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USDOL/OALJ Reporter Lawrence Aviation Industries, Inc., ARB No. 00-059, ALJ No. 1987-OFC-11 (ARB May 24, 2000)
ARB CASE NO. 00-059 In the Matter of:
OFFICE OF FEDERAL CONTRACT
v.
LAWRENCE AVIATION INDUSTRIES, INC.,
BEFORE: THE ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD
This case arose under Executive Order 11246, reprinted as amended in 42 U.S.C. §2000e note (1988) and the regulations promulgated pursuant to its authority at 41 C.F.R. Chapter 60. The Secretary of Labor found, inter alia, that Lawrence Aviation Industries (Lawrence) "discriminated against women in hiring into the entry level general factory helper position in 1981" in violation of the Executive Order. Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs v. Lawrence Aviation Industries, Inc., Case No. 87-OFC-11, Dec. & Rem. Ord., June 15, 1994. The Secretary remanded the case to the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) for recalculation of damages and subsequently entered a Final Decision and Order adopting the ALJ's calculation of the back pay, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs v. Lawrence Aviation Industries, Inc., Case No. 87-OFC-11, Fin. Dec. & Ord., Nov. 9, 1995. Lawrence appealed the Secretary's decision to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The district court affirmed the Secretary's decision. Lawrence Aviation Industries, Inc. v. Reich, 28 F.Supp.2d 728 (E.D.N.Y. 1998). Lawrence [Page 2]
appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and on July 6, 1999, that court
issued an order affirming in part the district court's decision, but questioning whether the Secretary
had considered fully Lawrence's arguments when making the damage award. The appellate court
remanded the case to the district court "for further appropriate proceedings, including further
remand to the agency for proceedings consistent with this order." Lawrence Aviation
Industries, Inc. v. Reich,182 F.3d 900 (table), 1999 WL 494870 (2d Cir.).1 Specifically, the court noted that Lawrence
introduced evidence "for the purpose of showing that certain of the female applicants would
not have been available to work at Lawrence for the full 61.29 weeks" upon which the back
pay award was based, but that there was no indication in the record that the agency considered the
evidence. Id. at 1999 WL 494870 **1. The court expressed no view on
the persuasiveness of Lawrence's evidence. However the court stated,
Id. Thus, the court concluded that on remand the Department of Labor should have the
opportunity to consider the evidence. The court also suggested that the agency might wish to
consider whether the back-pay award should be offset by the wages the female applicants actually
earned. The court did not consider this issue because Lawrence did not raise it on appeal. However
the court noted that Lawrence had raised it in the administrative proceedings, and left it to our
discretion to determine whether to consider the issue on remand.
Accordingly, we REMAND this case to the ALJ for further
proceedings as the appellate court ordered. Should Lawrence pursue its argument that the back-pay
award should be offset by actual wages earned, the ALJ should consider the argument and any
response by the OFCCP, in rendering a recommended decision and order.
SO ORDERED.
PAUL
GREENBERG
E. COOPER
BROWN
CYNTHIA L.
ATTWOOD
1 The Administrative Review Board
received the case record from the district court on May 17, 2000.
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