Background

Arkansas Power and Light Company operates a steam electrical station at Helena, Arkansas. Two boilers were in operation at the plant: a normal boiler, and the other a supercritical. Operation of either boiler could be a hazardous situation for employees if not handled properly. As a result, in an attempt to protect employees, the company had spent several years developing a suitable training and testing program for all potential Boiler Operators.

The procedure to gain qualification for the position of Boiler Maker involved five steps. Initially, an applicant was required to serve as a hands-on apprentice with a trained operator. Then, the person would progress into a manual study period, followed by classroom instruction. Once this phase was completed, the company would administer a written examination. Finally, after successful completion of all prior phases, the applicant would go through a walk down (supervised demonstration of knowledge of equipment). In all, the procedure normally ranged from 475 to 737 hours of training. In fact, in the 40 years that APL had been training workers for this position, no worker had been allowed to take more than 1028 hours. The past philosophy was that if an applicant was taking this much time, they were not the person for the job.

In 2003, APL hired Alex Quincy as a 901 Helper,which was an entry-level position. Within two years he was promoted to Auxiliary Operator. During the early years of his employment, he had documented problems with absenteeism and questionable decision-making. In addition, even though he had completed a state-run treatment, Quincy was a struggling alcoholic. He claimed to be completely rehabilitated, but agreed that it was a daily struggle.

Quincy applied for, and was placed into, training forthe operator position. In 2009, he finally moved into the classroom-training phase. He was sent to Pine Bluff, Arkansas for eleven weeks, and was given an examination upon his return to Helena. He never learned the results of this test, but assumed he passed since he was allowed to continue with his training.

Quincy completed his training in 2011 and become eligible for his walk-down. Customarily, this procedure lasted two the three hours, but Quincy was questioned for eleven hours. The company felt this was necessary because of the new operating procedures; however, Quincy felt it was a case of nation origin discrimination and subsequently filed this grievance.

The Companys Position

Arkansas Power and Light Company felt it conducted a fair evaluation of Quincys abilities in the walk-down. Regulations had changed such that the Boiler Operator on duty would have no backup personnel, and in case of an accident or equipment failure, the operator would be responsible for repair and safety measures. Moreover, during the questioning, Quincy had expressed doubt over his abilities to operate Boiler #2, a supercritical boiler. Additionally, Quincy had displayed some difficulties retaining essential information in the past stages of the training process, and although manuals were available, during emergency situations he would not be afforded the time or opportunity to refer to the manuals.

Because of his past work record and the severity of the job, APL felt they had every right to question and test Quincy to the extent they did. Any failure to follow procedures could have resulted in an extremely dangerous situation. As such, Quincy, and other workers, had to be thoroughly trained and certified.

Quincys Position

Quincys argument against the company was based on not only the length of time involved in the walk-down, but also the total time required during his training. He felt that he had been discriminated against due to the fact that all other applicants had only two to three hours of testing, while his lasted eleven hours. In addition, the total time provided to Quincy for training was 2025.5 hours.

He stated that part of the reason for his supervisors preferential treatment was that he was Hispanic and APL had never had a Hispanic Boiler Operator. In addition, Quincy provided evidence that showed that in late-2010, APL was notified by the EEOC that in order to continue to accept federal contracts, they would have to employ a more diverse work force or show cause to why that was not possible. In other words, Quincys claim was that because the company needed him to pass, he was given more than twice the training time as compared to any other applicant - more time = discrimination.

How would you decide this case? Explain.