Chapter 14 PAY EQUITY;
AGE DISCRIMINATION
Labor & Employment Law 117
Case Questions
14.1, Renstrom v. Nash Finch Co., p. 525
1. centers separate
term is used under the EPA?
2. (Q.) Did the record before the court show that Ms. Renstrom, performed work equal to that
time, job titles and classifications are not dispositive; it is the actual requirements of the
job that control. In this case, because Renstrom, Ebensteiner, and Crosier all performed
14.2, Corning Glass Works v. Brennan, p. 527
1. (Q.) Summarize the facts of the case.
(A.) Male employees at Corning previously performed night shift inspection and were paid
more than females who performed the day shift inspection. A plant-wide shift
Chapter 14 Pay Equity; Age Discrimination
Labor & Employment Law 118
women, who, on an equal seniority basis with men, were then able to bid for the higher-
2. (Q.) Who brought the two court actions against Corning Glass Works?
(A.) The Secretary of Labor brought the court actions against Corning. The remedies sought
3. (Q.) Does the statutory term working conditions encompass the time of day worked?
14.3, County of Washington v. Gunther, p. 531
1. (Q.) What does the Bennett Amendment provide?
(A.) The Bennett Amendment is Section 703(h) of Title VII. This amendment provides:
It shall not be an unlawful employment practice under this subchapter for any
2. (Q.) What did the employer argue was the purpose of the Bennett Amendment?
(A.) The employer, the county of Washington, argued that the Bennett Amendment was to
3. (Q.) decision.
(A.) The Court decided that the Bennett Amendment was technical in nature and did not
4. (Q.) If the equal work standard were to apply, could situations exist where a
discriminatorily underpaid woman would be unable to obtain a remedy?
Chapter 14 Pay Equity; Age Discrimination
Labor & Employment Law 119
14.4, Zippittelli v. J.C. Penney Co. Inc., p. 537
1.
question about age and a response by the supervisor when she found out that the
with the fact that the applicant had better performance evaluations than the younger
woman who was awarded the position, would not a reasonable lay person in the
position of the applicant think she had been discriminated against because of age?
(A.) Ms. Zippittelli would have a reasonable basis to think that she had been discriminated
against because of her age on the facts of this case as they initially developed. She filed
2. (Q.) Was the fact that the plaintiff had better performance evaluations than the younger
worker promoted to the job evidence of discriminatory intent because of age?
3.
plain
stated reasons served as a pretext to hide a discriminatory practice?
(A.) No. The remark was too temporally and situationally distant from the actual hiring
Chapter 14 Pay Equity; Age Discrimination
Labor & Employment Law 120
14.5, Smith v. City of Jackson, Mississippi, p. 539
1. (Q.) easier for older workers to sue for age discrimination
on the job?
(A.)
or not disparate impact claims were permissible. The Smith v. City of Jackson decision
such a case than a case of intentional age discrimination.
2. (Q.)
practices, such as the pay scale, benefits adjustments or layoffs, though making no
adverse references to age, have a significantly adverse or disparate impact on older
employees, and the specially identified practices in question are not shown to be based
impact claims mean for employers when setting policies that may affect their older
workers?
(A.) Smith v. City of Jackson means that employers will have to
3. (Q.) How did the Court decide the underlying controversy between the City and the older
workers?
(A.) The Court decided against the older police officers. It pointed out that they failed to
14.6, EEOC v. Liggett & Meyers Inc., p. 542
1. (Q.) What options did the employer have at its disposal to improve the performance of the
sales department other than the massive terminations of its older employees?
(A.) The employer had the option of utilizing an extensive retraining program, coupled with
Chapter 14 Pay Equity; Age Discrimination
Labor & Employment Law 121
2. (Q.) Speculate as to why Gfeller and McMorrow favored younger employees over older
employees.
(A.) The decision does not set forth conclusive testimony on this point. However, sales were
bad, and McMorrow determined that the field sales had inferior management. Gfeller
3. (Q.) If a person, wrongfully forced to take early retirement, signs a release not to sue the
company for violation of the ADEA, is that release a defense in a subsequent ADEA
lawsuit?
14.7, Rhodes v. Guiberson Oil Tools, p. 544
1. (Q.) Why did the employer tell Rhodes that he was being terminated because of a RIF, and
downhole operations?
(A.) The employer told Rhodes that he was being fired because of a RIF in the hope that he
2. (Q.) Evaluate the statement attributed to Jack Givens, the person who directed that Rhodes
(A.) This statement is a classic example of age discrimination. Many older salesmen earn
:
decisions on which employees to retain solely based on performance. And, if it turned
out that older workers were the poorest performers, it could in theory terminate the
Chapter 14 Pay Equity; Age Discrimination
3. (Q.) Was the jury entitled to find the reasons given by the em
were pretexts for age discrimination?
14.8, Oubre v. Entergy, p. 548
1. (Q.) How did the release violate the ADEA?
(A.) Ms. Oubre was not given the 21 day waiting period to consider her options. She
2. (Q.) Did the court find that the retention of the money given by the employer in compliance
with the severance agreement served as ratification equivalent to a valid release of
ADEA claims?
3. (Q.) Does the employer have a right to a setoff against this employee for the money paid to
her by the employer?
(A.) The court does not decide this issue, but leaves it to be resolved in further proceedings.
Chapter Questions and Problems, p. 550
1. (Q.) In reviewing a claim under the Equal Pay Act, do the courts require that the jobs in
question be identical?
2. (Q.) As a result of the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, have the overall earnings for women become roughly comparable to that of
men?
Chapter 14 Pay Equity; Age Discrimination
(A.) No. In spite of the passage of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII, statistics on the overall
3. (Q.)
without violating the ADEA?
(A.) Section 4(f) of the ADEA allows employers to terminate protected employees for
4. [Equal pay for substantially equal work, Section 14.1.] Under the Act, the court must consider
whether the two jobs entail equal skill, effort, and responsibility.
In this case the duties of the two job classifications appear equal. Under Wheaton Glass
Co. the court must decide whether the jobs are substantially equal, not whether they are
5. [Age discrimination, Section 14.3.] Western may defend against the action by claiming that its
retirement policy for flight engineers is a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) for
Hodgson
v. Greyhound Lines, Inc. [Section 14.2], an employer may differentiate as to age without
Chapter 14 Pay Equity; Age Discrimination
Labor & Employment Law 124
6. [Age discrimination, Section 14.3.] Upon weighing the facts, the court ruled that Roadway had
violated the ADEA. The standard applied by the court under the Act to these facts is to
w
7. [Prohibited practices under the ADEA, Section 14.4.] Judgment for Leftwich. While the college
existence of higher salaries for tenured faculty can be used to justify terminating older
8. [Age discrimination, Section 14.4.]
discriminates only against retired employees; however, only employees 55 or older are
9. [Age discrimination, Section 14.3]. Hostile working environment is an actionable legal theory
under the ADEA. However, the alleged harassment inflicted on Crawford was not
sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of employment to amount to an