permitted to conduct discovery into post-trial practices.1

II.

In its decision, the Court of Appeals also held that this Court improperly failed to consider two separate claims under applicable Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines. 620 F.2d at 1024. It is stated in the appellate decision that “the district court declined to apply the EEOC guidelines applicable to the possible discriminatory nature of the written examinations.” Id. at 1022. This Court was further directed to consider under the appropriate guidelines the charge that the background investigations of Virginia State Police applicants served as a pretext for eliminating black applicants. Id. at 1024.

As a matter of fact, the EEOC guidelines were considered with respect to the written examination and Federal Agency Guidelines as to the background investigation claims. The Court specifically so stated in its opinion. 454 F.Supp. at 1101, 1103. The Court wrote in its earlier decision that it relied on evidence from two experts who testified, after reviewing the test criteria, the EEOC guidelines, and the statistical evidence, that the written test was a valid predictor of training school performance. Id. at 1101. The Court also discussed the applicability of the Agency guidelines to the background investigation claim, and it was found that the selection rate set by the guidelines as an indicator of discrimination could not be given great weight because the sample of blacks who underwent background investigations was relatively small. Id. at 1103. The background investigation claim was reviewed based on all of the evidence presented by the plaintiff, including over 20 case studies of hiring decisions, and the claim was found to be without merit.

Consistent with the instructions of the Court of Appeals, however, the Court will re-examine the evidence, hear additional argument, and will render more specific findings as to the impact of the EEOC guidelines on the claims in issue. In making its findings, the Court will consider any new evidence the plaintiff presents to prove a pattern or practice of discrimination between 24 March 1972 and 1 July 1973.

III.

The Fourth Circuit decision also requires reconsideration of the allegation that the [660]*660Commonwealth discriminated against black applicants for civilian positions with the State police. The Court of Appeals instructed the Court as follows:

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United States v. Virginia, 88 F.R.D. 656, 24 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1112, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15553 (E.D. Va. 1980).

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