Full opinion text
MEMORANDUM NANGLE, District Judge. Plaintiffs Curtiss Cobb, Linda Landzet-tel, Loretta Weiner and Patricia Long brought the instant action against Anheu-ser-Busch, Inc., and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Bottlers Local Union No. 1187 (“Local 1187”) alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42. U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. Specifically, plaintiffs, who are all females and bottlers in the Packaging Quality Assurance Department in Anheuser-Busch’s St. Louis Brewery, alleged that Anheuser-Busch and Local 1187 discriminated against them on the basis of sex and ultimately retaliated against plaintiffs for filing charges of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. This Court, in its order and memorandum of December 23, 1987, dismissed plaintiffs’ claims against Local 1187 for failure to file timely charges of discrimination. The Court retained Local 1187 as a defendant in this action, however, for the limited purposes of interpreting the collective bargaining agreement and enabling the Court to fashion an effective remedy to prevent future discrimination should the facts justify such relief. Pursuant to the parties’ joint request for a bifurcated trial on the issues of liability and damages, the issue of Anheuser-Busch’s liability was tried to this Court sitting without a jury in an eleven-day trial. This Court having considered the pleadings, the testimony of the witnesses, the documents in evidence, and the stipulations of the parties, and being fully advised in the premises, hereby makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 52. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. Plaintiffs Patricia Long, Loretta Weiner, Linda Landzettel and Curtiss Cobb are citizens of the United States of Amer-ica and were all residents of the Eastern District of Missouri at the time that this action was filed. Plaintiffs are all females. 2. Defendant Anheuser-Busch, Inc. (“the Company”) is a corporation existing under the laws of the State of Missouri and is an employer within the meaning of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. 3. Defendant Bottlers Local Union No. 1187 (“the Union” or “Local 1187”) is a labor organization within the meaning of Title VII and a party to a current collective bargaining agreement with the Company. Local 1187 is the Collective Bargaining Agent for the plaintiffs, who are covered by the collective bargaining agreement between the Company and the Union. Local 1187 represents all bottlers at the St. Louis facility. The Union or its predecessor has represented the “bottlers” at the St. Louis facility for over four decades. A. General Operations at the St. Louis Facility. 4. Plaintiffs are all bottlers in the Packaging Quality Assurance Department (“PQA”) at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in St. Louis, Missouri. PQA is a department within the Beer Packaging and Shipping Section of the St. Louis Brewery, which consists of: (1) Beer Packaging; (2) Warehousing and Shipping; (3) General Service Crafts; (4) Building Cleaning; and (5) PQA. 5. PQA is charged with testing certain characteristics of the beer as well as the containers holding the beer and the packaging in which it is shipped and marketed. Tests are performed during and after the packaging of the beer in bottles, cans and kegs, and are some of the last tests to be performed on the beer and its packaging before it is released for sale. 6. PQA is staffed with approximately 120 beer bottlers, which are referred to as “lab techs”. It operates around the clock with four shifts: red, yellow, midnight and day. Two of the shifts, the red and yellow shifts, are “swing shifts”. They operate two weeks on days (7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) and two weeks on afternoons (1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. or 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.). The midnight shift operates from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. The day shift operates from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. As of December 13,1988, 34 bottlers worked on the red shift, 24 on the yellow shift, 17 on the midnight shift and 14 on day shift. 7. Every bottler is paid an hourly wage of $17.29, receives 15 paid holidays, 6 paid sick days and between 2 and 9 weeks vacation each year, regardless of her job assignment. 8. Plaintiffs are assigned to the red shift, whose members may be assigned various tasks within PQA. 9. Plaintiff Patricia Long was employed by the Company on 8/13/73 as a bottler in the Bevo Plant. She transferred to PQA, yellow shift, on 9/5/77. Some time between 1980 and 1983 she transferred to red shift. 10. Plaintiff Loretta Weiner was employed by the Company on 7/24/76 as a bottler in the Bevo Plant and transferred to PQA on 9/18/78. She transferred to red shift from yellow shift in 1979. 11. Plaintiff Linda Landzettel was employed by the Company on 7/24/76 as a bottler in the Bevo Plant and transferred to PQA, red shift, on 7/31/78. She now works day shift. 12. Plaintiff Curtiss Cobb was employed by the Company on 7/24/76 as a bottler in the Bevo Plant. She was initially assigned to red shift and transferred to PQA on 9/18/78. 13. Lab techs in PQA may be assigned to nine different areas of PQA, which are often referred to as “labs”, in the Bevo building: (1) Reprocessing and Repack on the warehouse floor of the Bevo building; (2) sixth floor bottle lab; (3) fifth floor can lab; (4) third floor bottle lab; (5) second floor can lab; (6) basement bottle lab; (7) draft beer in the basement of the draft beer building; (8) Material Testing on the fourth floor; and (9) Technical Services on the third floor. 14. Assignments to Material Testing and Technical Services are considered permanent, and lab techs who are permanently assigned to these labs work the day shift. The remaining assignments are handled by red, yellow and midnight shift. 15. The tasks in Reprocessing generally involve inspection. Cases of beer are examined for suspected defects that may have been detected in the various can and bottle labs, e.g., bad labels, loose crowns, leaking containers. Lab techs may be assigned to “table jobs”, which require lab techs to lift cases of beer from pallets to roller conveyors, and then manually transport the cases along the rollers to tables. Lab techs then sit at these tables and inspect the bottles or cans of beer for glass, foreign matter, dents or leaks. Lab techs in Reprocessing also perform a task known as “sorting”, which involves inspecting damaged pallets of cases of beer and separating beer that will be dumped and beer that will be salvaged. Salvaged beer is taken to a center aisle and transported to an area where pallets are repacked. In addition, lab techs may be assigned to drive fork trucks to aid in these various tasks or pull “randoms”, which involves removing random samples of beer from cases or pallets to inspect for proper packaging, etc. 16. Lab techs generally consider Reprocessing to be an undesirable assignment, although one employee, Shirley Landzettel, has requested to be assigned to reprocessing on a permanent basis. The Reprocessing area is located adjacent to the open loading dock area in the Bevo building, which results in colder temperatures in the winter and hotter temperatures in the summer in Reprocessing than in other areas of PQA. In addition, many lab techs consider Reprocessing to be boring, heavy, tedious work that provides little mental challenge. Lab techs in reprocessing are subjected to greater supervision and scrutiny than lab techs assigned to other areas. 17. The various can, bottle and draft beer labs are generally referred to as “production labs”. When working the production labs, lab techs generally pick up samples of cans or bottles and run tests on the amount of air in each container (“airs”), the level of carbonation (“C02’s”), and check for foreign matter (“turbidity”). Lab techs in the production labs also monitor the temperature of beer coming out of the pasteurizer, watch “beer changes” (when different product lines are dispensed into containers), and inspect the finished product in its final packaging to make sure that the right product is in the right container, labels are intact, the product is coded properly, etc. (“finish pack”). Basically, the same tests are run on draft beer. 18. Lab techs working in the production labs also perform tests known as PCAS and SVK. PCAS is a computer device that is placed in pasteurizers and records the temperature of the pasteurizer. SVK, which stands for “single valve keg”, is a test performed on the draft beer products. SVK involves removing beer from the keg periodically, inspecting the keg, checking weights and checking the scales. These tests require the lab technicians to enter their test results on reports and enter the collective data from their reports onto a computer. 19. Production lab assignments are generally considered more desirable because the lab techs are subjected to less supervision. The tasks involve more mental activity and are more challenging than the tasks in reprocessing. 20. Only 4 lab techs work in Technical Services. Lab techs in Technical Services test cleaning materials, lubricants, etc., and perform more “experimental-type work”. Tests are not routine, but, rather, are formulated to fit particular needs. Lab techs in this lab are required to exercise more judgment than in other labs. Many lab techs seek assignments to Technical Services because of the physical environment and the mentally challenging nature of the work. 21. Only 10 lab techs work in Material Testing. In Material Testing, any type of container that beer is placed in for shipping (cans, bottles, cases, cartons, separation of cartons) is tested before the beer is placed in the containers. Material Testing involves more routine tests than Technical Services, but lab techs frequently rotate to different jobs within the lab. Like Technical Services, many lab techs seek assignments to Material Testing because of the physical environment as well as the mentally challenging nature of the work. 22. In addition to the above-mentioned assignments, lab techs also serve as vacation relief for the Tower Lab. In addition, permanent assignments are given to lab techs who have served as vacation relief. The Tower Lab is part of the Brewing Quality Assurance Department (“BQA”), which is a department within the Brewing Operation rather than the Beer Packaging and Shipping Department. The Brewing Operation, BQA and the Tower Lab are geographically separate from Beer Packaging and Shipping, PQA and the labs in the Bevo building. 23. The Tower Lab is comprised of a main laboratory and two supplementary labs, all of which are located on the sixth floor in Building No. 36, approximately one block away from the Bevo building. Approximately 33 bottlers are assigned to the Tower Lab permanently. The majority of lab techs work from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Approximately 3 lab techs work from 4:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m., and approximately 3 lab techs work from 12:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. Approximately 5 lab techs serve as vacation relief for permanent lab techs on leaves of absences, vacations and sick leave. 24. Lab techs assigned to the Tower Lab test beer in the brewing stage and before packaging. They inspect liquids, grains and all materials used in making the beer. Tests are run on beer in different stages of the brewing process. Lab techs may be assigned to different areas within the building and routinely pick up samples on different floors. Individuals with little experience or who are serving as vacation relief generally wash glassware and pick up beer until they become familiar with more sophisticated procedures. Many lab techs consider the Tower Lab to be even more challenging than Material Testing and Technical Services, and it is generally considered to be a desirable assignment. B. The Supervisory Hierarchy. 25. William Ross is currently the Manager of PQA and in generally responsible for all operations and PQA and reports directly to the Plant Manager, Jack Russell. Don Kugler is the Assistant Manager for PQA; he reports to the Manager of PQA. 26. Joe Schiro has been the General Foreman for Packaging since July of 1983. The General Foreman for Packaging is responsible for scheduling manpower for all laboratory jobs, draft beer, reprocessing and repackaging, responding to wholesaler complaints and managing the testing on the bottle, can and draft beer units. Mr. Schiro is not directly responsible for Material Testing and Technical Services, as these labs have independent general foremen. He reports directly to the Manager and Assistant Manager of PQA. Prior to Joe Schiro, John Poore was the General Foreman for Packaging. 27. Mel Klock is presently the Technical Manager of Corporate Quality Assurance. He has held this position for the past five years. Prior to that, he was Assistant Manager of PQA for one year. Prior to that, he was General Foreman for Packaging from 1972 until 1982. 28. There are also Area Coordinators who are generally responsible for each shift. Area Coordinators report directly to the General Foreman of Packaging. Cle-tus Hinkamp was the Area Coordinator on the red shift from approximately 1982 until 1984/85. Since early 1985 Paul Parker has been the Area Coordinator on red shift. There is also a Relief Coordinator who fills in when the Area Coordinator assigned to a specific shift is absent. 29. There are also foremen (or “supervisors”) who directly supervise lab techs in the different areas and labs within PQA on particular shifts. Foremen report directly to the area coordinator. There are also relief foremen/supervisors who fill in for foremen assigned to specific areas and shifts when said foremen are absent. 30. Each shift is represented by a union delegate or “Shop Steward”. It is the responsibility of each shop steward to represent the concerns of the Union with respect to the employees on a given shift. Shop stewards are elected for two year terms by the employee members of Local 1187 working in a particular area of the Beer Packaging and Shipping Department. The Union pays these individuals $480.00 per year to serve as shop stewards. C. The “Protected Group’’. 31. Prior to 1974 bottlers and lab technicians were in separate unions. Bottlers were in Local 1187, and lab technicians were in Local 227. During this period, lab technicians would rotate into reprocessing frequently, but they were not permitted to perform lifting of cases, etc., because this was the bottlers’ territory. 32. In 1974 the bottlers and the lab technicians agreed to merge into a single union. Originally, only a small amount of technicians worked in the labs and bottlers constituted the primary work force in reprocessing. As the company began to increase its production and more units began to run, however, a need arose for the labs to expand. Also, in the past, different groups of bottlers were brought into reprocessing at different times on an “as needed” basis. Thus, there existed a lack of continuity of personnel who were familiar with the tasks in reprocessing. Therefore, the company decided that there should be more lab techs in Reprocessing and fewer bottlers, because lab technicians would know what was “good product” and might perform that area’s quality control tasks more ably. 33. The merger began in 1974 and became official in 1976. In March of 1976, a strike occurred, which lasted fourteen weeks. After the strike, in 1977, the transfer system of new personnel into Packaging Quality Assurance began. 34. With the merger of these unions and the introduction of new lab technicians into Packaging Quality Assurance, however, there arose a concern that the 15-16 lab technicians on each shift who had extensive experience in the upper floor labs and who had “done their time” in Reprocessing would be supplanted by the new lab techs entering PQA. Among these new lab technicians were the first women that would be assigned to PQA as lab techs. 35. In response to these concerns, union officials and company officials met in 1976-77 and established the “Protected Group”, which originally consisted of the 15-16 lab technicians on each shift who had the highest seniority and were members of old Local 227. The purpose of the Protected Group was to require the newer lab techs with low seniority to spend more time in Reprocessing than the “old timers”, who had already spent a good deal of time in Reprocessing. Approximately two of the “old timers” were to, however, rotate to reprocessing each week for a one-week period. It was hoped that the existence of the Protected Group would keep the more senior technicians in the jobs they were familiar with, while the newer technicians would occasionally rotate to the upper floors and eventually learn those jobs too. 36. As members of the protected group left PQA, they were replaced by the lab tech with the highest seniority who had been trained on the upper floor jobs. Newer members of the Protected Group, however, were not chosen on the basis of seniority in PQA, but, rather, plant seniority. In fact, supervisors in PQA did not keep records of seniority within the department. In some instances, individuals with very high plant seniority would transfer into PQA, be trained by individuals with a great deal of experience in PQA, and within a very short time be admitted to the Protected Group based on their plant seniority. Thus, as new lab technicians entered the Protected Group, the original motives behind establishing the Group were gradually defeated. 37. Pat Long transferred into PQA in 1977 and initially worked on the yellow shift. When she transferred to the red shift (between 1980 and 1983), she was admitted to the Protected Group. 38. In February of 1984, Pat Long circulated a petition requesting the abolition of the protected group and asked for a meeting with Local 1187’s Executive Board. Both men and women signed the petition. At this time Bob Halim was the principal officer of the Union. A meeting with the Executive Board was held on February 16, 1984. Plaintiffs and other men and women who were not in the Protected Group attended the meeting. In September of 1986 another meeting was held with regard to the abolition of the Protected Group. At this time, Gordon Willie was the principal officer of Local 1187. Willie said that the issue would have to be put to a vote. 39. In November of 1986 the Union voted to abolish the protected group. Plaintiffs received no formal notification that the Protected Group was abolished, although if they attended the union meetings in either November or December of 1986 they would have been so informed. Linda Landzettel first realized that the Protected Group was abolished in December of 1986 or the beginning of 1987 when Paul Parker began rotating everyone equally through the various jobs in PQA. D. Training, Job Assignment and Movement Within PQA. 40. According to the Company’s collective bargaining agreement with Local 1187, transfers into PQA from another department are governed by seniority. When bottlers enter PQA they are trained, and if their work is acceptable, their clock number is changed to 3700 or 4100, and they become a permanent lab tech. 41. Once an individual’s clock number is changed, she cannot be “bumped” out of PQA by an individual with greater seniority who wants to enter the lab. Furthermore, a bottler with high seniority cannot gain a transfer to another shift by displacing a lower seniority bottler on the desired shift. Rather, bottlers who wish to transfer to another shift must wait for an opening on the desired shift. When an opening occurs, it will be assigned according to seniority. 42. The collective bargaining agreement also provides that seniority will govern layoffs. 43. Although the Union has attempted to secure a system of assigning jobs within departments on the basis of strict seniority (“job bidding”), the Company has strictly refused to be limited in such away with regard to job assignment. See Joint Ex. F at p. 35 (Memorandum of Understanding of July 12, 1973). 44. Nevertheless, in an attempt to accommodate the Union, Company officials in PQA make an attempt to take seniority into consideration when assigning jobs to lab techs. Skill and ability, dependability, and ability to work independently are very important factors in job assignment. When these factors are equal, however, seniority will be a major determining factor. 45. Company officials in PQA look to plant seniority (determined by an employee’s date of hiring) rather than the length of time an employee has been in PQA when referring to seniority. Employee lists are often organized by plant seniority, and plant seniority. 46. Bottlers entering PQA are initially trained to run tests on bottle and can units. The lab tech spends approximately one week being trained on can units by a fellow lab tech or, in some cases, by a foreman or supervisor. The lab tech is then placed on the unit another week to ensure that she has retained the necessary skills and information. The lab tech is then trained on other can or bottle lines for approximately four weeks. In all, the lab tech spends approximately five to six weeks learning the basic unit jobs in the production labs. 47. Area Coordinators determine when lab techs will be trained on SVK and PCAS. There are no written guidelines on when to train lab techs on these jobs, but they must get permission from the General Foreman of Packaging, who in turn must monitor the budget and check with the Plant Manager regarding budget concerns. Cletus Hinkamp, when he was Area Coordinator, and Paul Parker train lab techs according to budget considerations, the department’s need for more individuals on these jobs, seniority, ability to work independently and ability to perform the type of tasks SVK and PCAS require. Neither Hinkamp nor Parker endeavor to train all lab techs on SVK and PCAS. PCAS is not a “full scale” job. Each unit is only checked once per week, and the job is not even performed on all shifts. Paul Parker feels that if everyone in PQA were trained on PCAS and SVK, and he rotated every person through the jobs on a weekly basis, then any training would be lost due to changes in the demands of the job that occurred during the time lapse as well as the attrition of skills that naturally occur over such a time. 48. Both Parker and Hinkamp have attempted to honor seniority in determining who to train. If all factors are equal, seniority will control their decision. On occasions when Parker has not followed seniority, he has received strong protests from the delegate. 49. Absenteeism also impacts training, as the decision to train a lab tech must be made as the need presents itself; and lab techs who are not present, obviously, cannot be trained. In addition, absenteeism impacts the Area Coordinator’s impressions regarding a particular lab tech’s reliability. Furthermore, the attendance log upon which the Area Coordinator relies does not indicate the reason for absences other than vacations. 50. The need to train lab techs, particularly on SVK or PCAS, may vary even on a weekly basis. As PQA has grown progressively busier in recent years, training has become more difficult, and people are only trained when they are truly needed. 51. The number of beer production lines that are actually in operation varies from week to week. Anywhere from seven to fifteen units may be in operation around the clock. Thus, each week anywhere from seven to fifteen lab techs on the red shift may be assigned to production units in a given week. 52. One to two lab techs on each shift perform the PCAS job on each shift each week. 53. One lab tech on each shift is assigned to perform the SVK job. 54. Lab techs not assigned to production labs, SVK or PCAS are assigned to Reprocessing. The number of lab techs assigned to reprocessing is normally between ten and fifteen. Anywhere from one to sixteen lab techs in Reprocessing, per shift, may be assigned to table jobs. Usually one or two lab techs per shift, but sometimes as many as five, are assigned to perform random sampling. On some days the random sampling job is not assigned at all. Two to five employees per shift may be assigned to transport beer by fork truck from Reprocessing to the warehouse areas. Each week one and sometimes two lab techs are assigned to the sorting function. 55. When Cletus Hinkamp became the Area Coordinator on red shift, he initiated a policy that was meant to prevent any lab tech from spending more than two consecutive weeks in Reprocessing. This policy was instituted in response to complaints from low seniority men and women who were spending the greater portion of their time in Reprocessing. Even after the policy was instituted, however, some lab techs spent more total time in Reprocessing than other lab techs. 56. The initial weekly assignment of lab techs in PQA is recorded on documents known as “job assignment sheets”. 57. Lab techs who are initially assigned to Reprocessing for a given week, however, do not necessarily spend the entire week in Reprocessing. Rather, Reprocessing serves as a “labor pool” in PQA. Thus, when an absentee occurs in a production lab, on SVK or on PCAS, or an additional production unit is set into operation, lab techs in Reprocessing will be assigned to these “upper floor” jobs. The supervisor in Reprocessing makes assignments to fill upper floor vacancies on the basis of seniority and whether the most senior lab tech in seniority has been trained on the particular job that is open. If the most senior lab tech in seniority does not know the job that is open, the second senior lab tech in Reprocessing is assigned to the job. 58. Supervisors in PQA record the movement of manpower from Reprocessing to other areas in the lab on a document called the “Cost Center Sheet”. The purpose of the Cost Center Sheet is to document the specific “costs”, in terms of manhours, that a given area in PQA incurs on a daily basis. Thus, if four employees work in Reprocessing for eight hours on a given day, the Cost Center Sheet should reflect a total of thirty-two manhours assigned to the Reprocessing “cost center” for that day. It is not the practice of supervisors in PQA, however, when filling out Cost Center Sheets to attempt to accurately record every area or “cost center” where an individual lab tech worked in a given day. Rather, supervisors generally attempt to determine the total number of manhours that were expended in their respective area on a given day and then allocate those hours in eight-hour increments among the employees listed on the Cost Center Sheet. Thus, if a total of 24 man-hours were expended in Reprocessing on a given day, the supervisor would assign eight hours each to the first, second and third lab. techs listed on the Cost Center Sheet. Therefore, the Cost Center Sheets do not provide an accurate record of where each lab tech may have worked on a given day. 59. The most common job openings that arise and allow a lab tech to be transferred out of Reprocessing are on the can and bottle production units. The second most frequent opening, although not nearly as frequent, would occur on SVK. Requests for a lab tech assigned to Reprocessing to fill a vacancy on PCAS are highly infrequent. 60. Assignments to Material Testing and Technical Services are made almost exclusively on the basis of seniority. To acquire a permanent position in these “specialty labs”, a lab tech must first get on the respective lab’s vacation relief list. Lab techs are placed on the vacation relief lists for Material Testing and Technical Services according to whether they have expressed a desire to work in one of the labs and by seniority. The most senior lab tech on the vacation relief list is allowed to work in the lab when a vacation or other absence in the lab creates a temporary vacancy. It is through serving as vacation replacements that lab techs are trained in these specialty labs. 61. Assignments to the Tower Lab are also made on the basis of seniority. As with the other specialty labs, lab techs who express an interest in the Tower Lab are placed on a vacation relief list according to seniority. Likewise, lab techs are trained in the Tower Lab by serving as vacation relief. Permanent assignments to the Tower Lab are taken from the vacation relief list according to seniority. There are currently five vacation replacements serving the Tower Lab. 62. When Mel Klock was the General Foreman of Packaging he solicited individuals to work in the Tower Lab with the help of shop stewards. The shop stewards would report to Klock the names of lab techs who would like to go to the Tower Lab, and Klock would record the names of these people on a list that he kept. When BQA called and asked for someone to fill in as vacation relief, Klock would assign a lab tech from the list according to seniority. 63. In 1978-1979, Klock encountered increasing difficulty in locating lab techs who were willing to go to the Tower Lab. At this time Klock made an isolated departure from the system of assigning vacation relief to the Tower Lab on the basis of plant seniority. A vacation replacement was needed for the Tower Lab, and because Klock was unaware of any additional existing lab tech who had expressed an interest in the Tower Lab, Klock forced Mike Mis-kov to serve as a vacation replacement. Miskov was chosen on the basis that he was the most recent transfer into PQA and had spent the least amount of time in PQA. In fact, Miskov had not yet been trained on any job in PQA. Klock felt that the vacation relief job in Tower Lab. was the least technical, and, therefore, if Miskov did not like the job, no training would be wasted on him. Therefore, Miskov was assigned to work as vacation relief on January 3, 1979. Miskov was given no choice in the matter. Klock received no complaints from other lab techs with respect to the assignment of Miskov. 64. In late 1984/early 1985 Joe Schiro instituted the system of using a sign-up list to determine what lab techs wish to work in the Tower Lab and Material Testing. Vacation relief assignments to the Tower Lab and Material Testing are currently made by reference to these lists. When an opening arises, the most senior person expressing an interest in a particular lab is assigned to work as vacation relief. Prior to the posting of these lists, Schiro would go to a shop steward whenever the need for an additional Tower Lab relief-person arose. He assumed that the individual designated by the shop steward was the most senior lab tech interested in the Tower Lab. E. Assignment to Reprocessing. 65. Following is a list of PQA red shift employees and their plant seniority dates in order of seniority: NAME SENIORITY DATE Hercules, James 04/11/61 Mourton, Gus 09/18/62 Waltenberger, Guenter (Gene) 04/08/63 Large, James 08/03/64 Hermann, Mark 07/06/70 Cameron, Richard 09/16/71 Floyd, Marvin 04/10/72 Hockerson, Everett 09/18/72 Horneker, Jr., George 09/25/72 Denwood, Janet 03/28/73 Howard, Elizabeth 03/29/73 Johnson, Jacquelyn 07/09/73 Clark, Joe 07/16/73 Long, Patricia 08/13/73 Cameron, Douglas 07/09/74 Billy, John 07/09/74 Brynes, John 10/07/74 McFadden, Carl 10/07/74 Nuckolls, Terry 07/11/74 Bailey, Thomas 11/18/74 Hasan, Lorene 07/10/75 Ray, Carolyn 07/10/75 Ray, James 07/10/75 Slaughter, John 07/10/75 Bippin, Michael 09/25/75 Cobb, Curtiss 07/24/76 Fraley, Randy 07/24/76 Landzettel, Linda 07/24/76 Landzettel, Shirley 07/24/76 Weiner, Loretta 07/24/76 George, Shirley 08/07/76 66. Curtiss Cobb concedes that James Ray, John Floyd, Carl McFadden and Randy Fraley are in Reprocessing consistently. 67. Following is a compilation of the approximate number of weeks that each plaintiff, Randy Fraley and Mike Bippen (male lab techs with seniority dates comparable to those of Weiner, Cobb and Linda Landzettel) were assigned to Reprocessing from 1983-1988 according to the job assignment sheets provided by plaintiffs and defendants: '83 '84 '85 '86 '87 '88 Long 04 04 03 07 10 07 Weiner 25 16 15 28 13 01 Cobb 25 24 18 29 17 06 Landzettel 25 24 18 17 19 13 Bippen 26 24 19 15 16 12 Fraley 25 24 14 19 13 12 68. Following is the approximate number of weeks each of the above lab techs was absent during the above years, according to job assignment sheets, due to vacation, sick leave, leave of absence, lay off or suspension: (83 (84 (85 (86 (87 (88 Long 21 06 07 08 14 14 Weiner 08 17 06 05 15 30 Cobb 05 03 03 07 08 20 Landzettel 04 04 01 21 06 04 Bippen 05 05 02 07 09 04 Fraley 05 03 10 19 22 04 69. Plaintiffs have not been assigned to Reprocessing with greater frequency than males who have similar seniority dates. 70. The figures that plaintiffs provide with respect to assignment to reprocessing, total hours worked therein and the accompanying graphs (Plaintiff’s Exhibit 26) are unreliable because they are based on Cost Center Sheets, which are not an accurate source for such information. 71. A lab tech’s inability to perform the PCAS and SVK jobs will not significantly affect the frequency with which the lab tech is assigned out of Reprocessing to fill vacancies on the “upper floors”. F. Plaintiffs’ Training Compared to that of Men in Reprocessing. 72. Pat Long’s record at the Company is in all respects excellent. Her supervisors and foremen in PQA all recognize that she is a fine lab tech and a good worker. She has never been formally disciplined by the Company in any manner. In the summers of 1978 and 1979 Mel Klock, in recognition of her capabilities, assigned to Long work as a “lead person”, which involved Long’s filling in for supervisors that were on vacation. When Long first entered PQA she was trained on can and bottle units. Later, she was trained on SVK, which took approximately three days. She was not trained on PCAS for a long time. She ultimately was trained on PCAS, however, and worked PCAS on and off for approximately one year. After this time the equipment used for PCAS was changed and Long had to be retrained. Long was not retrained on the new PCAS until she made an official request to Joe Schiro. Pat Long has been trained on all of the jobs in PQA. 73. Loretta Weiner’s work habits are also highly regarded by foremen and supervisors in PQA. She has never been formally disciplined by the Company. She is recognized as being very precise, although her precision at times borders on “pickiness”, which may be counterproductive, particularly with tasks where it is not her job to be picky. Initially, Weiner was only trained on the finish pack job because she was permanently assigned to that task. Weiner took the initiative to learn the other jobs in PQA on her own time and was allowed to work overtime on weekends to learn other jobs. Weiner has received praise from her supervisors for her proficiency on finish pack. Weiner was also selected to do special testing on new PCAS equipment in Technical Services. To date, Weiner knows all jobs in PQA except those in Material Testing, Technical Services and the Tower Lab. 74. Linda Landzettel has a fair reputation as a lab tech. From the early 1980’s until late 1985/early 1986 Landzettel had an admitted absentee ’ problem. She received suspensions for excessive absenteeism in 1982 and 1983. Since early 1986, however, Landzettel has “cleared up” her absentee problem. In 1984 then-supervisor Don Kuegler warned Linda Landzettel and Curtiss .Cobb for failing to perform work when he found them drawing flower designs on a shelf with glue guns rather than gluing cartons shut as they had been assigned. Nonetheless, Paul Parker testified that Landzettel is “probably a better worker now than she’s ever been.” Tr. 857. 75.When Linda Landzettel entered PQA she was immediately trained on can and bottle units for approximately three weeks. At the end of her training she could do all jobs on cans and bottles, with the exception of finish pack on bottles. Landzettel spoke with her shop steward in 1983 and set up a meeting with John Poore, who was then General Foreman of Packaging, to discuss training on PCAS and SVK. Poore indicated that he would “keep her in mind” regarding training, but questioned why she would want to perform such dirty and heavy jobs. Landzettel also raised the issue of training at the February 1984 Union Executive Board Meeting regarding the Protected Group. In November of 1987 Landzettel questioned her shop steward Jim Hercules about training. After a meeting with Joe Schiro, Hercules indicated that Schiro said he lacked funds for training. Later in November of 1987 Landzettel spoke with Paul Parker about training, and Parker agreed to train her on SVK. He refused to train her on PCAS, however, because he “did not want everyone to know the job.” In March of 1988, however, Parker trained a Dan Hockerson on PCAS when Hockerson had not yet been in PQA a full year. Landzettel wrote a grievance regarding the Hockerson training. Joe Schiro responded to Landzettel’s grievance both orally and in writing. Schiro indicated that he would train Landzettel on PCAS in the future when the opportunity and the need arose. As of February of 1989, Land-zettel had not been trained on PCAS. 76. Curtiss Cobb has a rather poor record as a lab tech in PQA. She has been counseled on a multitude of occasions from January of 1979 through July of 1987 for such matters as: inattention to duties, idling and sleeping on the job, failure to follow instructions, refusing to do work, returning from break late, leaving for break early in contravention of specific instructions, failing to fill out reports correctly and failing to find defects she was specifically directed to look for. She has been reprimanded, suspended twice and was ultimately terminated for absenteeism. Cobb has been trained on all can and bottle units. She has not, however, been trained on SVK, PCAS or the “dumping job” in reprocessing. 77. Cobb has spoken with Union officials, Joe Schiro, Paul Parker and Mel Klock with regard to training. She also spoke with David Mulherin of Employee Relation regarding training. Schiro indicated in 1984 that the budget would not allow training her. She has also been informed that no specific rules exist with respect to training. 78. During the time that Cobb and Landzettel attempted to acquire training on SVK and PCAS, men who had been in PQA for a shorter time period than Cobb and Weiner were trained on one or both of these jobs. 79. Lorene Hassan is a female lab tech in PQA assigned to the red shift. Her seniority date is 7/10/75. She is trained on neither SVK nor PCAS. Hassan was not trained, despite her high seniority, because she is only good at routine work and does not perform well without direct supervision. 80. Jim Hercules is a male lab tech in PQA assigned to the red shift. His seniority date is the highest in the department: 4/11/61. He was not trained on PCAS because he lacks the ability and skill to perform the job, and Parker does not consider him to be a very good worker. 81. John Slaughter is a male lab tech in PQA assigned to the red shift. His seniority date is 7/10/75. Paul Parker did not train Slaughter on PCAS because his aptitude is not suitable for the job. 82. Joe Clark is a male lab tech in PQA assigned to the red shift. His seniority date is 7/16/73. Paul Parker did not train Joe Clark because his work habits are poor. 83. Gene Waltenberger is a male lab tech in PQA assigned to the red shift. His seniority date is 4/8/63. Waltenberger has been in the lab for over 25 years and was trained before Parker became Area Coordinator. Parker, however, rarely assigns Waltenberger to the PCAS job if he can avoid it because he frequently breaks equipment, and his work performance is substandard. 84. James Ray is a male lab tech in PQA assigned to the red shift. His seniority date is 7/10/75. He is trained on neither SVK nor PCAS. 85. Dan Hockerson is a male lab tech in PQA assigned to the red shift. His seniority date is 9/25/72. He was trained by Paul Parker on both SVK and PCAS within six months after he came into PQA. Hocker-son was trained because he had high seniority and because he took the initiative to learn PCAS. Hockerson would go on his own time with the person running PCAS. By the time Parker formally trained him, Hockerson had learned so much that Parker only had to spend one day with training. 86. Rich Cameron is a male lab tech in PQA assigned to the red shift. His seniority date is 9/16/71. Cameron entered the department in June of 1986, and within eight months he was trained on SVK. Rich Cameron was selected for training on the basis of his high seniority. 87. George Hornecker is a male lab tech in PQA assigned to the red shift. His seniority date is 9/25/72. Parker trained Hornecker on SVK on the basis of Hor-necker’s high seniority. G. Plaintiffs’ Assignment to Specialty Labs. 88. Pat Long first became interested in Material Testing when she was working as vacation relief in the lab. She asked Skip Yoight how to get in the lab, and he replied that she needed to work vacation relief. She was told that if an opening occurred she could get a transfer slip and he would strongly recommend her for the job. Long sought a transfer slip from Mel Klock in the summer of 1979 and later sought a transfer slip from Joe Schiro, but they were never able to provide her with one. She ultimately got a transfer slip from Ray Wucher, signed it, and turned it in on April 18, 1983. After Long turned in her transfer slip, males were transferred to Material Testing, but all of these individuals had greater seniority than Long. 89. Pat Long first started asking about the Tower Lab when she was working as a lead person. She asked Mel Klock what the requirements were to get into the Tower Lab. He told her that she should show her interest, and she would be asked when an opening arose. On another occasion Long spoke with Charlie Luck, who stated that she should indicate her interest and that she should fill out a transfer slip. Although Long asked, Luck never brought her a transfer slip. Long also raised the subject of the Tower Lab at the February 1984 Union meeting. 90. Long also spoke with Joe Schiro regarding the Tower Lab some six months after he became General Foreman of Packaging. When she indicated some confusion regarding the procedure for transferring into the Tower Lab, Schiro indicated that she needed to put her name on a list, which he would begin to circulate. Long consistently signed the list, but she was not assigned to the Tower Lab, although other individuals were being transferred to the Tower Lab. When she questioned Schiro about her inability to secure a transfer to Tower Lab, he responded that people were being assigned according to seniority. 91. Mike Miskov and William Brawley were first assigned to the Tower Lab in 1979, although Pat Long testified that they went to the Tower Lab in 1983 after she spoke with Schiro. Long took up .the matter of Brawley’s assignment to the Tower Lab with the Union between 1982 and 1984. Bob Halim, then principal officer of the Union, held a ■ meeting with regard to Long’s assignment to the Tower Lab with Industrial Relations. When her Union representatives brought up the issue of Long's seniority, Company officials responded that the collective bargaining agreement did not bind them to assign jobs by seniority. The Company officials stated that absentee records, attitude, ability to do work and discipline records would be considered in making job assignments,' and if all these factors were equal between candidates, seniority would be a major factor. 92. In 1986 Pat Long became so discouraged with her progress regarding securing an assignment to the Tower Lab that she indicated on the annual sign-up list that she did not desire to transfer to the Tower Lab. Defendant’s Exhibit Y. ' 93. Nevertheless, in June of 1986 Joe Schiro assigned Pat Long and Shirley Jones to the Tower Lab on the basis of seniority. Although Long expressed some hesitancy as to whether she wanted to go, Schiro urged her to try it out, and Long ultimately went to the Tower Lab as a vacation replacement. Shirley Jones only stayed in the Tower Lab a month before deciding that she did not wish to continue the assignment. Pat Long is now fifth or sixth on the Tower Lab vacation relief list. She worked one week in the Tower Lab in 1986, and three months in 1988. She will ultimately be assigned to the Tower Lab by her seniority date rather than the date that she first entered the Tower Lab. 94. Although Pat Long has never been disciplined for absenteeism, she has accumulated extensive absences due to medical reasons during her career with the Company. Some of her absences were for work-related injuries and some were not. Long missed approximately four to five months for health reasons in 1979, four to eight weeks for health reasons in 1980, five to six months between October 1982 and April 1983 -for a work related injury, approximately seventy days in 1984 for illness, approximately 133 days in 1985 for a salivary gland problem, approximately 2 months in 1986 for nasal and ear problems, and approximately 114 days in 1987 for medical reasons and industrial accidents. From 1982 through November of 1988, Long had accumulated 737 days/147 weeks of absences, second on PQA red shift only to the 815 days accumulated by Shirley Landzettel. After Long, the employees with the most significant accumulated absences on PQA red shift for the same period are: Loretta Weiner (386 days); Linda Landzettel (383 days); Curtiss Cobb (329 days); Carolyn Ray (322 days); and Randy Fraley (298 days). 95.Following are the dates of William Brawley’s assignments to the Tower Lab as they correspond to Pat Long’s attend-anee or absences: Long’s Absences Brawley’s Assignments 1/1/79 to 1/7/79 Absent 1/1 to 1/14/79 6/18/79 to 8/5/79 Absent 5/8 to 8/5/79 12/3/79 to 12/9/79 Absent 12/3/79 12/17/79 to 1/6/79 Present, but absent 12/10 to 12/16/79 and 1/1 to 1/27/80 1/21/80 to 1/27/80 Absent 1/1 to 1/27/80 2/4/80 to 2/10/80 Present, but had been absent from 1/1 through 1/27/80 3/3/80 to 3/30/80 Absent 3/1 to 3/4/80 and 3/25 to 3/28/80 4/14/80 to 4/20/80 Absent 4/14 to 4/25/80 5/17/82 to 1/9/83 Absent 5/3 to 7/11/82 1/17/83 to 2/20/83 Absent 10/6/82 to 4/4/83 2/28/83 Absent 10/6/82 to 4/4/83 96.Loretta Weiner first inquired with regard to the Tower Lab in 1978. She asked Leon Smitty, the yellow shift shop steward how to get in, and he informed her that she must first work in quality control for a year and then must acquire a transfer slip. Smitty was unable to get Weiner a transfer slip. Weiner later asked Charlie Luck for a transfer slip, but he said there were no openings. Ultimately, the Company began to send around lists regarding the Tower Lab and Material Testing. Weiner always indicated her desire to be transferred to these labs. 97.In late 1978 or early 1979 Luck approached Linda Landzettel and asked her if she was interested in the Tower Lab. After Luck explained the nature of the work and Landzettel indicated her interest, Luck indicated that she would have to fill out a transfer slip. Before Luck brought Land-zettel a slip, however, William Brawley was assigned to the Tower Lab. Later, Luck brought Landzettel a transfer slip, which she signed and which Luck processed on 3/23/79. The transfer slip remains in Landzettel’s personnel file to date. In late 1979 or early 1980 a co-worker informed Landzettel that Landzettel had been assigned to the Tower Lab, but that she had been replaced by Mike Miskov. When Landzettel examined the posted job assignment list she observed that her name had been scratched off and replaced with Mike Miskov’s name. 98. Landzettel has never requested to be placed in Material Testing or Technical Services. In March and June of 1984 Land-zettel indicated on sign-up lists that she desired no transfer to either the Tower Lab or Material Testing. 99. Cobb has requested transfer slips to the Tower Lab on various occasions but has never received one. She has always indicated her desire to be assigned to the permanent labs when lists regarding same are passed around. 100. All lab techs who are permanently assigned to the Tower Lab and assigned to the Tower Lab as vacation relief have greater seniority than Weiner, Landzettel and Cobb. All permanent lab techs assigned to the Tower Lab have greater seniority than Long. 101. All lab techs assigned to Material Testing and Technical Services have greater seniority than Long, Weiner, Landzettel and Cobb. The majority of lab techs in Material Testing were members of old Union 262. The most recent seniority date of any lab tech in Material Testing is 10/27/69. All lab techs in Technical Services have been there since 1980. The most recent seniority date of any lab tech in Technical Services is 5/20/63. 102. In February of 1987 the Company entered into conciliation agreements with the EEOC regarding Curtiss Cobb’s EEOC charge #072850827, Pat Long’s EEOC charge # 072841169, Loretta Weiner’s EEOC charge # 072850826 and Linda Land-zettel’s EEOC charge # 072850031. These conciliation agreements specifically provided that the Company did not admit any violation of Title VII. In return for the Equal Opportunity Commission’s covenant not to sue the Company with respect to any matters alleged in plaintiffs’ charges of discrimination, the Company agreed to assign lab techs to all future Tower Lab vacation list vacancies on the basis of the lab tech’s plant seniority, desire to work in Tower Lab and qualifications to work in the Tower Lab. The Company also agreed to solicit all qualified lab techs on an annual basis, in writing. The Company further agreed to assign Shirley Jones and Patricia Long to the Tower Lab vacation relief. Finally, the agreements provided that the Company would provide written reports every four months for a period of twenty months to the EEOC regarding the availability of Tower Lab vacation relief vacancies and permanent assignments and the manner in which they were filled. H. Incidents Allegedly Indicating General Discriminatory Attitude Against Women. 103.In August of 1984, the midnight shift in PQA experienced a shortage of low seniority lab techs due to individuals on leave and layoffs. More lab techs were needed on the midnight shift within a week. Joe Schiro met with the shop stewards from the various shifts: Bob Halim from red shift, Bob Minor from yellow shift, and Caroll Pope from midnight shift. Schiro and the shop stewards agreed to an arrangement where the four least senior people on yellow shift, Sara Alge, Sharon Frommann, Dixie Robinson and Bob Minor, would be required to move to midnight. Of these four lab techs, Sara Alge had the greatest seniority, although the four had relatively similar seniority dates. The lab techs were to be presented with the choice of moving to midnight or being moved out of PQA into production. Schiro requested an arrangement whereby these individuals could return to the yellow shift at a later date. The Union refused to permit such an arrangement. 104. Ultimately, Alge, Robinson and Minor moved from the yellow to the midnight shift. Sharon Frommann, however, refused to transfer to midnight. Within two hours of refusing Frommann’s clock number was changed, and she was assigned out of PQA. Approximately two weeks after these individuals moved from yellow shift to midnight a need for additional lab techs on the yellow and red shifts arose. A Mr. Mitchell, who had the highest seniority on midnight shift, transferred from midnight to yellow on the basis of seniority. No grievance was ever filed by this group of lab techs with respect to any aspect of the transfer from yellow to midnight. 105. Elizabeth Howard is a black female. She was hired by the Company in March of 1973. She was first assigned to PQA in 1975-1976 and was trained on all jobs. In September of 1987 she transferred into PQA for the second time and was assigned to red shift. Due to changes in some of the jobs, Ms. Howard had to be retrained. Although individuals who started in PQA at the same time as Ms. Howard were trained by one lab tech for an entire month, Ms. Howard was trained by several individuals. Ms. Howard complained to her foreman about the manner of her training. On one occasion foreman Ron Keller became very agitated and insulting toward Ms. Howard when she made a mistake while working on a can unit. Ms. Howard did not receive her PQA clock number until she had trained in PQA for five to six weeks. In late 1987 or early 1988 Ms. Howard filed a grievance regarding her training. 106. Ms. Howard has been counseled and met with Company officials on numerous occasions regarding her inability to retain training information. Several supervisors turned in reports stating that Howard had difficulty retaining information and doing the job. The supervisors opined that Howard should not be permanently assigned to PQA. Foreman Ron Keller was very involved in Ms. Howard’s training. If Keller showed Howard a task on one day she had to be shown the task again three or four times the next day. Howard also recorded information improperly and encounter difficulties in finishing work and remembering. Keller has encountered similar problems when training male employees, although their problems were not as extensive as Ms. Howard’s. Men who work in PQA for such an extensive period of time without being assigned clock numbers are generally not made permanent lab techs. 107. Beginning in March of 1988 Ms. Howard took a two-month leave of absence. When she returned she was scheduled for Reprocessing and remained in Reprocessing for a full year. This assignment was pursuant to Ms. Howard’s request. She was not rotated to upper floor jobs, and she did not receive further training until she met with Company and Union officials. During these meetings it was determined that Ms. Howard would be given additional opportunities to train. She was ultimately placed on a regular rotation. Ms. Howard is still, however, encountering some trouble in performing regular PQA tasks. 108. When Weiner first entered PQA she was solicited by delegate Charlie Luck for a permanent assignment in finish pack. At the time there were three permanent finish pack positions, which were held by Lonnie Loncaric, Jim Large and Don Gan-non. Don Gannon was leaving to take a permanent position in Material Testing. Loretta was told that her position would be permanent, although she would have the lowest seniority among the three permanent finish pack lab techs. In 1982 George Horniker, who had previously been a bottler, entered PQA. Horniker had always worked “late side” and wished to continue this shift. Because finish pack was a “late side” job, Area Coordinator Ray Wucher asked Weiner to train Horniker on finish pack. Wucher also informed Weiner that she would have to rotate with Horniker from finish pack to reprocessing on a weekly basis. Weiner trained Horniker; however, because her feelings were hurt and she felt offended by this arrangement, Weiner asked to be taken off the finish pack job. Ultimately, the permanent finish pack job was discontinued. I. Overtime Solicitation. 109. Individuals in PQA have the opportunity to work overtime on Saturdays, Sundays or Holidays. An individual’s eligibility for overtime opportunities is based on the total number of overtime hours that the individual has worked and/or had the opportunity to work. Lab techs who have the lowest total are given the first opportunity to work overtime. 110. Lab techs start each calendar year with zero total overtime hours. When the individual either works overtime or declines an opportunity to work overtime she is “charged” with the hours of the particular overtime shift. An individual who is absent or on vacation when overtime is solicited is not to be charged, but the individual also forfeits the opportunity to work overtime for that particular week. The company has a policy that if individuals do not work on Friday they cannot work overtime on Saturday either. 111. The PQA production schedule is published each Tuesday. The Area Coordinators determine the production needs of the department, the number of overtime slots needed to meet said needs, and the number of people needed to fill said slots. 112. The number of overtime hours each individual works is entered into a computer on a weekly basis by Labor Control. Each week a computer printout is generated, which lists each lab tech in PQA in the order of his or her accumulated overtime hours, beginning with the lab tech with the lowest number of accumulated overtime hours and ending with the lab tech with the highest total accumulated hours. This list is distributed to the shop steward, who solicits individuals for overtime on Thursday and, if additional overtime spots become available due to production schedule changes, on Friday. The shop steward returns the list to the Area Coordinator on Friday. After the Area Coordinator checks to see that everyone has been asked, the list is returned to Labor Control to compile the new data. 113. At least since the late 1960’s the Company has completely delegated the task of overtime solicitation to union delegates. These individuals receive their regular hourly wage when they are soliciting overtime. The Company provides no specific guidelines to make sure that overtime solicitation is done fairly, and the Area Coordinator does not oversee solicitation is done fairly. It is expected, however, that union delegates will solicit individuals in the order that their names appear on the list so that individuals with the lowest total accumulated hours will get their first choice of the available jobs. Area Coordinators cannot tell by looking at the list if individuals were solicited in the proper order. Coordinators expect that any employee encountering a problem with overtime solicitation will inform them. This is the only way the Coordinator would know of improper overtime solicitation. 114. Presently, individuals cannot be charged with overtime hours unless they initial the computer list when approached by the delegate. As late as 1981, however, computer lists were not in use and delegates were not required to obtain signatures. 115. Prior to 1984, any individual who was absent due to illness, was charged with the average number of overtime hours that lab techs on that particular shift worked while he or she was absent. After Pat Long complained to the Union about such “overtime averaging”, however, the practice was stopped. 116. In January of 1981 Loretta Weiner discovered that her then-delegate, Charlie Luck, had charged her twice for overtime in a single day. When Weiner confronted him with this discrepancy, Luck apologized and stated that he had made a mistake. 117. Also in 1981, while Luck was soliciting Weiner for overtime Weiner determined that Luck had scheduled “fourth floor” workers, who were not to be solicited until all red shift workers had been solicited, for more desirable “fifth floor” jobs. Weiner reached this conclusion when she observed that when Luck came to her with the overtime list, the fourth floor workers had already signed-up for overtime. 118. While Luck was soliciting Weiner for overtime in March of 1981 he informed her that only Reprocessing assignments were available. Weiner asked to see the clipboard holding the overtime list. Luck tossed the clipboard onto the ground, and when Weiner picked it up, she discovered that more favorable assignments than Reprocessing were available. She insisted on receiving a more favorable assignment, and Luck complied. 119. Both Weiner and Pat Long have, on occasion, been greeted by “clipboard throwing” and responses of general annoyance when they have asked delegates to examine overtime lists. Such “throwing” usual