Barthelemy v. Moon Area Sch. Dist.

OPINION

Mark R. Hornak, Chief United States District Judge

The crux of this Equal Pay Act lawsuit is a claim that the Moon Area School District ("the District" or "the Defendant") paid the Plaintiffs less because they are men. Since 2016, the Court has heard the Parties' arguments and reviewed reams of status reports, briefings, and record evidence. And now, having filed cross-motions for summary judgment, the Parties each announce that their cases are made and they should be declared the winner as a matter of law. However, the Court concludes that the Record before it does not quite make the grade for that to happen in either direction. Under the precedent set by our Court of Appeals, the Defendant has not definitively shown, as it must under applicable law, that its salary decisions were made for nondiscriminatory reasons. However, the Plaintiffs have also not established as a matter of law that they were paid unequally on the basis of their sex as prohibited by the Equal Pay Act. For these reasons and those that follow, the Plaintiffs' and Defendant's cross-Motions for Summary Judgment (ECF Nos. 100, 104) are each denied.

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I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The Plaintiffs, nine (9) male public school teachers in the Moon Area School District, filed Equal Pay Act ("EPA") claims alleging the District paid the Plaintiffs less than similarly situated female teachers.¹ (ECF No. 6.) The District filed its Answer shortly thereafter. (ECF No. 10.) More than two and a half years later, after lengthy discovery and multiple mediations that did not in the end resolve the case², both parties filed Motions for Summary Judgment. (ECF Nos. 100, 104.) The parties fully briefed the issues, filed a vast quantity of supporting material, and the Court heard oral argument in September 2019. (ECF Nos. 101-103, 105-114, 121-128, 130, 134.) At oral argument, the Plaintiffs made an oral motion to exclude the testimony and report provided by the Defendant's proffered expert witness, James Fellin, and requested a Daubert hearing. (ECF No. 138, at 3:14-19.) The Court then subsequently held a Daubert hearing, which spanned two days and during which the Court granted the Plaintiffs' motion to exclude the proffered Fed. R. Evid. 702 testimony of Mr. Fellin, for reasons the Court stated orally on the Record.³ (ECF No. 136, 140, 141.) This matter then became ripe for decision.

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II. STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

A. Moon Area School District Salary and Hiring Determinations

Moon Area School District is located just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and educates nearly 3,900 students from Moon and Crescent Townships in Allegheny County.⁴ Teachers within the District are hired according to a salary schedule pursuant to a Collective Bargaining Agreement. (Def.'s Concise Statement of Material Facts, ECF No. 101, at 1.) The schedule places a teacher into a "Step" and a "Lane." (Id.) Steps typically reflect the number of years the teacher has worked for the District and Lanes reflect their education level—either a bachelor's or master's degree. (Id. at 2.) Accordingly, teachers begin at Step 1 and will move up a Step for every year they work for the District. (Id.) For instance, a teacher with a master's degree who worked for the District for three years would be classified as an "M-3."

The District also implemented unwritten Guidelines for placing lateral hires into a Step and Lane. (Id.) These Guidelines were created sometime between 2000 and 2001. (Id. at 3) They were intended to reflect prior teaching experience outside of the District such that a teacher with four or more years of prior teaching experience could be hired at Step 2 or higher, even if it is their first year working for the District. (Id. at 2.) Prior teaching experience in a parochial or private school was usually not credited under these procedures, although it was occasionally considered. (Id.) The unwritten Guidelines would place teachers with one to three years of prior teaching experience at Step 1. (Id.) Those with four to six years would be placed at Step 2. (Id.) And teachers with seven or more years of prior teaching experience would be placed at Step 3. (Id.) However, in some instances, lateral hires were placed above the Step which the Guidelines prescribed—so-called "above-Step" hires. (Id.; Def.'s Br. in Supp., ECF No. 102, at 6.) The exact reasons for the

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Step placement of certain female lateral hires and whether these Guidelines were consistently applied is at the center of this case.

The process by which teachers were hired is also relevant. There are multiple interview rounds during which a candidate meets with school administrators and teaches a mock class. (ECF Nos. 101, at 3; 102, at 8.) On at least some occasions, administrators in these interviews would take notes and score candidates on several bases, such as "educational perspective," "strengths and weaknesses," and "motivational techniques." (See, e.g., Def.'s App'x, ECF No. 103-61, at 1.) After these interviews, administrators would make formal recommendations of their selections and proposed salary levels to the District's Board of School Directors. (Def.'s Br. in Opp'n, ECF No. 125, at 5.) The Board then votes on the hiring in an open session. (Id.) One thing that the parties agree on is that when quizzed on the topic during the discovery process, the members of the School Board (past and present) could not recall or did not know why the female teachers, which the Plaintiffs identified as comparators in this case, were placed at certain Step levels more advantageous to those female teachers. (Id.)

B. Plaintiffs

There are nine (9) Plaintiffs remaining in this action. Each held at least one educational certification and had prior public-school teaching experience. Accordingly, there are nine (9) Counts against the District alleging EPA violations—one per Plaintiff. (ECF No. 6.)

1. Barry Barthelemy - Hired at Step 1

Barry Barthelemy held a certification in Elementary K-6 education and the District hired him for the 2006-07 academic year to teach third grade. (Pls.' Br. in Supp., ECF No. 114, at 7.) Prior to his hiring by the District, Mr. Barthelemy taught for three years in another public-school district in Pennsylvania. (Id.) Mr. Barthelemy was hired at Step 1. (Id.)

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2. Christopher D'Eramo - Hired at Step 2

Christopher D'Eramo held a certification in Social Studies 7-12. (Id. at 8.) The District hired Mr. D'Eramo during the 2006-07 academic year to teach high school social studies. (Id.) Barthelemy taught for three and a half years in another public-school district in Pennsylvania. (Id.) Plaintiffs aver he was hired at "Step 1.5." (Id.) However, Mr. D'Eramo's Formal Notice of Hiring states he was hired at Step 2, but that his salary would be prorated because his start-date was in the middle of the academic year. (ECF No. 103-32, at 1.)

3. Joseph Espey - Hired at Step 1

Joseph Espey held a certification in Elementary K-6 education. (ECF No. 114, at 10.) The District hired him for the 2005-06 academic year to teach fifth grade. (Id.) After teaching for three years in public schools outside of Pennsylvania, the District hired Mr. Espey at Step 1. (Id.)

4. Jason Ferri - Hired at Step 3

Jason Ferri held a certification in Social Studies 7-12 and the District hired him for the 2003-04 academic year to teach high school social studies. (Id. at 11.) After teaching for seven years in a public-school district in Pennsylvania, the District hired Mr. Ferri at Step 3. (Id.)

5. Christopher Herman - Hired at Step 1

Christopher Herman held a certification in Health/Physical Education K-12 and the District hired him for the 2007-08 academic year to teach elementary physical education and computers.⁵ (Id. at 12; ECF No. 103-35, at 1.) After teaching for one year in a public-school district in Pennsylvania and one year in a public-school district in Ohio, the District hired Mr. Herman at Step 1. (ECF No. 114, at 12.)

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6. Timothy Hrivnak - Hired at Step 2

Timothy Hrivnak held dual certifications in Biology and General Science 7-12 and the District hired him for the 2003-04 academic year to teach biology. (Id. at 13.) After teaching for three years in a public-school district in Pennsylvania and two years in a public-school district outside of Pennsylvania, the District hired Mr. Hrivnak at Step 2. (Id. at 14.)

7. Eric Jacoby - Hired at Step 1

Eric Jacoby held dual certifications in Elementary K-6 and Special Education. (Id. at 15.) The District hired him for the 2003-04 academic year to teach learning support K-2. (Id.) After teaching for one year in a public-school district in Pennsylvania and four years in a Catholic school, the District hired Mr. Jacoby at Step 1. (Id.)

8. Jason Persing - Hired at Step 1

Jason Persing held a certification in Health/Physical Education K-12 and the District hired him for the 2005-06 academic year to teach high school physical education.⁶ (Id. at 16; ECF No. 103-23, at 1.) Prior to his hiring, Mr. Persing taught as a long-term substitute teacher in the District for one year and taught for three years in another public-school district in Pennsylvania. (Id.) The Plaintiffs aver that Mr. Persing was eventually hired at Step 2 as a result of the mandate of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Mifflinburg Area Education Association v. Mifflinburg Area School District, 555 Pa. 326 (1999). (Id. at 16 n.5.) Mr. Persing's Formal Notice of Hiring shows that he was initially hired at Step 1, and an attached handwritten note says that he would "move to Step II in Jan. '06." (ECF No. 103-23, at 1-2.) Thus, it appears he was paid at Step 1 for half of a school year.

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9. Sidney Wood - Hired at Step 1

Sidney Wood held a certification in Elementary K-6 and the District hired him for the 2006-07...