EXAM NO. ___________ Professor Brant

Employment Discrimination December 9, and 13, 1997

Final Examination

GRADE POSTING: If you do not wish to have your grade posted (by exam number) in this course, please place an X by your number on the exam and on your answer.

DIRECTIONS

1. This exam is "open universe." Any source materials may be used.

2. Three hours have been allotted for the examination.

3. There is no presumption that use of a case name results from knowledge of its contents. Discuss and analyze any case law you plan to use in your answer.

4. You must turn in your examination and scratch paper with your answer.

5. You may not discuss this examination with anyone, either while you are taking it, or at any time during the examination week.

GOOD LUCK!

EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION

FINAL EXAMINATION

When Karen was hired by Mitsubishi Motors to work at its manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois, she thought she had won the lottery. Mitsubishi paid its workers an average salary of $19/hour, with excellent benefits. What Karen didn't expect was the reception she received when she was taken to the assembly line to meet her coworkers.

As Milton, her new supervisor, led Karen down the line, male employees began to whistle, scream and howl at her. Several men simulated masturbation in her direction, and another aimed an air gun at her breasts. Milton made no effort to arrest these displays, merely telling her that the men tended to get "enthusiastic over new arrivals."

Karen soon learned that these exchanges were commonplace. Sarah, who trained Karen on powertrain assembly, told Karen that her hands and feet had been taped to a cart and that she had been wheeled around the line for several minutes, past laughing supervisors and line workers. The supervisor later told her that the men who had taped her were "good guys who deserved a second chance."

Karen did find an ally in Brad, a management trainee who had just returned from Tokyo. Over beers one night, he confessed that Mitsubishi took all its management trainees to "audience participation" bars where customers' sex acts with prostitutes were part of the entertainment. Male employees would discuss certain employees who would bring back "souvenirs" other than gifts from the trips, referring to sexually transmitted diseases. Brad said that he had been mocked and teased for refusing to participate and that "watching was bad enough."

The last straw for Karen came when she saw line employees chuckling salaciously over a stack of pictures. She asked a coworker what was going on and was told that managers regularly arranged sex parties on plant grounds after hours, and would later distribute pornographic pictures from the parties throughout the plant. One line leader told her: it's 'the same as guys coming in after a hunting trip and showing pictures of the deer." One of the managers featured in the pictures was responsible for processing sexual harassment complaints.

One of the wildest areas in the plant was the bumper line, where entire bumper units were lifted six feet high and attached to steadily moving car units. The job required enormous upper body strength, and those positions were entirely filled by men. Sarah told Karen that the men on the "Bump'in and Rollin' Line" had spent several weeks passing pictures around the plant of women having sex with animals. She advised Karen to give this line a wide berth.

Six months after Karen started work, a position opened up for a foreman. Karen asked Sarah, who had 10 years experience, why she didn't apply. Sarah said that Mitsubishi required its foremen to have worked at every assembly line in the plant, and no woman had ever worked on the bumper line. Mitsubishi had never had a female foreman at the Normal plant. Sarah also complained that women workers were treated as "second-class" citizens from the time they were hired. Karen thought this was an overstatement, until she attended the first-year worker orientation program. At this program, a male supervisor, who was not Japanese, told the women workers that Japanese managers did not consider women equals, and believed women should not be working in a factory. He suggested that they should not look Japanese men in the eye or make eye contact, since this would be considered "insulting" to the Japanese. He identified one Japanese manager who refused to speak to women workers.

In October, a management position opened up. The two leading applicants were Brad and Ishiguro. Ishiguro was Japanese, and had been at the Normal plant for eighteen months. His work evaluations were average, and he was not familiar with three of the production lines at the Normal plant. Brad had 6 years experience at Normal (plus two years at another Mitsubishi plant), had completed management training, had consistently excellent work evaluations and had worked on every production line at the Normal plant. Mitsubishi promoted Ishiguro, citing his "enthusiasm and energy." Brad told Karen acidly that those qualities had been on full display in the Japanese bars.

When December came, the final paycheck contained employee bonuses. Karen received a $500 bonus, and was thrilled. Akiro, a rookie Japanese worker on Karen's line got $2400, and griped all afternoon. Karen asked Sarah over lunch whether Akiro had a better record than she did. Sarah laughed and said: "we're gaijin* and we're women. They don't think we need the money, because we're supposed to have men to take care of us."

In January, the EEOC began an investigation into conditions at the Normal plant, based on complaints from several female employees. Mitsubishi consulted counsel, and decided it needed some women in management positions. They offered Sarah a job as "foreperson" of the Bumper Line, which she accepted. Mark, who had been working on that line for 5 years, contacted the EEOC investigator and indicated his willingness to file charges.

Discuss and resolve all issues.

* Gaijin is a derogatory Japanese slang term for non-Japanese, derived from the word "gaikokujin" which literally means "foreigner."