 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
French v. Hawaii Pizza Hut9/30/2004
ces of younger managers being paid less than Appellant. Hence, Appellant failed to establish a prima facie case of age discrimination based on a theory of pattern or practice discrimination.
B.
Appellant also alleged a disparate treatment theory of age discrimination. In support of this theory, Appellant submitted evidence of the salaries of fifteen managers hired by Pizza Hut in 1994 and 1995, seven of whom were paid more than her. This is the same evidence that Appellant provided for her theory of pattern or practice discrimination. See supra Part VII.A. The evidence here appears to be "circumstantial evidence," as opposed to "direct evidence," because the statistics are evidence of Pizza Hut's conduct, i.e., the salaries it paid to managers, which Appellant uses to infer that Pizza Hut discriminated against her because of her age.
Schefke applied disparate treatment discrimination analysis to an employee who claimed age discrimination in the payment of compensation. It held that under HRS ยง 378-2, the plaintiff [must] first establish a prima facie case of discrimination by demonstrating (a) that the plaintiff is a member of a protected class, (b) that the plaintiff's employment situation is similar to that of an employee or employees who are not members of the protected class, and (c) that the employee or employees are compensated at higher rates than the plaintiff[.]
96 Hawaii at 440, 32 P.3d at 84. In this case, Appellant did not establish a prima facie case of discrimination.
Appellant failed to show (1) that she was a member of a protected class, (2) that she was similarly situated to other employees who are not members of the protected class, and (3) that employees not members of the protected class were compensated at higher rates than Appellant. As to the first element, the evidence does not identify the protected class or the class to which Appellant belonged. The next element requires Appellant to identify members who do not belong to the protected class and to demonstrate that she is similarly situated to the relevant individuals. Again, the evidence does not identify individuals who were not members of the protected class and does not indicate that Appellant was similarly situated to those individuals. The final element required Appellant to demonstrate that individuals who are not members of the protected class were paid higher salaries than her. Assuming seven managers were paid more than Appellant, the evidence fails to disclose that the seven managers were not members of the protected class and to prove that she was similarly situated to the seven. Thus, the court was correct in granting summary judgment on the claim of age discrimination.
VIII.
At the hearing on Pizza Hut's motion for summary judgment on October 10, 2000, Appellant stipulated that she did not come forward with sufficient evidence to maintain a claim for race and national origin discrimination and therefore withdrew the claim. Therefore, the only remaining pertinent claim is gender discrimination.
The court granted summary judgment against Appellant's gender claim on the ground that Appellant failed to exhaust her administrative remedies. The court rested its decision on certain exhibits appended to Pizza Hut's motion for summary judgment.
Appellant does not dispute that the "Charge of Discrimination" form filed with the HCRC only indicated disability and age discrimination and did not specify gender discrimination. But Appellant argues that her gender claim is not barred because charge forms are generally completed by an HCRC investigator rather than by the complainant and the HCRC employee only checked the boxes
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Hawaii Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|