BUSINESS LAW

Liberty Mutual Insurance Company has a rule prohibit- ing its adjusters and first-year supervisors from attend- ing law school. This "law school rule" was proposed and implemented on a national basis by Edmund Carr, a vice president and general claims manager, in November 1972.

Joan Chescheir (plaintiff) was hired by Liberty Mutual's Dallas office in March 1973 as a claims adjuster. In January 1975, she voluntarily resigned but in June of that year was hired in Liberty's Houston office as a claims adjuster.

In August 1976, Wyatt Trainer, the claims manager at the Houston office, received an anonymous letter informing him that Ms. Chescheir was attending law school. After consulting with his assistants and supe- rior, Mr. Trainer fired her after she admitted she was attending law school.

Charity O'Connell also worked in the Houston office as a claims adjuster during the same period Ms. Chescheir did. During a coffee break with a

new employee, Timothy Schwirtz (also an adjuster), Ms. O'Connell relayed the story of Ms. Chescheir's firing. Mr. Schwirtz then said, "Oh, that's strange, because when I was hired, when Wells [Southwest Division claims manager] interviewed me, he told me that I could go to law school and in fact if I came down to the Houston office, there were law schools in Houston." Ms. O'Connell then went to her supervisor and told him she also was attending law school. She refused to quit law school and was fired.

William McCarthy, Liberty's house counsel in its Houston office, attended law school while working as an adjuster and was retained as house counsel upon his graduation. The trial court found that Mr. McCarthy's supervisors were aware of his contemporaneous law school career. Alvin Dwayne White was employed as an adjuster in Liberty's Fort Worth office and asked for a transfer to Houston so he could attend law school. He was given the transfer and attended law school in Houston. James Ballard worked as an adjuster in Houston, attended law school, and was promoted

to supervisor while in law school. Supervisors and employees were aware of his law school attendance, but the law school rule was not enforced against him. In short, none of the male employees known to have been attending law school was fired.

Ms. Chescheir and Ms. O'Connell both filed com- plaints with the EEOC, were given right of suit letters, and filed suit in federal district court. After a lengthy trial, the court found that Liberty Mutual had violated Title VII. Both women were given back pay. Liberty Mutual appealed.

Make sure to use the legal and business terms that you have learned in the course and apply them to the facts of the essay questions.When you use a legal term, provide an explanation of its meaning and/or any legal test that explains how it is applied to any factual situation. If there is a case that supports your argument, make sure to explain the reasons.

1.An employee of Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. brought a lawsuit alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The case is described above your textbook. Did Ms Chescheir establish aprima faciecase of discrimination under Title VII?