U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. PMT Corp.

124 F. Supp. 3d 904, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113882
CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedAugust 24, 2015
DocketCase No. 14-cv-599 (DSD/TNL)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 124 F. Supp. 3d 904 (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. PMT Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. PMT Corp., 124 F. Supp. 3d 904, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113882 (mnd 2015).

Opinion

ORDER

TONY N. LEUNG, United States Magistrate Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (“EEOC”) Motion to Bifurcate Discovery and Trial (ECF No. 37). Nicholas J. Pladson appeared on behalf of the EEOC at the hearing. David J. Duddleston appeared on behalf of Defendant' PMT Corporation (“PMT”) at the hearing.

I.

The EEOC brings this action against PMT under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq. (Pl.’s Mem. in Supp. at 2, ECF No. 38; see Compl. at 1, ECF No. 1.) The EEOC alleges that PMT engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination on two grounds: (a) “on the basis of sex by failing to hiré females for sales representative positions” and (b) “on the basis of age by failing to hire applicants over the age of 40 for sales representative positions.” (Compl. at 1; accord Compl. ¶¶ 13, 17.) The EEOC also alleges that PMT failed to make and preserve records in accordance with Title VII and the ADEÁ. (See Compl. at 2; accord Compl. ¶¶ 31-33.)

II.

The instant motion has a somewhat' unique procedural history. From the beginning, the parties have not been able to agree on how discovery and trial should proceed in this matter. (See Joint Rule 26(f) Report at 2-5, ECF No. 34; Pretrial Scheduling Ord. ¶ 4(h), ECF No. 36.) The parties requested that the Court resolve [907]*907their disagreement. (Pretrial Scheduling Ord. ¶ 4(h).) “The Court ... directed both parties to brief the issues, arguments, and case law.” (Def.’s Mem. in Opp’n at 2, EOF No. 41.) “[District courts enjoy broad discretion under Rule 16(b) and in matters of trial management in general,” Schenk v. Chavis, 259 Fed.Appx. 905, 907 (8th Cir.2008) (per curiam); accord Schwarz Pharma, Inc. v. Laddock Labs., Inc., No. 05-cv-832 (ADM/AJB), 2005 WL 2122597, at *3 (D.Minn. Sept. 1, 2005) (“Courts enjoy broad discretion over scheduling matters.”); see D. Minn. LR 72.1(a).

III.

This is a pattern-or-practice case brought pursuant to the EEOC’s authority under § 706 of Title VII.1 (Pl.’s Reply at 2, 2 n. 2, EOF No. 43.) See United States Equal Emp’t Opportunity Comm’n v. PMT Corp., 40 F.Supp.3d 1122, 1128-30 (D.Minn.2014). In order to properly contextualize the EEOC’s motion, a basic understanding of pattern-or-practice suits is helpful.

Pattern-or-practice cases such as this, which are brought by the EEOC on behalf of a class2 of'individuals, do not proceed under the traditional McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework. Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 357-61, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977) [hereinafter Teamsters ]; Craik v. Minn. State Univ. Bd., 731 F.2d 465, 469-70 (8th Cir.1984). “Under Title VII[,] the EEOC, as the plaintiff, has the initial [908]*908burden of making out a prima facie case of discrimination.” Equal Emp’t Opportunity Comm’n v. Consolidated Servs. Sys., 777 F.Supp. 599, 603 (N.D.Ill.1991), affirmed, 989 F.2d 233 (7th Cir.1993). “Pattern[-]or[-]practice claims require the EEOC to ‘prove more than the mere occurrence of isolated or accidental or sporadic discriminatory acts.’ ” Equal Emp’t Opportunity Comm’n v. JBS USA, LLC, Civ. Action No. 10-cv-02103-PAB-KLM, 2011 WL 3471080, at *2 (D.Colo. Aug. 8, 2011) [hereinafter JBS Colorado ] (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Teamsters, 431 U.S. at 336, 97 S.Ct. 1843). “To recover under a pattern[-]or[-]practice theory, discrimination must be ‘the company’s standard operating procedure[—]the regular rather than the unusual practice.” Id. (quoting Teamsters, 431 U.S. at 336, 97 S.Ct. 1843); accord Teamsters, 431 U.S. at 360, 97 S.Ct. 1843 (“The plaintiff in a pattern-or-practiee action is the Government, and its initial burden is to demonstrate that unlawful discrimination has been a regular procedure or policy followed by an employer or group of employers.”).

“Pattern-or-practice cases are typically tried in two or more stages.” JBS Colorado, 2011 WL 3471080, at *3; see Craik, 731 F.2d at 469-70; Equal Emp’t Opportunity Comm’n v. Celadon Trucking Servs., Inc., No. 1:12-cv-0275-SEB-TAB, 2013 WL 1701074, at *2 (S.D.Ind. Apr. 18, 2013) (“The order and allocation of proof in a pattern-and-practice case, as well as the overall nature of the trial proceedings, differs from a case involving only individual claims for relief and therefore supports bifurcating trial into two stages.” (quotation omitted)); Equal Emp’t Opportunity Comm’n v. Sterling Jewelers Inc., 788 F.Supp.2d 83, 86 (W.D.N.Y.2011) (“As a general matter, Supreme Court and Second Circuit caselaw support the use of bifurcation in Title VII actions asserting pattern-or-practice discrimination.”).

“At the initial, ‘liability’ stage of a pattern-or-practice suit the Government is not required to offer evidence that each person for whom it will ultimately seek relief was a victim of the employer’s discriminatory policy. Its burden is to establish a prima facie case that such a policy existed.” Teamsters, 431 U.S. at 360, 97 S.Ct. 1843. “The burden then shifts to the employer to defeat the prima facie showing by demonstrating that the Government’s proof is either inaccurate or insignificant.” Id. “If an employer fails to rebut the inference that arises from the Government’s prima facie case, a trial court may then conclude that a violation has occurred and determine the .appropriate remedy.” Id. at 361, 97 S.Ct. 1843. “When the Government seeks individual relief for the victims^ as the EEOC does here,] a district court must usually conduct additional proceedings after the liability phase of the trial to determine the scope of individual relief.” Id.; accord Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 564 U.S. 338, 131 S.Ct. 2541, 2561, 180 L.Ed.2d 374 (2011) (describing second phase focusing on individual relief under Teamsters). “During this stage, the EEOC is entitled to a presumption that the adverse employment action suffered by any individual worker was a result of the discriminatory policy. The employer may then rebut this presumption with evidence that the employment decision was made for lawful reasons.” JBS Colorado, 2011 WL 3471080, at *2 (citing Teamsters, 431 U.S. at 362, 97 S.Ct. 1843).

This is known as the Teamsters framework. See Serrano v. Cintas Corp., 699 F.3d 884, 893 (6th Cir.2012); Equal Emp’t Opportunity Comm’n v. Bass Pro Outdoor World, LLC, 35 F.Supp.3d 836, 859 (S.D.Tex.2014) [hereinafter Bass Pro]3 [909]*909; JBS Colorado, 2011 WL 3471080, at *2 (“The seminal pattern[~]or[-]practiee case is [Teamsters],

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124 F. Supp. 3d 904, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113882, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/us-equal-employment-opportunity-commission-v-pmt-corp-mnd-2015.