Baxter v. Savannah Sugar Refining Corporation Appellant's Appendix Volume II

    IN THE
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT 
No. 73-1039

ADAM BAXTER,
Plaintiff-Appellant, 
- vs -

SAVANNAH SUGAR REFINING 
CORPORATION,

Defendant-Appellee.

APPELLANT'S APPENDIX 
(Volume II pages 3l4a-623a

HILL, JONES & FARRINGTON 
208 East 34th Street Savannah, Georgia 31402

KENNETH L. JOHNSONSuite 1500, American Building 
Baltimore, Maryland

JACK GREENBERG 
WILLIAM L. ROBINSON 
MORRIS J. BALLER

10 Columbus Circle 
Suite 2030
New York, New York 10019 

Attorneys for Plaintiff-Appellant



I N  D E X

Page

Docket Sheet Entries...................................  la
Order of the District Court filed October 6, 1972......  7a
Complaint..............................................  28a
Motion to Dismiss Complaint......................... . 34a
Interrogatories to Defendant.... ......................... 35a
Motion to Extend Time to Answer InterrogatoriesWith Court's Orders Thereupon........................  41a
Answers to Interrogatories...............................  46a
Objections to Interrogatories............................  58a
Motion to Compel Answers, With Notice and

Supporting Memorandum................................  61a
Opinion and Order of Court on Motion, filed

December 9, 1968.....................................  67a
Answer to Complaint......................................  74a
Motion to Alter or Amend' the Order of December 9,

1968 or in the Alternative to Certify Question 
for Interlocutory Appeal, With Supporting
Memorandum...........................................  77a

Order Extending Time.....................................  90a
Amendment to Previous Answer to Interrogatories.......... 91a
Motion Seeking Protective Order, and Order Thereon....... 106a
Supplemental Order of Court, filed January 14, 1968.......  108a
Order of Court filed February 17, 1969, With Notices

to Class Members.....................................  113aN.
Letters Showing Notice to Class............ '...........  120a
Request for Exclusion From Class Action.................. 125a



Page

Notices to Take Depositions...........................  126a
Motion to Inspect, With Notice........................  132a
Motion for Leave to File Amended Complaint, With 

First Amended Complaint and Supporting
Memorandum........................................  134a

Defendant's Defenses to First Amended Complaint.........  147a
Plaintiff's Motion to Enlarge the Class, With

Supporting Memorandum.............................  151a
Transcript of Trial Held May 29-30, 1972..............  161a
Consent to Viewing By Court...........................  624a
Supplemental Statements of Attorney's Time By

Plaintiff's Counsel...............................  625a
Notice of Appeal......................................  628a
Motion for Extension of Time to Transmit Record,

and Order Thereupon...............................  630a
Clerk's Certificate...................................  633a
Exhibits Admitted Into Evidence at Trial

Plaintiff's Exhibits
Ex. 1 - Affidavit of Bobby L. Hill..'................  634a
Ex. 2 - Affidavit of Robert Belton..................  642a
Ex. 3 - Affidavit of Donald L. Hollowell, with

Attachments....................................  649a
Ex. 4 - Litigation Expenses and Costs.............  653a
Ex. 5 - Table, Number of Employees in Segregated

Job Classifications, etc. July, 1965............  655a
Ex. 6 - Table - Number of Employees in Segregated

Job Classifications, etc. - July 2, 1968....... 656a
Ex. 7 - Table, Number of Employees in Segregated

Job Classifications, etc. - June 30, 1971.......  657a



Page
Ex. 8 - Table, Number of Employees in All Job

Classifications, etx. - July 2, 1965............  658a
Ex. 9 - Table, Number of Employees in All Job

Classifications, etc. - July 2, 1968............  659a
Ex. 10 - Table, Number of Employees in All Job

Classifications, etc. - June 30, 1971............. 660a
Ex. 11 - Itemization of Services by Kenneth L.

Johnson........................................  661a
Ex. 12 - Itemization of Services by Fletcher

Farrington.....................................  662a
Ex. 13 - Mrmorandum Regarding Payment of Fees........  666a

Defendant1s Exhibits
Ex. 1 - Employee Records, Adam Baxter............... 669a
Ex. 2 - Employee Records, Johnnie Baxter............ 674a
Ex. 3 - Employee Records, William Steele, Jr........ 679a
Ex. 4 - Employee Records, Frank King................ 685a
Ex. 5 - Employee Records, George B. Buckins........  687a
Ex. 6 - Employee Records, Summer Wallace............ 689a
Ex. 7 - Employee Records, James Jacobs.............. 696a
Ex. 8 - Employee Records, Frank Williams, Jr........ 701a
Ex. 9 - Employee Records, Joseph C. Brinson......... 710a
Ex. 10 - Employee Records, Willie McMillan, Jr.....  714a
Ex. 11 - Employee Records, Dennis F. Holliday.-...... 717a
Ex. 12 - Employee Records, Euless Hodges............ 722a
Ex. 13 - Employee Records, James Jones #2........... 734a
Ex. 14 - Employee Records, Jefferson Davis.......... 741a
Ex. 15 - Employee Records, Ted Stokes............... 745a



I Page
Ex. 16 - Employee Records, Inman P. Morgan, Jr........  749a
Ex. 17 - Employee Records, Eddie Lee Smith............ 752a
Ex. 18 - Employee Records, Washington, D .............. 760a
Ex. 19 - Employee Records, Ned Singleton, Jr.......... 766a
Ex. 20 - Employee Records, Lucious Height............. 772a
Ex. 21 - Memorandum To All Supervisors............  775a

\Ex. 22 - List of Meetings.............................  776a
Ex. 23 - Plant Stations, etc..........................  777a
Ex. 24 - Employee Handbook............................  782a
Ex. 33 - Affirmative Action Program....................  794a
Ex. 34 - Table, Job Classification and Number of

Employees, 1965-1971..............................  823a
Ex. 35 - Table and Lists, Promotions, 1965-1972....... 830a
Ex. 36 - Table and Lists, Summary of Hiring

Statistics, 1966-1971............................  878a
Ex. 37 - Area Wage Survey.............................  900a
Ex. 38 - Table, Comparison of Wage Rates............  912a
Ex.. 39 - EEOC Decision................................  913a
Ex. 40 - Certificate of Authenticity, With

Attachments......................................  917a
Ex. 41 - List, Education Programs, 1963-1972..........  922a
Ex. 42 - Lists of Job Classifications and Employees... 928a



NOTE : The witness withdrew from the stand.
MR. FARRINGTON: I call Mr. Johnson.

MR. KENNETH L. JOHNSON, HAVING BEEN DULY SWORN, TOOK THE STAND

Ĉ. Would you state your name, please?
A. Kenneth L. Johnson.
Q. Where do you live, Mr. Johnson?
A. Baltimore, Maryland.
Q. What is your occupation?
A. I am a lawyer in a private practice.
Q. What bars are you a member of?
A. The Louisiana Bar, the Maryland Bar, and the District of 

Columbia.
Q. Are' you one of the attorneys of record for the case of Baxter 

against Savannah Sugar Refining Corporation?
A. Yes, I am.
Q. Where did you receive your law degree?
A. Howard'University in Washington, D.C.
Q. What did you do after you got out of lav/ school?
A. Well, I graduated in 1962, June of 1962.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Did you get another degree?
A. Yes, sir, I did. Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana,

AND TESTIFIED AS FOLLOWS:

JOHNSON BY MR. FARRINGTON:
DIRECT

3/ Ll A,
154-



(Cont'd) Bachelor of Art. After getting out of Law School,
i >I v/ent to the United States Army, Judge Advocate General 

School at the University of Virginia. I completed that school,

three years in the military in the U. S. Army JAG Corps.
Where were you stationed?
I was stationed first of all as trial counsel in Alexandria,

. . \Virginia, for approximately .sight months, and the rest of the
time, I spent overseas; first to Korea as Chief Defense 
Counsel for the U. S. Army, First Calvary Division. I was
assigned then to Okinawa where I was Chief of Military Justice,
and we had the commands at that time in 1965 of South Viet

What did you do after you got out of the Army?
I v/ent to v/ork for the United States Department of Justice in

Well, I was a trial lav/yer, and I was assigned to the Civil
-Rights Division, and I tried Civil Rights cases in the Southern 

States. tN ■ vWhat were some of the cases you had the responsibility for

Well, I can't hardly remember, but there's been dozens of them.
I assisted in preparation of the trial of the case of United 
States against Brown and Beliback, v/hich is a leading employment

and I went in the military as a First Lieutenant, and I spent

Washington, D.C.
What were your responsibilities there?

being trial counsel in?



A. (Cont'd) case, and in the Spring of 1968 . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Who was chief counsel in that case?/ _ I
A. I Mr. David Rose who is now head of the Employment Section of the 

Justice Department in Washington, and I was assistant counsel, 
and just lots of cases even in this jurisdiction. I participated 
in school desegregation cases, the Georgia Power Case, and . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: How long did you work with the Department of Justice? 
A. I worked there, sir, from January 3, 1967, until March 14, 1969, 

which would have been a total of, I believe, two years and
about two months. . ■.

||Q. Where did you go after you got out of the Justice Department?
iiA. I became the Executive Director for the Lawyers Committee for 

Civil Rights under the Law in Baltimore, Maryland, which was
lia lawyers committee sponsored - privately funded by the Ford
I?Foundation to interest the private bar in talcing civil, rights

•' .. ; ' ii
cases, and I did that for approximately a year and a half and it 
went into business.

Q. By business, do you mean the private practice of law?
A. Yes, sir, I do.
Q. What sort of practice do you have?
A. The majority of my cases are Title Seven cases, fair housing 

cases arising under the 1968 Act and the 1866 Act, and a 1983
case that I'm currently engaged in as chief counsel. The 1983\

Icase is against the City of Baltimore Fire Department having 
employed by discrimination.

ft



JUDGE ALAIMO: You wont into private practice in 1971?
i \

A. I believe, sir, 19— , yes, sir, 1971. About January of 1971. 
JUDGE ALAIMO: In Baltimore?

tA. In Baltimore, yes, sir.
Q. Do you also take fee-generated cases - we all know 'that Titb

/Seven falls into that category - but ordinary cases that
generate a fee?

j v ■ ■ . 'A. . Yes, sir./
Q. Are you required to turn down some of those cases in order to 

accept Title Seven cases?
A . I am.
JUDGE ALAIMO: I didn't understand that last question, Mr. Earring 

ton.
Q. The testimony is that he has to turn down cases that would 

pay a fee in order to take civil rights cases. It's a legal 
matter, Your Honor, one of the considerations.-- One of the 
reasons that attorneys fees are awardable in generous amounts 
in Title Seven cases is that lawyers who take those cases act 
as .private attorneys generally. They are vindicating a public 
policy .

JUDGE ALAIMO: This is not any different from a lawyer handling a 
damage suit . . .

Q. Yes, sir, it's very much different.
JUDGE ALAIMO: How?

Q. It is very much different because we are vindicating public
3 /  7 a
-157-



Q. (Cont’d) policy and cases so old, and one of the considerations 
that the Court should look to in determining the amount of attor­
neys fees awarded, whether or not counsel has to turn down 
fee-generated cases in order to accept these cases. In other 
words, he is bringing on a economic detriment to himself in 
order to vindicate a public policy. In cases . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: Are you worth more per hour because you're working 
in this case than if you were working in any other case?

Q. Yes, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: I don't understand that.
Q. Well, if the Court will allow/, I propose to . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, go on with this v/itness. We' 11 go into

that later on.
Q. Did you prepare an itemization of services, the amount of 

time you spent on this case?
A. Yes, sir, I did.
Q. Do you have it with you?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. I propose that we just offer this like it is without going- 

through the reading of all the different things unless you 
want to hear it read.

MR. SIMPSON: We have no - we've seen it.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Did you associate Mr. Hill and Mr. Farrington's

firm in this case, or did they associate you? 
A. I was associated by the INC Fund;-... if.

-158-



1

!

JUDGE A LA. I MO: By whom?
A. Excuse me, the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense Fund.
JUDGE ALAIMO: How did they get into this case?
Q. Our law firm is cooperating counsel for the N.A.A.C.P. Legal 

Defense Fund.
JUDGE ALAIMO: How do these cases get channelled into N.A.A.C.P.?
Q. Well, it's not that they get channelled into the N.A.A.C.P.

It's simply that lawyers who represent the N.A.A.C.P. and who
ijare cooperating counsel have a reputation for bringing these 

kind of cases. When somebody feels discriminated against, he 
goes over to Bobby I-Iill's office. It's as simple as that.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, I seem to see a New York lav; firm. How did
, . 'i-£hcTr e je t 2.n t o  iz.li.2-S c s s s ?

Q. That's the Legal Defense Fund. j
JUDGE ALAIMO: Is that where it starts? In other words, is that

i| •
where this case originally started? j.

Q. No, sir. This case originally started in Savannah, Georgia.
JUDGE ALAIMO: I understand, but how does - who is it, Mr. Greenburg? 
Q. Right.
JUDGE ALAIMO: How does he get into a Savannah case? I
Q. Okay. Let me explain what he does. We write to Mr. Greenburg -

|lnot Mr. Greenburg - we write to William L. Robinson . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: You do?
Q. We do. -j!

JUDGE ALAIMO: Oh, you do. In other words, you lawyers Mr. Hill

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JUDGE ALAIMO: (Cont'd) and Mr. Farrington - Mr. Baxter came to
/ you and then you get in touch with Greenburg?

Q. i We are associating them as a matter of practicality, because
they have lawyers up there who do nothing but Title Seven work. 
They can write briefs about ten times faster than we can.

JUDGE ALAIMO: And they then get in touch with this expert . . .
. !

Q. There was no one on the staff who could assist me at the time
we thought this case was coming to tail. I called Bill* '
Robinson frantic because Hill was in the Legislature, and i
they sent Ken. •

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
A. I might add that I've worked with Mr. Farrington - while I

was in the Department of Justice, he worked for me.
JUDGE ALAIMO: He worked for you?
A. Yes, sir. /

l • |
Q . Okay.

CROSS
j

EXAMINATION OF MR. JOHNSON BY MR. SAPP: j!
IjQ. Mr. Johnson, I am thoroughly confused in this area bout Legal 

Defense Fund and New York lawyers and Savannah lawyers and
I! ■Baltimore lawyers. Are you on a retainer from the Legal Defense

.

and Education Fund of the N.A.A.C.P.?
A. None at all. None.
Q. You don't receive any.money from them?
_______________________________ ? 3k,_______

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A. I No, sir.
Q. I You receive no money from them for handling this case?
A. No, sir, no more than the plane fare down here.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Do they pay your expenses down here?
A. They advanced me the plane fare down here.
Q. Now, you only became involved in this case in January of 1972 

when you discussed it with Mr. Robinson, is that correct?
A. That's correct. ■
Q. Nov/, are you aware of the fact that a Mr. Belton, I believe 

is his name, is also involved in this case?
A. I know of him, and I know that he was involved in this case, h

but I don't personally know him.
Q. Well, do you know whether or not he's with the Legal Defense

! i
and Education Fund or is he an attorney in private practice or

ii
what is his staxiding? i;!A. I have no idea.

Q.

A.
Q.

l.
You don't know whether he was another attorney like yourself 
and was brought into the case to assist the Savannah attorneys 
in the case?
No, sir.
Now, the time that you have here spent in drafting a trial 
brief, you've got approximately - well, seventeen hours.
You've got eight hours in one and twenty-seven in two, nine

\

hours in one, twenty-one in '72. Is that with respect to the 
pre-trial brief that was filed today?

:!i

-161-



A. No. That's the one we planned to file perhaps in the next
i \few days.

JUDGE ALAIMO: One dealing, I think, with the expansion of the 
class? Is that the one you're talking about?

A. No, sir. I'm talking about the one dealing with the action 
/ itself. The merits of the case and . . .

JpDGE ALAIMO: The only one I know about is the one filed today.
I \ .A. We have not fried the one that this is referring to.
/
JUDGE ALAIMO: Oh, you have not filed this one you're talking 

about?
A. Yes, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Qh, I see.
Q. This one is still in the works, I mean . . .
A. That's correct. It's being drafted now.
Q. Well, this is in fact a post-trial brief you're talking about 

here, is that right?
A. It's a post-trial brief, yes.
JUDGE ALAIMO: You mean Mr. Hill and Mr. Farrington haven't been 

doing all this work? You've been doing it?
A. Oh, yes,, sir. I've been helping them. They've been doing a 

majority of this work, not me.
Q. I don't have anything further, Your Honor.
JUDGE ALAIMO: May I'see that exhibit?
CLERK: I don't believe it's an exhibit as such.
JUDGE ALAIMO: You ought to enter it as some kind of exhibit,

- 162 -



JUDGE AIAIMO: (Cont'd) shouldn't you, Mr. Farrington?
MR./FARRINGTON: I didn't . . .
JUDGE AIAIMO: I assume you want those into evidence, don't you?I
MR. FARRINGTON: Yes, sir, I suppose so.
JUDGE AIAIMO: Well, let me ask him some questions. I think I can 

ask him. What do you think your time is worth?
A. Seventy-five dollars an hour.
JU.DGE AIAIIIO: Well, is that the going rate in Baltimore or in 

that area?
A. Yes,sir. We have . . .
JUDGE AIAIMO: For an attorney practicing law in Baltimore, Mary­

land?
A. I am - I think the going rate would be approximately sixty-five . 

dollars an hour for an attorney practicing law on just a regular 
case, but since these cases are like anti-trust cases, and I 
think anti-trust cases go for seventy-five dollars an hour in i:
the Baltimore area.

JUDGE AIAIMO: All right, sir. Do you have any questions you 
desire to ask?

MR.

A.

Q.

SAPP: I've got a question. I just want to make sure I am
X - s

clear on what his background is. You graduated from Howard 
University Lav/ School in 1962 and then went into the Judge 
Advocate Generals Corps? \
Yes, sir.

That was until 1965; at that time, you went into the Denartmenh

I;
i;I!

i;
jl

-163-



Q. (Cont'd) of Justice. That was the first practicing you had 
done outside the Army, is that correct, in 1965?

A. No, sir. I practiced with the Lawyers Committee for Civil 
Rights under the Lav;.

Q. When?
A. From March 16, 1969, until about September, 1970 . . .
Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q-

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

All right . . .
. . . and then from that - yes, go ahead.
You didn't understand my question. What I was trying to get 
to was you went directly from lav; school into JAG, isn't that
correct?
After going through JAG school, 
Obey. And then you went direct 
of Justice?

yes.
ly from JAG ■-Q the Department

That's correct.
And went in as a line attorney, I assume? 
That's correct.
And you stayed there until 1969?
That is correct.
And then in 1969, you went with the Lawyers Committee for Civil 
Rights?
That is correct.
And you were on a salary there? j;
That is correct.

■

And you were on a salary when you were with the Department of

-164-



Q. (Cont'd) Justice?
A. That's correct.
Q. And as you put it, you went in business in 1970, and that's in

Q. All right. So you've had a little over one year in private
practice since you've gotten out of the Department of Justice 
and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights?

A. That's correct.
Q. I don't have anything further, Your Honor.

JUDGE A LA 1110: Any objection to that document?
MR. SAPP: We don't have any objection, Your Honor.
JUDGE ALAIMO: In other words, you ~ apparently, you don't contest 

the amount of work that's stated on there?
MR. SIMPSON: Your Honor, I would think that Mr. Farrington

probably has spent two hundred hours. I know how much Mr.
Sapp and I have spent.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
NOTE: Plaintiff's Exhibit Number Eleven marked for identification

and entered into evidence without objection.

private practice?
A. That is correct.
n ' And that was in about September of 1970?

That-was about January of 1971.

MR. FARRINGTON: For the record, the last exhibit, it was never
marked. Could we mark it as Plaintiff's Exhibit Eleven?

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I-1R. FLETCHER FARRINGTON■ TOOK THE STAND, AND HAVING BEEN DULY SWORN,
TESTIFIED AS FOLLOWS:

DIRECT
EXAMINATION OF MR.' FARRINGTON BY MR. JOHNSON:
Q. Would you state your name and address, please?
I

Aj Fletcher Farrington, 208-A East Thirty-Fourth Street, Savannah. 
Q. And what's your occupation?
A. I'm a lawyer.
I  ' ' ' i!Q. And where did you receive your law degree?
JUDGE ALAIMO: How old is he? i('
Q. Excuse me. How old are you?
A. Thirty. The University of Alabama.
Q. And did you receive an undergraduate degree?
A. Yes, in Agriculture from Auburn University.
Q. And when was that?
A. That was in 1964.

t;
Q. And after receiving your lav/ degree, what did you do?
A. I went to work with the United States Department of Justice, ■i1

Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C.
Q. And what.was your position there?
A. I was a trial attorney.
Q. And in that position, what were you required to do? M
A. I spent most of my time in Georgia, initially when we went - 

'when I went to the Justice Department, v/e were organized . . .
I

JUDGE ALAIMO: Excuse me. I didn't get when you passed lav/ school?_______  ____________■. 3 ol6 _ _ [
‘ iI -166-



A. '67.
JUDGE ALAIMO: And you went to the University of Alabama?
A. Yes, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: And where are you admitted?
A. Admitted to Alabama and to Georgia.
JUDGE ALAIMO: And the District, I assume?
A. This district, yes.
JUDGE ALAIMO: No, the District of Columbia?
A. No, not - not . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: In other words, your work in the Justice Department 

was here in Georgia?
A. No, sir. I worked out of Washington but we just spent an

awful amount of time down here.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Now, when did you go to work with them?
A. September 25, 1967.
JUDGE ALAIMO: How long did you work with them?
A. Until March 1, *71.
JUDGE ALAIMO: And in what capacity did you work with them?
A. Trial attorney.
JUDGE ALAIMO: In court or before administrative . . .
A. In court'.
JUDGE ALAIMO: What cases did you participate in?
I\. Well, there was about . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: In the Northern District, is this mainly where you

worked?

167-



A. No, sir. I was also’ in the - the Southern District of Georgia
i i

was ray bailiwick.
JUDGE ALAIMO: You worked in the Southern District? What cases

t
did you participate in down here?

A. The first one, I think, was Stell - Stell and the United States 
against Savannah Chatham Board of Education. Also, I was
involved in the Southern District U. S. against Bulloch County

. . \
Board of Education, U. S. against Screven County Board of

. l!
Education, U. S. against Glascock County Board of Education . . .

rrT'*.
K.J

JUDGE ALAIMO: Any when Judge Scarlett was presiding?
. A. Yes, a number of them. My first case was tried before Judge

;»
Scarlett; also United States against Attaway, which was a suit 
for an injunction to seek to enjoin interference with voting 
rights by the Sheriff of Johnson County, Georgia; also the 
United States against Johnson County School Board. Most -• i;
with the exception of the Attaway case, most of the v/ork that } ♦
I did in the Southern District of Georgia was on school cases.

i: I|I also worked on a number of school cases in the Middle District
; ' ' |j

of .Georgia, and then after Mr. Johnson left the Department - 
well, we'had decided that we were going about it wrong, so we
came up with an idea to include the entire State Board of; , j|
Education, and I was the chief trial counsel. I prepared the 
complaint and convinced the Administration to file a suit and* r;; j i
carried it up through its initial stages after the first hear- 

ing and first injunction was entered. After that, I went to
li !■

-1G8-



A. (Cont'd) work in the Employment Section of the Civil Rights
i i

Division, and my first big case there was United States 
against Georgia Power Company.

JUDGE ALAIMO: In other words, were you connected in any way with . 
the E.E.O.C.?

A j No, sir. I was trial counsel. I was a trial lawyer trying
the Government's cases.

. . \
JDGE ALAIMO: But now, for instance, in that Georgia Power case,

i - ■
that was an E.E.O.C. case, was it not?

j;A. The Justice Department's feature of it was not an E.E.O.C.
case. You see, prior to the new act, the E.E.O.C. didn't have ))
any right to go into court.

JUDGE ALAIMO: I understand that, but I mean this is where it
started. This formed the foundation for an action -just like 
it did in this case.

A. Not necessarily. There were private actions in that case, but 
the Government, the Justice Department, had an independent

(Iright to go in. They chose three or four private cases together
v I •

with the Government's case. I spent about a year putting that
i t

case together and trying it. I left the Justice Department ji
shortly after the trial was completed. I went back as a

i|
consultant to help them make a brief, and I also - while I 
was in the Justice Department, the Employment Section - worked

|j
up and filed a suit against the Virginia Electric Power Company. 
I also was involved in a suit against - the United States

-169-



A. (Cont'd) against the Medical Society of South Carolina.
Q. And from the Justice Department, where did you go?
A. I came to Savannah and entered into a partnership with Mr.

Hill and . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: When?
A. March 1, '71.
Q. And are you still so employed?
A. Yes, I am.
Q. Are you one of the counsel in this case of Baxter against 

Savannah Sugar Refining Corporation?
A. Yes, sir, I am.
Q. And have you assisted in the preparation of this case for

si11

A. Yes. Well, I would say I was assisted.
Q. And you tool the chief responsibility?
A. That's correct.
Q. And did you make up a list of the time spent by you on this 

case?
A. Yes, I did. It's been marked as Plaintiff's Exhibit Number 

Twelve. The Clerk has it.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Let me ask you this, Mr. Farrington. Are you or

jl
il

|l ■

ii||anyone
of counsel on any contingency relationship here with respect 
to when you recover?

A. No, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Independent of the attorneys fees . . .

3 3 ^

-170



A. No, sir. We feel like the - a contingency case - a contingency 
arrangement in a case like this would be violative of public 
policy. This is not a damage case; it's a suit in equity.
The back-pay feature is simply - is not punitive. It's equita­
ble as to restore the Plaintiffs to their rightful place.
Since the Act does make a provision for attorneys fees, I know

Iof only one case in the country where a contingent - one big 
case where a contingent fee arrangement was involved and every­
body thought that - everybody says that it will never happen 
again, because it - it's a public case and contingent - we

|ifeel - I feel as a lawyer that a contingent fee arrangement
|!

is to violate the spirit of the act.
Q. In other words, !you're saying that the money recovered for the 

employees should go to the employees rather than the lawyers?
A . That1s right.
JUDGE ALAIMO: What'I'm interested in finding out is whether there 

is any sort of contingent fee arrangement in this case.
ji

A. There is none in any of my Title Seven cases.
JUDGE ALAIMO: I'll ask you again now about this case.
A. There's none in this one.

i
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.

I
A. Absolutely none.

ji
Q. Your Honor, and I have none either at the same time. Iji
JUDGE ALAIMO: I can appreciate your reason, but my point is I '' 

just want to know in fact whether there's any contingent fees
________ _ ]

-171-



JUDGE AIAIMO: (Cont'd) in this case.
Q. No, sir. Your Honor, Plaintiff's Exhibit "E" .
A. No, that's twelve.
Q. Tv/clve has been marked and is submitted into evidence.
JUDGE AIAIMO: Have copies been submitted to . . .
A. To counsel.

' * (f
JUDGE AIAIMO: Any objection? __
MR. SAPP: Your Honor, I didn't get a chance to look it over very

1close. Could I have just one moment?
JUDGE AIAIMO: Yes.
A. My records and Mr. Hill's records are somewhat different from 

Mr. Johnson's, because we keep our time in tenths of a minute -
in tenths of an hour rather than quarter hours which Mr.
Johnson does. j]

MR. SAPP: We don't have any objection, Your Honor, subject to
the mathematics being correct which I haven't had an opportunity 
to examine.

NOTE: Plaintiff's Exhibit Number Twelve admitted into evidence j
jIwithout objection.

Q. Mr. Farrington, for this type - excuse me. How much is your
! . . .  I |time worth per hour in your estimatation? 
j |

A. Well, I - my estimate is seventy-five dollars per hour, and
I make that estimate on several grounds. First is that the i
only other Title Seven case in which I have received a fee, I

!!got about that much. Secondly . . .
! . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ :_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . . . .  , _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ J l

-172



JUDGE ALAIMO: By agreement or by an order?
i i

A. By agreement. This was an agreement before trial. There was
no much - a whole lot of discovery had been included. Secondly, 
the one case that I know of which talks about attorneys fees 
in a Title Seven case and concerning an hourly rate' is about 

/ seventy-five dollars an hour; Joseph Bell against Southern 
■ Pacific. In that case, the court held seventy-five - for. about

/ V/ seventy-five dollars from the companies - company was reasonable 
even though there wasn't a back-pay award, implying in my mind 
that if there had been a back-pay award set at more than 
seventy-five dollars . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: In other words, the Court took the view that the 
results had something to do with the amount?

A. That’s correct.
Q. I have no further questions, Your Honor. |
JUDGE ALAIMO: Mr. Farrington, what relationship does that estimate 

of your services bear to the, prevailing rates here in the
|iSavannah area? I

A. I have no idea what the lawyers here in Savannah charge other
than what- we charge. We have two kinds of - well, three kinds
of cases. We have a few clients that we have on an annual
retainer. The rest - and then we have Title Seven cases where

\

we keep our time records. The rest of our prcictice is stuff
fi

that we charge a flat fee for. We don't represent anybody ijithat we can charge an hourly rate, so I don't really know what
_________ ___^  o , ,_______________________________ __________________ i

-173-



A. (Cont'd) the prevailing rate is here in Savannah.
I \

JUDGE AIAIMO: All right, I-lr. Sapp.

CROSS
EXAMINATION OF MR. FARRINGTON BY MR. SAPP;

Mr. Farrington, did I understand you to testify that the only
' * !IJ-other case in which you received a fee, in a Title Seven case 

\was one in which a settlement was reached prior to trial?
That1s right. '
Nov/,, other than the case involving the United States versus I
Georgia Power, which you tried while you were in the Department 
of Justice, -have you tried any other Title Seven cases to a
judgement before a Court?

A. No, I have not.
Q. Nov/, are you or your office on a retainer with the N.A.A.C.P.

Legal Defense and Education Fund?
A. We are not on a retainer. We have an arrangement with - well,

it's sort of, I'd guess you'd call it, an arrangement with the j
-Fund, whereby they agree to reimburse us - or they agree to

pay our expenses in these cases - if we agree that when we get
an attorneys fee award, we reimburse them; so actually, it's
just an advance. It's like we're borrowing money to support
this litigation from the INC Fund because we've got to pay it
back. In addition, our agreement is that from time to time,

' . (jIthey furnish assistance in the form of a counsel, and we also... ....... ,... .............. . 3a/ja. _ ........ .......... _ j!
i

174-



A. (Cont'cl) agree that-if we get an attorneys fee award, the
\ \Fund gets its share out of that.

Q. Well, what are you paid by them for handling this case?
A. Well, we1 re not' - we are not paid anything by them. Occasionally,

they advance us some money and they say, "Send me your time
records and see how much They advance us money at the
rate :of one hundred dollars a day, buig. it' s got to go bach to

. . \ them.
JUDGE ALAIMO: What portion of your fee, if anything, do you give 

back.to them? I
A. We give . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Qr do you gift your . . .
A . c: i — 1- tnen. r j -  I ̂ sed generally on the amount of work they

put in and the amount of work we put in.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, is this agreement in writing of any type? 
A. Yes, sir. I . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Did you submit a copy of that agreement?
A. Well, it's not a signed agreement. It's a statement of policy

l!
from the Fund.

JUDGE ALAIMO-:. Well, I assume then it explains precisely what' s
happened' whether it's an agreement and you are bound by it or 
whether you do it voluntarily. If it's a policy, I think it 
would be appropriate that it be put in the record, because 
they will be getting a portion of the fee that may be awarded 
in this case as I understand it.

_______________________________________  _________________________________ ..... . ±
-175-



MR. HILL: I don't think - Your Honor, I'll just state in my place 
that I don't think it's firm enough to be a policy. We'll 
be glad to put whatever exists in the record on that. It's 
just that it's so sufficial and flexible that it - I don't 
think it would aid the Court very much.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Well, let me ask you in this case.
What portion of the fee would you - j,n addition to what they've 
advanced you, what portion of the fee would you give to them?

A. On the basis of time that Mr. Belton and Mr. Johnson put in the
case.

JUDGE ALAIMO: I don't understand. Do they work for the Legal 
Aid Fund or are they private attorneys?

ii:

J
A. 'Tell, Mr. Belton at the time he spent time on this case was

with the INC Fund. He is now in private practice. Now, when 
we send out - that money to the Fund, I am sure that they arc 
going to send Ken Johnson's share to him.

MR. JOHNSON: Well, just for the Court - I volunteer so the
Court can understand as much as I know about it. I was given 
a call and asked to go to help Fletcher Farrington. He needs 
some help. Nobody told me how much I would get or what.

JUDGE ALAIMO: But you're getting paid by - down here, not by 
the Fund.

MR. JOHNSON: That's correct. I . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Now, how much of your recovery, if you 

make one, goes to the Fund? Can you answer that?
________________ _______ :____ 3 3 6 0 ____________________________ _

-176-



MR. HILL: Well, I hate that this is getting so difficult, but I 
/think this is what would happen. I think that Mr. Belton's 
I time, whatever that is, and provided you - this Court - awards 
seventy-five dollars per hour for Mr. Belton, that would go to 
the Fund in light of the fact that Mr. Belton was v/orking for the 
Fund at the time that he put in those times and was in fact 
on salary. _

JUDGE AIAIMO: In other words, the only portion of the fee that the*
Fund gets is directly for hours spent by Fund lawyers, is*that correct? •■

MR. HILL: That's correct.
Q. Was Mr. Belton a full-time employee as far as you know, Mr. . 

Farrington, at the time he participated in this case of the 
N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense Fund?

A. Yes, he was.
Q. He was on a salary basis with them?
A. I believe he was on with them. They have an intern program 

which is a salary basis.
Q. But he was licensed to practice and he was put in the practice 

of lav;?
A. Yes, as far as I know, he was.
Q. And he was . . .
A. To help me, Mr. Hill might be able to . . .

\

MR. HILL: Just. - yes. He was full-time staff with the INC Fund, 
He was not an intern at that time.

_____________________________ 3 3 7 * . ________________ ___________
• -177-



A. |He was not an intern.
Q. All right. Are you or your law firm being paid in any manner 

I similar to that in which Mr. Belton was paid at the time he 
was involved in this case to handle this law suit?

A. No.
Q. What amounts, if any, has your firm received thusfar in terms 

of advances or your time spent or expenses in this particular 
lav; suit?

A. I don't know. I don't have my records, but I - I think it's
somewhere between twelve and fifteen hundred dollars, not more 
than fifteen hundred dollars.

Q. Your Honor, I think we had an agreement that they will produce 
whatever policy it is - agreement, whatever it may be - just 
to shed whatever light can be on the agreement between them 
and . . .  (

A. I'm not trying to hide anything. I'm making it as clear as I 
know how.

Q. I'm just trying to bring it out. That's all.
JUDGE ALAIIIO: Yes. No, I don't think he meant that but, Mr.

Hill, furnish that policy or whatever it may be.
Q . Nov; . . . 
JUDGE ALA II10 : 
Q. I'm sorry. 
JUDGE ALAIMO:

But as I under- - are you still questioning?
I just had a couple of more, yes, sir.

\

Go ahead. v
Q. Now, let's assume the. Court awards attorneys fees in this case
.......................... ..................... .............................:......__________________________- - . A n ________________

-173-



c

v.h

A.
Q.

A.

Q. (Cont'd) Nov/, as I understand it, and correct me if I an 
I wrong . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: Pardon me, Mr. Sapp. Would you mind standing up?
Q. I'm sorry, Your Honor. If the Court awards attorneys fees in 

this case, as I understand it, and please correct me if I am 
v/rong, your firm will in turn pay a certain proportion of these 
fees to the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense_and Education Fund?
Right.
Nov/, what proportion of the fee would you pay to the Fund? i'
Based on Mr. Belton's hours. If we-get - if we get a forty

ij
thousand dollar attorneys fee award and there are four hundred-. ii
hours that all the lawyers have put in and Mr. Belton had put
in one hundred of those hours, the Fuxid would get ten thousand 
dollars. If he put in two hundred hours, they would get

?jtwenty thousand dollars.
' *111

So it's going to bo done on a pro rata basis? ii
Yes, sir.

j
You take whatever time Mr. Belton has in the case and comparing 
it to the total time, and he gets that percentage - or the Fund
gets that percentage of the recovery?

—That's correct. I
Nov/, what about Mr. Johnson? \ ji\ iThe same thing. \ \
So you would pay also to the Fund any proportion of the total 
award of attorneys fees that Mr. Johnson has time for?
............................ ......................... ...... ......................... . 33< ?

Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

-179-



I

i*?

\

:I

_'

A. We will pay - let me back up. We will pay that directly to 
Mr. Johnson. I was about to testify to something I didn't 
know anything about. I really don't know what his arrangement 
is.

Q. I don't have anything further, Your Honor.
MR. JOHNSON: We have nothing further, Your Honor.

jMR. FARRINGTON: The Plaintiff rests. _
NOTE: The witness withdrew from the stand. |lI;
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Let's take a ten minute break, shall we? 
NOTE: The court recessed for ten minutes.

|l
NOTE: The court reconvened after a ten minute recess.

|;
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right, Mr. Simpson, you may proceed for the

MR.
Defendant.
SIMPSON: Your Honor, before we go on, I would like to make a
motion that the case be dismissed. The case for the Plaintiff .
is predicated on discrimination in the Boiler Room. This is 
the basis of his charge before the E.E.O.C. It was the only 
matter which was the subject of the investigation of the 
E.E.O.C. It's the only matter that's complained of in the 
complaint and, Your Honor, the evidence today doesn't show any
discrimination insofar as the Plaintiff is concerned with 
respect to the Boiler Room. He complained of the employee 
E. Hodges being made an Operator, and Hodges has been a Relief

!!l!

Operator since 1954 and became an Operator on January 1, '66, i;
and the Plaintiff's complaint to the E.E.O.C. was January 11,
................. ...........' _ ..... 3 a___ _______________ __________ ___ ,__i

-180- i



MR. SIMPSON: (Coat'd) '66, eleven days after that event took
1

place, and his affidavit to the E.E.O.C. was in February. 
Therefore, the complaint that he has complaining about was 
Hodges being made an Operator in January of '66, and Hodges - 

i the record is clear today that Hodges had been a Relief

/Operator since 1954 and was a Relief Operator prior to the
time:that Baxter went on card. Baxter went on card in 1955.

. . \
Therefore, there is no showing by the Plaintiff Baxter that 
he was discriminated against at the time he filed his complaint 
with the E.E.O.C., and the thing he complains of in his complaint 
to this Court is the same matter and, Your Honor, the evidence 
today has just failed to show a cause of action on the part 
of this Plaintiff on the matter he has complained of in his 
complaint.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right, Mr. Simpson. I'll just withhold ruling 
on that until the completion of all the evidence in the case, 
and you might, if you so desire, re-urge your motion at the

I• iend, Mr. Simpson.
MR. FARRINGTON: Your Honor, might I make one short response to

Mr. Simp-son's motion?
-x'JUDGE ALAIMO: Certainly.

it
■

MR. FARRINGTON: Mr. Baxter's complaint was not that he should 
have gotten the job that Hodges got. The complaint was that

I;
he should have gotten the job that Hodges vacated. i'

JUDGE ALAIMO: Is that his complaint here or is that his complaint
. .  . 3Wa_L

-181-



JUDGE ALAIMO: (Cont'd) in this E.E.O.C. complaint?
MR. FARRINGTON: That's his complaint here, and that was his

complaint when he was deposed. I don't know what he said on 
the E.E.O.C. charge.

JUDGE AIAIMO: All right.
MR. SIMPSON: Your Honor, not to belabor the point, particularly 

by arguing it to the Court, but it should be remembered that 
his regular permanent job was in the Electrical Department and 
he . . .

JUDGE AIAIMO: Well, you know, I . . .
MR. SIMPSON: . . . was in the Boiler Room, 

employee as a Helper, which is where he 
JUDGE AIAIMO: Well, let me say this. I am

you see, as a temporary 
worked on weekends. 
not too clear on

these so-called job classifications. They may not, to me, have 
much of a relationship to what a man actually does, but I
gather he's worked in the Boiler Room.

MR. SIMPSON: Your Honor, the example which Your Honor has before 
you or will have before you - here's the exhibit. The employ­
ment personnel record of Adam Baxter shows him in Station "R" 
which is the Electrical Department from 1957 on, and you see, 
there's' nothing else in his employment record, no other station 
You see, he works in the Boiler Room only as a Relief Helper.
He does this on weekends and odd times, but this is not part 
of his regular employment at all, and his regular employment 
is in the Electrical Department, and here's his employment

Arrr-srij
- 102 -



MR. SIMPSON: (Cont'd) schedule which shows him in Department "R" 
which is the Electrical Department from 1957 to date.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Does that record show what percentage of his time 
he worked in the Boiler Room?

MR. SIMPSON: No, sir, I'm afraid it would not.
JUDGE AIAIMO: Well, but yet he worked there, and this is my

problem. They call him an Electrician, but he's working as a 
Boiler Room Helper. Does it make any difference what you call 
him?

MR. SIMPSON: Your Honor, I think it makes a difference in this 
case, you see, as to what his permanent job is and what his 
temporary job is or his relief job, and again Your Honor 
doesn't have to be reminded. You see, ho was paid at a hicher 
rate in the Electrical Department than he was in the Boiler 
Room.

JUDGE.ALAIMO: I understand. I understand that. I believe he
conceded that. Now, what about what Mr. Farrington just said 
a moment ago? That what Mr. Baxter's claim has been, and 
it was on deposition, and is in this case is that he should 
have gotten the job that Hodges vacated?

MR. SIMPSON: Hodges - Hodges, Your Plonor, there again, the - the 
formal record is in evidence. Hodges is a permanent employee 
in the Mechanical Department. He was a permanent employee in 
the Mechanical Department as of January 1, I960. There again 
as a temporary employment on weekends and vacations of the

-1S3-



MR. 'SIMPSON: (Cont'd) regular employees, he worked in the Boiler
I
Room. What happened was Hodges took a transfer on January 1, 
l66 from his regular classification as a Mechanic to become a 
regular Boiler Room Operator.

JUDGE AIAIMO: Well, by designation; I don't know if that's the 
kind of work he did.

iMR. SIMPSON: In other words, there was no permanent vacancy, you 
see, that Baxter would have gone into as of January the 1st. 

JUDGE AIAIMO: All right.
j;

MR. FARRINGTON: Your Honor, I have-two■responses to that. In the
i|first place, if the Defendants are going to say that Mr. Baxter\  i ti{shouldn't have gotten the job in the Boiler Room because he 

v.*as not a permanent employee in that Boiler Room, how can they
say that Mr. Hodges was entitled to the job when lie was perma-

.
nently assigned to the Mechanics Gang?

JUDGE AIAIMO: Well, I think he said that the man applied for a 
transfer. Isn't that what he just said?

MR. FARRINGTON: No, sir. That's not what he said. He said he was' 
transferred.

MR. SIMPSON: I didn't say he applied for it, Your Honor. I said 
he was'transferred from the Mechanical Department as a regular Iiemployee to the Boiler Room as a regular employee on January 
the lot. \

MR. FARRINGTON: In the second place . . .

!i

JUDGE AIAIMO: Well, is it your contention that then Mr. Baxter

-184-



JTJDGE ALAIMO: (Cont'd) • should have been - that is that his

i ̂

V.

request was to be given the job that Hodges vacated, that 
of a permanent job as a Mechanic?

MR. FARRINGTON: No, no. He was requested - Mr. Hodges had been 
relieving as an Operator. When he went from permanent basis,
Mr. Baxter - it is his contention that he should have taken

||Mr. Hodges place as a Relief Operator.
. , \fUDGE ALAIMO: In the Boiler Room?

MR. FARRINGTON: In the Boiler Room.
MR. SIMPSON: Now, Your Honor, one more thing. I notice that it 

is now 4:20. Your Honor, the first witness we have may well 
take an hour or more on his direct examination. I would
think that Your Honor might prefer to start over in the morn­
ing, that is start with this witness fresh in the morning

ilrather than breaking up his testimony this afternoon.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, I would not prefer that, but if this is the 

way - I would like, you know, to get through with the case, 
and I can stand staying here until you get through with the 
direct and cross of this witness, but I will abide by counsel's 
wishes op that if you fellows are so worn out.

MR. FARRINGTON: We would prefer to continue, Your Honor.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Do you have any objection to proceeding with the
MR. SIMPSON: I just' didn't want to get halfway into the witness 

and . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: I agree with that. No, we won't do that.

II

-135-



MR. SIMPSON: All right,- sir. I would like to call Mr. Walter
i \Oetgen, if you please.

MR. WALTER F. OETGEN, JR., TOOK THE STAND, AND HAVING BEEN DULY
SWORN, TESTIFIED AS FOLLOWS:I
/ DIRECT

EXAMINATION OF MR. OETGEN BY MR. SIMPSON:
d. Mr. Oetgen, would you state your full name, please sir?
A. Walter F. Oetgen, Jr.
Q. And .where do you live, sir?
A. 2813 Neoraar Avenue, Savannah, Georgia.
Q. How old are-you, Mr. Oetgen?
7\ P i  -P-U , r J- U  ^i  1 » X JL X  o  j  "" t i l x  c •
Q. Are you employed by the Savannah Sugar Refining Corporation?
A. Yes, I am.
Q. And what is your position?
A. Chief Engineer.
Q. How long have you been employed by the Savannah Sugar Refining- 

Corporation? '
A. Twenty-sdx years.
Q. And how long have you been a Chief Engineer?
A. Nineteen years.

\

Q. Mr. Oetgen, what is your educational background?
A. I have a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree from North 

Carolina State College.

-186-



Q. In what year did you obtain that? 
A. 1943.
Q.

J
’ ,4 * \

I
.4

]

Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

ii

|i

A.

Mr. Oetgen, in your job as Chief Engineer, what are your 
principle duties?
I have charge of all the engineering in the plant and I have
the complete technical and engineering supervision of the

.
Boiler Room and Power House.

jj
Have you had that job as technical supervisor of the Boiler

j j
Room and Power House since you've been Chief Engineer for 
the last nineteen years? 11
That is right.

ijYou are familiar with the operation then of the Boiler Depart-
i ; IIment at the plant? jjFairly so.

itMr. Oetgen, I hand you a series of photographs which have
• - _ i!

been marked as Defendant's Exhibits Twenty-five through Thirty-
>)Two. I will hand you these documents in order, and I hand you jj
j;
jj

for our large industrial boilers, and there also is a central 
panel which has to do with all three boilers, and in the back-...............__..... .... ___________ ____________■_ J

now Defendant's Exhibit Number Twenty-Five and I'll ask you 
to explain to the Court what this photograph portrays, and in 
doing so, you will also explain to the Court what the duties 
of a Bbiler Room Operator are in connection with the things 
you see in this picture.
This picture is the - portrays the three main control panels

-187-



A. (Cont'd) ground, there is the control panel for the char
kiln. On these instrument panels are four meters:, gas flow
meters, water flow meters, steam flow meters - you also have 
the controls for the combustion of the boilers, the oxygen 
analyzers, all of the electrical fan switches, the gas monitor­
ing devices and this has to do with all the panels including 
the char kiln. These boilers are multi-million dollar boilers. 
This equipment is very intricate and is very complicated. I <
It has many feet of wiring - electrical wiring, and many feet 
of air piping, and it is the duty of.the Boiler House' Operator 
to monitor the operation of these boilers while the plant is 
running - all three are in operation when the plant is running. 
He monitors these devices to make sure that we have proper flow 
of water going at all times; the proper steam to suooort the

|!• • 1process m  t.ie plant. The Boiler House - you see, the Boiler
: i iand Power Houses are the heart of the refinery. If the ii

Boiler House does not operate, then the refinery doesn't
i!either. You have to produce steam - our process has to have 

steam for its - in order to make sugar, refine sugar. On 
shutdown, one boiler is in operation. It is up to the 
Operator to make sure that it maintains operation because we 
have to, even on shutdown, have to maintain one boiler so
that we can produce electricity to-keep everything going. V7e

\have a tie with the local electric company, but we do not 
use it except in cases of emergency.................... _ ....._  m *  _..... ......._  .

-103-



JUDGE ALAIMO: Which is the proper fuel in a Boiler?
IA. / We have both - the fuels we use in the boilers are natural
j gas and bumper "C" fuel oil. Another thing that's veryI
important about the operation of a boiler is the sensitivity 
when it comes to explosions. ■ You have to be very careful 
about that. That's why we have the monitoring devices, and 
that's why it's very necessary that the Operator be cautious 
at all times and be alert because you certainly don't want an

Itexplosion.
Q. Mr. Oetgen, I hand you this photograph which has been identified

as Defendant's Exhibit Twenty-six and ask you to explain that\  i ■
for the Court. i!I jA. This photograph shows a - the control panel for the char kiln

I;with the boiler control panel in the background. Nov/, the
• jchar kiln is a piece of process equipment that is used- for . . .ii

JUDGE AnAII10: C-h-a-r?
A. C-h-a-r.
JUDGE ALAIMO: K-i-l-n?
A. K-i-l-n, yes, sir. Char is used in the filtering of our

i|liquors, our white sugar liquors, and the char that does this
Ij• V|is revivified by putting it through this char kiln which burns
!!'out all the impurities, and it is natural gas fired, normally,

x j;
with number two fuel oil as a standby, and the - on the instrument\
panels, as shown in this picture, there is a gas analyzer

.
which tells us about the combustion in'the kiln, and this is

-139-



1 k AWi

A. (Cont'ci) a very critical item because the oxygen content
on the kiln must be kept at a low rate in order not to burn 
the carbon out of tne char.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Is that a complicated procedure?
A. Yes, sir, it is; the equipment is complicated.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes, I can understand the equipment . . .
A. Nothing complicated about the burning of the - the burning

of the char itself is not complicated, but the equipment that 
does the burning is complicated.

JUDGE ALAIMO: I'm sure it is, but what•about the operation of 
the equipment, is that a complicated thing?

A. Yes, sir. There is a set program that must be followed in 
order to start the kiln up, which we do every week, because 
normally we shutdown - start and shutdown with the plant every 
week. It has to be started up every week. It has to be 
operated properly during the week and then it has to be shut­
down, and these functions must take place very cautiously 
because, again, because of explosions, and you can't do it 
without proper instruction. Nov/, this char kiln is the only 
piece of equipment for char revivification, and if it does 
not run, then the operation of the plant is also affected.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Now, do you have any job descriptions for, say, a 
Boiler Room Operator? \ \

A. We do not have the . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: Detail what he's supposed to do and maybe v/hat hisc\. ^
-190-



JUDGE ALAIMO: (Cont’d) educational qualifications are for that?
Q. Your Honor, I would like' to interrupt. X was going to ask

him that after - I'm glad Your Honor asked him.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All 'right, go ahead.
Q. Would you explain to the Court, Mr. Oetgen, just what the 

duties of a Boiler Room Operator are?
AJ The Boiler House Operator - the Boiler Room Operator has the 

job -of .starting - maintaining the - starting the operation
and maintaining the operation and shutting down the operation 
when necessary of this complicated equipment in the Boiler 
Room. Nov/, in addition to what you see here in the pictures I
thusfar, we have - there are other pieces of equipment that 
are important as well. We have to maintain the oroner fuel 
oil in our storage tanks for the boiler. We must make sure 
that the water pump is functioning properly, make sure that the 
softening equipment that we — on the water is operating properly. 
In addition to the operation of the boilers themselves, the

]i
Boiler House Operator is also - also has as his job the over­
seeing- of the fire equipment alarms. All of our fire equip­
ment in the plant - our sprinkler system is monitored in the
.
Boiler House, and it is his responsibility that if an alarm

'
comes in, that that alarm is noted, where it's located, and 
Proper action taken to get the area inspected where the alarm 
took place. Most fortunately, there was no fire, it was a
false alarm. In addition to that, we have liquid sugar storage

i
-191-



(Coat'd) tanks that are remote from the plant proper, andi \we have the levels in both tanks, the level indicators and
controls of those tanks, located in the Boiler House so that
we have a monitoring of those - we don't allow - we don't
like to run over in those cases. In addition to that, he -
in addition to what I have stated so far,he runs the chemical
control on the boiler waters, one per shift. This takes about 

\an hour of his time. Sometimes he can't do it on a continuous 
basis because it depends upon what problems he might have or 
might not have, but it takes about an hour on each shift to

1!
run a chemical analysis of the boiler waters to - so that v/e 
prevent — we get the best water, salt water, properly chemically 
fed in order to prevent scale formations on the inside of 
the tubes of the boiler. He has supervision of the Boiler 
House Helpers who has as their job the taking of - pouring 
down of the boilers. This is opening valves up in the lower 
part of the boiler and blowing out the residue of solids that 
we have accumulated in the bottom. In addition to that, 
they have the task of - the Boiler Room is divided into three

l!sections, and each shift has their responsibility of keeping
|its section clean. They have to sweep the floors, mop the
jl

floors - this is all Boiler House Helper's work. In addition ̂ i
to that, he - at'the Boiler House Operator's direction - fires - 
opens the gas valves and actually starts the boilers up and, 
then when the boilers shut down on the weekend, he closes the

' ___________________ __ ___L

-192-



A. (Cont'd) valves off at the Boiler House Operator's discretion

u

/or direction and shuts the boilers down. I believe that's 
enough on that.

JUDGE ALAIMO: How long would it take you to train an average 
person to run that job?

A. Boiler House Operator?
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes.
A. It varies depending upon the individual . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Certainly . . .
A. . . .  but we normally would like to .have at least six months 

continuous training with - and usually the way we do it, we 
will put the trainee with a Boiler House Foreman and then we. 
rotate them. We don't let him stay with one of them. We 
rotate them with all our Foremen - our Operators. We rotate 
them with each Operator so that they get a full knowledge . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: You have three Operators?
A. We have three Operators, yes, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: And they all work shift work?
A. They all work a shift, that's right. In addition to the three 

regular Operators, we've got two Relief Operators. We actually 
have five people that . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: Five? Does a Relief Operator have to be just as 
competent as an Operator?

A. Oh, yes, sir. Yes, sir, because he has to take the shift; he 
does the shift.

-193-



JUDGE ALAIMO: Does it take about six months, six months to a

/ v
W

o

year, to train an average person to do that job?
A. I And, of course, v/hen I said that he - that a person must -I

it would vary depending upon the person. Well, one example 
of this is we hired one man, Inman Morgan, as a Boiler House 
Operator. He had been an Operator - a Boiler Room Operator 
at another plant, so it took very little time to teach him. I,
He had barely . . .

I)
JUDGE ALAIMO: This is what I'm trying to get down to as to whether 

you trained your ov/n Operators on t-heir being admitted or
jl

whether you hired them . . .
A. We've done both; we've done both.
Q. Your Honor, I think.he covered them, but I'll have him briefly 

cover these remaining photographs before the Court. i
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes. I
Q. I hand you this photo that's been marked as Defendants Exhibit 

Number Twelve - Twenty-Seven. V/ou.ld you describe that for us? 
A. This picture shows the Chemical Feed Station. These are the 

chemicals that are fed into the boiler feed water. It also 
shows the boiler water softeners in the background. There's 
nothing'unusual about these softeners, but they, of course, 
require attention . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: To be set?
\

A. They have to be set, and you can see the controls that are 
involved and it has to be monitored continuously.______________ - . .  -  ' &  —

ii

- 19 4 -



/1 > 
w

l 3

JUDGE ALAIMO: How many men on a crew at one time?
A. The Boiler House Operator and his Helper.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Two people?
A . Two pe op le, r ight, sir.
Q. I hand you this photo that's been marked as Defendant's

Exhibit Number Twenty-Eight. Would you describe that for us, 
please?

A. This ir another panel in addition to the ones that were shown 
in these other pictures that have to do with the hardness of 
the - this is where we actually record the hardness on a 
chart of the incoming boiler feed water to the boiler. In
addition to that, we have two monitoring refractometers which

i !cLw. cno conce i is a c o w/ixcn xs x ccuxnoci rrom normal process 
to the Boiler House as part of the boiler feed make-up for 
sugar content. It's taboo to get sugar in the boiler water, 
because it causes frothing and scale formations and so forth. 

JUDGE ALAIMO: But the preventing of that is a mechanical function, 
is it not?

A. The preventing of that is a mechanical function in the plant,
and we monitor it to make sure that there is no sugar in it,

-and if it is - if sugar shows in it, then of course it's not 
brought to the boiler until we can find out and get the problem 
corrected.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Does the Operator do that?
A. The Operator monitors it.

I

i

i1

X
-195-



JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes, and then he notifies somebody else?
A. ! Then he notifies someone. He would notify the Master Mechanic 

I of the plant that we’ve got sugar and he would also notify 
the Sugar Superintendent that there is problems with unsafe 
water coming back to the boiler.

Q. I hand you this photo that's been identified as Defendant's 
Exhibit Number Twenty-Nine. Will you describe that, please 
sir?

A. This is a picture of the chemical analysis kit or small lab
I •

that is furnished the Boiler House Operators, and this is
where - this is the equipment that he uses once an hour each\ 11!|
day and, of course, each Operator on each shift has to do

fj
this. This keeps track of our chemical constituencies in 
the boiler feed water. ! ij

JUDGE ALAIMO: He takes a sample of the water?
! |i

A. Yes. The Boiler House Helper usually takes the sample or the 
Boiler House Operator takes the sample and then . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: He puts it in a jar?
A. Puts it in these crucibles and does the necessary chemical

!
test.

JUDGE ALAIMO: These are all mechanical . . .
A. These are all mechanical things except that it took two months I

|tto teach the Boiler House Operators how to do this. This is 
a little bit of a chemistry problem.



■: h

V 1

Q. And now, I hand you Defendant's Exhibit Number Thirty and ask 
you to describe that, please.

A. On the central control panel, that I mentioned in my - on 
the previous pictures, there is this device for monitoring 
the turbo generator which is up on - in another room away 
from the Boiler House out in the Power House. This panel is 
in the Boiler House on Operators level, and from these various 
lights that will function when something goes wrong in the 
turbo generator - whatever light comes on, and there are ten 
of these lights, whichever light comes on, the Boiler House 
Operator then must call the Electrician on the shift and let

I
him check to see what is going on up there. Another impor-

itant function; we do not have an Operator in the Power House.
We have three turbo generators and we do not have an Operator,
so this is the device which is monitoring those three units,and

' •' .. ' | that's a multi-million . . . j
JUDGE ALAIMO: It just saves you a man out there? jI
A. Saves you a man, and this is a multi-million dollar installa- • :

. j
tion.

Q. I hand you Defendant's Exhibit Number Thirty-One and ask you 
to describe that, please sir.

A. These are the fire alarms and the liquid level alarms that I 
mentioned, that I was talking about in the previous pictures. 
When these alarms - and when any of these alarms sound, the 
Operator must take action to notify the Shift Superintendent

3 * 7  a

-197



On(Cont'd) in case it's the liquid sugar storage tanks, 
the weekend when the Boiler House Operator and his Helper are 
by themselves, there is a shift - if they cannot - if the 
Carpenter's not available to go over and check the level in 
the tanks or to check the - we have to also check the fire 
alarm see -he's also supposed to go over and check to see 
what's wrong over there. Sometimes it's a false alarm 
and hopefully it's not a fire. In addition to the Boiler 
House - I forgot to - I forgot to mention awhile ago; in 
addition to the function of the Boiler House Helper, he also 
makes the fire rounds on the weekends. He actually punches • |
a clock just like a night watchman would checking inside 
the plant checking every hour the condition of the plant. In 
addition, there - we still have these fire alarms that, if 
we do have a fire, it will sound again, and he talces the 
appropriate action.
And I hand you a photo marked as Defendant's Exhibit Number I:
Thirty-Two and ask you to describe that one for us, please..
This is the Boiler Room log that is kept by shifts each day.
It gives on it the information on each boiler: the steam

i!flow, the water flow, the gas flow - if in case of fuel oil, 
the fuel oil usage. This is how we determine the efficiency

Jof our boilers. We, the Engineering Office, takes this log, 
and from it, then determine proper function and efficiency of 
the boiler.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -  ■ j
-198-



JUDGE ALAIMO: Let me see that.
i \

A. Yes, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: He's filled in this log. Now, what is this large 

r »boo]: here.-' I . . .
A. This is the one that we use. This is the large booh; it's the
/
/ one that we get the data from.

JUDGE ALAIMO: In other words, this Boiler Room log is where they 
/ - . \j put in' these numbers . . .
/ ' ■
A. That shows the meter readings.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes, sir. In other words . . .
A. These are the meter readings in the Boiler House.
JUDGE ALAIMO: And this is what the Operator puts in - the meter

readings?
A. That's right.
JUDGE ALAIMO: And then from those readings, somebody in the 

Engineering Department . . .
A. Copies those readings down, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: I see.
Q. From what you've said, Mr. Oetgen, would you say it required 

constant.alertness to be an Operator?
A. Absolutely.
Q. Would it require a person with a degree of responsibility?
A. Absolutely.
Q. And a person with a degree of devotion to his job?

A. Oh, yes, sir.

-199-



Q.

A.

What kind of training and background is it necessary for
i 1someone to have to. be an Operator?

We have norma3.ly in the past tried to get a person that is 
industrious, alert, cautious, compatible with other people.
It helps a great deal to have a mechanical background because 
just about everything in there is mechanical.
Have:virtually all the Operators in the past fifteen years,or 
we'll say in your experience since you've been Chief Engineer 
for the last nineteen years, have virtually all the Operators 
been people with a mechanical background?
All but one, and the one in question was not able to cut the 
mustard.

i

Q. He didn't work out?
A. He didn't work out.
Q. And all the other people who have been Operators have had a 

mechanical background?

it: tM
ii
ji

A. That's right. 1 11
JUDGE ALAIMO: Give me an illustration of the type of mechanicalv ' t j

background you're talking about. JIA. These we,re people that have been actually working as a mechanic
jl

on physical equipment; pumps, air compressors - we have air 
compressors in the Boiler Room; we have pumps m  the Boiler ii'Room - piping. Pipe Fitters mades a good one . . .

iJUDGE ALAIMO: Pipe Fitters?
A. Because he's used to working with pipes.

$60 a ____________ ___ _.J
- 2 0 0 -



//
JUDG/B ALAIMO: And I suppose Electricians would too?
A. /Well, we've - maybe. I guess they are. I know of one case 

! that an Electrician did a good job at it and that one v/as 
Larry Bulware who was working as an Electrician at the plant 
for a good while. He used to-do - in the old days, ten or 
fifteen years ago, he was a Boiler Room Relief Operator.

Q. But being an Electrician as such would not qualify you to be 
an Operator, would it?

A. Not necessarily.
Q. But having a mechanical background would be a basis of qualifi 

cation, is that correct?
A . That's right.
Q. Nov;, do you participate in the selection of the Boiler Room 

Operators ?
A. I participate, yes, sir.
Q . Who else participates in the selection?
A. The Plant Superintendent, the Personnel Department and the 

Maintenance Superintendent.
Q. Why do you have four people participating in the selection 

of the Operators?
A. Well, normally, the Personnel Department are the ones that

come up with the initial people, and they usually are people 
from the Mechanical Department, so naturally the Maintenance 
Superintendent would be involved and, of course, I'm involved 
in the mechanical - as a main considerer on a technical basis,

201-



A. (Cont'd) so naturally they would be the ones that would be

Q.

A.
Q.

involved.
Is it true to say that the selection of the Operator is perhaps 
more important’than the normal job in the plant?
Oh, absolutely.
Is this one of the reasons why you have as many as four people 
to participate in the selection?
I'm’sure that's a big reason.. > l
Do you know Eulis Hodges who is an Operator?
Yes, I do.
Have you been familiar with his employment in the Boiler Room

■j
as a Relief,Operator since the early 1550's or since 1954?

A. Oh, yes.
Q . Do you remember when he went in as an Operator in January 

of 19G6, a full-time Operator?
A . I do.

iQ. Did you participate in his selection?
A. Yes, sir, I did.
Q. Do you remember a Joe Brinson going in as a Relief Operator 

about 19,64?
A. I sure' do.
Q. Did he come out of the Mechanical Department?

\

A. He did.
Q. ‘Were you present and did you participate in the selection of 

Mr. Brinson as an Operator on July 1, 1966?

- 2 0 2 -



A. I did.
Q.

A.

Q.

A.
Q.

A.

Q.

A.
Q.

A.

Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.

Now, what do you consider - what did you consider the qualifi 
cations of Eulis Hodges?
Well, Eulis had worked as a Pipe Fitter and a Mechanic in 
the Boiler House proper before he even became a Boiler Room 
Relief Operator.
Did you consider him highly qualified for the position?
Yes.
Is he still holding the position?
Yes, he is.
And is he doing it capably? ,
Very capable job.
All right. How about Mr. Brinson?
Same thing. I think we're very fortunate in having very good 
people, capable people, in the Boiler House.
And you participated in the selection of Mr. Brinson?
I sure did.
Do you know the Plaintiff in this case, Adam Baxter?
Yes, I do.
And you've observed him in the Boiler Room as a Helper, have 
you not?
That's right.
How would you compare the qualifications to be an Operator\of Eulis Hodges with that of Adam Baxter?
Well, I just don't think there is any comparison.



Q. No comparison?
A. No comparison.
Q. Could you specify?
A. Adam, to my knowledge, has not had any mechanical background 

and that's why he wasn't even considered.
Q. How would you compare Joseph Brinson with Adam Baxter?
A. The same thing. Both Hodges and Brinson had a mechanical

background and were - had ideal alertness. They were people
j1that were capable we felt to take on a multi-million dollar

job as Boiler House Operators. ' |j
'

JUDGE ALAIMO: Did Hodges and Brinson get the mechanical background 
working for your company?

A. Yes, they did.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Do any blades work in those mechanical . . .
A. Oh, yes, sir.
JUDGE. AIAI2I0: Have you ever tried to train a black for a Boiler *Room Operator?
A. We have and have one. Frank Williams is a Boiler House 

Operator Relief man . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: When?

-A. Oh, several years ago, but he has been a Relief Operator for
i

some time. He was a Pipe Fitter.
JUDGE ALAIMO: I see. Was this before the complaint filed by j

Mr. Baxter?

A. It was in '6—  - I hate to give an improper date, but I think

-204-



A. (Cont'd) it was '63 or somewhere thereabouts that Frank
i \Williams was made .Boiler House Operator Relief man. ̂ i:

JUDGE ALAIMO: But you do have some blacks that are Pipe Fitters 
or in the mechanical . . .

A. Oh, yes, sir, many of them.
QJ Did you say there were many of them?
A,. There's many of them.
/ \
(j). Now, you participated in the selection of Frank Williams who

' ■ ■ j!is black?
A. That's' right.

| jQ. To be a Relief Operator?
i

A . That1s right.
Q. And you together with the other gentlemen you mentioned,

the Superintendent, the Master Mechanic and Personnel Depart- I;
ment?
• - . ; !!A. That’s right.

Q. And Frank Williams has been doing that job on a relief basis 
ever since, is that correct?

IIA. That's right.
.Q. And is he doing a good job? j

A. Yes. v' "
\ |

Q. How long did it take to train Frank? jl
A. Well, we still consider the Relief Operators as training right on

■
even though they have been working this relief for a long time; 
and in the case of Frank, I guess since '68. As you can well



A.

Q.

A.
Q.

A.

Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.

Q.

(Cont'd) imagine, the Operator Relief man, he doesn't stay 
in the Boiler House as much as the Boiler House Operator, so 
we still consider that they always need a little freshening 
up because they don't stay there. They go bade to their 
regular jobs when they're not relieving.
And his regular job is that of Mechanic, and he's been a Pipe 
Fitter for many years, has he not?
That's right.
Has he been employed in the Mechanical Department for over 
twenty years?
Oh, yes.
I believe you
Morgan. He is

spoke earlier in your testimony of Mr.
an Operator at present, is he not?

Inman

That's right.
And he is an Operator that you employed from another industry?
That's right.
And was that back in the early 1950's about 1955?
Well, I don't remember the date, but it's been a long time. 
In the 1950's, early '50's?
Right.
And he''s been an Operator for approximately twenty years?
I think that's right.
And did you participate in his selection as an Operator? 
Yes, I did.
I think you mentioned that one of the criteria was the fact

-206



Q.

A.

Q.

A.

Q.

A.
Q.

(Cont'd) that he was already employed as a Boiler House 
Operator, is that right?
He was a Boiler House Operator before he ever came to us, 
right.
And so he didn't require as much on-the-job training as your 
present people?
That's right. He just had to get familiar with the Boiler 
House - getting about. I
And he’s been an Operator for approximately twenty years? 
Something like that.
Nov;, in considering people for a promotion, what qualities 
do you take into consideration?

A. For people for a promotion?
Q. For a promotion.

i
A. Well, if they - I've already mentioned these before I think.
Q. I would like to ask you again.
A. In the first place, we have to consider them to be capable

of performing the function, and I'm thinking particularly of 
the Boiler House now. I personally prefer the mechanical 
background. It seems to have worked well for us over the 
years." A person has to be alert. He has to be able to get 
along with people. It's very important that the Boiler House 
Operator and the Boiler House Helper be compatible because 
they have to work very closely together, and they're confined 
to that one area every day for eight hours - for the most of

207-



V.

o

A. (Cont'd) of eight hours.
Q. Would you say that a person's attitude toward a job would 

play a jDart in your consideration?
A. Very much so.
Q. And his capacity to do the job?
A. Right.
Q. And his ability to get along with the others?
A . Right.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, you've got alertness, devotion, industrious­

ness .
Q. You spoke earlier in answer to one of the questions that Judge 

Alaimo; you spoke of emergencies. What types of emergencies 
have you had in your experience in the Boiler Room?

A. Well, there are a lot of things that can happen to mechanical 
equipment. A main bearing can go bad or a coupling between 
a motor, and a fan can go bad. When you lose the - you lose 
that part of the boiler, for instance, that's the main - one 
of the main parts of a boiler, and when you lose it, you must 
make sure that you don't lose with it the water level in the 
boiler. As soon as you lose the fan, you must reduce the load
on the'boiler, and this - of course, that you're normally 
going to do anyhow, but that's the type of emergency that I 
was talking about and that's the type of emergency that can 
be real troublesome and real hazardous, particularly when it
comes to'explosions. If you're on natural gas, the gas valve

2 0 8 -



/1v*
A. (Cont'd) will automatically close when we lose the fan

because it has an electrical motor on it; hopefully, it would 
work, but in the case of oil, we only monitor. The oil fire 
wouldn't be automatically put out, and it’s very important 
that the Operator take immediate steps to bring the boiler 
down to a safe level to prevent explosions. Then after the 
mechanical cut-off, we will try to maintain the boiler on a 
low load until the mechanical difficulty has been straightened 
out and then, of course, after that the Operator would again
restore the boiler to the line.

'
Q. In the case of one of these emergencies, there's aJ.ways the 

possibility, I suppose, that the plant would be shut down 
for several hours or perhaps more?

A. It could very well happen. We haven't had it to happen.
Q. In view of these emergencies, again, it takes a person, an 

Operator of alertness, is that correct?
A. That's correct.
Q. Does it require an exercise of judgement on his part?
A. Absolutely.
Q. Would you say good judgement? '
A. Good judgement. Of course, when an emergency - if the emergency 

occurs in the daytime on the first shift, we have all kinds 
of talent there then; but if it happens at night, we would 
have to depend upon the Boiler House Operator on the second
and third shifts to be a man of good judgement.

-209-



Q. He is sort of on his own, is that right?
.I \

A. He is own his own and he is the man that would have to be our 
representative to prevent any real hazardous . . .

fQ. And he would have to take immediate emergency measures to 
stem such an occurrence?

A J That's right, and I guess we have never had the same difficulty
■ happen twice. It's usually something different. When you

/  '  ,I have it, it's something different all the time so a man - an 
Operator must know his equipment well to determine what to 
do when.

i|lQ. No further questions. Your Honor.. J I■ ij
CROSS

EXAMINATION OF MR. OETGEN BY MR. FARRINGTON:
I!

Q. Mr. Oetgen, how long did you say you had been at Savannah
Sugar? !,».

A. Twenty-six years.
Q. Now, you testified that the boiler itself in the Boiler Room

'was a very complicated piece of machinery and complicated to 
operate/'.is that true of the job itself?

A. Yes, sir, I think so. |Q. Isn't it true, Mr. Oetgen, that Boiler Room Operators basically
\* . jmonitor?

(IA. You could say that. They spend most of the time - well, I just
got through testifying about the emergency conditions, but then

- 210 -



A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.

Q.

Q.

A.

Q.

(Cont'd) it's not a monitoring process.
Does the Operator - when a bearing goes out, does the Operator 
fix that himself or does he call a Mechanic?
He calls a Mechanic, of course.
Have you ever had an explosion out there?

I
Never have.
So you don't really have any of these emergencies that you

.
are talking about?

i

No, but they are - there is plenty of records in industries
i;that - where explosions have occurred because of the faulty !»

operation of the boilers. We hope we never do have one.
And fortunately . . .
Fortunately, wc,naven'c. nac one.

i j
Nov;, you were talking about the training of the Boiler Room
Operator. Do you participate in that yourself or do you more t;
or less leave it to the older Operators to train these

ipeople?
. j

Yes, we do participate in it, but normally the Operators, the ! 
old so-called Operators are - we rely on them a whole lot,

i!
because as we go along, v/e very carefully monitor - the

1\ v , «! Engineering Department very carefully monitors the way the ij
Boiler House Operators and the equipment and systems are run 
and, therefore, we monitor and change the Operator's functions

• i'iaccordingly. i
With regard to these valves that control the flow of fuel or

. . . . . . . . . . . - . . . . . . _ . . . . . . . . . $ v c v . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  : '  ■ I
- 211-



'

1

i

f >v

Q. (Cont'd) water to it, does the Operator actually ever make any 
adjustment in those?

A. Yes, he does. You see, for instance, in the case of the air 
flow and gas flow meters, the Operator himself may not make 
the adjustment, but he may ask that the adjustments be made, 
but in actually making the adjustments - normally the adjust-* i
ments are made by the Instrument Department.

Q. But, again, his function is to be sure he knows when an adjust­
ment needs to be made; but as far as making the adjustment, 
that is net normally within his . . .

A. That's right, but in the case of starting up a boiler and
shutting down a boiler, the amount of air, for instance, that—  
the air fuel ratio must be right, so he has to know - that is, 
by instruments then - he does this himself manually in bring­
ing up a boiler or shutting it down, and if we have a mal-

. ij .
function of the automatic devices that normally keep the air 
fuel ratio proper - if this should get out of allign, then

1Ijhe must manually keep this until the instruments can be !
adjusted.

Q. When you say manually, what do you mean? Does he have some
- Isort of a . . .

A. He has control knobs that can override - you can either put 
them on manual or you can put them on automatic, and in this 
case, if he has trouble, he puts them on manual control and i.
then he has charge of the boiler in that particular instance

.....;.......STICK ____________ ___ _ ..;y_

- 212-



i  ^

A. (Cont'd) until he puts it back on automatic.
IQ. I Now, while he's using the knob, he's looking up at this panel 
I at all these needles and keeping all those needles in theI
proper place?

A. That's right.
Q. So he's - again, primarily even when he's doing that, he's

■
monitoring?

A. That's right.
Q. All right. You testified that you did not consider Adam

Baxter for the position which Eulis Hodges vacated. I believe 
Mr. Brinson was put on in relief to replace Mr. Hodges, is 
that correct? i

A. I don't know Eulis Hodges. I don't remember that, but I knew 
Mr. Brinson was in the picture at that time.

Q. Now, sometime thereafter, about six months later in the middle
iof 1966, another regular Operator retired. Brinson went to 

the regular Operator’s slot and you put in another man. Did 
you consider Adam Baxter for that job?

A. All of the men were considered. It's the Personnel Department' 
responsibility to consider all the people who are qualified 
for a certain position by seniority and so forth . . .

Q. Seniority plays a part?
A. Seniority plays a part.

\

Q. All right. Nov;, in 1969, another vacancy became available
and Frank Williams was put into the relief job?

373a
-213-• »•>



Vs.

A.

Q.

A.
Q.

A.

Q.

Q.

A.

Q.

A.

/That' s right.
I .Was Adam Baxter consxdered for that job?
Yes, he was, and a whole lot of other people too.
Did you ever ask Adam Baxter if he had any mechanical back­
ground?
I never asked him. I usually don't ask anybody that particular 
question because that's a - that's usually a personnel function. 
However, there are four different people involved here, and 
my function normally is not to ask the background of these 
people. Normally, I know what their background is; I don't 
ask them.
Let's go back just a minute. We were talking just a minute 
ago and you said that it was a personnel function to consider 
everybody. Nov;, I'm a little bit unclear as to just how this 
process works. Do you - who initiates the process?
The process is initiated by whether you need a Boiler House 
Relief Operator or not.
All right. Who - do you . . .
And, you see, I only have the technical and engineering that's 
applicable to the Boiler House.
All right. Now, I take it then that you would notify Personnel 
that you have got a vacancy?
No. Personnel would already know It because the Boiler House

\
Operators and their Helpers work under the Maintenance Super­
intendent who in turn works under the Plant Superintendent.

I<

-214



Q. Now, who makes the suggestion that "X" man get that job?
A. Nobody. We work it out together. There's four different 

people involved.
Q. All right. How do you do it?
A. The only way that - when I get into it - that's why I'm

trying to tell you my role. when I get into it, the selection 
is down to a few people. The Personnel and the Plant Superin­
tendent of Personnel and Maintenance have already come up with 
the list of the people who they think are qualified to do the 
job, and I merely agree or disagree with them on the selection

Q. Good. Nov/, I ve finally got that straight in my own mind.
When these three vacancies which have occurred since 19G6, 
when you got to that point where you are looking on your list, 
was Adam Baxter's name on any one of those lists?

A. I don't - I don't remember. I doubt if it was.
Q. So you never had the opportunity to consider him. Somebody 

else had already made that decision for you?
A. Well, I guess that's true.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, from your knowledge of Mr. Baxter, would you 

have put him on that list?
A. (No answer) .

Q. You said you - let's see if v/e can pin this down a little bit 
more. You said clearly that he was not considered for the 
fi^st job or that ho wasn't on the list for the first job that 
Brinson got?

_______________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ .
-215-



A. I said I didn't remember if he was on the list or not, for
any of them, for any of the jobs; but I would not' have picked 
him if he had been.

JUDGE ALAIMO: I believe you said he was considered.
A. He was considered I am sure by the Personnel Department.
Q. You don't . . .
A. As I say, that is not my function. That's a Personnel function 

with the Plant Superintendent, the Personnel Counselor, and the 
Maintenance Supex'intendent.

Q. Did . . .
A. Those people work for them; they don't work for me.
Q. Did this committee ever recommend to you that Adam Baxter get 

that job?
A. No.
Q. Did he - did the committee ever recommend to you that he

should be one of two or three people to be considered for that 
job?

A. No, sir, they did not.
'

Q. Explain to me, if you will, Mr. Oetgen, how is it that a man
jiwith Pipe Fitters experience can do this work but a man thatV » Ihas experience in building and rewinding motors can't do it?
II

What is the difference? Why is that background . . .
A. To be a Pipe Fitter is a craft, and an Electrician's Helper

Siis a helper's job.
Q. Even though the Electrician might - the Helper might know how

- 216-



Q.

A.

Q.

A.
Q.

A.

Q.

A.
Q.

A.

Q.
A.

Q.

A.
Q.

A.

(Cont'd) to do the Electrician's job?
Well, I am sure that if he - an Electrician's Helper, if he's 
doing an Electrician's job, he would be an Electrician.
You're positive of that?
I'm pretty sure. We are always looking for good electricians. 
Are you positive that if you had an Electrician's Helper out 
there that could do the work, he would be an Electrician?
If he could do the work.
And you're positive of that?
Well, I would say that that would be a good reason for it.
Are you . . .
Well, I'm not positive because I don't -I'm not the one that 
hires them, but I would say that that would be a reasonable 
assumption.
But it is an assumption on your part?
It is an assumption on my part because, as I said, I do not 
hire the personnel in the Boiler House or the Electrical 
Department.
Then you are saying that if a man can do an Electrician's work, 
that would qualify - or be the kind of background that you are 
looking for in the Boiler Room?
Not necessarily. I didn't say that.
Why is it that a man that can be an Electrician doesn't have 
the necessary background, but a man . . .
I think you misunderstood me awhile back. I just got through

-217-



A. (Cont'd) telling the Court a few minutes ago that we had an
Electrician, Larry Bulware, who v/as one of the regular bonified 
electricians at the plant. He was a Boiler Room Operator 
Relief for several years and he was capable and worked out 
fine, but he v/as a - well, he- was a craftsman. He was a 
bonified electrician and still is.

Q. All right. So the lack of a mechanical background, being
i

classified as a mechanic, does not per se exclude a man for.
consideration?

A. No,sir.
Q. All right. Let me ask you this question. It is true, is it

riot, that Eulis Hodges, when he first came out to the plant,
"

went directly from the Paint Gang into the Boiler Room on

A.
Q.
A.

relief, is it not?
No, that is not true.
All right. Where did he go?
He went in the Boiler Room as a Pipe Fitter's Helper, if my 
memory serves me right, and was - and the Pipe Fitter that 
he was helping was then working in the Boiler House because 
we had a Pipe Fitter at that time working in the Boiler House 
We no 'longer do, but at that time we had our regular Pipe 
Fitter working in the Boiler House, and Eulis was, if my
memory serves me right, came in as' a Pipe Fitter's Helper

\
working with this man who had many year& experience in the

ljI

i

!I|
j.

3oiler House, and he worked - and they did not. only Pipe Fitting

- 210 -



A.

Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.

Q.

;(Cont'd) work, but they also did work on the boilers them-//
I selves; on valving, on piping that had to do with the air,
I and so forth.
So he got his experience in the Boiler Room?
That1s right.
Now, tell me why it is that a man who has been in the Boiler

jRoom for seventeen vears is excluded from consideration for 
an Operator's job? Why can't he pick u p  the recruisite back-

' * IIground in the Boiler Room?
If a man was capable of it, I think'we would consider him.

iiSo then bhat the fact that a man worked as a Helper in the
i iBoiler Room and had not been working out on a Mechanic's Gang

would not exclude him from consideration?
No. That's right, it would not.
All right. We were talking - you and Mr. Simpson were;talking 
about the qualifications that were necessary for a Boiler Room !,
Operator. I suppose being able to read and write would certainly 
enter into those qualifications?
I dare say.
A very complicated job?
Yes.
What sort of educational requirements do you have?
We don't have educational requirements, as such,as far as I\  i^ iv iunderstand.

iiWould you care to - what in your estimation, as an expert

-219-



Q.

A.

Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.

(Cont'd) Boiler Room runner, if I may use that word, would
i \be an appropriate level of education for someone to run that 

job?
I don't think that's - I don't think - it depends again oh 
the individual and the kind of training that he had through 
the years rather than formal education.
In point of fact, education is not very important, in that job, 
is it?- ■
It could be but then it couldn't be. It depends, as I said, 
it depends upon the individual again.
It's not important in your plant though, is it?

|!No, not necessarily.'
As a matter of fact, of the seven Boiler Room Operators that 
you have had out there since 1S66, not a single one of them 
had a high school education, is that correct?

!
I would not know, sir.

jYou testified that you are pretty familiar with the qualifica­
tions of people whom you assign to that Boiler Room. Did 
you not testify to that?
Yes, I d.id.
And you testified that Eulis Hodges is a good Boiler Room 
Operator?
Very good. I*
•He has an eighth grade education, did you know that?
No, I did not.

_________________ __ 380 o. _______________________i

- 2 2 0 -



Q. ?rank Williams is working out fine?
f

A. I He's working very well.
Q. I He has a sixth grade education. Did you know Ted Stokes?

I
A. Yes, I did.
Q. All right. Who is Ted Stokes? j
A. He is a retired Boiler House Operator.
Q. All right. Did he - was he able to perform his job?
A. Very well.
Q. All right. Did you know that he had a seventh grade education?
A. No, I did not.
Q. How about Sidney Barrett? Did you know him? 
A. Yes, I did.
Q. Who was Sidney Barrett?
A. He is a retired Boiler House Operator.
Q. Did he prove to be a good employee?
A. Very good employee and a good Operator.
Q. Able to perform his work?
A. Yes.
Q. Mr. Barrett had a grade school education. Did you know that? 
A. That's right. I say I don't know whether he did or not.
Q. Who is" Mr. Morgan Inman?
A. Inman Morgan?
Q. I'm sorry, Inman Morgan?

\
A. He is a present Boiler House Operator.
Q. How long has he been there as a Boiler House Operator?

j |
ii

- 221-



V...

I

’ -v

( 1
v-— /

A. Twenty years, I guess, about that long.
Q. He does a good job?
A. Very good job.
Q. Did you know that he had only a tenth grade education?
A . No, I didn't know that.
Q. How about Dennis F. Holiday, do you know him?
A. Yes, I do.
Q. Who is he?
A. He is a Boiler House Operator Relief.
Q. Did you know that he has a ninth grade education?
.

A. No, I did not.
Q. Now, education really doesn't play that important a role out

there. Exactly, if you can, what arc the qualifications for 
a Boiler Room Operator?

A. I didn't - I don't believe I mentioned anything about education. 
Q. I'm agreeing with you. What are the qualifications?

!
A. He must be - I think it's already been said. Attitude . . .
Q. All right. Let's . . .
A. . . .  alertness, industriousness, mechanical background prefera 

bly.
Q. Let's talk about attitude. WThat kind of an attitude should 

an employee have?
A. An attitude of liking the work is a very important attitude 

I think.
Q. Okay. Let's talk about . . .

- 222 -



A. A good attitude towards the people he works with; the attitude 
towards - when given a directive, the way he - attending 
himself to it.

Q. All right. You say; one, that he ought to want the job?
A. I said want to do the job.
Q. Do you think that any man who expressed an interest in the job 

and said to you that "I want that job," wouldn't that be a 
display of the kind of attitude you're talking about?

A. Yes, I do.
Q. If he expressed an interest in the job, then . . .
A. He would have to have that first. That's right.
Q. All right. Taking directives; what sort of directives are

you talking about?
A. I'm talking about, suppose we had a change in the normal

procedure or a change in the procedure of how to operate a 
certain piece of equipment, it would be much better if he - 
if a person's attitude was proper toward these changes. It 
would be much easier to get- it across to him what you want if 
he is more attentive to doing his work.

Q. All right. I believe the next thing you mentioned was 
ability to get along with his fellow employees?

A. That's right, particularly his fellow employees.
Q. Would you . . .
A. And vice versa.
Q. Would you say that a man who spent seventeen years in the

-223-



Q.

u

O

A.

(Cont'd) Boiler Room as a Helper and is still there has
i iexhibited certainly enough ability to get along with his fellow 

workers?
He's not - he's not in the Boiler Room as a Helper. He's only 
a relief . . .

iiNo, sir. I'm not talking about the Plaintiff Adam Baxter.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

I,:|Ii A.

if
Q. 

!• A .
Ij

Q.

A.
Q.

I'm talking about anybody.
\Anybody? I would say so.

If they stayed in there for seventeen years and got along 
with, everybody and wasn't fired, wouldn't that be an indication 
of the kind of person you are looking for?
Yes, I would say so.
All right. Anything else about attitude other than what we've 
gone over?
I think I’ve said enough about attitude.
All right. We've got attitude, mechanical ability, and what 
are' the other general qualifications?
Well, he's got to be alert and. on the job all the time. He 
can't go to sleep in there.
How do yo.u determine whether or not an employee is alert?
Just - normally, our employees have been around long enough
for us to know if they are alert.

\

So you do this by observation?
Observation and knowing the person, et cetera.
Mechanical ability, alertness and attitude. What other general

il

3 ^ / a .
-224-



Q. (Cont'd) qualifications are there?
A. Well, I don't know what attributes you are looking for, but 

I think that's . . .
Q. Okay. Those are the three that you consider in . . .
A. I wouldn't say they are the only ones that I consider, but . . . 
Q. Are there any others that you can think of?
A. Not me, not right now.
Q. Those are the three you consider?

i

A. That's about the only three that I can think of right now.
Q. 7̂ 11 right. Now, you testified just a few minutes earlier j;

that even had Adam Baxter's name been on that list or had 
he been recommended to you by Personnel, you wouldn't have

j ; l;
recommended him?

A. I would not, not as a Boiler House Operator.
Q. Why?

j !
A. Because I don't think he's capable of being a Boiler House 

Operator.
Q. Why?

!!A. Because of his attitude and because of his mechanical background
11

Q. All right. What about his attitude . . .
iiA. I've already said that.

Q. What about his attitude? What's wrong with his attitude?
A. He is not cooperative. When given an order, and I've only -

and it's only been twice in the long years that he's been 
there that I've asked him to do anything myself, so I guess you

-225-



A. (Cont'd) couldn't consider me as an expert on this part of
I
it. Bear in mind that I don't work with the Boiler House 

I Operator and the Boiler House Helper every day of life. I 
see them hopefully every day for only a few minutes because, 
as I said, I have a technical-and engineering job in the Boile 
House, not the actual Personnel as such.

Q. How is it that Adam Baxter has been uncooperative?
A. As I say, that can better be answered by people more qualified 

than I am because, as I say, I do not come in contact with 
him every day.

Q. Let's go back. You said you would not recommend him because 
he was not cooperative. Now, why was he not cooperative?

A. I'm only going by what my people - the people that have 
worked in the Boiler House have told me.

Q. Who were those people?
A. The Boiler House Operator.
Q. They are all white - or they were . . .
A. No. They . . .
Q. They were when you were considering - when Adam Baxter - when 

this promotion came up, they were all white?
A. In '65 . . .
Q. Through '69 until Frank Williams came in there.
A. That's right.
Q. And those are the people you listened to?.
A. That's right.

-226



Q. And those people said that Adara Baxter was uncooperative?
i \A. Not - not as such..

Q. Well, what did they say?
A. Over the years,' you see, when you work with people over the

/years, you get - you must not see them every day, but you get

/reports periodically about these peoples actions, and the 
way they respond in their job and so forth. You don't have 
to be right there all the time.

/
Q . Who gives you these reports?
A. The Boiler House Operators.
Q. All four of them - all three of them?
A. The three at that time - at least that's what I remember.
Q. What did they tell you?
A. Well, they cited various incidences in which he was reluctant - 

or maybe reluctant is not the word - but failed to respond 
immediately upon notifying him of doing a particular job.

Q. Wha't type of . . .
A. And I can’t think of a name.
Q. You can't think of a name?
A. 1 can't think of one right now because this has been a long 

time ago.
Q. All right. Do you know whether any of those were entered in 

his personnel file?
A. I do not know that.
Q. Isn't it normal that incidences of a fairly serious nature

-227-



Q. (Cont'cl) such as failing to follow orders are entered in

A.
Q.

Q.

Q.

A.

Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.
A.

the personnel file?
They are not always - no, they don't.
Is there any standard for determining when one would be entered 
and when one would not be entered?
No, there is no standard as far as I know.
Who . . .

\Again,'these are Personnel problems which I do not normally 
have any contact with.
All right. And so all three of your Boiler House Operators

j
cited to you instances in which Adam Baxter had been uncoopera­
tive?
At one time or other.
All three of them did that, but you don't remember any of
those incidences? i * j
No, because my mind just doesn't run in that way.
And you depend on what your Operators tell you about . . .

jlThat's right.
jjlDo you have the authority, Mr. Oetgen, to have incidences
if

like we .were talking about entered into the record?
jI imagine so. I don't know.

Do you know who . . .
\

It's not a normal Engineering function, sir.
Do you know who else would have the authority?

Here again, I tell you these people work through the Maintenance
.......  .............................. ................................................................................................................. .......................

2 2 8 -



A.

Q.

Q.

A.

(Cont'd) Superintendent and the Plant Superintendent. I
i i

don't have direct control over those persons in the Boiler 
House.
You could have something put in if you thought it was serious 
enough?
Oh, yes, I could.
Nov/, ' you testified that seniority was a consideration in 

\promotion?
That's a company policy.
All right. Do you. . .
Again, I have - I just know that's a company policy. Nov/, 
again, I do-not have direct concern with the personnel in the
Boiler House.

]
i

i

Q . Do you know whether Adam Baxter-'s seniority was compared v/ith 
the other people?

A. I have no idea.
Q.

A.

Q.

Isn't it true, Mr. Oetgen, that you could take a man v/ith" laverage intelligence that was alert, good attitude, willing 
to work hard and make a Boiler Room Operator out of him

i t

within three or four months? l i
1\ *I'd question the time, but I could make a Boiler House Operator

U j
out of him.

. < No further questions.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Anything further, Mr. Simpson?
MR. SIMPSON: Yes, sir.

-229-



REDIRECT
EXAMINATION OF MR. OETGEN BY MR. SIMPSON:
Q. Mr. Oetgcn, in_response to your last question, could you

take a man out of the Packaging Department who had no mechanical 
background or no mechanical training who was an alert, good 
employee; could you make a Boiler Room Operator out of him?

L We tried\
.

■Q . And what happened?
A. It didn't work out.
Q. And haven't you found as a matter of experience during the

nineteen years that you have been the Chief Engineer that it 
was absolutely essential that you have a person with a 
mechanical background, isn't that true?

A. We think that's one of the criteria.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

Isn't that the basic criteria, the main criteria?
|«

Yes, I think it would be.
, jj

And the other things of alertness and attitude are supplementary
to the basic qualification of a mechanical background?

jj
I would say that's true.
Now, Mr. Oetgen, I didn't ask you before, but I want to ask

jjyou one question or two questions about the wiring in the
Is)plant. Would you explain to the Court the system of industrial

wiring that you have in the plant and approximately how many
. > »: wires would be involved in a particular circuit?

A. Oh, my, there are - in an industrial plant, there are many,

-230-



A. (Cont'd) many wires, particular control wires that just -
for instance, are made out of - I can think of a good example. 
In the affirmation stages - this is the first of the process 
where the sugar is melted and centrifuged - the centrifugals 
have hundreds of control wires on each machine and, of course, 
we have got some twenty-odd centrifugals in the plant.

Q. All right. Nov/, Mr. Oetgen, how many wires or circuit wires 
v/ould you have in the average home?

A. Well, not anything like that.
Q. Well, two, three? How many do you have? How many circuits 

do you have in the average home?
A. It v/ould be several dozen, not circuits, but several dozen

wires in a house.
Q. You usually have two or three circuits, don't you?
A. That's right.
Q. Now, how do you compare home wiring to the wiring you just 

described in the plant?
A. Well, there just isn't any comparison.
Q. Would the experience of having wired your own home qualify 

you to do wiring work at the plant?
A. Not necessarily.
Q. That1s all, Your Honor.
MR. FARRINGTON: I have two additional questions.

RECROSS
EXAMINATION OF MR. OETGEN BY MR. FARRINGTON:_ _ _ _ _ _ _  m

-231-



Q. One is, who - does the Boiler Room Operator have to be
I/ familiar with the system of wiring that you just described?
I .
I Does he have to work on it?

A. No.
Q. The second question is does a' mechanical background which you 

keep referring to have to be gained at Savannah Sugar Refining 
Corporation?

A. Not necessarily, no.
Q. No further questions.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Mr.Oetgen, in the course of the employment of a 

competent helper, would he do each of these functions that 
the Operator himself might do from time to time?

A. It lias not been done.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, how does a man ever get the training then?
A. Well, the training is done with the Operator himself. •
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, yes. Does the Helper do anything done by

the Operator?
A. Your Honor, a hypothetical case: if the Boiler House Helper

had such capabilities, there would be no reason why the Boiler .IjHouse Operator couldn't have trained him.x ,  j!JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Would you tell me which of these functions
Ipthat a Helper does not do that has to be done by the Operator?

A. He does none of the operating functions.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Like setting some of these - just what does he do?

What does a Helper do?___________________ J
W . a  ^-232-



A. The Boiler House Helper, besides doing the cleaning . . .
i \

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. But that's janitorial work?
A. Janitorial work. He, at the Operator's direction, keeps the

fuel level in the tanks outside the Boiler House. Now, this
involves walking down to the main supply tank and starting 

/ the pump properly and turning a few valves to start the flow
/• of water from the storage tank back to the storage tanks at
I the Boiler House. That's one of his . . .
I
JUDGE ALAIMO: And the gauges back there tell him when it reaches 

a certain level?
A . That's right.
JUDGE ALAIMO: And then he goes back and turns it off?
A. Then he goes back and turns it off.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
A. That's one of his functions. Another is that he takes boiler 

water samples and takes them up to the plant laboratory which 
is several stories away.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Does he make any entries in the log?
A. No, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Would he be able to or does he ever set any of 

these controls?
A. Certainly not.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. I have no further questions.
MR. SIMPSON: Nothing further, Your Honor.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Anything else?

\

j
iI

j

3 ^ 0
% $3 a
-233-



1 • '

Q.. I have one further question. When was the first time that a 
black man vas considered for the job of Ooerator?

A. I don't remember.
Q. Was Frank Williams the first?
A. I wouldn't remember that. I really don't know.
JUDGE ALAII-10: Do you know of any other black man ever considered 

besides Frank Williams?
A. I don't know, Your Honor, I can't . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: But as I understand it, it could have happened . .
A. I wouldn't know it if . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: But you don't remember?
A. No, I don't remember, no.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right, you may go down.
NOTE: The witness withdrew from the stand.
JUDGE ALAIMO: We'll take a recess until nine o'clock in the

I ■ i [i'
i:

.

(. 1

morning.
NOTE: The court recessed on the afternoon of May 29, 1972.
NOTE: The court reconvened at 9:00 A.M. on May 30, 1972.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Good morning.
MR. FARRINGTON: Good morning, Your Honor.

\  ' vMR. SAPP: May it please the Court, Mr. Simpson has been delayed 
this morning, but I am ready to proceed.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Call your next witness.
MR. SAPP: Call Mr. Grebenburg. Your Honor, the next witnesses 

were not listed on the company's pre-trial list of witnesses,

-234-



MR. SAPP: (Cont'd) They are being called solely for the purposes
i lof rebuttle to some testimony that was given yesterday.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
»

MR. OSWALD E. GREBENBURG TOOK THE STAND, AND HAVING BEEN DULY 
SWORN, TESTIFIED AS FOLLOWS: 
l ' DIRECT
EXAMINATION OF MR. GREBENBURG BY MR. SAPP:
I '' •
Q. Speak .loudly, please sir. Would you state your name?
A. Osv/ald E. Grebenburg.
Q. And where do you reside, Mr. Grebenburg?
A. I now reside at the Beach - Savannah Beach.
Q. And where are you employed?
A. Savannah Sugar.
Q. And what is your job at Savannah Sugar?
A. Assistant Superintendent of the Shift.
Q. And' as Assistant Superintendent of the Shift, does this mean 

that you are in second command so-to-speak next to the Plant 
Superintendent over the shift that you supervise?

A. That's right, sir.
Q . How long have you been employed by the company?
A. This is my thirty-eighth year.
Q. And have you been employed by Savannah Sugar during your

entire adult life? 
A. That's, right, sir.



Q. Are you familiar with the Plaintiff in this case or do you
know the Plaintiff in this case, Adam Baxter?

A. Yes.
Q. And you've known him during the period of time that you have

been employed out at Savannah Sugar?
Yes. I don't recall exactly what date I first acquainted
myself with him. 

\And as’Assistant Superintendent, are you required to supervise

A. That's right, sir.
Q. And do these Saturday employees include some persons that are

Q. And tell the Court whether or not it has been a practice at
the company to allow certain employees to leave before the' end of 
their shift on Saturdays?

A. Well, that's been a oractice there for . . .
Q. Well, just explain the practice and what it is.
A. Well, on a Saturday, if the plant is shut down, we have the

-second shift to come back on the first shift and the . . .
^  ji

JUDGE ALAIi-IO: What do you mean by that? What do you mean by
j!

having the second shift come back on the . . .
A. Well, they will double back. The second shift will double

\>
back on the first shift, and the eleven - the three to eleven 
shift will come back at seven o'clock Saturday morning.

ome employees that do Saturday work?

employed at.the plant lab?

-236-



Q.

A.
Q.

A.

Q.

A.

Q.

A.

Q.

In other words, you .have a shift that works - you call the
i l,second shift that works from three in the afternoon until eleven 

at night? You have a first shift which works from seven in 
the morning until three in the afternoon?
That's right, sir.

And then these shifts swap?
Right.

\And you say on some occasions, the shift that gets off at 
eleven o'clock Friday night is required to come back to work
at seven o'clock on Saturday morning. j i -|!
Right.

i j 
| ;

Nov;, explain who, if anyone on this shift, is allowed to leave
j jon some occasions before the shift is over?

Well, since we have double Foremen on each station and double
Technicians in the lab that day, we allow - it's been a practice 

•* |j
that we allow the Foreman and the Technician in the lab to
kndck-off at the lunch time - usually at lunch time.
Why do you have double Foremen and double Technicians in the 
lab on Saturdays between seven and three?
Well, it,'s just been a common practice to bring them back 
at that time.
In other words, you have the first and second shifts both 
working the first shift on Saturday?
•Right.
Now, when you say you let them go around noon, who do you let

237



Q. (Cont'd) go at around noon?
i \A. Well, all your Foremen and your Lab Technicians, only if - that 

that has doubled back.
JUDGE ALAIMO: In other words, both - for both shifts?
A. Only one Foreman, the three to eleven Foreman that has doubled
/
/ back on the seven to three shift on Saturday morning. 

dkjDGE ALAIMO: You allow him to go?
A. We 'allow him to leave and the Lab Technician.
I ", , ' • • IIQ. Now, do you know an employee at Savannah Sugar by the name of

Mr. Coleman? 11-
A. Ronald Coleman? I!
Q. Yes.
A. Yes.

j:Q. And in what job xs he employed?
A. He - now he is a Lab Technician.
Q. And is he black or white?
A. Colored.. » 
Q. And does Mr. Coleman on some occasions get off at noon on

„ • I
Saturdays?

A. Oh, yes... He's no exception to anybody else.
Q. All right, sir. When these people get off at noon on Saturday, 

do they punch their cards out at that time or does someone 
else punch them or just how is that taken care of?

:A. No. If they punched their card out at that particular time 
that they knocked off, they wouldn't be given credit for the

........ .....__... _ ... j;
-238



C ;

l ')

Q

A.

Q.

A.

Q.

!’ A.

A. (Cont'cl) full day, -so we leave that up to their judgement
to see that their card is punched out after their eight hour 
shift is over.

tQ. In other words, with your permission, the Assistant Superintendent’ 
permission, these people are allowed to leave work before the 
end of their shift?
Well now, the Lab Technician is the only man that's punching 

. . \a card. The Foreman don't punch a card so he is the only 
one that has to worry about a card.
All right, sir. Nov;, on Saturdays, is the process portion 
of the plant shut down?
Normally, it would be. Normally, we shut down Friday night 
at eleven o'clock. We stop the mill at eleven o'clock at 
night. j|
Now, are the Lab Technicians primarily used to run tests on 
samples taken from the process?
Yes', that's the requirement and then on shipments and stuff 
like that.
But once the process is closed down, you don't have any 
other use for a Lab Technician?
We don't have hardly any at all - use for them except maybe 
a shipment of liquid sugar or something like that will be 
going out, and they will have to run an analysis on the ship­
ment . .

Q. Did you ever on any occasion, Mr. Grebenburg, instruct Mr.

-239-



Q.

A.

Q.
A.

Q.

A.
Q.

A.

Q.

(Cont'd) Coleman to have Mr. Baxter punch his time card to
i \get off early on Saturday to have any particular person to 

punch their card for them?
No, sir.
Mr. Grebenburg, do you recall an instance in which you observed 
Mr. Adam Baxter urinating on the roof of the plant?
Yes,•sir.

\Explain what you saw to the Court.
Well, I don't remember the full particulars or the date about 
it, but I went out on the roof where we have two elevators
that are paddling sugar, raw sugar incoming, and as I stepped 
out on the roof, I observed Adam Baxter facing the wall and
there was a stream of fluid running down on the roof.
Did you see Mr. Baxter's face?
Not at that particular - not right at that time, and I'm 
pretty sure he must have heard rne or saw me, and he turned 
around, and I observed his face at that time.
Was there any doubt in your mind that you actually observed 
Mr. Baxter at that time on the roof?
None whatsoever.
Now, where is this roof located?
Well, it's over the raw sugar unloading area that we have 
out there. It would be kind of hard to explain. We have two 
elevators . . .
It's over the raw sugar warehouse?

-240-



A. Right, yes, sir.
/

Q. I All right. Was anyone on the roof besides yourself and Mr.
I Baxter on the roof at that time?

A. No, sir.
Q. All right, sir. What did you do after you observed this 

incident that you just described?
A. Well, this was just a routine inspection tour that I was 

making, and I observed the two elevators to make sure that 
everything was all right out there, and I came on down and 
reported the incident to the Plant Superintendent.

Q. And you're talking about the incident where you observed Mr. 
Baxter urinating?

A. Yes.
Q. All right, sir. Did you have any further contact with the 

Superintendent or Mr. Baxter after that about this incident?
A. None whatsoever.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Did you even mention it to Mr. Baxter?
A. No, sir.
Q . At that . . . i
A,

Q.

A.

Q.
A.

At that particular time, I wasn't the Assistant Superintendent 
What was your job at that particular time?
At that time, I was working in - I was on under a training 
period for Assistant Superintendent.v
All right. At that time, were you supervising Mr. Baxter?
No, sir.

...................... ........  _  ___________

-241-



Q. 'Have you ever supervised Mr. Baxter?
A. / No, sir.
Q .! You never had any supervisory responsibility either over theI

Boiler Rooirt or the Electric Shop.
A. Well, I imagine that at . . .
Q. At that time?
A. No, sir, none whatsoever at that time.
Q. So you were not his Foreman at the time you observed him on 

the roof of the raw sugar warehouse?
A. No, sir.

’

Q. And you reported this incident to Mr. Bersijay?
A. Yes, sir. He was the Plant Superintendent at that time.
Q. May I have just one moment, please?
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes. Is this an unusual incident?
A. About this urinating?
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes.
A. Yes, sir, very unusual, sir.
Q. He 1s with you. *

.

.

CROSS
EXAMINATION OF MR. GREBENBURG BY MR. FARRINGTON:

ij 'Q. Mr. Grebenburg, you've seen the time cards that people punch I!s. Iin and out on, haven't you? ' v ix iA. I beg your pardon? Would you restate that?
Q. Yes. You have seen the time cards that people punch in and out



Q. (Cont'd) on, haven't you?
A. Oh, yes, sir.
Q . Have you ever read the back of them?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Does it not say on the back that employees are not to punch 

out for other employees?
A. That's right, sir.
Q. No further questions.
JUDGE ALAIMO: So then, if under those circumstances, a Lab

Technician had some other employee punch him out, why that 
would be a violation of your rules?

A. Yes, sir, it would.
JUDGE ALAIMO: What would you do about it?
A. Well, if it was brought to the attention of the Plant Super­

intendent or higher up, I imagine it would be reprimanded.
JUDGE ALAIMO: I thought you said that was a practice. If it is 

a practice, why would anybody be reprimanded over it?
A. Well, this is a period - something that's been happening for 

years and years and years, and it's just been carried on.
JUDGE ALAIMO: It's sort of a rule that wasn't real . . .
A. Really an unobeyed rule.
JUDGE ALAIMO: It's not much of a rule. All right.

REDIRECT
EXAMINATION OF MR. GREBENBURG BY MR. SAPP:



I ;

I
)i
1

!

Q. Has anybody ever been reprimanded for punching somebody else
i lout when they were doing Saturday work and they left the 

plant with your permission?
A. Not to my knowledge, sir.
Q. I don't have anything further, Your Honor.

LJ0DGE ALAIMO: Are you - is there any training program over there -
/. overt at your plant?

\A. Yes, sir. There's training programs. I don't know . . .
IJUDGE ALAIMO: Well, what type of program do you have there?
A. Well, there is - we have schools and stuff like that.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Schools?
A. Yes, sir. ._
JUDGE ALAIMO: Whom do you train in such a school?
A. Well, we have Foremen and Technicians come down to them and 

people that are in training in the plant.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Do you have a regular organized school . . .
A. No, sir. It's periodic that we will have a school and train

I;
in different phases of the process and stuff like that. We*■ ' , 11' • J:just completed one.

i,JUDGE ALAIMQ: How many blacks were in that school, any?
'A. Yes, sir, I know of two.
I

JUDGE ALAIMO: Out of how many?
A. Maybe eighteen dr twenty at different stages. Now, there may t*have been some cn the other shifts that I don't - I'm not

j’
familiar with them.

W j:
-244-



JUDGE ALAIi'lO: When was-that?
A. Well, we still have this training school in . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Is it in session right now?»A. Two days a week, two to three one day and then three to four 

the second day.
j/lDGE ALAIMO: Who is in charge of that school?

Well, Mr. George Faucet was at one phase, Preston Blackwelder 
. . \at another phase, the Process Supervisor in one stage -

! different stages that we have people to.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All the employees are under the Plant Superintendent? 
A. Yes, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: No matter where they work?

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
MR. SAPP: I don't have anything further, Your Honor.
NOTE: The witness withdrew from the stand.
MR. SAPP: Your Honor, may this,witness be excused?
JUDGE ALAIMO: Any objection?
MR. FARRINGTON: No, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. He may be excused without objection. 
MR. SAPP: Call Mr. Ecksley.

( 1

MR. CHARLES ECKSLEY TOOK THE STAND, AND HAVING BEEN DULY SWORN, 
TESTIFIED AS FOLLOWS:

rr—

-245-



DIRECT
EXAMINATION OF MR. ECKSLEY BY MR. SAPP:
Q. I Speak up so that everyone can year you. State your full 

name, please sir.
A. Charles B. Eeksley.
Q. And where do you live, Mr. Eeksley?
A. Port Wentworth, Georgia.
Q. Are you employed by Savannah Sugar? * |
A. I've been with the Savannah Sugar since 1934.
Q. So you've been there about thirty-eight years, is that correct? 
A . Right.

N iQ. Ana what is your job at Savannah Sugar?
l

A. Right now, I am an Assistant Superintendent.
Q. And you and Grebenburg have the same jobs at Savannah Sugar?
A. On different shifts.
Q. You alternate shifts from first to second, is that correct? 
A. And third.
Q. And third?
A. Right.
Q. How long have you been an Assistant Superintendent?
A. Six years.
Q. All right,sir. Do you at times have to supervise employees

on Saturdays? \
A. Some Saturdays, right.
Q. And is there a - is there any practice of letting certain

|j

-246-



/

o

Q. (Cant'd) employees leave early on Saturdays before the end
I of the shift.
/

A . ; Now, when the plant is down, the second shift doubles back 
to the first shift and the last shift doubles back at three 
o'clock.

Q. So where you have the people that have worked from three to
eleven on Friday come in at seven o'clock on Saturday morning? 

A. That's right.
Q. And you also have the regular first shift there at seven 

o'clock on Saturday morning?
A. Right.
Q. Now, are some of the employees let go before the end of the

shift on Saturday?
A. Saturdays, the second shift that comes back, we always let 

them go around dinner time.
Q. Around twelve o'clock on Saturday?
A. Right.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Is that the entire shift or just certain employees? 
A. Just the process men.
JUDGE ALAIMO: The process . . .
A. Process.
Q. All right. Which employees docs this include? Nov/, I don't

mean by name, but in what job classifications do these people\
work?

A. There's about five Supervisors, and the man - Chemist in the

-247



I

iI;

i:!

■!I

Q. (Cont'd) Lab, the Plant Lab.
Q. All right, sir.
A. And maybe a Liquid Sugar Operator.
Q. And these people are allowed to leave at approximately twelve 

o'clock?
A. Around lunch time on Saturdays.
Q. Now, which of these people have to punch cards when they come 

to work and when they leave work?
A. The Foreman that works in the lab and the Liquid Sugar Opera­

tor .
Q. Are you familiar with a gentleman named Ronald Coleman?
A. He works in the lab on my shift.
Q. And has Mr. Coleman ever left before the end of the shift

pursuant to this practice?
A. At times.
Q. He left at twelve o'clock on Saturdays before the end of the

shift?
A. Right.
Q. Now, what docs he do about getting his time card punched when 

he leaves before the end of the shift?
A. Well, I told all these - I got in the habit of telling them 

to leave their card in the Boiler Room.
Q. Now, what's the reason for telling them to leave their card 

in the.Boiler Room?
A. So the man in the Boiler Room would punch out for him at three

• Ho
-248-

t;
\\il
n

___u___



A. (Cont'd) o'clock.
i I

Q. And did you ever mention the name of any particular person in 
the Boiler Room to these persons?

tA. Never have.
Q. Where is the Boiler Room located.with respect to where the 

time clock is?
Well; it's not too far from the gate. It's on the way out.

\
Now,are people always in the Boiler Room; that is on Saturdays 
and Sundays and throughout the week?
There's the Operator and his Helper.
They are there all day Saturday and all day Sunday?
Right, seven days a week, three shifts.
Do you know Mr. Adam Baxter sifting over here?
I do.
Now, have you ever at anytime instructed Mr. Coleman that he

j j

should have Mr. Baxter punch his time card for him?
Never have. I always told him to leave it in the Boiler Room.

! jDid you ever use the name of any specific person in the Boiler 
Room that should have the responsibility of punching time cards?

f
d.T

A. 
Q. 

A. 
Q . 
A. 
Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.

No, sir.-.
Does Mr. Coleman have any relatives that are employed out at 
Savannah Sugar?
His father works out there.

Q. What is his father's name?
A. Jeff Coleman.

I Q

249-



Q.
jAnd does Mr. Coleman work on Saturdays when younger Coleman

f
Is also there?I * ' 1
I . .A. [He works sometimes with him.j . |!

Q. And where does he work?
{!A. In the raw sugar. i|

Q. And do you know whether or not the older Mr. Coleman ever 
tranches out for the younger Mr. Coleman? ji

A. I can't say.
)<I;Q. I don't have anything further, Your Honor.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right."""
I1||

CROSS ;
. iEXAMINATION OF MR. ECKSLEY BY MR. FARRINGTON:
I!Q. Are you familiar, sir, with the card which employees punch !l

• • t!out on? Have you ever seen that card or one like it? ;
A. Yes, I have.
Q. Have you ever read what's on the back of it?
A . Right.

IQ. Doesn't it say on the back that employees are not to punch
i

out for other employees?
N ' vA. That's right.

Q. Would an employee who punched out for someone else be subject
to a possible reprimand? That would be a violation . . .\

A. It would be, yes.
Q. Did you ever inform Adam Baxter that he had permission to



11
II

Q. (Cont'd) punch out for anybody in the laboratory?
I/

A. No, I haven't./I
Q. iWhy is it necessary to go through this punching-out business?
A. Well, so the time keeper will have a record. We've been 

doing this for a long time.
Q. Why is it necessary to practice this sort of charade on having 

other people punch you out and you don't tell anybody what 
the policy is? You say you have a policy not allowing other 
people to punch you out, but you don't tell anybody what the .

A. Well, we give them a break like that.by letting them off early.
Q. But you never tell anybody else that you are doing that?
A. Well, this has been going on for a long time. We've been 

doing it for a long time.
Q. And the reason that you do this is just that it's something 

you've done for a long time?
A. I guess so.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, you're just giving the employees three hours .
A. Just giving them a break.
JUDGE ALAIMO: You could do it that way, or you could let them

punch out at twelve and give them the three hours in some other 
bookkeeping way, couldn't you?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. I have nothing further. \
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right, you may go down, Mr. Ecksley. Anything 

further of Mr. Ecksley?
4 /to
-251



I
MR. SAPP: I don't have anything further, Your Honor. We would

like to have the witness excused. He was fixing to go on

JUDGE ALAIMO: Any objection to that, gentlemen?
MR. FARRINGTON: Sir?
JUDGE ALAIMO: To excusing Mr. Ecksley?
MR. FARRINGTON: Oh, certainly.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Let him be excused without objection.
NOTE: The witness withdrew from the stand.
MR. SAPP: Call Mr. Blackwelder.
NOTE: Transcription of Mr. Preston Blackwelder1s testimony in

JUDGE ALAIMO: Let's take a recess for ten minutes.
NOTE: The court recessed for ten minutes.
NOTE: The court reconvened after a ten minute recess.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right, Mr. Simpson, call your next witness.
MR. SIMPSON: Mr. Albarino. He has not been sworn.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Was this Affirmative Action Program ever put into 

evidence?
N - ^

MR. SAPP: No, Your Honor, we're going to ccEfer all of our documents 
Your Honor, I spoke with Mr. Farrington after you left the 
courtroom about excusing Mr. Blackwelder, and he had no 
objection. N v

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. *

I vacation last night when . .

this case was previously transcribed at the lawyers'
request and mailed under separate cover.



MR. JOSEPH W. ALBARINO, JR., WAS DULY SWORN, TOOR THE STAND, AND
TESTIFIED AS FOLLOWS:

DIRECT
EXAMINATION OF MR. ALBARINO BY MR. SIMPSON:
Q. /Mr. Albarino, would you state your full name, please sir?
A./ Joseph W. Albarino, Jr. ^
Q. And where l̂o you live, sir?
A L 1527 East 54th here in Savannah.
Q. And your age, sir?
A. Forty-three.

. . rQ. Are you employed by Savannah Sugar Refxnery Corporation?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And what is your present job there?
A. Refined Sugar Superintendent.
Q. How long have you been employed by Savannah Sugar?
A. Twenty years, since 1952.
Q. Will you trace for the Court briefly the history of your 

employment?
A. I chme to work with the refinery in June of 1952 as a Chemist

and I worked in the main laboratory at the plant until 1955.
At that time, I went out into the process and began to learn
the station operation and the machinery operation and worked
as a Relief - relieving people in those jobs until 1957, and
at that time, I became an Assistant Superintendent or Shift

Superintendent and worked in charge of one of the shifts in
0y /i®

-253-



A. (Cont d) the process and also worked on plant projects and
, » l :things that came up in the process. I continued in this work

until 1961. At this time, I went to work in the Refined Sugar
Dcpaitment whicli is packaging and shipping with Mr. Bersijay,
and I worked primarily on technical problems in the shipping

/and liquid sugar - bulk sugar areas. Then in 1964, I became
/ Methods Engineer, and during this time as Methods Engineer,
/ . \/ part of-my responsibility was education and training. I was

ij the Methods Engineer from '64 until 1971, and then in Aoril;j - . j|of 71, I was made Refined Sugar Superintendent which put me
back in the packaging and shipping area.

11 Mr* Albarino,. what is your educational background?
A. Well, I attended Newberry College, a graduate of Newberry

!| ||
College, South Carolina, in Chemistry, and I attended Georgia
Tech for one year of graduate work in Organic Chemistry.

' • ' < j
i! Q ' Now' faring the period 1964 to 1971, when you were Methods
; j  .  | iEngineer, among your duties was the giving of instruction 

at the plant?
!! ■ ' ! A. Yes, sir.

Q. Have you had occasion since that time and since this case was
jl jpresentee to make up a schedule of training programs that you

offer at the plant during the year 1963 to date?
A. Yes, sir.
Q I hand you this exhibit that's been marked Defendant's Exhibitji

|j Number Forty-One and ask you if you will identify that, please
i irr~i

-254-



(Cont'd) sir?
!j,!

Yes, sir, that's the | *tMr. Albarino, I direct your - did you compile this exhibit?
Yes, sir. li

\

I direct your attention to the first entry, the one in 1963,
and would you describe what that program was, sir? jj/• >!
Well, this was the first usage that we made of a manual that 
was written by our technical personnel in which we described

I ii .the terminology used in sugar refining. We described the i
equipment used and the process and the Quality Control features,

Ilimits, and also talked about how one station m  part of the
i|process related to the others.I i ^

Now, what personnel attended that program and how often?
;;

Well, as it says, it was thirty-eight sessions, and these
iwere one-hour sessions, and the program reached all the people 

in process and all of the Maintenance people concerned with 
the process work.

t. jAll right. Mr. Albarino, I direct your attention to the entry!:
under 1967, the first entry, and ask you if you will describe 
that program. ]|
Yes, sir. This - we started an orientation program with

tj
particular emphasis on the Refined Sugar Warehouse Department.

(jWe were concerned at the time with damage control and some 
mechanization that we had put in this area, and we were
particularly concerned in developing attitudes and motivation,
_____________________ ............. , ......... : # / & ....................................... ...........................

-255-



A. (Cont'd) and we used quite a bit of material directed along
/
these lines.

Q. Did you have a training manual with this 1967 program similar 
to the training manual you had in the 1963 program?

i l
A. Yes, sir. One was prepared which described the process or Ij

the duties in shipping and packaging, but we stuck mainly to
1 }

the important - job importance of the various jobs in these i!
areas.

Q. Now, what employees attended the 1967 session?
. . \A. These were all of the people in the Packaging and Shipping

(|
Departments.

Q. Now, would it be true to say that between the 1963 and the 1967
training programs, virtually all of the employees of the plant 
were run to these programs, is that correct?

A. Yes, sir, right.
JUDGE 7\LAIM0: You say that during your '67, all of your employees 

were run through . . .
Q. My question was, Your Honor - I’ll repeat it - that the 1963 

program for the employees in that group and the 1967 program 
for the employees in that group encompass virtually all of 
the employees of the plant?

A. Yes, sir, that’s right. \
Q. Now, what was the basic purpose of putting on these programs

X
for the employees?

A. Well, like I mentioned', it's

!i
! i

one of developing motivation,



(Cont'd) attitude, job importance, how your job relates to 
/the process; and we also used these programs to - as a communi­
cations area. We tried to make them about half of a lecture if
type or material coverage type and half based on discussion

.
in which the people in these areas would being us their problems, 
and we would either try to help them solve them or discuss

!jthem, or they would bring suggestions as to how to solve
j

some of the problems that we had been discussing. I)
You invited suggestions from the employees in each program?

r'Yeb, sir.
-Mr. Albarino, I direct your attention to page five under the j

• |!date October 1st of 1969 entitled "Checker Training Nathaniel
I

Edwards and Herbert Jenkins." Would you describe to the Court
what you've did in connection with the training of these

- / . i/ iemployees?
iWell, we were in the process of replacing Checkers or making

Checkers in our Refined Sugar Warehouse, and we used Herbert jj
!•Jenkins and Nathaniel Edwards who were both senior men and 

■we gave them the opportunity - I asked them if they would
like to become Checkers. It required a little different skills in

I'what they had been doing in the area of loading. It required ; • 
paperwork and line-up work which' neither one of them were familiar

!i\with, so I worked with them in private^sessions to help them
along in this work so they'd catch up with the paperwork

■

aspects of it. Herbert - I didn't work too long with Herbert
.....- ................ "



o

Q.

ij a .
Q.

A.

A. (Cont'd) in filling out orders and line-up. Nathaniel - I
worked longer with Nathaniel. We went actually over severalI
months, and at this time, Nathaniel was also attending a 
night school to upgrade his arithmetic problems or values, 
and we strictly worked on fundamental arithmetic, dividing 
up how the loads would be placed in the cars and how to fill 
out the paperwork that's necessary to go along with the load. 
Did you also try out another employee by the name of- Gruber? 
Yes, sir, Lonnie Gruber.
IIoŵ JLong did he work in the program?
Lonnie wasn't in the program long. I would - I would say 
probably about a month, but he decided not to continue in 
the program.

Q. Why was it that he did not continue?
A. Well, one - one reason, he stated, was that the eye strain, 

the idea of working with the paperwork and the filling in of 
the forms that went with the Checking job.

Q. Now, these two Checkers are still Checkers with the company, 
are they not?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. Now, would you describe to the Court the present program of 

training that you have for Fork Lift Drivers to do Checking
work and to do a combination of both job?; that is operating

\

a fork lift and also being a Checker.
A. Well, we've instituted a‘ new program. I guess it's about six

-258-



A. (Cont'd) or eight months old now, in which v/e 1 re getting our
I
Checkers to become Checker - our Loaders to become Checker
I .Loaders. We . . .
I |

JUDGE ALAIMO: Tell me, v;hat is a Checker?
A. He is a person who lrnes-up the lading to go in a car or truck.

iHe takes the customer's order and takes the items from the 
order and decides how they should be placed in the vehicle, 
and then he's responsible to see that it's put in that way;

||and what we're - what we're doing is . . .
1JUDGE ALAIMO: Are there generally blacks' in that job or whites?_ 11'A. Well, at this, both.

••
JUDGE ALAIMO: Now, at this time?
A. Yes, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Prior to ‘67?
A. It would have been primarily whites prior to that.
JUDGE ALAIMO: I see.
A. But these men are now learning to handle the paperwork that

. i

goes along with the loading. What we’ve done - we've divided I
them into teams where v/e do pallet loading; that is merchandise
that's unit loaded into a - on a pallet. We have one Fork

\  ' v
Truck Operator and his responsibility in working with a 
Checker . . . \

JUDGE ALAIMO: He can do both? \
A. Yes, sir. He'll load and learn how to line it up and learn

how to handle the paperwork. We have had three teams that are

-259



A. (Cont'd) made up of two men each; one on a regular standard
fork truck and another with a slipsheet mechanism, an automaticI.Mdevice to - so that you can handle two thousand or three 
thousand pounds of load automatically rather than manually.

jiThis Iran is acting as lead man, and he and his helper on the
other fork truck are placing the material in, and the men who

.  !'were previously Checkers are working in the cars and in the
i j

trucks with these men actually breaking down the merchandise
. ,that they bring m, and sometimes driving the trucks, and then•

!lthey do the paperwork together in that when the vehicle is
:loaded, they look over the Checker's shoulder to see what's 

involved in . . .I
JUDGE ALAIilO: Is this a more efficient operation or are you just )!iidoing it to give them multiple training - training in multiple 

jobs? y .

A. Well, it's done - done pri- - it is a training device and, Ij
hopefully, as we increase the interest and concern of everybody!
with the entire operation, then we would hopefully have error- 
free work, if that's possible.

Q. When do you expect this program to be completed?
A. I would think at the rate we're going, probably a year to a 

year and a half before we could probably - before we could 
break over into Checker Loaders.

Q. No further questions.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Do you have any questions?

■ W a . — —

Ij!

i

- 260 -



• I
MR. FARRINGTON: No, sir.
JUDGE AIAIMO: You may go down, Mr. Albarino.
NOTE: The witness withdrew from the stand.
MR. SIMPSON: Call Mr. Sprague. Your Honor, may we excuse Mr. 

Albarino?
JUDGE ALAIMO: Any objection?
MR. FARRINGTON: No, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Let him be excused without objection.

' !

o

ifi; Q.

jj A.
i!
;)|| Q.

j! A.
Q.

ii A.
ii
ij Q.
i .
j> A.
iiii Q.

| | A.
i i Q.
>
ii A.

MR. ROBERT L. SPRAGUE TOOK THE STAND, AND HAVING BEEN DULY SWORN,
TESTIFIED AS FOLLOWS:

, I DIRECT—

EXAMINATION OF MR. SPRAGUE BY MR. SIMPSON:
Would you state your full name, please sir?

/Robert L. Sprague♦
\Where do you live, sir?

In Savannah, 333 East 44th Street.
And your age, sir?
Fifty-nine.
Are you employed by Savannah Sugar Refinery Corporation?\  ' K

Yes, I am.
What is your title?
Executive Vice President.

Q. How long have you held that position?

-261-



Q. How long have you been employed at Savannah Sugar Refinery?
i i

A. Thirty-seven years.
Q. Are you a Director of the Company?

tA. Yes, I am.
Q. How long have you been a Director?.

/  • 'A. /Since 1940.
Q. /• Mr. Sprague, among your duties as Executive Vice President,

■  - - '/ is one of your duties liaison with the Vice President in
j ■

charge of Operations of the plant?
A. Yes, sir.
,Q. And who is that gentleman?
A. Robert Giles.-
Q. And how often do you go out to the plant?
JUDGE ALAIMO: I di&i 't get that name?
Q. Robert . . .  /

A. Giles . . . \
JUDGE ALAIMO: Giles?

O

A. Right.
Q. How often do you visit the plant to meet with Mr. Giles and 

other officials at the plant on matters concerning the 
operation of the company?

A. At least once a week.
ii Q. On those days, do you discuss a variety of subjects?

'
A. We cover the waterfront.I! ,

|! Q. Mr. Sprague, I hand you this document which has been marked

- 2 6 2 -



Q. (Cont'd) as Defendant's Exhibit Number Twenty-One and ask
you if this is a letter that you wrote on. the date of June 2 9,
1965?

A. Yes, it is.

Q. Does that letter - did that letter at that time express the 
policy of the company with reference to compliance with the 
Civil Rights Act?

A. Yes, it did.

Q. Does that letter still express the policy of the company with 
respect to compliance with the Civil Rights Act?

A. It does, yes.

Q. Is there no deviation by the company of this policy of com­
pliance?

A. None.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Mr. Simpson, what exhibit number is that?
MR. SIMPSON: Number Twenty-One, Your Honor.
Q. Mr. Sprague, are you familiar with the program of employment 

in the summertime of children, school children, of employees?
A. Yes, sir. We've had that program for many years. We hire

approximately thirty students. They must be — the gualifica—
I

tions are they must be eighteen years old and continuing their
I

education. We've had some of them even through Graduate School,
This we put in as a fringe benefit for the employees so their j

\

children can become educated and so their children can help 
defer the expenses of their education.

263-



t)

o

Q.

A.

Q.

A.

Qi

A.
Q.

A.

Q,

;i a .

j!;i
Q,

•i

And how long has that' program been in existence?i \
I know it's been in existence twenty years. I don't know how
far back beyond that it goes.»
And for the last five years, approximately how many student
children of employees have been in this program?
I think the maximum in the Hast five years would be thirty and
the minimum probably about twenty-three.

\

And is this program open to children of black employees as 
well as children of white employees?
To all employees.
Have there been black students in this program as well as 
white students?
Yes. As a matter of fact, last year, I believe it was evenly 
divided.
Mr. Sprague, does the company have a policy of giving a bonus 
to its employees each year?
Yes.. This has been a set policy for many years. We gave our 
first bonus - we started the plant in 1917, and we gave our 
first bonus in 1920, and we have given a bonus every year 
since 192'0 with the exception of the three years during the

X ' s
Depression, 1933, ’34, and '35. Since 1947, the amount of the
bonus has been fifteen percent; this is fifteen percent of 
everyone's wages from the President to the newest employee.
And this is fifteen percent of the total wages including

overtime?

-264-



A. This includes overtime for the hourly workers, yes, sir.
i \

Q. And this is computed at the end of the year and is usually
paid sometime in January?

»
A. We try to pay it as close to Christmas as we can.
Q. No further questions, Your Honor.j

IJUDCE ALAIIIO: All right, Mr, Farrington?

CROSS
EXAMINATION OF MR. SPRAGUE BY MR. FARRINGTON:
Q. Mr. Sprague, when does the fiscal year at Savannah Sugar Refining

j|
Corporation end?

i!A. Our fiscal year - we're on a fifty-two week period. It ends 
close to the end of the calendar year.

Q. Very close to the end of the calendar year?
A. Well, fifty-two weeks; some every four or five years, it's 

fifty-three weeks.
Q. So last year, it ended sometirte in December, the last part 

of December?
A. I think it was the twenty-ninth or thirtieth of December.
Q. What are the total assets of Savannah Sugar Refinery . . .\ ^
MR. SIMPSON: Your Honor, I object to this line of questioning -

the total assets, the earnings or anything else of the company 
has no relevance whatsoever.

MR. FARRINGTON: Your Honor, this case is about money. Your Honor 
has expressed some hesitation, to consider that the amount of

!

-265



MR. FARRINGTON: (Cont'd) money that we're asking for, to quote//
|what its affect would be on a company of this size," and 
k think the Court's having expressed that concern, we need 
to know about this company's . . .

JUDGE AIAIMO: I sustain the objection.
MR. FARRINGTON: Your Honor, nevertheless, if we can, the record 

ought to reflect whether or not the company is going to have 
the ability . . .

MR. SIMPSON: Your Honor, that has nothing to do with this law 
suit here, sir. . The ability to decide finance is a matter 
that comes after . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, the next thing is this, if my memory serves 
me correctly, sometime during the trial of the case, I asked 
you whether you had this case on a contingent fee and you

IIsaid "why no, this was an equitable consideration; that this was 
not a penalty; this was merely you know. If this is the
case, what does what amount of money this company is worth 
have to do with it?

MR. FARRINGTON: We're not talking about our fee. We're talking 
about . . .

N ' NJUDGE AIAIMO: No, nevertheless, I was trying to remind you of v/hat 
the basis for paying anybody anything is.

MR. FARRINGTON: Yes, sir. x \
\JUDGE AIAIMO: And that has nothing to do, does it, with what 

amount of money they have?
U /i

- 2 6 6 -



V J-

©

o

MR. FARRINGTON: Very well. Well, I'll withdraw the question.i i
JUDGE ALAIMO: Okay.

iQ. I have no further questions.
,

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
'

MR. SIMPSON: No further questions, Your Honor.
NOTE: The witness withdrew from the stand.

]MR. SIMPSON: ^Your Honor, could we have a brief recess, sir? 
jjUDGE ALAIMO: You mean - by brief, what do you mean?
MR. SIMPSON: Five minutes-.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. But wasn't that correct? I mean didn't 

you state that this is a basis for recovery, for paying 
anybody anything, Mr. Farrington?- 

MR. FARRINGTON: That would be our contention. Anyway that the 
ability of the company to pay has nothing to do with price. 

JUDGE ALAIMO: I see. {

MR. FARRINGTON: There has been some concern expressed.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. We'll take a five minute recess.
NOTE: The court recessed for five minutes.
NOTE: The court reconvened after a five minute recess.
MR. SIMPSON: ' Your Honor, that concludes our testimony. Mr. Sapp 

would like to put me on the stand, I think, in rebuttle on 
the issue of attorneys fees.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.

W o u

-267-



MR. JOHN E. SIMPSON TOOK-TIIE STAND, AND HAVING BEEN DULY SWORN,
i iTESTIFIED AS FOLLOWS:

DIRECT
EXAMINATION OF MR. SIMPSON BY MR. SAPP:
Q. State your name, please sir?I
A./ John E. Simpson.
Q ./■ And your residence and biisiness address.

/  ' . . \At 627 East 44th Street, Savannah. My business address is 127
i

Abercorn Street.
Q. And you are engaged in the practice of law in Savannah?
A . I am.
Q. How long have you been admitted to the Bar of the State of 

Georgia?
A. I was admitted to the Bar of the State of Georgia in January 

of 1943. /
Q. And are you admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of 

the'State of Georgia?
A . I am.
Q. Are you admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the 

United States?
A. No, not before the Supreme Court - I am admitted to the Fifth 

Circuit Court of Appeals.
Q. And who are you in practice with here in Savannah?
A. The firm name is Miller, Beckman and Simpson.
Q. How long have you been in the law practice in the Savannah

-268-



(Cont'd) area?
Since 1956. 1 ‘ I
And prior to that time, where were in you practice?
In Atlanta, Georgia.

I
And did you practice as a sole practitioner there or with a 
firm?

li• i |No, I was. in a firm in Atlanta which was then known as the I
firm-of.HiVt, Gaines and Beard.

I
For how long were you in practice there?.
From 1948 to 1956., ■ I!
Where did you attend college?
I went to the University of Georgia at a college and I went to is
Yale Law School.
When did you finish at Yale? liI (
In October of 1947.

I|All right. Then in your practice here in Savannah as well as 
Atlanta, you've been involved in the various aspects of litiga- !
tion?
Yes, I have.

Are you aware of the prevailing fees being charged in the 
Savannah area by your firm for handling litigation?
Yes, I am.

And would you tell the Court what in your estimation is a
. | 

reasonable fee in tne Savannah area charged in litigation
matters in the District Court or Superior Court?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ i l



A. .Your Honor, the standard fee that we try to charge in our» i
office by the senior partners who are John Hiller, Luhir

ii
Beckman, and myself, and all three of us have over twenty years

t
experience as lawyers, all of us have A.B. rating, and our 
/standard rate is at the rate of fifty dollars an hour. For

I  ,associates and people who have oecn practicing law for . ...
JHjDGE ALAIMO: Wait a minute. Let me ask you a further question ii

Mr. Simpson.. Fifty dollars an hour, that's for in-office 

work?
A. This is for in-office work and trial work.
JUDGE ALAIMO: And trial work in court? t»
A. Right, and we1 re engaged - our office is engaged in some other

-litigation in which this same subject has been the matter 
of interest and that's the charge that's being charged in 
that litigation.

v IiJUDGE ALAIMO: Now, you began to talk about your associates, what 
you charge for them.

A. Now, the associates in our office, we charge for them thirty-
:

five dollars or forty dollars an hour, depending on the type
ii

matter and the importance. Nov/, there have been occasions
\  s v

when we have charged as much as fifty dollars an hour, and 
there have been occasions when v/e have only charged twenty 
dollars or twenty-five dollars an.hour. It varies, but my 
best-estimate would be that it averages out at thirty-five to 

forty dollars an hour.
ii

J L“IT
-270-



JUDGE ALAIMO: Does it make any difference on the type of litiga­
tion that you might be involved in; that .is anti-trust or

.
labor for instance? Do you do that? I

A. Your Honor, I don't think it makes too much. In our experience 
in our office, the charge has been pretty much uniform regard­
less of the type of litigation. This is a litigation involvingi
insurance companies in casualty practice, estate work, labor

i'
work, or other kinds of litigation. It's been pretty unifcrm.

JUDGE ALAIMO: How does this compare with - well, I use this for
■ • ji

lack of a better term - the prevailing fees charged by attorneys
ilof like experience in Savannah?
il

A. Your Honor, my understanding is that this is comparable with 
other law firms in Savannah. I think we're all in pretty !!
much the same pot.

IQ. Now,■in your opinion, would a charge of fifty dollars per hour 
for work in a case such as the one we're trying here be a II
reasonable fee?

A. Yes, I think that would be a reasonable fee?
j

A. I don't have any further questions, Your Honor.

CROSS
EXAMIHATION OF MR. SIMPSON BY MR. JOHNSON:
Q. Mr. Simpson, what type of cases does your firm try?
A. Well, we try a variety of cases. We have a fairly large

casualty practice. Our law firm is presently engaged in a
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _

-271-



A. (Cont'd) rather large piece of litigation involving an estate - . 
estate litigation. We have - in the past, we have been involvedr
in anti-trust litigation. We've been involved in railroad 
litigation. I think if you name the litigation, I believe at 
one time or another, my law firm in the past fifteen years 
has been ■ involved in that type.

Q. Have you ever been involved in any civil rights litigation?
A. This is the first civil rights case that I've been - involved in.

. I
Q. Have you ever been involved in any Title Seven litigation . . .

A. This is . . .
Q. Excuse me",' could I finish, please? Have you ever been involved

in any civil rights litigation, Title Seven, from the Plaintiff's
- . - !j

point of view? :j ■
A. No, I have not.
Q. All of the civil rights litigation you have been involved in 

is defense as in this case?
A. This is the first civil rights, Title Seven, case that I've 

been involved in.
Q. Sir, what were - were you involved in the Diamond Will case?
A. No, I have not been involved in that litigation.N ' v
Q. Is your firm involved in it?
A. Oh, yes, they're involved in it now.
Q. And what was the going rate in that case?

\

A. Fifty dollars an hour.
Q. What do you get paid for this case?

..... ............

,1

-272-



A. Our firm has been on a retainer with Savannah Sugar Refining 
Corporation for many years. As far as I know, I don't know 
whether we'll bd paid anything extra for this litigation or

not.
Q. What1s the amount of the retainer?
A 1 Your Honor, I don't really think that's relevant-. I don't 
I think it has anything to do with hourly rate.

Q. Well, I think we have told about the payment we have contracted 
from the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense Fund, and we answered all i
subsequent questions about it, and they have mentioned that 
they are on retainer and I only asked the same questions.

MR. SAPP: There's a little bit of difference here, Your Honor. 
We're not seeking attorneys fees from the Plaintiff in this

JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, Mr. Sapp, the question here is what is a 
reasonable fee for this type of litigation going to be, 
generally; specifically with, Mr. Simpson, what you're charging
with the,- I don't mean you - this firm is charging with respect
to the' defense of this specific case?■

A. I'll answer this way, Your Honor. We're not - we have not to j

case and I - that certainly went to what fee should be
charged in this case.

date put in any bill for work in this case. I don't know 
that we anticipate putting in any bill. We have been on a
retainer with this company for many many years, and I doubt 
that there would be any bills submitted for the work we've

-273-



A. (Cont'd) done in this case. It would fall under a retainer
l \

which covers the services of our entire law firm.
Q. That makes the retainer all the more relevant because he's 

getting paid on a retainer for work done here, and this is 
cross examination and I would like to cross examine■him on 

l how much he's getting paid for this case.
JTiTDGE ALAIMO: Well, if he doesn't know, how else can he answer

■ ■ ■

Q. Well, the retainer would show it.
JUDGE ALAIMO: A flat retainer? How would it show that? In other 

words, if he has - I assume that when you are on a flat 
retainer - I've never been on one, you understand, but if you 
were on a flat retainer basis, you would do whatever work was 
required by that client during that year, and how could you 

/ tell on a per-hour basis or per-piece basis ? How would that 
be relevant?

Q. Your Honor, could I ask one additional question?
JUDGE ALAIMO: Sure.
Q. Do you keep a time record, time sheet?
A. I keep time sheets for everything I do, all my work.

-V - _Q. Now, did you keep a time sheet for this case?
A. As far as I know, I have.
Q. And what were the hours?
A. Oh, I've never added them up. I have no idea.
Q. I suggest, Your Honor, if those hours were added up, we could

-274-



Q. (Cont'd) determine . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: I think you would be entitled to ask how many hours 

he has spent.
A. Your Honor, I have not undertaken to add them up. I have no

/idea.Would it be difficult for you to do that, sir?

I don't hâ /e my records with me.
MR. SAPP: Your Honor, I believe we've approximated the contingent 

number of hours these people have submitted for the work that 
they've done in the case.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. You don't challenge that, and then, of 
course, there is no challenge in the record of the number of 
hours that you all have spent.

Q. That's okay, Your Honor, we - we didn't . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Any other questions?
Q. No, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: But that's correct, isn't it, Mr. Sapp? So far as

I can tell, there's no challenge on the part of the Defendant 
with respect to the number of hours that counsel for the Plaintiff

MR. SAPP: Your Honor, we don't have any reason to doubt them on 
the position of the number of hours that they state that they 
have.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
MR. FARRINGTON: Could the Court indulge us just a minute. We're

has stated

-275-



MR. FARRINGTON: (Cont'd) trying - I don't think we have but
about ten more minutes of testimony, and we're trying to figure

* I
out what . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: Certainly.
MR. FARRINGTON: Excuse me. You've finished, have you not?

. : ifMR. SIMPSON: Yes, Your Honor, we're through at this time.
MR. SAPP: Your Honor, we've got to introduce this documentary 

evidence.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, yes, let's be sure that we get all the docu-

Iments in, but I mean it will be - that is, I am not going to 
hold you to it simply because you've rest at this time. We . . 

MR. SIMPSON: Your Honor, we have already stipulated that all the
documents are in and there are no objections that have been

- ... (■
made.. •.

JUDGE ALAIMO: I just want to be sure that they are physically hjhere when we get through with the case..  . . ' : f
MR. SIMPSON: Yes, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. tt!MR. SAPP: I think the Court Reporter took down a list at the

!|beginning of the case, and that's got Defendant's Exhibits in
; i• ' '' ithe case.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Let's go ahead and get through with the oral testi-;j
ifmony and then when we're through with the oral testimony, we'llU’ ' ■]

qet down to checking out the documentary evidence. |1H
MR. SAPP: All right. . i*
..................: .: i - J" ~ ; iir .1-276-



!
MR. JOHNSON: Your Honor, we would like to call at this time

/
Mr. Louis Sapp.
|IJUDGE ALAIMO: Mr. Sapp.

MR. LOUIS SAPP TOOK THE STAND, AND HAVING BEEN DULY SWORN, TESTIFIED 

AS FOLLOWS:
CROSS

EXAMINATION OF MR. SAPP BY MR. JOHNSON:
Q. Would you state your name and occupation please, Mr.. Sapp?
A. My"name is Louis Sapp and I'm engaged in the practice of law.
Q. And who are you employed by?
A. I am employed as an associate with the firm of Constangy and 

Prowell in Atlanta, Georgia.
Q. And is your firm retained in any way by the Defendant in this 

case, Savannah Sugar and Refining Corporation?
A. We are co-counsel for the Defendant in this case, yes.
Q. Has your firm handled other civil rights cases before?
A. Yes, it has.
Q. And has that been on the defense side or on the plaintiff's 

side?
A. In each instance, it's been in the capacity of representing 

the defendants.
Q. Now, on the instance on the defendant's side, what was your 

billing rate in the Georgia Power case - excuse me, did you 
have a billing rate in the Georgia Power case?

•

i

ii

ij

:!ii!

'

uj |
i jiij
j i

!. I
; i
If
| :,1
’■Il'

■ i-277



A.
.............................. ................. » :

X assume that there was, yes./
Q . Do you know what that rate was?

I ■IA. No, I don't.
Q. Do you have a billing rate in this case?
A. I assume there is.
Q. And do you know what that rate is?
A. No, I don’t.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Why don't you, Mr. Sapp?
A. Your Honor, this billing is handled through the fiscal partner 

in'the firm, the bookkeeper in the firm. I keep hours, work 
done in the office, which is computed on a monthly basis.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. How long have you been admitted to the 
Bar?

A. I was admitted, Your Honor, in June of 1966.
JUDGE ALAIMO: And have you participated as trial counsel in Title

N.Seven cases?
A. This would be the second one in which we've actually gone to 

trial, Your Honor.
JUDGE ALAIMO: What does your firm generally charge for your 

services?
A. Your Honor, it is my best estimate that my rate is billed

depending on whether I am doing in-office work or whether I 
am in court. It is my understanding that if I am doing 
in-office work, it is at the rate of thirty-five dollars per 

hour, and it's fifty dollars per hour for in-court work.

_?7«_



JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. , \
Q. Do you know the billing rate for your senior partners?
A. I certainly don't.
Q. Would you perceive that rate to be more than fifty dollars 

an hour for in-court work?
JUDGE ALAIMO: For whom?
Q.l For the senior partners.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well,they're not employed here.
Q. Their firm is, Your Honor.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes, but he's doing the trial work down here.

As far as I can tell, I don't see any of his quote "senior 
partners" whoever they may be.

Q. Yes, Your Honor.
MR. FARRINGTON: Your Honor, the senior partners in this firm are 

trying this case; that's the point.
JUDGE. ALAIMO: I beg your pardon?
MR. FARRINGTON: The senior partners in this firm are trying this 

case; that's the point . . .
MR. SIMPSON: I think it's a matter of the community experience

involved, with the members of this firm not having the experience 
of the associates of Mr. Sapp's firm.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, -maybe so, maybe not. I don't want to get into
that . .

MR. FARRINGTON: We have no further questions of this witness.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Look, I don't want to get into that kind of a

-2 79-



JUDGE ALAIMO: (Cont'd) wrangle. Anyhow, you've gotten his
testimony. All right, anything further of Mr. Sapp?

MR. FARRINGTON: No, sir.
• |

NOTE: The witness withdrew from the stand.
JUDGE ALAIMO: I haven't been too far removed from the law practice, 

gentlemen.
MR. FARRINGTON: We'd like to call Mr. Baxter back for one question.

i|
MR. ADAM BAXTER TOOK THE STAND, AND HAVING BEEN PREVIOUSLY SWORN,
TESTIFIED AS FOLLOWS:

REDIRECT
;l
l i

EXAMINATION OF MR. BAXTER BY MR. FARRINGTON:
I * ' • ' ’ • >.Q. Mr. Baxter, you - in court this morning when Mr. Blackwelder

was reading from your personnel file on this instance which
occurred on April 9, 1972 regarding your failure to obey an
order, would you explain to the Court what happened?

A. Well, at that particular day, I and my assistant went up on
the roof to check some fans, ventilation motors, to make sure
that they were running and what-not. We went up there and
we found the motor stopped, and my assistant he started to try
to get it started and couldn't, and he . . .

Q. Let me interrupt you. You mean by your assistant, are you
talking about the Electrician you work with?

A. The Electrician I work with, yes. He's a motor repair fellow.

We don't usually go and do electrical work.
_ _ _ _ _ A  X  . .  X

!
I

,{
|
;i

'!f'
i

-280-



Q. What is his name?/
A. Woodrow Harvey.
Q. Go ahead.
A. And he was trying to energize the switch to start the motor.

'I He never could get it started, and the pair of pliars he got 
out of the toolbox and he start trying to knock it into 
energize, so he never did - could get it to energize. He tore 
loose all of the contacts on the switch and he went, downstairs 
and come back, and he told me, said he wanted me to take loose 
three wires on the bottom side of the' switch and hook it to

ijthe top. 'I told him, "That don’t look safe to me." I say,
"You probably would have to get a better qualified electrician

•I
to do that." In fact, I didn't find he would - would have been 
taking a chance to do it because he failed to do it. He was 
working on it, and so I didn't know what to expect. So I 
didn't thought it was safe, so after he came back, he didn't 
say anything to me about nothing else. He just walked off, 
and after he hooked it up, he went on and hooked it up, and 
so he came on down two days later — him and I was working in 
the shop rebuilding another motor, and my boss Miller Dodson, 
Chief Electrician, he was standing over us, and he asked me, 
said, "Adam, I heard that you all had some misunderstanding 
on the roof when ya'll fixed - was trying to get the motor 
started." I told him, "I don't know anything about misunder­

standing, " and I went ‘through the process of telling him what

l i

- 281 -



A. (Cont'd) Woodrow had did. He tore up the switch, he claimedi i
to make all the contacts run to ground, and he couldn't energize 
the switch, and he wanted me to take the wires loose and put 
them up from the bottom to the top, so I told him' I didn't felt 
like I was qualified to do that, and I said, "As long as I 

have been in this shop, seventeen years, you never have to put 
j me to learn anything about electrician work," and I said, "I 
I heard that you have a program for all of the rest of the 
whites and I never did have been given but a pair of pliers

iland a - grasp pliers and a screw driver."
Q. All right. What else did Mr. Dodson say? Did he say anything 

about a reprimand or anything?
|l

A. No. He told me he believed I was right, and he wouldn't do it It
hisself if he thought it wasn't safe, and so this is all that 
he said.

jjQ. Did you know that you had broken a company rule?
A. No, I didn't.
Q.' Did anybody tell you that?
A.. No. ■
Q. Did Mr. Blackwelder tell you anything about it?
A. I never have even talked with Mr. Blackwelder.
Q. No further questions.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Did you know how to do what they asked you to do? 
A. Yes, sir. I did know how to change the wires.

JUDGE ALAIMO: I mean, that doesn't require a great deal of

-2 8 2



JUDGE ALAIMO: (Cont'd) knowledge , does it?
A. No, but I didn't thought it was safe, and another thing .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Why wouldn't it be safe?
A. Because he jumpered the switch like that and he had tore it up, 

and he wouldn't do it, and I didn't thought it was safe to do 
that. In fact, I never have that much knowledge to know what
that switch would do after he had done tore all of the contacts
out of it, and so two days after that, the motor was burned up.
We had to go back up there and change the motor.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Let me see that personnel sheet. Was Hodges the 
Senior Electrician in charge?

A. He works on the motor and I work with him.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. When he asked you to hook-up the wires, 

and he was the Senior Electrician - in other words, were you 
working under his supervision?

A. Yes, sir, I works with him.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Why did you refuse to do that?
A. Well . . .  /
JUDGE ALAIMO: I mean, you were working under him and he had given 

you a request or an order to do something. Why didn't you do

it?
A. Well, he tore up the switch.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
A. All the contacts had dropped out of it.
JUDGE ALAIMO: But that was his problem.

283



A. Yes, but I didn't know - I didn't have any kind of knowledge 
of what that switch might do because I never been to school
or anybody . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: I understand, but wasn't that his responsibility? 
That was his responsibility?

A. But he wanted me to take the wire loose and hook it up.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, right. X assume the electricity was off.

wasn't it?
A. I don't know.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, you couldn't check that?
A. This is what I told my boss. I didn't know if it was off or 

not. I didn't.
JUDGE ALAIMO: But you didn't refuse to do it for that reason though, 

did you?
A. Well, because I didn't know just what that switch would have ;f

done if I had to hook it up.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, I mean, if you'd done - if you'd followed 

the directions of the - of your supervisor - in other words, 
if he asked you and then something went wrong, that would be
his responsibility, not yours, wouldn't it?

■ "  ’ 1' IA. Well, we had an explosion out there and it crippled a white 
fellow who was doing this electrical work for several months.

JUDGE ALAIMO: I see.
A. Larry Bulware, and what happened was a switch explodes on him. 

JUDGE ALAIMO: While he was working on it?

-2R4-



A. yJhile he was working on it, and this . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Is this the reason why you didn't do it?
A. Well, I thought about that very much because of this explosion 

before.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, was this the reason why you didn't do it, or 

is it you didn't want to do it because you felt like they 
really hadn't treated you proper in your Electrician's job?

A. No, just one minute. The fact about it because I do that
sometime, you know, when he asked me; in fact, I never did

—

turn him down until that particular time.
)jJUDGE ALAIMO:'"-Well, that's what I'm asking you. Was it your '.jtheory that you might get hurt?
i {

A. I felt like I would get electrocuted or something would burst 
back on me or something like that.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Did you tell him that?
A. Yes, sir, I did.
1 1 ’ . ’ . J
MR. SAPP: I don't have any questions, Your Honor. !

! jMR. FARRINGTON: That completes our rebuttle. 
judge ALAIMO: All right. Is that all the evidence?
MR. FARRINGTON: That is all the evidence that I have except for 

maybe the world's vaguest memorandum which we . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: I want to ask him a question here just a moment.

Is it true, Mr. Baxter, that when you filed your charge with 
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, you complained of 

not being promoted to ’a permanent job in the Boiler Room?

-285-



A. But I filed two petitions . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Is that correct . . . .
A. . . .  two petitions before I get any answer. The first 

petition was Eulis Hodges moved from Operator . ’. .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Relief Operator . . .
A./ . . . Relief Operator to a permanent Operator. Six months
I later, I hadn't got any response on that petition, and another 
I place become, available; another permanent Operator left and 

went off on pension. Joe Brinson had moved up into a Operator 
Relief position, and he was given the Operator permanent 
position that the second Operator left, and so I filed another 
petition petitioning Joe Brinson had took another step into 
a position which I thought I was supposed to get.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. In each case, it was because you had 
not been promoted to a permanent job in the Boiler Room?

A. Right. ^
JUDGE ALAIMO: And was that . . .
MR. FARRINGTON: Your Honor, that is not correct. If you will 

allow me to ask the witness a couple of questions, I think I 
can clarify it. We've been over this a number of times, and
Mr. Baxter has explained this to me, and I think I have an 
obligation to be sure to explain it to the Court.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, let him explain it though. I mean I don't 
want you doing the explaining for him. Do you follow me, Mr. 

Farrington?

- 2 8 6 -



MR. FARRINGTON: The problem is that Mr. Baxter does not understand 
or is not advising the Court - or perhaps doesn't understand
I/
the distinction between permanent and temporary, and if I could 
ask - could name some of those jobs, I think he will . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: You don't think he understands the difference between
permanent and temporary?

MR. FARRINGTON: He doesn't understand the significance of it in
■

the context of this case. - i|!
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
MR. FARRINGTON: When you filed your first complaint, whose job 

was it that you thought that you should have got?
A. Joe Brinson.

iiQ. The job that Joe Brinson got?
A. Yes.

iiJUDGE ALAIMO: The job that Joe Brinson got, as I understand it,v. ii
lwas that of Relief Operator. x
•j

MR. FARRINGTON: That's correct. !
j iJUDGE ALAIMO: All right.

MR. FARRINGTON: Which is not the permanent job. j!
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, it's a permanent Relief Operator, whatever

you want to call it. All right. This is-the job we're talking 

about? .
MR. FARRINGTON: Let's talk about Operators and Relief Operators, 

and forget the word permanent. You thought you ought to have 

gotten the Relief Operator's job, is that correct?
W 7 a  . . . . . . . . . .
-287-



A . Right.
JUDGE ALAIMO: And he thought that on both occasions? When Hodges 

got the . . .
A. No, I didn't think that on both occasions. I
JUDGE ALAIMO: I beg your pardon?
A. When the second Operator left to go off on pension, Joe Brinson, 

which I thought I would have been working in that position,
he moved permanent which he is now.

JUDGE ALAIMO: He is permanent Boiler Room Operator?
A. Permanent.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Now.
A. And then I filed the second petition, because I thought like

when Joe moved, I was supposed to move again, and Joe Brinson's 
was one position which I felt like right now . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Let me ask you this question. You 
were never a permanent Helper? You, at all times prior to I
this, were a permanent - a Relief Helper, were you not?

A. I was like Eulis Hodges was in there, Relief Operator . . .
■j

JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, you were a Relief Operator's Helper?
A. Right.
JUDGE ALAIMO: And you were never a permanent one?

A. No.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Now, was Hodges ever a permanent one?
A. Not until he was moved up in '66, January the 1st, the first

t

of January

-288-



JUDGE1 ALAIMO: All right. Nov/, he was employed there before you
/ ,y/ere ?
IA. I was employed there before he did, but he moved into the .

i
Boiler Room before . . .

JUDGE ALA 1140: Before you did, I see. He had more experience there. 
A. One week.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
MR. FARRINGTON: You can come down, Mr. Baxter.
NOTE: The witness withdrew from the stand.
JUDGE'a'LAIMO : I don’t remember. Was it conceded that the Plaintiff 

never actually made a request of the Defendant to be a Boiler 'I
Room Operator?

MR. SIMPSON: Your Honor, I think it's admitted in the record 
that he never asked . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes, I think . . .
MR. FARRINGTON: Well, Your Honor, the question is that - all of 

the testimony is that the employees ordinarily don't ask to
JUDGE ALAIMO: I understand that - within that context, but still, 

that is correct, is it not, he never Blade the request himself?
MR. FARRINGTON; I - I'm - I don't know. You will have to ask 

Mr. - .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, I think it was.

\  . J , ,
MR. SIMPSON: It's in the deposition.
JUDGE ALAIMO: It's in the deposition? All right.
MR. FARRINGTON: Your Honor, we have what has become Defendant's -
.......... ..................... ‘m * .  ...



MR. FARRINGTON: (Cont'd) I'm sorry, Plaintiff's Exhibit ThirteenI \
I believe, which is the memorandum from the Legal Defense 
Fund, which sets forth in very general and vague terms what

i
our arrangement is. It does not cover the arrangement I 
described yesterday except in broader circumstance.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
MR/. FARRINGTON: And for what it would help, it may be . . . 
jyDGE ALAIMO: All right.
MR. SIMPSON: No objection.-
NOTE: Plaintiff's Exhibit Number Thirteen entered into evidence

without objection.
MR. FARRINGTON: 'That is all of our evidence.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Is all of the documentary evidence - 

I want both sides to go over it and to be sure it's all in. 
CLERK: I have all the Plaintiff's.
JUDGE ALAIMO: You have all the Plaintiff's, all right.
CLERK: I've got them all.
JUDGE ALAIMO: The Clerk informs me that all the documents have 

been accounted for for both sides, is that correct?
MR. FARRINGTON': Yes, sir.
MR. SIMPSON: Yes, sir.

END OF TRIAL.

-290-



C E R T I F I C A T E

I CERTIFY THAT THE FOREGOING TWO HUNDRED AND NINETY PAGES 
OÊ  TYPEWRITTEN, MATERIAL WERE TAKEN DOWN AND THEN TRANSCRIBED 
UNDER MY SUPERVISION, AND I CERTIFY THAT THE SAME CONTAINS A TRUE 
AND CORRECT TRANSCRIPT OF SAID TYPEWRITTEN MATERIAL TO THE BEST 
OF MY ABILITY.

I FURTHER CERTIFY THAT I AM A DISINTERESTED PARTY TO THIS 
ACTION AND THAT I AM NOT OF KIN NOR COUNSEL TO ANY OF THE PARTIES
HERETO.

THIS FIRST DAY OF JANUARY, 1973.

WALTER C. DELOACH
OFFICIAL U. S. COURT REPORTER
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA

-291-



IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR

THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA 
SAVANl'TAi-I DIVIS ION

ADAM BAXTER,
Plaintiff

-VS-
SAVANNAH SUGAR REFINING CORPORATION,

Defendant

NUMBER 2304

Transcript of testimony of Mr. Preston Blackwelder in the 
above case May 29 and 30, 1972, in United States District 
Court, Savannah, Georgia, before the Honorable Anthony A.
Alaimo.

./s

APPEARANCES:
For the Plaintiff:

For the Defendant:

U. s. DISTRICT COURT "-i 
Southern D i s t r i c t  of Ctu . 

Fi led in o f f i c e

__.... M.
___ 0.011$. 1372- - - c—r ’•/*v.. .. . /'

( i f - ' O S  . L i. .-/-H r---—— •
Deputy Clerk

FLETCHER FARRINGTON, ESQ. 
Savannah, Georgia
JOHN SIMPSON, ESQ.
Attorney at Lav;
Savannah, Georgia
JOHN L. SAPP, ESQ.
1900 Peachtree Center Building 
Atlanta, Georgia 30003

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A. (Cont'd) which is the Packing House mechanics . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Did you say you were on what you call Brass Check 

for one year?
A. Yes, sir. Then I went to the G.O. mechanics. I stayed there 

for four or five years, and then I went from there into the 
storeroom area in Inventory Control; worked in Purchasing.
From Purchasing, I went to the General Office as a relief man 
on time-check. I became a time-checker. I learned the jobs 
involved in payroll procedure. From there, I went to Engineer 
ing, and I worked in Engineering for about six years, and in 
the meantime, I was between Engineering and Personnel. I 
worked as Employee Benefits Clerk. That's the administration 
of company benefits such as insurance, et cetera. I relieved 
in there on and off, but my primary duties were in Engineering 
and then in 196G, probably when the Personnel Counselor at 
that time, who was one Meredith Davis, became sick, I was 
asked to relieve in that capacity while he was out. In 1567,
I was officially named as Personnel Counselor.

Q. What are your basic responsibilities and duties as Personnel 
Counselor?

A. Basic responsibilities are that of managing the personnel
functions. They include giving out and accepting applications 
analyzing of these applications, recruitment - that which v/e 
do, keeper and custodian of the personnel records.

NOTE: A few seconds was taken by the witness to have a drink of



NOTE: (Cont'd) water due to hoarseness in his throat.
1( •

i

Q. You take the employment applications for prospective employees?
A. That’s correct, sir.
Q. Interview applicants for employment?
A. Interviewing.
Q. You refer prospective applicants for further interviews by 

other personnel in the plant?
A. Yes, sir, I do.
Q. Do you participate in decisions made with respect to transfer 

or promotion of employees?
A. Yes, sir. I'm in the decision-making process.
Q. Do you participate in the disciplining of employees?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. A.nd the personnel records and payroll history cards and

discipline records of employees, I understand they are under 
your custody?

A. Yes, they are.
Q. Do you have any responsibilities in the equal employment oppor­

tunity area?
A. Yes, sir, I do. I was given the responsibility in '68 of the 

Affirmative Action Program, and I am the coordinator, and my 
responsibilities do lie in the equal opportunity area.

Q. Are you responsible for filing the annual E.E.O. Concept Report 
required by the E.E.O.C.?

A. Yes, I am.

4-



Q. And have you been doing that since you became Personnel 
Counselor in 1967?

A. I can account for about the last four years that I've been 
doing it, sir.

Q. All right. Nov;, basically, for a fev/ moments, talking about
the organization of the plant itself and the way it's basically 
organized, explain to the Court the name of the area where the 
sugar first comes in its lowest form, the next area it goes 
through, the next area it goes through, and finally when it 
goes into the White Sugar Warehouse for shipment - not in a 
great amount of detail, but an overall view of the plant itself

A. All right. We obtain about ninety percent of our raw sugar 
from the State of Florida now, and it comes in boxcars. So 
the first station that would be involved would be the Raw 
Sugar Department, where we - the incoming of the raw products, 
and thcit involves basically about fifteen people, and they're 
involved in the mechanized movement of this sugar by way of 
Payloaders. They go in the boxcars, unload the sugar, and 
dump it. Now, you have a Sampler, and you also have a Foreman, 
and you have men who are called Utility Operators that are 
involved in pulling the boxcars up into proper position, and 
also those that are watching the belt, network that carries 
the raw from the scale to the various storage areas that we 
keep it in. From there, it goes into a day-box, wherein it's 
drawn for one day's melt at a time. We melt about four to five

r



A. (Cont'd) million pounds of sugar per day. The next station 
is the Affination Station which is for washing, and the sugar 
is mixed in a magma solution. In other words, this liquor is 
mixed with it -• mix it real soluble, and it becomes kind of a 
mudpie situation. At thcit time, it's heated through the use 
of steam coils in what we call mixers. It's put into a battery 
of centrifugals, wherein it's hit with hot water and washed. 
Now7, the idea here is to remove the thin layer of syrup around 
each crystal, because therein is where most of your impurities 
dp lie. It goes from there - it’s melted into a liquor form, 
and then it's pumped to the various stations. From the Affina­
tion Station where it's washed, it goes through a filtration 
process called press floor, and there it gees through a series 
of filters where it’s filtered through these filtered cloths 
and other filter aids which help in taking out the suspended 
matter that was inside the crystal. From the press floor, it's 
polished, and then it goes to the char house, where all the 
color is extracted from it. When it comes out of the filters, 
the best way to describe it to you is .it’s about the color of 
a good Kentucky Bourbon; and from there, it must - the color 
must be extracted, so it goes through these char filters, and 
the animal bone black that's used therein helps to extract, 
or does in fact extract, the color from the liquor. Once the 
color's extracted, you have a high grade "A' liquor. Now, 
this high grade "A" liquor is then pumped to the evaporators,

- 6



A. (Cont'd) wherein the excess water is evaporated off, thereby
i \

raising the bricks in the solution. From there, it goes to 
the pan floor, where it must be boiled back into a crystal.

i

It's called the recrystallization process, and it *s boiled 
in the vacuum pans until it reaches the point of super­
saturation, and then it's shocked by the entry of these seeded 
crystals. When those crystals have grown until the pan is 
completely filled, then it's dropped out into a big mixer, 
where it's mixed until it can go into another battery of 
centrifugals, where it's sprung off, and then the sugar that's 
left within the spring goes to the granulators to be dried.
The sugar that - the syrup that is spun off goes back up to 
be boiled again, and this is a continual process. Once the 
sugar is dried, it goes from there into the granulators - I 
mean to the silos where it's stored and where it's conditioned; 
and from the silos, it's drawn to be packaged, or it's drawn to 
be shipped by bulk, or once it goes over the rotex screens, the 
big crystals that do not go through the screens are melted 
down and made into a liquid sugar, or either they're pulvarized 
and made into powder sugar, and it goes into the various number 
of packages in the various products that we do package. From 
there, it goes to the White Sugar Warehouse where it's stored 
and shipped on railcar and on trucks. Nov;, I've just given 
you but a . . .

Q. Now, the various departments out at the refinery, I think, were

-7-



(t

(

Q. (Cont'd) referred to as stations?. i
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Such as the White Sugar Warehouse would he a particular station, 

the Packing Department would have various stations located 
within it . . .

A. That's correct.
Q. The Mechanical Department would be a station, the Electrical

. . \Shop, and so on?
A. Yes, sir.
q . All right, sir. During the past seven years, that is since 

1955, has there been a decline in total employment at the 
refinery?

A. Yes, there has.
Q. And what has this been due to?
A. Normally, most of it's been due to automation, normal attrition 

through the years. Retirements and deaths have taken their 
toll, and so we've constantly diminished through the past - 
well, since 19 . . .

JUDGE. ALAIMO: It's been a combination.
A. Combination, yes, sir.
Q. You haven't had an expanding work force in - during the past 

several years. Does it extend back before that?
A. Oh, yes, sir.
Q. Do you have any idea of what the total employment of the plant 

was, say, as early as 1960?

- 8 -



A. 1‘m not too accurate on my figures. It’s between six and 
seven hundred.

Q. And it's declined to its present state . . .
f

A. Yes, it has . . .
Q. . . .  is what?
A. About four thirty, excluding Summer employees.
Q. Now during this period of time that you’ve been employed by

the company since 1956, has there been any layoff of employees 
during - due to the fact that the work force was not extended?

A. No. There never has been any layoffs. My only recollection 
of layoffs is what I hear, and that’s from the Depression 
days. No layoffs at all.

Q. All right, sir. When particular stations or particular opera­
tions in the plant have been automated and that employee who 
is performing that job no longer has a job to perform, what 
is happened to that employee?

A. We try to find a lateral move for him, and in all cases, we’ve 
retained him. We’ve never let him go.

Q. All-, right, sir. Do you know what the approximate average of 
seniority of all employees is out at the sugar refinery?

A. Yes, sir. I figure it every year, and this year - this latest 
one - was seventeen point three or four years per employee.

Q. And this is all employees, black and white?
A. Yes, .sir.
Q. Do you have any idea of what the average turnover is of

^ O d
9-



A. I'm not too accurate on my figures. It's between six and 
seven hundred.

Q. And it's declined to its present state . . .
A. Yes, it has . . .
Q. . . .  is what?
A. About four thirty, excluding Summer employees.
Q. Now during this period of time that you've been employed by

the company since 1956, has there been any layoff of employees 
during - due to the fact that the work force was not extended?

A. No-.. There never has been any layoffs. My only recollection
of layoffs is what I hear, and that's from the Depression
days. No layoffs at all.

Q. All right, sir. When particular stations or particular opera­
tions in the plant have been automated and that employee who 
is performing that job no longer has a job to perform, what 
is happened to that employee?

A. We try to find a lateral move for him, and in all cases, we've 
retained him. We've never let him go.

Q. All right, sir. Do you know what the approximate average of 
seniority of all employees is out at the sugar refinery?

A. Yes, sir. I figure it every year, and this year - this latest 
one - was seventeen point three or four years per employee.

Q. And this is all employees, black and white?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you have any idea o£ what the average turnover is of

_9_



Q. (Cont'd) employees is out there due to all causes - retirement,
quit, discharges?

A. It v/ould be within two to four percent.
Q. That's per annum?
A. Per year, right.
Q. Nov;, what is your hire-in rate at the refinery - what you're 

hiring employees at now?
A. A.t the present time, we're hiring at $2.94.
Q. And what is the rate progression after that?
A. At the end of ninety days which is our temporary trial period, 

they'll progress from there to $3.09 per hour, and from there 
on, it depends on the job that they're in and the type of 
v/ork that they're doing, their own initiative, et cetera.

Q. All right. So after a certain period of time, what is the 
basic pay rate of employees in the plant after they've gone 
through automatic progression?

A. The base pay at the present time is $3.09.
Q. $3.09? Now, does the company or has the company made annual 

v/age increases?
A. Every year since I've been there.
Q. Now, is this for all employees or only a certain selected 

employees?
A. It's to all employees.
Q. All right. Besides the annual raises, does the company give

any other type of raises to employees; for example, give merit

- 10 -



Q. (Cont'd) increases?.
A. Yes. We give merit increases in addition to the general over­

all plant increase - merit increases that are within depart­
ments, yes.

Q. Now, what are merit increases based on?
A. Based on what they imply. They're based on a person's merit, 

normal progression in grade or in that particular job classi­
fication.

Q. In other words, due to his job performance in his particular 
job?

Q. All right, sir. Does the plant have a seniority system?
By this, I mean a seniority factor which would accompany you 
in making promotions or granting promotions?

A. Yes. We have a seniority system. We have a - we know the
seniority of every person in the plant. Seniority is consider­
ed a vital factor, second only to qualification.

Q. All right. Nov/, when you talk about seniority, you have these 
various stations out there or departments in which, I assume, 
someone who works for a certain period of time proves a certain 
amount of seniority in that particular department which you 
v/ould call his station or departmental seniority?

Q. You also would have seniority based on how long you've been 
employed by the company or . . .

A. Yes.

A. Yes.

- 11 -



A. Plant-wide seniority?
Q. . . .  plant-wide seniority?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Now, which of these two items is considered by the company to 

be the most valued, your plant-wide seniority or your depart­
mental seniority?

A. The most important would naturally be the plant-wide seniority.
Q. So, if you had two employees who had equal qualifications were 

going into a particular job - assume a promotion - and one of 
the employees had longer plant-wide seniority than did the 
other employee who was qualified just as he is, but the second 
employee had longer departmental seniority, would you award 
the job to the individual with the longer plant-wide seniority?

A. All things being equal, I would.
Q. All right, sir. Assuming the qualifications were in favor of 

the individual who had less plant seniority, who would get 
the job?

A. Qualifications being in favor of the person with less plant 
seniority, he would get the job.

Q. So you come down basically to the fact that qualifications
being equal, seniority would - plant-wide seniority would govern

A. Yes, it would.
Q. If your qualifications are different with a slightly better

qualified employee even though the less qualified employee had

it?

12



A. That's our aim. Yes, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Of course, this involves a certain subjective 

type of evaluation, does it not?
A. Yes. It does, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: It's a valued thing?
A. Certainly.
Q. All right. In making promotions to higher paying jobs which 

involves different and more complex duties, what are the 
factors which are considered in your knowledge in making these 
promotions? _

A. Give me the question one more time.
Q. What are the factors considered in making promotions?
A. Time and related positions or related jobs. Seniority, plant­

wide seniority, if he*s going to be promoted, he or she is 
going to be promoted to a supervisory capacity or a capacity 
that might lead to a supervisory capacity, then the qualifica-- 
tions and characteristics of the employee are considered that 
would involve leadership ability, attitude, the influence 
factor of the individual. These types of things are included.

Q. So, you would consider seniority a qualification, performance 
on the job . . .

A. Yes, sir. Job performance and deportment would have a very 
definite bearing.

Q. All right, let's go into that for just a moment. Are there any
records maintained at the company with respect to the record

-13-



Q. (Cont'd) of an employee on the job while he's out there - any 
written records?

A. Oh, yes, sir.
Q. And who maintains these records?
A . I do.
Q. And what type of information is recorded on these records?
A. Deportment records?
Q. Yes.
A. Two types of information are on there. Well, basically, you've 

gat a brief history of the person, his name and address, his 
wife's name, his telephone number, et cetera, where he went 
to school, the number of years of education, any additional 
education that he's received in the ensuing years since he's 
been with us; and then we have his payroll records - every time 
he's received a merit increase or every time he's received a 
plant-wide increase, it's listed on these cards.

Q. Now, I'll hand you what has been identified as Defendant's 
Exhibit Number One. Was this payroll history card for Adam 
Baxter?

A. Yes, it is.
Q. Now, is this the record also on which you record information 

with respect to job performance of the individual?
A. Right. On this card which is these - part two.
Q. Now, you're referring to what would be the fourth page in 

Defendant's Exhibit Number One?

14



A. That's correct.
Q. Now, who actually types that information on there? Is that 

done out in the department or is that done in . . .
A. It's done by the Payroll Department by a Payroll Clerk.
Q. All right. Where does this information come from?
A. It comes off of a card turned into me by the Foreman.
Q. So that if Mr. Baxter or any other employee had done something 

which his Foreman thought should be written up on his card, 
he would fill out a written card and turn it into you?

A. Yes, sir. The procedure is he fills out a card, he's directed 
to tell the employee that he's filled out the card, he turns 
it into me, and it's recorded. If the offense is of a serious 
nature to where the Foreman wants me to talk with the individual, 
then he sends him to me, and I discuss the various offense 
with the - with the employee.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Do you keep those cards?
A. Yes. They're kept on file.
JUDGE ALAIMO: In other words, you have the cards for each one of 

those infractions that were reported and that's on that 
exhibit?

A. Yes, sir. Some of them are yellowed with age, but they're 
there.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
Q. You've got all of the various Foreman-type lists that are turn­

ed into you in your office?

-15-



A. Yes, sir
Q. Now, what is the company policy, as you understand it, with 

respect to major written reports to your office on instances 
that occur? Is every instance written up or some instances . . . 

A. Oh, no . . .
Q. What is the policy?
A. This is - this is left strictly to the Foreman. Our instruct­

ions to the Foreman are thus; if an offense is committed more 
than once or in your estimation, it's a judgement call, if it's 
three or more times, but if it gets to be a habit or habitual 
in any form, then we want you to write him up, but we want you 
to use the verbal warning system first. We want you to verbally 
warn him first at least once. If he wants to verbally warn 
him more than once, that's up to the Foreman, but if it's of 
a serious nature in his judgement, and he's already verbally 
warned him one time, then we want it on a written form. Nov/, 
there are many instances - I am sure, in fact - I know of many 
of my own recall that they haven't been written up. It's 
just a - in fact, I feel we're very lenient.

Q. Would any' instances which are considered serious enough on,
say, their first occasion, an individual, for example, report­
ing to work intoxicated . . .

A. Yes, that was serious enough . . .
Q. . . . would he be written up without the verbal warning being

given?

16 -



A. It'd be a verbal warning and a write-up at the same time, but
it would still go into the basic.one, two, three category of 
warnings before actual layoff would be due on the third time.

Q. In other words, full disciplinary action is taken in terms of 
layoffs from employment?

A. Exactly.
Q. Now, have you in your capacity eis Personnel Counselor in

counseling with various employees ever shown tnem the cares 
such as Defendant's Exhibit Number One?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. Have you ever shown it to any black employees?
A. Oh, yes, sir.
Q. And white employees cis well?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And you say that it is the company's policy for the Foreman

to inform the employee if he is being given a written write-up 
for a particular incidence?

A. That's our instruction to first-line supervisors.
Q. And' in some instances, they are referred to you for further 

discussion?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. So that - you considered the factors of seniority a qualifica­

tion, an individual's record of employment with the company, 
in making promotions for the employee, and if it is a job that 
involves supervisory duties, you consider the additional factor,

-17-



Q. (Cont'd) his ability to supervise and direct other employees?
A. Yes, sir, we do.
Q. Now in making such promotions in the plant, who normally enters 

into this process-making decision?
A. Normally, it's three people, and that's the immediate super­

visor, perhaps a past supervisor of a steady employee who's 
being considered, and the Plant Superintendent and myself.

Q. All right. To what extent do you enter into this decision­
making process?

A. As more - more in an advisory capacity. That is I make recom­
mendations on the persons that - after we have selected and 
screened . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: Give the identity of these people again. The Plant 
Superintendent, you, and who else?

A. Me and a first-line foreman, the one's that's directly affected 
Some cases, we get the immediate past foreman of the employee.

Q. Do you solicit recommendations or advice from individuals who 
have supervised him in the past?

A. Yes.
Q. 7\11 right. Now, when an employee goes into a new job which 

would involve a promotion to a higher pay rate, does he go 
into that job and start at the higher pay rate or is there a 
period of qualification for it, or what is your practice?

A. Yes. Naturally, during the training process, he does not
receive the higher rate of pay. Normally, depending on the

y

-13-



A. (Cont'd) complexity of the operation, it’s about a three-month 
trial period. If it's more complex, if he has a more difficult 
time learning the job, then, of course, we're flexible enough 
to where we can give some more time. It's just according 
to the situation of how acute our need is for that particular 
job to be filled.

Q. So that he would only go to the higher pay rate of the new 
job after he is considered qualified in the new job?

A. Yes, if he's fully qualified and able to carry the job by him­
self. •

Q. All right. Now, what does the training program consist of 
when an employee goes . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: Mr. Sapp, .let rue suspend here a moment, and you
remind us that you'll be - you'll take up the training program 
when we come back. I’m going to take a recess until ten 
fifteen.

NOTE: The Court adjourned for a short recess.
NOTE: The Court reconvened at 10:15 a.m.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right, Mr. Sapp, you may resume the examination 
if you'd like.

NOTE: Examination of Mr. Preston Blackwelder by Mr. Sapp resumed.
Q. Mr. Blackwelder, if an employee goes into a new classification, 

how is the training of that employee handled?
A. It's primarily on-the-job training. He is put with another 

employee, if available, that is well-versed in the job, and

19-



A. (Cont'd) he carries him through the various aspects of the
\ \

job on a day-to-day basis.
Q. That is in lieu of having formal training programs which would 

train you to become a Station Operator in the Packing Depart­
ment, an individual would relieve at the Station Operator or 
work along with another Station Operator to be trained to go
into that position?\

A. Yes, sir. That's primarily our method of training.
Q. All right, sir. Now, talking specifically about the Packaging 

Department., will you explain* to the Court how the supervisor 
structure's arranged there? In other words, beginning with 
the Foreman,'who are the other supervisors or person who 
direct personnel in the Packaging Department by job classifi­
cation?

A. All right. We'll start at the top. We hcive the Packing House 
Foreman. Now, that involves at the present time three people, 
one who is disabled; but primarily, it's one foreman for each 
shift operation, which we have two. Under him, we would have 
the-Floor Chiefs.

JUDGE ALAIMO:’ You only have two shifts?
A. Yes, sir. Two shifts in the Packaging and Shipping. We have 

three shifts in the process.
JUDGE ALAIMO: I see.
A. Under the Foreman would come the four Floor Chiefs. Directly

under the Floor Chiefs, in line, would be your Station Operators.

- 20 -



Q. What is a Station Operator?
i i

A. All right. A Station Operator is in charge of what you might
refer to as a cubical operation. It might be a series of
three or four machines. Let’s take a "for instance," the
Powder Machines Station. You start off with a Box-Maker. The
job of this Box-Maker is to put the wax liner in the box, to
form the box around the iron and to deposit it on a conveyor,

\

which in turn goes over to the filler units. The filler units, 
the initial filler unit, fills it up most of the way v/ith the 
pov/der. It rotates down to the second unit, and that dribbles 
in enough to where the weight is correct, and it trips it out, 
and then it goes on down to a top.sealer unit wherein the tops 
are sealed and glued. Once past that, it is dried - it goes 
down a dryer, and then over to another machine wherein it's 
packed in a case, and in the case - from the case or once it's 
in the case securely, it goes down a conveyor to a warehouse 
down below it to a collecting point. Now, this operation 
requires three men. The Station Operator would be the man over 
those three men and over the operation.

Q. All right-then, we go from Station Operator. What would be the 
next classification?

A. Your supply people, your relief people, from the various 
stations. You’ve got Machine Cleaners, you’ve got Packer 
Operators, and you’ve got Machine Packers such as the ladies 
on the envelope machines whose function it is to put a hundred

-2.1-



A. (Cont'd) envelopes in a little carton and vibrate it down and 
secure it, and . . .

Q. . . .  Machine Packers, Machine Operators, Packer Operators, 

and Supply men?
A. Right.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Let me ask you this. How many Station Operators do 

you have that are black?
A. Bear with me a minute, Judge, while I recollect them. I have 

at least eight.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Out of how many?
A. Out of how many Station Operators?
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes.
A. Out of - out of ten.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Now, eight - eight out of ten?
A. Yes, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: This is in just one department?
A. In the Packaging Department, yes, sir. I have two white

Station Operators, and I have - now, I have two whites that 
are floating. They are used as relief people for the Floor 
Chiefs.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Now, in any of those Stations Operations 
where your Station Operator is black, are any of the employees 
under them - the three or four members that may be in that 
operation - white?

A. Not any whites under the Station Operators. There's whites



A. (Cont'd) under the Floor Chiefs.
\ \

Q. Are any of the Floor Chiefs black?
A. Two out of four.
Q. Who are these two that are black? What are their names?
A. Earl Hamilton and Columbus Pollidore.
Q. Are there any difference between the functions and responsibi­

lities of the white Station Operator and the black Station
Operator?

A. Wo. They're all Station Operators.
JUDGE ALAIMO: How long have you had that - have you had black 

Floor Chiefs . . .
A. They have been Assistant Area Foremen for several years. Now, 

we - we just transposed the titles this past year to conform 
to a reorganization that we had, and they were upgraded.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Would any of this have predated 1965?
A. Would any of - would you restate it, Judge? Would any of the .
JUDGE ALAIMO: . . . the blacks as Floor Chiefs in charge of some

whites have predated that time?
A. To the best of my recollection, no, sir.
Q. All right. Now, when you hire people in the Packing Depart­

ment, normally, what is the entry level job that they're hired 
into?

A. When I hire somebody into an entry level job?
Q. Yes." What is the entry level job so-to-speak in the Pack- . .
A. In the Packaging Department?



Q . Right.
A. It would be a Supply Man or a Machine Feeder.
Q. Nov; in the Packaging Department, have you in the last several 

years installed equipment which eliminated jobs in that depart­
ment?

A. Oh, yes, we certainly have. We've modernized ever since I've 
been there, continuously in the Packaging area. We started 
with taking the old consolidated machines out and going to a 
refined packing type operation, and then followed that with 
some conveyor belts which help us in the drying operation, 
and the Packer Operators have been - their jobs have been 
diminished due to - we've bought some Griswald Packers which, 
instead of hanging the bag as it was once done and filling it 
with twelve five-pound bags, these bags now go into a big 
Griswald Packer which uses a sheet of paper and in its process 
folds it over and docs the packing job by itself.

Q. Specifically, the jobs that were formally done by George
Buckins and Summer Wallace, for example; have their jobs been 

displaced?
A. On the job that they were, they had originally, out of twelve, 

five Packers. Yes, they have been displaced.
Q. Was this by a new type of machine that does an operation that 

was formally done in the manual fashion?
A. The same I just described, the Griswald Packer.
Q. Now, who runs this Griswald Packer? Does the Station Operator

run it or
-24-



A. Station Operator, yes, on a person - we'll be specific - Willie 
Hicks is one operator. Booker Natson is another. Cleveland 
Johnson is one.

Q. Are they black ox* white?
A. They're all black.
0. Now, in the Process Department, what is the supervisor1s 

structure in there? You have a Foreman, I assume.
A. Yes. You start off with a Foreman on the supervisory level. 

There's no Assistant Foreman's on the Process Stations. Then 
you'd have, coming down the line - let's take a specific station 
Station "F" which would be the Drying and Granulating Station, 
takes it from the pan floor where it's boiled into a crystal 
and where it's dropped and dried. You start off with a Foreman 
on this station, and second down the line would be a Sugar 
Boiler, and his - he's got a highly technical job which involves 
the reading of instruments, and it is highly automated and 
requires a good deal of technical know-how.

Q . You have a Foreman over the entire department and then you. 
have a Station Foreman, is that correct?

A. No. We have a Foreman who is the Station Foreman, and then you 
have a Sugar Boiler, which we're being specific on a particular 
station; and next in line would come your Centrifugal Operators, 
and then below your Centrifugal Operators would be Utility 
Operators. Like in this instance, we have a white Foreman, 
and we have a black Sugar Boiler. We have a black Centrifugal

2 5



A. (Cont'd) Operator, and we have a white Utility Operator, which 
is down the line.

Process Station?
A. In that particular Process Station, it would be Utility Opera­

tors. The same would be $3.09, the same rate. Once you get 
off of your $2.94 after the three months, it goes to $3.09.

Q. Now, going to the Raw Sugar Warehouse where you bring the sugar 
in off of the boxcars, what is your supervisory structure in 
that department?

A. Raw Sugar?
Q. Yes.
A. You have a Foreman who's in charge of the department. You have 

an Assistant Foreman whose primary duty is Sampler and that of 
coordinating efforts - many times, we'll have a barge that's 
unloading, and we'll have boxcars that are unloading, so it 
takes a Supervisor at two points. Here's where the Assistant 
is utilized. Next down the line are your Payloader Operators, 
and then come your Utility Operators.

Q. Your Utility Operators are your basic jobs in that . . .
A. That's your entry level job, yes, sir. Your Car Cleaner would 

be your entry level job. I correct myself.
Q. That's somebody that gets in and gets all the sugar out of the 

boxcar before you complete the operation and let the railroad 
have it back?

0. Now, what is the entry level job or the basic job in the

-2G



A. That is correct.
Q. Now, going to the Boiler Room itself, is that considered a 

separate station unto itself?
A. Yes, it is. It's known as Station "J" in your schedule.
Q. You just have in that station -• you have your Boiler Room 

Operator and you have his helper, is that correct?
A. That's right. The Boiler Room Operator and helper.
Q. Now, who supervises the operations of the Boiler Room? Does 

the Boiler Room Operator do it, or is there someone above him 
in charge?

A. The Boiler Room Operator has the prime responsibility of his 
area and the function of the boiler.

Q. All right. Now, going for a moment into the White Sugar Ware­
house, is this your Shipping Department so-to-speak?

A. Yes, it is.
Q. Now, do you have a Foreman who is over the entire White Sugar 

Warehouse?
A. Yes, we do. We also have a Refined Sugar Head that's over that 

really a professional.
Q. He supervises the entire White Sugar Warehouse?
A. And Packaging operations.
Q. And under him, you have a Foreman who's in charge of the day-to 

day activities?
2\. Right. This is also a two-shift operation there.
Q. And under your Foreman, you have an Assistant Foreman in the

27 r



i

L

Q. (Cont'd) White Sugar Warehouse?
A. Assistant Foreman on each shift, right.

And then what would he youi next job in. that line.
A. Billing Clerk would be your next job, and then your next job

would be that of Checker, and then your job below Checker would 
be your Fork Lift Operators or your Specialized Loaders, and 
then would be your Floor Loaders. Your entry level job there 

would be the Floor loader.
Q. All right, sir. Have you had both whites and blacks work as 

Floor Loaders in the White Sugar Warehouse?
A. Yes, sir, I have.
Q. What are the names of some of the whites that have worked as 

Floor Loaders in this department?
A. Jerry Sharron was one, and Romus Edenfield was another. Paul 

Holges, Jr., was a third.
C. Now, the next job would be that of the Fork Lift Operator?
A. Yes. Either that or a helper in the bulk sugar or a helper in 

the liquid sugar stations.
Q. Do you have whites and blacks operate a fork lift?

A. Yes, I have.
Q. Now, the next job would be that of Checker? 

A. Yes.
Q. And how many Checkers do you have? 

A. I have six.

Q. That are full-time Checkers?

23-



A. That are full-time Checkers.
Q. How many of these are blade?
A . Two.
Q. Jvnd who are they?
A. Nathaniel Edwards and Herbert Jenkins.
Q. Now, are these two individuals being paid at the same rate as 

the four white checkers in that job?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Now, when you’re training a person to become a Checker for 

promoting him into that job, taking your Fork Lift Operators 
job, does he go through the same period of training before he 
goes to the regular rate of a Checker?

A. Yes, sir. He has to be qualified on the job and be well enough 
qualified that he can maintain and handle the job by himself 
on a two-shift operation before he can be paid that rate.

Q. Now, in hiring new employees, has the company engaged in public 
advertising for new employees?

A. No, sir, I never have.
Q. How do you attract employees to come out to the refinery to 

become employed?
A. We have so many applications on file, both from employee refer­

rals and walk-in applicants and employee relations, that we 
really can be selective in our hiring procedures. We're such a 
close-knit organization. We're very close, and if one person 
lecives the job, there won't be a twenty-four hour period that

-2 9-



A. (Cont'd) everybody in that plant won't know.
Q. And do they in turn refer people to you to seek employment?
A. Yes, sir. I have referrals every day. 1 have people asking 

for jobs on a day-to-day basis, and on occasion, our company 
has if - when it was necessary to go outside to solicit employees 
we have gone through Georgia - Georgia Security - Employment 
Securities.

Q. State employment service?
A. State employment service, right.
Q. Yoh normally have more people seeking jobs out there than you 

actually have places to put them?
A. Oh, many more. Yes, sir, many more.
Q. Now, in hiring employees, has the company made it a practice 

to give preference to relatives of the company employees?
A. No. We have a lot of relatives working there, but I can truth­

fully say that a relative would not receive preferential treat­
ment. We go primarily to the qualified candidate. If we've 
got a job, we want the best qualified candidate for that job.
If he happens to be a relative, we have no aversion to hiring
him.

Q. Are you personally related to anybody out there through blood 
or marriage?

A. No, sir, not a soul.
JUDGE AIAIMO: How do you account for the fact that there are so

many relatives out there if - I gather there are, aren't there?

- 3 n -



A. There are many relatives, Judge, and I - I attribute that to -
i \

all the way back to when Adeline Sugar Refinery was moved here 
in 1917. They brought the whole family with them, and they set 
them up in the village quarters, and from there, they've grown 
up on the place and they've become - been associated with it 
for so many years that it's just been - become a practice through 
the years, and one that we’ve never discouraged.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Would it be fair to say that if you had two appli­
cants, say equally qualified but one related to another employee, 
that you'd be likely to hire the relative?

A. Good logic would tell me yes, Judge. Three - three people 
contributing in the decision process and all qualifications 
being exactly equal which is rare, I would have to say yes. It 
would probably go to the relative.

Q. What I'm going to hand you is what's been identified as
Defendant's Exhibit Number Thirty-Five which is a list of pro­
motions made at the Savannah Sugar between 1965 and 1972. Did 
you supervise the production of this document?

A. Yes,.I did and was involved in filling it out and making it out.
JUDGE ALAIMO: --What's that number?
Q. Exhibit Number Thirty-Five, Your Honor. In making the determina­

tion of who had been promoted, what criteria did you use to 
determine whether or not a promotion had occurred for a particu­
lar person?

A. Two points. One, an increase in rates and a change of job

31



A. (Cont'd) classification. If, in fact, the rate increase did
change the job classification, to us, that, showed us a promotion.

JUDGE ALAII10: Well, you're not talking about the increases they 
were - that you . . .

A. No, sir . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: . . . give annually that you previously testified

to?
A. No, sir.
Q. In other words, he'd receive an increase in pay, but in order to 

go^pn to a job classification which has different range of 
rates . . .

A. Yes, or if a merit increase moved him up to the top of his line, 
he'd change into another job classification. That would be a 
promotion.

Q. Now, how did you determine who these individuals were that could 
be listed on this schedule?

A. Through several sources. Our payroll records, individual pay­
roll records; our personnel records; and my own recollection.
Nov;, this - from 1967, when we first drew our initial draft and 
made a stab at our Affirmative Action Program, and then in 1S68, 
when we really iced it in and began to use it, all of my promo­
tions and new hires came from those Affirmative Action write-ups.

Q. Now, the years '65, '66 and '67, I take it you did not maintain
a separate list of new hires and promotions within the plant?

A. No, sir. We did have a' list of new hires on record in the
1 . . .  . . .  .
-32-



A. (Cont'd) payroll record.
Q. But as far as promotions are concerned when you prepared this 

document, you didn't have a separate list of promotions within 
the plant?

A. No, sir.
Q. This was ascertained as best you could from the documents that 

you had available out there?
A. Yes, it was.
Q. Now, going to the fifth column on Exhibit Number Thirty-Five, 

which is listed as "Qualif iccit ions Considered Necessary to 
Promote, 11 where did the information come from which is contained 
in here?

A. Most of those were worked up in - coordinated with our Affirma­
tive Action Program on our job classifications.

Q. Where did you get the information from?
A. I got it from - many times, from my own knowledge of the job, 

from my interviews with the Supervisor on that particular job, 
and with my interview with the employee directly related to that 
job..

JUDGE A L A I M O W h e n  was this Exhibit compiled?
Q . Your Honor . . .
A. I compiled sometime around the first of the year.
JUDGE ALAIMO: This year?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Does the company, Mr. Blackwelder, have written job descriptions

-33



Q. (Cont'd) for each of the classifications out at the plant?
A. Only on our Affirmative Action Program.
Q. But you don't have such as formalized job descriptions?
A. No, sir. We don't have formal job descriptions.
Q. I think this is a way to clear the record. You are a non-union 

operation, is that correct?
A. Yes, we are.
Q. And you've always operated without the presence of a union, is 

that correct?
A. That's correct.
Q. Now, on the last column on Exhibit Number Thirty-Five, which is 

listed "Reasons for the Promotion," which I assume relates to 
the particular individual promoted, where would this information 
where did it come from, Mr. Blackwelder?

A. i-lcst of this information came exactly v.'here it states such as 
"recommended by the Shop Foreman" on this first individual.
They came from his personnel records. They came from interview­
ing the Supervisor on the job, and those that would be - have 
the knowledge of this person's ability.

Q. Now, on the . . .
JUDGE ALAIi-10: Let me interrupt just a moment. Did those inter­

views take place on or about the time you compiled this docu­
ment?

A. No, sir. This v/as when it was . . .
JUDGE AIAIMO: All right

-34-



A. No, sir.
Q. Nov/, inside of the cover sheet on here, Mr. Blackwelder, which

and seventy persons from 1965 up until the date that this was 
prepared in 1972?

A. Yes.
Q. And out of this hundred and seventy, approximately ninety-five 

v/ere black, is that correct?
A. That's correct.
Q. Now, are these figures correct to the best of your knowledge 

and beliefs?
A. To the best of my knowledge.
Q. And this is the best you could ascertain what your records 

reflected with respect to promotions in the plant?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Nov/, according, Mr. Blackwelder, to Defendant’s Exhibit Number 

Thirty-Six which is entitled "Summary of Hiring Statistics," 
did you supervise the preparation of this document?

A. The document inside, yes, I did.
Q. All right, sir. Now, does the document contain the names and 

other facts with respect to new hires at Savannah Sugar begin­
ning in 1966 and going up through 1971?

A. Yes, sir, it does.
Q. Now, I think you've already stated that you obtained the names 

of Hew hires from your Payroll Department which maintains a

shows that you promoted approximately a total of one hundred

-3 5-



Q. (Cont'd) list of names?
A. Yes, up until ‘67 or *63, and then we took them from the Affirma­

tive Action Program.
Q. And I assume that the other information such as race, hiring 

date, department hired into, job hired for, was taken off of 
the individual's personnel records?

A. Yes, they were.
Q. Now, I notice on here you have qualifications listed for each

of the persons hired. Where does this information come from,
Mr. Blackwelder?

A. Most of that information comes from the application itself and, 
of course, some of it is derived from my personal interview 
with the people and with reference checking from past employers,
I learned the qualifications that were added in also.

Q . Now . . .
A. Past job employers.
Q. Now, the years before you went into the Personnel Department as 

Personnel Counselor, which I think you testified as January 1, 
1567, is that correct?

A. That's correct.
Q. In the year 1966 then, you would not have been actually involved 

in interviewing the two people that were hired that year?

A. No, sir.
Q. So the information you have down there for the year 1966, I 

assume would come from the person's application form itself?

36



A. Correct, sir.
Q. Now, the form that's attached to this is a summary of hiring

statistics which shows that you hired a total of forty-nine
people for five'years beginning in 1966 through '71, and
twenty-seven of these persons were black and twenty-two of
these were white. Nov/, this figure is accurate to the best of
your knowledge and beliefs?

vA. To the best of my knowledge and belief, they are.
Q. And it further shows that during that same period of time, you 

had a total of six blacks whp either resigned or terminated, 
and there were four whites that either resigned or terminated, 
is that correct?

A. Yes, that's correct.
Q. Mr. Blackwelder, I'll hand you what's been identified as

Defendant's Exhibit Number Forty-Two which are answers to - 
certain answers to the Plaintiff's interrogatories on which are 
listed the job classification titles, the weekly or hourly rate 
of pay, total number of employees in the classification and a 
number of minority employees in the classification . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO; What Exhibit number was that?
Q. Exhibit Number Forty-Two, Your Honor.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Forty-two.
Q. Did you have any responsibility in the preparation of this 

document?
A. Yes, I did.

-3 7-



Q. Tell the Court how you went about preparing this. Was it
prepared from a payroll print-out or your visual observation of
people on the work force . . .

A. No. It came primarily from a Payroll Journal wherein we list - 
each year, we update our Payroll Journal and that Payroll Jour­
nal contains the information of when they were employed, their 
name, their duty station, their E.E.0.1. classification, and 
their rate of pay.

Q. Now, through the years from - from 1965 to 1971, have there been 
changes in the names of job classifications?

A. Oh, yes, sir, many times. We1ve consolidated; we've changed.
It was very difficult to make this come out in any reasonable
degree to where you could - a layman looking on it for the first
time would have a rough time trying understanding it, because . .

Q. Let me pose a hypothetical to you, and I'll ask you to give the 
Court a specific example. In some instances, we'll assume if 
you had a job which was known as Sugar Maker "A" in 1965. We'll 
assume that that job existed in '65, '66, and '67, but in some
instances, were that job abolished after 1967 and, therefore, 
you had no one in it?

A.

Q.

It could be very well abolished through an automated process, 
or it could have been consolidated into another job and it v/as 
called something else.
Now, could you give some specific examples as where this would 
occur?

t/pr/« * 0
-3 3-



A. The Granulator Operator is one specific example. We automated 
the station and did away with three employees, their responsibi­
lities. We didn't drop them. We just laterally moved them out, 
so the Granulator Operator would no longer appear. If I may 
refer to this . . .

Q. Certainly. I think you've already mentioned there was a change 
in the Packaging Department for a supervisory . . .

A. Okay. We have a Bundler Operator now that we never had before. 
We have fewer Packer Operators, so this would diminish in 
number. We don't have an Assistant Foreman anymore, sb they 
would disappear . . .

Q. Nov;, you say . . .
A. . . .  in the Packaging operation.
JUDGE ALAIMO: You eliminated because of automation?
A. Oh, no, sir. Just change of classification.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, you've got people doing the same thing, but you 

just call them differently.
A. Exactly. We've just widened the scope some, and I hope to 

explain that to you.
Q. For example, your next - in considering persons to be promoted 

into the Shift Foreman's job in the Packciging Department, 
where in the future will you draw those people from?

A. You'll have to give me the question again.
Q. All right, sir. You're promoting someone now into the Shift 

Foreman's job in the Packaging Department.

39
i



A . Okay
Q. Nov/, where would you draw those people from? Would you get

them from the White Cugar Warehouse or would it be a Packer or

A. We draw him from the Floor Chief classification, and now instead 
of two, we have four.

JUDGE ALAIMO: In other words, anybody below Floor Chief wouldn't
be considered?

A . That1s r ight, s ir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: He wouldn't have a chance at it?
A. No, sir.
Q. Do the Floor-Chiefs, in fact, act in a relief capacity for

the Shift Foreman?
A. Oh, yes. Yes, the Floor Chiefs - one of his prime responsibili­

ties in addition to assisting the Foreman would be to relieve 
him when he's out.

Q. Is this a method of training ,a person . . .
A. Yes, it is . . .
Q. . ... for the Floor Chief’s job?
A. And now that we have four, we can circulate them better.
Q. Mr. Blackwclder, in the past five years, has there been any

refurbishing of the locker room and comfort facilities at the 
plant?

A. Yes, there has. In 1967 and extending into '68, our rest room 
and lunch room facilities had deteriorated to the point that

what classification would he come from?

-40-



A. (Cont'd) we felt like it was time to completely refurbish them, 
and so we tore them out wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor, and 
completely re-did them - new tile, new flooring, new tile on the 
walls, and new fixtures throughout.

Q. Nov;, do employees have individual lockers out there where they 
keep their clothes and other personal items?

A. Yes, they do.
Q. How are these lockers assigned?
A. By seniority, strict seniority, plant-wide and geographical 

area. The Maintenance people have their locker room and rest 
room facilities in one area, the Packing House employees in 
one area, and so forth.

Q. Nov;, have you hired, in your knowledge, any females into the 
Packaging Department . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: Excuse me just a moment before you get down to that
and leave the; rest room facilities. There's some testimony 
here that someone at a gate house - white employee - where 
there’s a rest room facility - keeps it locked, and in order 
for a person to gain entry, he's got to get the key. Do you 
know anything about that?

A. Where was this specifically, Judge? Was it at the gate, the 
main gate?

JUDGE ALAIMO: I think it was at a gate.
A. All right. All right. We have a visitors lounge located at 

the main gate. Now, that door is locked at all times because
f  /  if

-41- >



A. (Cont'd) it's reserved for visitors.
JUDGE ALAIMO: It's not used by employees?
A. No, sir. It's not supposed to be used by employees and that's - 

the gate man has that instruction.
Q. To your knowledge, have you hired any females into the Packaging 

Department during the period of time that you have been Person­
nel Counselor?

A. No, sir.
Q. Do you recall when the last time it was that you hired any 

females into the Packaging Department?
A. It's a couple - it's been 1960, '71. It's been probably ten

years or better.
Q. Has the area where in the past females have primarily worked 

in the Packaging Department been one where you have been re­
ducing erap loy me nt ?

A. Yes, it is.
Q. From changes - machine changes in the Process Station?
A. Yes, it is. Yes.
JUDGE ALAIMO: How many black females do you have working out there 

now?
A. Judge, I think I have about sixty.
JUDGE ALAIMO: What do they do?
A. They're primarily in the Packaging operation.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Run machines?
A. Yes, sir.

42-



JUDGE ALAIMO: Do they handle the sugar itself?
A. No. They handle the package that handles the sugar, yes, sir.
G. What kind of job classification have they been considered 

filling out there?
A. Primarily, Machine Feeders. They're primarily involved in

hanging the bag on the machine which dumps the sugar in the bag, 
and they handle poly bags, and they handle envelopes.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Any white female employees?
A. No, sir. I don't have any in that area.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Do you have any employed at any place other than the 

administrative offices?
A. Any white females? No, sir.
Q. Do you have any black female professionals employed at the 

plant?
A. Yes, I do. I have a biologist whom we've had approximately a

year.
Q. Is she a professional?
A. She's a professional employee, and a very good one. 
Q. College graduate?
A. Yes, sir.
Q.
A.
Q.

A.

She works in the plant lab?
Yes, she does. She works in the main lab.
Is this the one that's located in part of the 
offices?
Yes, sir.

admin i st rat ive

43-



Q. Now, does the company have a program of making lunches availa­
ble to employees to purchase?

A. Yes, sir. A new meal every day.
Q. All right, sir. To your knowledge, has there ever been any

difference in the quality or kind or type of food made available 
to white employees and black employees?

A. Never to my knowledge, no, sir, emphatically.
Q. Have you eaten at, from, or bought lunches from the company on 

occasions since you were employed out there since 1956?
A. Practically on a weekly basis, yes, sir.
Q. And what do you pay for the lunch out there?
A. Right now, the going price is seventy cents - a meat, three 

vegetables, fruit, and a dessert.
Q. Have you always had to pay for your meals out there?
A. Yes, always.
Q. Now, where is the food prepared? On the premises or is it 

catered?
A. It's prepared in a hotel kitchen which is about two blocks from 

the main gate. We have a hotel there.
JUDGE ALAIMO: The company has a hotel?
A. Well, it’s a holdover from the old days, Judge, and right now, 

it involves just the living quarters for a consultant or a 
visitor when he might come, upstairs, and the wings have been 
removed, but in the back, it does still have the kitchen 
facilities and in the front, sort of a sitting room . . .



Q. Primarily, you use it just for its kitchen service?
I\. Primarily, yes.
Q. The food is taken from there and - to where or where do the 

employees purchase it?
A. The food is bored in the kitchen, sealed, put into a rolling 

wagon that's an oven, and it's rolled down to what we call the 
lunch room inside the front complex. It's a little building 
that has an icemaker and some tea and coffee machines, and they 
are distributed through the window or in the inside counter 
where they can all go sit, if they choose.

Q. Is that where e v e r y b o d y  goes to get their . . .
A. Everybody goes, everybody in the plant goes right there to get 

their box lunch, right.
Q. Now, Mr. Blackwelder, there's been some testimony about - a lot 

of testimony - about Brass Check employees. Explain to the 
Court v/hat a Brass Check employee is or was.

A. A Brass Check employee, going years back, was first called that 
because he was given a yellow card, and he was a day laborer.
He was hired on a day-by-day basis. He was hired that morning 
at the main gate by a Foreman who went down and needed two or 
three people. He would go down and give each of the people 
that he needed a card, and at the end of the day, they would be 
paid off, and that was the end of the obligation. Nov;, many 
years ago, we needed a vast number of day laborers, primarily 
for unloading raw sugar because at that time, we brought raw

A110
-45-



A. (Cont'd) sugar in by the bag. It was in a croaker bag that 
carried about three hundred pounds, so we hired as many as a 
hundred and twenty, a hundred and fifty, up to two hundred Brass 
Check laborers on a day-by-day basis. Now, as automation took 
over primarily on the dock, all of these laborers were diminished. 
As we changed to a bulk operation, we no longer have the bags.

' A crane picks it up bulk, dumps it bulk on a belt, it goes through 
. . \

the scale; so we're down to a minimum of - really, three men 
can run the operation on the dock, now. Nov;, there were some 
holdovers in the other departments such as the Gardening section 
and such as the Cleaning section and some of the other sections 
that had Brass Check laborers, that had for years been employed 
on these stations, but because of medical reasons, weren't
brought in on the regular payroll.

JUDGE ALAIMO: What do you mean by that?
A. All right. Let me give you a for instance. The primary medical 

reason which would have held them off from regular payroll 
would have been high blood pressure, and our medical doctor, 
whom we employ, .is charged with the responsibility, so he tells 
me that if- he puts a person on with high blood pressure, then 
he's violating our insurance requirements, because once a 
person goes on the regular permanent payroll, he then becomes 
eligible for all benefits which do, in fact, include insurance.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Why do you hire him anyhow? In other words, if he's 
not physically capable of holding down a job . . .

t fn #
-46- i



A. But he is.
JUDGE ALAMO: Well, why not put him on a permanent payroll? I

mean I don't - it seems to me you couldn't have it fcoth ways.
A. Well, we have for a number of years had these people who are, 

in fact, good employees. They know their job. We don't want 
to turn them loose. They probably very well couldn't get 
hired anywhere else because of their medical problems, and yet, 
they won't - they come back on a day-by-day basis,.and they 
come in and desire a job on a day-by-day basis. Nov;, we' re 
gging back prior to 'G7. We no longer have Brass Checks. In 
1967, we put approximately twenty-eight to thirty who v/ere 
then still there and still with us - we put them on permanent 
payroll. We waived the medical reasons - got a waiver from 
the insurance company, and we - because of our streamlining of 
our payroll policies in going to a data computer operation, we 
decided to go the whole way and reward these people who had 
been with us for a number of years and go ahead and waive the 
medical reasoning and put them on and so now, they're all 
permanent employees.

Q. Now, the testimony yesterday by one of the Plaintiff's witnesses 
with respect to an employee who was only identified at that time 
as Brown was, as he testified, employed for thirty-eight years 
as a Brass Check employee. Nov;, did you research your records 
and recollect who this employee could have been?

A. Yes. I know the employee well. His name is Abraham B. Brown,

47



f

(

A. (Cont'd) and he was employed at the sugar refinery for a number 
of years. V7e researched our records this, morning. We looked 
in our only source of - going back that fax* which is W-2 
statements signifying when the sugar refinery would have first 
made a payment to him, and our first payment was to him in 1947.

Q. Then he was employed for twenty . . .
A. Twenty-two years. We put him - he would have been on regular 

payroll in 1967.
Q . Now . . .
A. And, of course, he lias since deceased.
JUDGE ALAIMO: In other words,he was Brass Check up until 1967?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you have white employees who were also Brass Check . . .
A. Yes, s ir . . .
Q. . . .  for ten or fifteen years?
A. Yes, we do. I can name two of them offhand, and that was Coy 

and Eugene Jenkins, which was a father and son combination, 
and they had eyesight problems and blood pressure problems 
also, and they were Brass Check - one for fifteen and one for 
seventeen.

JUDGE ALAIMO: This doesn't - it seems peculiar that. . .
A. Well, it could have been, Judge, that we could've just not 

hired them all from the day that we ceased the need.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well now, you paid them at the end of each day?
A. Yes, sir, each day.

-43-



JUDGE ALAIMO: Cash, chock? How was
A. Cash money. I was involved in that operation through my train­

ings programs.
JUDGE ALAIMO: What record - would you withhold on them?
A. Yes, sir. Withheld, we paid unemployment compensation.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Out of it?
A. Yes, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: W h a t  r e c o r d  d o e s  t h e  e m p l o y e e  h a v e  of - you k n o w  -  

of w h a t  t h e  w i t h h o l d i n g s  w a s  -  s o c i a l  s e c u r i t y  w a s  . .  .
Q. Doesn't he receive a W-2 every year?
A. Yes, sir, every year - W-2. Yes, sir, every year. 
Q. Pay socia3. security taxes?
A. The only thing he's not eligible for, Your Honor, is - would 

be the benefit program, but everything else . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Bonuses, if any . . .
.A. No, sir. That's involved in the benefit program. He would not 

be' • e 1 igib le for that.
Q. Now, as a primary practice, are there premium bonuses to the 

employees?
A. Yes, sir. For years and years, some thirty-odd years.
Q. And what--has this bonus amounted to?
A. That's fifteen percent of your gross yearly earnings, payable 

on or about the fifteenth of January of each year.
Q. And is that all regular employees . . .
A. All regular employees, ys.

-49-
>



Q. Now, the Plaintiff's witness who just testified - Mr. Buckins - 
testified about going into see you about getting a loan in
February of this year. Do you recall this incident?

A. Yes, I do.
Q. Tell the Court what happened, please.
A. All right, sir. Mr. Buckins came in on that said date. In 

fact, when I returned to my office, I believe he was waiting- 
on me - came in and said he wanted to make a loan. I asked 
him how much he wanted to borrow, and I wrote it on the little 
ticket - the money ticket that I normally write on. I asked 
him what his card number was. He gave it to me. My next 
remark was "George, it's nice to know that there's one benefit 
that this company has that you still approve of." Now, this 
didn't sit too well with Mr. Buckins. When I asked him the 
next question which I've asked many times to many people, "What 
kind of an emergency do you have?" because this is, in fact, 
an emergency slush fund provided interest free for employees 
who have emergencies - there's a limit of a hundred dollars on 
it. When I asked him what kind of emergency he had, he didn't 
answer me. He spun on his heels, he stalked out of the office, 
and he slammed the door behind him - behind him. I never 
refused to lend him the money. I simply looked at him, and he 
left the office on his own volition.

Q. You never told him you were or were not going to give the loan

to him?

- 50 -



A. No, sir. I certainly did not.
JUDGE ALAMO: Was it a practice to ask of the employees what the 

emergency they wanted . . .
A. Yes, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Would it be entered on the ticket?
7\. The emergency?
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes.
A. No, sir, but it's a standard practice that I've given to blacks,

whites, all people, because that is what the fund is established 
for.

Q. And as I think I understood you to say - do you charge interest 
on these loans?

A. No, sir. We do not - interest free.
Q. What about the limit of the amount do you make . . .
A. About a hundred dollars and usually try to get it paid back 

within an eight to ten week period.
JUDGE ALAIMO: What is the card that you fill out? What does it . 

show?
A. It's a little ticket. It says Savannah Sugar Refinery across

the top and it says the name of the employee and the employee's 
number,., the amount to be borrowed, the amount paid back, and 
my signature or my initials at the bottom.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Does he pay this back at one time?
A. No, sir. It's scattered out through payroll deduction at his 

convenience, and he signs the back of it. He takes it to the

-51-



A. (Coifcl) Payroll window, and he's given the cash. 
JUDGE ALAIMO: I see.
A. All right, sir.

Q. Now, there was some testimony yesterday, Hr. Blackwelder, about ' 
the work as the Pipe Fitters out at the plant and - are you 
familiar with an employee by the name of Frank Williams?

• Very well.
Q. Is he a black employee?
A. Yes, he is.
Q. Does he work as a Pipe Fitter?
A. He's a Senior Pipe Fitter, and he's a relief Boiler Room Opera- 

tof.
O . Has the company ever had whites who also worked as Pipe Fitters?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. Are you aware of their names?
A . C. J. Bobban is the one that comes to my mind and also Eulis 

Hodges. Both of these are white Pipe Fitters. Both are still 
employed.

Q. Now, in the Electrical Department, are you aware of what the 
practice is with respect to providing tools for employees?

A. A full tool bo:; is provided to each Senior Electrician.

Q. Are the helpers given any tool boxes?
A.

(

No, they are not. They are to use the tool boxes of the Senior 
Electrician that they're helping. They are given the primary 
tools such as a screwdriver, a pair of insulated pliers, things

V •C f iv
-52-



A. (Cont'd) that they would most use on a day-to-day basis.
Q. Now, do you recall an instance when Mr. Summer Wallace - which

involved the adjustment of his rate of pay downward, I think, 
by an amount of two cents per hour?

A. Yes, I do.
q . Were there any other people, who at the same time, were affected 

by this adjustment?
A. Yes, there was. There was a James Henry Collins, ana Booker T. 

Natson was the third member who had the additional two cents, 
but he was involved in another job classification at that time 
which was above the figure that we would have to decrease it, 
so we didn't touch his.

Q. Why was any adjustment of this nature made?
A . Well, two primary reasons. Number one, two years ago, there

was a. clerical mistake, and we were trying to in the last three 
or four years - we were trying to standardize our various job
classifications within the framework of our Packing House.
These three people stood out of all the Packer Operators. These 
three had a two cent differential. The purpose was to adjust 
that at the same time that we gave them the plant increase so 
the employee wouldn't feel it - not that we wouldn't tell him, 
but that - so he wouldn't feel it. We missed it on two occasions 
due to clerical error. The last time we missed it, it was 
judged that we just couldn't go another year with the two cent 
differential for this primary reason - I was receiving complaints

J q # x

*~53~



A. (Cont'd) from other employees. They had a habit of carrying
»

their checks in their upper pocket, and these Packer Operators 
would notice and have noticed and have complained about the dif­
ferential that they saw on the guy's check, even though it was 
just pennies, so we in turn decided - Management decided to 
adjust the two cent differentials on these two particular per­
sons, and I called them in. I discussed it with them. I told 

\
them the reason for it. I explained that they had, in fact,
received a kind of a two cent bonus for two years. The company 
hadn't bothered it, but now it was necessary. I had a very 
cordial meeting with both employees.

Q. I have nothing further, Your Honor.
JUDGE ALAIMO: We' re going to suspend for a few minutes, about five

minutes.
NOTE: The Court adjourned for a five-minute recess.
NOTE: The Court reconvened after a five-minute recess.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Proceed with the cross examination, Mr. 

Farrington.

CROSS
EXAMINATION OF MR. BLACKWELDER BY MR. FARRINGTON:
Q. When did you first go to work at Savannah Sugar?
A. In 195G, September.
Q. How old were you at that time?
A. Oh, Lord!

- S ’ q 5 < c  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
-54-



Q.
A.

Q.
A.

Were you just out of high school or . . .
Oh, no, sir. No, sir. I was out of the Navy and came from the
grocery business into the plant.
What is your education background?
Education is high school plus Southern Tech - about a year and 
a half at Southern Tech, some courses - specialized courses in 
personnel management at Armstrong, and numerous short courses -- 
seminars and conferences.

Q. When did you go to Southern Tech?
A. In 1955 and '56. I got out of high-school in '54, and I went 

to Southern Tech in the Fall - starting in the Fall of '54.
Q. What sort of courses did you take at Southern Tech?
A. Electronic Technology.
Q. Did you ever use that when you got to Savannah Sugar in any 

particular job?
A. Very seldom. Maybe in the Packing House Mechanics to a certain 

degree.
Q. You came on as a Brass Check employee? Let me back up just a 

minute. Do you know the two gentlemen who testified earlier, 
Mr. Grebenburg and Mr. Ecksley.

A. Yes.
Q. Two of your Sugar Superintendents. Do you happen to know what 

their educational background is?
A. Not offhand, no, sir.
Q. Do you know whether or- not they graduated from college?
r_... ...     . . . . ' . —..: goa

-55-



■A. I don't know.
I

Q. What was your first job after you got off Brass Check?
/

A. Packing House Mechanics Helper - Junior Helper.
Q. How did you learn about that job? How did you get into the job? 
A. I was instructed to report to that Foreman that morning.
Q. You didn't put in a request for that job?
A. No, sir.
Q. How long were you there?
A. In the Packing House Gang?
Q . Right.
A. Three or four years.
Q. V7here did you go from there?
A. To the Storeroom.
Q. What was your job in the Storeroom?
A. Inventory control, inventory accounting, some clerical,; some

adding machine, calculator work, some counter work, stock clerk, 
et cetera.

Q. How did you find out about that job?
A. I was told to report there.
Q. Was there any discussion had with you prior to your being told 

about whether you wanted the job or anything like this?

A. Yes. I was asked by my Shop Foreman if they were going - he 
explained to me they were going to send me over there the 
following Monday morning, and the duties that I would be per­
forming, because I apparently had some qualification in that

)i

i
•V

-56- *



A. (Cont'd) regard.
Q. I take it then that these decisions were made prior to you 

being informed of it?
A. I would think so.
Q. All right. How long did you stay in the Storeroom? '
A./ Very short. Perhaps eight to ten months to a year.
Q ./■ Where did you go from there?

- ■ .  'A L I went from there to the Payroll Office as a Time Checker 
Trainee. Nov/, I was consulted about that beforehand.

Q. What was your job there?
A. Time Checker.
Q. Did you ever-request or apply for the job as Time Checker?
A . No, I didn1t.
Q. Did you know there was a vacancy up there that you were being 

considered for?
A. No. I didn’t.
Q. After Time Checker, where did you go? What job did you go to?
A. From Time Checker, I learned the Employee Benefits Clerk job,

such as the Insurance Administrator, et cetera. Employee Bene­

A. 1 was selected as a trainee, mainly a Utility Trainee for the 
General Office. At that time, it v/as the function to teach me

fits.
Q. Is thht a separate job classification?
A. Yes. It’s in the Personnel Office.
Q. How did you get that job?

-57- *



A. (Cont'd) every job in the office.
Q. You didn't request any training toward promotion at that place, 

did you?
A . No.

Q. And where did you go from that job?
A. Back to Payroll to learn some of the other jobs around.
Q. And that was the last job yon held before you became Personnel . . .
A . No.
Q. Where did you go next?
A . Engineering.
Q. What was your job there?
A. My primary function there was to assist the Engineers. Now,

I served as a Liaison Man on our Everglades Project when we 
built the Everglades Plant, and I was Liaison between all of 
the outside sales people and our Engineering staff. My function 
was.all the jobs that - that an Engineer shouldn't do but 
should spend his time otherwise - files, print files, print copies, 
account ing.

Q. You were sort of a research analyst for an Engineer?
A. Something like that,yes.
Q. How did you find out about that job?
A. There was a need put out by a consulting firm that the company

Q. Did you know about the vacancy before you . .
A./ There was no vacancy. I was just trained as a relief man

/

there.

-58-
*



I

L-yi 4w

A. (Cont'd) had hired, and they stated a need for a Utility Man 
as I've just described for the Engineering Office.' Being as I 
was a Utility Man at the time training in many jobs, I was 
selected.

Q. Then you didn't request - you didn't request to be promoted to 

that job?
A. No, sir.
Q. And after you stepped into the Engineering Department, where 

did you go?
A. On and off, I relieved in the Personnel Office.
q . But when you were finally transferred out of the Engineering 

Department . . .
A. Then I went to Personnel.
Q. And that's the job you now hold?

A. Yes.
Q. Did you apply for the job in Personnel?
A. The only job that I ever applied for was the Employments Bene­

fits Cleric after I was in Engineering. I liked Personnel so 
well. It seemed to be my cup of tea. I asked for that particu­
lar job, and later on, I was considered for the Personnel

ii
' ' y  % iManager's job. •I

Q. Is it a fair statement that a man at Savannah Sugar can go just 
about as high in the plant as his competence will carry him? ,1

A. I'd say that's a pretty fair statement - initiative, attitude, 

et cetera.
S/Oô  . . . __________________ _ . ________ J ' : :

-59-



Q. That's generally a result - that’s generally the company policy,
l \

isn’t it?
A. Yes.
Q. You were talking about the part that seniority played in deter­

mining promotions. Do you have -does the company have any 
/ written seniority policy?

A./- None that I know of.
I - . \

Qi Can you'just tell me if you ever recall a time when seniority
' ! ' •actually was the determining factor in making a promotion?
A. A specific?
Q . Yes.
A. Booker Natson was the latest one that just comes into my mind.
Q. And what was he promoted from to?
A. He was a Bag Pack Stitcher on the first floor, and because of

his seniority and because we felt like he had the qualifications 
to be promoted, he was put on the second floor as a Station
Operator or Assistant Station Operator.

■

Q. Let me ask you this question. Have you ever had an occasion
where you had two employees whose qualifications were equal for 
a job? Would you then turn to seniority to determine between

i
' i •those two?

!,A. That’s our practice, Mr. Farrington. Are you asking me for a 
specific?

jj
Q. Yes, sir. I ■A. You're asking me to rely an awful lot on my memory.

5 / /  a .

- 6 0 -



)

1

o

Q. I understand that, but answer it the best you can.
A. Without a record to look at, I'm afraid to mention any and be 

accurate in my answer.
Q. You said also the general qualifications for promotion that you 

considered are time in related positions, seniority, qualifi­
cations under which you put leadership ability, attitude, and 
I believe you described it as an influence factor. Let's go 
back to the first - the time in related positions. What is a 
related position, generally?

A. Okay. First, let's specifically talk about a Boiler Room job.
Q. All right.
A. If we had an opening for an Operator and there was a person who 

had been a relief Operator for some length of time, then he is 
in a related position to go into the Operator job. This would 
be a prime consideration. He's familiar with the job; he's held 
it; he knows how to handle difficult situations. Certeiinly, 
the decision would bear heavily on the fact that he's a very 
dependable person.

Q. All right. Now, once you promote this relief Operator to the 
permanent position, what sort of related job would you consider 
in filling the relief job?

A. First consideration would probably go to the Helper.
Q. Boiler Room Helper?
A. Yes.
Q. Let's talk about qualifications, leadership ability.

61



A. All right.
Q. All right. Can you explain what you mean by that?
A. I'm saying that any time that a person is promoted into a

capacity wherein he's going to have to supervise people, a very 
sharp eye is cast upon the factor whether he does have, in fact, 
leadership ability. Is he able to lead people in a satisfactory 
manner? Is he able to influence people in a satisfactory manner? 
I think you and I both understand what I'm saying there.

Q. Well, let's be sure. What . . .
A. Let's say he has a positive attitude about his job and about his 

company and about the importance of his job.
Q. What objective facts would make you consider that a man had

leadership quality or had an interest in his job? Let's say 
if a man evidenced a desire for promotion, would you say that 
would be a positive factor in his favor?

A. I certainly would.
Q. Let's take a man who is industrious and is able to build his

own house and who is doing the plumbing for it, doing some wir­
ing for it and did this over a period of years, would you say
that that would be a positive factor to consider in making a
promotion?

A. I would think he's a very industrious person.
Q. Let’s talk about attitude a minute.
A. All right, sir.
Q. What kind of attitude are you looking for? ;!

-6 2



I
A. I'm looking for a positive attitude.t

I
Q. Does that include some of the things that we just talked about? 
A. l i t  certainly does.
0. Influence factor. I take it that what you're saying is that 

this person can have a positive influence on the people that 
he is - one's that are working for him?

A. Correct.
Q„ What objective facts do you look for to determine whether or not 

a man is going to be able to do this?
A. Well, we1 re going to revolve right back to attitude, but we're 

going to talk about things like enthusiasm for the job - 
positive traits such as the will and desire to get the job done 
and the best way possible, to absorb and handle - be able to 
absorb and handle grievances on the first-line basis rather than 
say "It's not my fault, blame so-and-so up the hill"; and this 
type of situation.

Q. When a position becomes available on this first-line supervisoryI j
basis - on a first-line supervisory job, how is the process

)(
initiated by which an employee is elected to fill it?

A. It would be the same process that'we've previously described.

Q. Let's go back. I'm talking about specifically how it's done. 
Who's the first person to know that there's going to be a 
vacancy?

A. Well, I imagine it's going to be your Plant Superintendent.

A person that had the most - was .

I

-63- i



/

A. (Cont'd) Now, let's deal with it specifically, if we may.
Q. Okay, sure.
A. Tf you've get a pending retirement, well, I'm probably going 

to know it first in connection or coordination with the Plant 
Superintendent, so we know there's a retirement coming. We 
know there's going to be a job vacancy, but prior to that, 
hopefully, we would have prepared somebody to be training for 
that slot. Now, if you're asking me the process that goes into 
preparing a person to take that slot, it would be decided by 
the Department Head, the Plant Superintendent, and myself.

Q. The Department Head over the Boiler Room is Mr. Oetgen?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Is that the person . . .
A. Yes, sir . . .
Q. . . .  referred . . .
A. Yes, sir. He's the Chief Engineer.
Q. And the Plant Superintendent?
A. Right.
Q. Who ordinarily makes the first suggestion about who to choose ... 
A. There's another person involved in the Boiler Room selection

\ - I!
process. Anything to do with Maintenance would involve the

j!
Maintenance Superintendent. Now, he would probably make the

\ ; iMfirst suggestion.
Q. Does he visually suggest only one person or does he usually 

mnrp than one?

-64- /



/

Are you

1A*. More than one. life always select more than one.i

Q. At this point, everybody is in on the process?
A. 'Yes, sir. I would say everybody is in on the process, 

talking about the three or four that I've mentioned? 
Q. Yes.
A. Yes.
Q. Then you compare the q\ialif ications, I t?ike it, first, of these 

three or four individuals whom you've . . .
A. All right. Let's say four to six just for the sake of argument. 

Say v/e got four. to six derived from the plant seniority list 
and from the people who have the qualifications necessary, and 
when I say necessary qualifications, I'm talking about those 
qualifications deemed most important by people like the Plant 
Engineer, or the Chief Engineer, and the Maintenance Superin­
tendent. These are the people who are closest to the job.
They relate to us the qualifications that they feel, because 
of past job experience and years in the field, what is necessary. 
So we take those four to six and analyze them, and v/e look at 
them, and we decide.

Q. So you decide on one and then inform him of the decision, and i
then you try to get him to come train on the job as soon as 
possible?

X . < 1
A. That's true.

X x !lJUDGE ALAIMO: Let me ask you this. How would a man demonstrate 
any enthusiasm for a job? Take this man, Frank King, v/ho is

S/6a_
-65-



jxjdgE ALAIMO: (Cont'd) supposed to have worked for fifteen years 
ptt the same job. How do you demonstrate enthusiasm for that 
I job? You know, you've got some dull jobs out there I'm sure.

A. Judge, the best way I can answere that is that I've been
through every dull job that there's been at Savannah Sugar 
Refinery, and I've been enthusiastic about every one of them.

JUDGE AIAIMO: Well, all right. In a sense, you're enthusiastic 
about getting to the next job, I'd suppose you'd say, because 
it. was one that was better than the one you had.

A. Is that your statement Judge?
JUDGE AIAIMO: Okay, well, I understand.
A. All right.
JUDGE AIAIMO: All right.
Q. I believe Mr. Oetgen testified yesterday that - well, we were 

specifically talking about the process by which Adam - the 
vacancies that this case is about . . .

A. Would you repeat the question?
Q. Let me back up just a minute. Mr. Oetgen and I were, yesterday 

discussing the process by which the vacancies, that are the 
gist of this law suit, were filled.

A . Okay.
Q. And I believe he testified that when - at the point he got

in on it, he thought that perhaps there had been some selecting 
out done already.

A. Some screening?



I
Q. Right. Do you know whether or not, in fact, that was done and 

if so, who did the screening before Mr. Oetgen got in the
Iprocess?

A. Well, it would have to be a guess on my part because I don't
remember that particular phase of it, but I would say that it's 
possible that some screening had been done but doubtful.

Q. Now, let's review for a second. On January 1, 1966, or there­
abouts, one of your regular Boiler Room Operators retired. I 
believe that would have been either Mr. Stokes or Mr. Balias.
Eulis Hodges, who had been a relief Operator, was granted that - 
was picked to fill that job. Then after that, Joe Brenson was 
picked to replace Mr. Hodges as a relief Operator. Do you 

recall that?
A. It's on the record.
Q. Right. Okay. How was Joe Brenson picked, and who - and,

< 1! specifically, was Adam Baxter considered for that position?
A. I can't speak intelligently on that one, because I wasn't involved

IIin the process. I came to the job in *67. I'm sorry.
Q. I see. Well, there was another dispute - December, 1963 to 

1966. You would not have been involved in that one either?
!j

A. No, sir.' Not in '66. i j  .
Q. Who was your predecessor?

if
A. Meredith Davis.
Q. V7ould he have fulfilled your function, as fir as you know, on 

the '66 vacancy?



A.A.
Q.

I can only assume that he would have.
1 \That would normally be a part of his duties, would it not?

A. I can only assume that it would have.

Q. In 1969, another' Operator retired, and I believe - I don't 
remember who filled his job, but another relief spot-became 

/ open in which you promoted Frank Williams.

A  A. / Yes.
#  . J

j

1 . \Was Adam Baxter considered for that position?

A. Yes, he was.
Q. And why was he not selected for that job?

.A. Simply because he wasn't qualified.

Q. And in what ways was he not qualified?

w  A '

V•

lie wasn't qualified on the basis of knowledge of the job, wasn't 
qualified on the basis of attitude, wasn't qualified on the 
basis of - mainly on the basis of the testimony by the super­
visors of the department, and this came also from the three 
Operators that are in the function of operating the boilers on 
a three shift operational basis. They were consulted. They 
were in the - certainly consulted by Mr. Edwards, and they all 
judged him not to be qualified. ' j

Q. Then you rely heavily on their recommendations?

A., I certainly do.

Q. All of your Boiler Room Operators, at that time, were white,

A.
were they not?

> Yes.
smol .... _...L .

:...... . ■ ‘ ' j!’ -68-
i



Q. And all of the people involved in this process were white, were
they not?

JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, Williams wasn't, was he?
A. Oh, Williams is black, but he was in relief when he was . . .
Q. We're talking about the way one of the selections worked out.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes, but the two whites selected him, didn't they, 

in a contest between Williams and Baxter?
A. Yes, they did.
JUDGE ALAIMO: I mean, what I assume you're getting at is that 

here you had white selecting of black. Well, they selected 
one, but I don't see where at this particular juncture what 
you're seeking, as I understand it has much relevance, but go

Q. But looking across the board, Your Honor, we're not only talk­
ing about Boiler Room jobs, but we're talking about jobs all 
over the plant, and the statistics on the face shows black people

ij
get promotions by whites and . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: I think - yes, all right.
Q. How was it that Frank Williams had more knowledge of this :!particular job, and Frank Williams had never been working m |i

the Boiler Room, than Adam Baxter, who has been working there 
intermittently for seventeen years?

A. All right. Let's go back a few years. Number one, Frank
Williams had solely operated, on many occasions, the old boiler -

ahead.

■

-69-



A. (Cont'd) steam driven crane, a piece of equipment that we orig­
inally had on the plant site. He operated this piece of equip­
ment by himself. He new the functions of a boiler. He knew 
what the readings were supposed to be, et cetera. He had been 
a Pipe Fitter and primarily involved in Maintenance work inside 
that boiler room for years and years - years before Eaxter ever 
came to work for us. In all ways, sir, he was much better 
qualified.

Q. This old boiler that Mr. Williams ran was nothing like the very 
panelized operation that Mr. Oetgen explained to us yesterday?

A. No, certainly not, but the principle was the same. He knew 
that it got hot, and it was dangerous.

Q. Was it difficult to operate this old boiler? Do you think it 
was difficult to run it?

A. I never did learn to operate it, sir.
Q. Did you try to learn to operate it?
A. Never did.
Q. Is this - was that job a difficult job in terms of . . .
A. You're asking me to answer a question about something I have no 

experience with whatever. Now, how can I give you a reasonable 
answer to that type of question?

Q. Are you saying you don't know whether or not it was a difficult 
job?

A. I am saying exactly I don't know whether it is difficult or 
not.

-70-



Q. Do you know whether or not jobs on the - you've worked are 
difficult jobs in terms of the intellect required to operate 
them?

A. Certainly. They are very difficult jobs.
Q. They were very difficult?
A. Yes.
Q. In intellectual terms?
A. I would think so, yes, sir.
Q. Now, can you compare the difficulty of the new job with the one 

of the old one?
A. Are you comparing - talking about the old steam driven crane?
Q. The one Frank Williams operated.
A. Certainly. There is a vast difference in them.
Q. In terms of difficulty?
A. Certainly.
Q. And the new operation is much more difficult?
A. It certainly is.
Q. All right, sir. Why was Adam Baxter disqualified by attitude? 
A. I think his deportment record would indicate that, sir.
Q. What in his record indicates to you that he should be disquali­

fied on the basis of attitude?
A. Principally an act of non-cooperation in everything.
Q. What was that act of non-cooperation?
A. Mainly, when he was asked to do jobs thcit were, for his own 

reasons, against his desire to do, he refused to do them.

-71-



Q. Now, there's only one- incident that I can recall in his record
i \

where he refused to do something.
A. I don't have his record in front of me, but I . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Don't we have it here someplace?
A. X can recall one incident myself.
Q. / This has been marked for identification as Plaintiff's - I'm

/ sorry- as Defendant's Exhibit Number One, the employment record
/ , \
/ of Adam Baxter, and I hand it to you, turn over to the last page. 

A. All right.
Q . Nov/ . . .
A. All right, sir. Do you want to start with the first one in 

'65?
JUDGE ALA 11-10: Isn' t there one in evidence or is this the one?
MR. SAPP: Your Honor, we'll hand them other copies.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Go ahead. !|
A. On August 1, '65, a - an Assistant Superintendent talked with

Baxter concerning him not doing his job properly in the Boiler 
Room, and he got smart answers and sarcastic answers, and this 
v/as indicative of his type of attitude. Nov/, this doesn't 
come from .just one write-up, but it comes from my interviev/ing 
of all of these people that's been associated v/ith him; and in 

'67 . . . ij
Q. All right. Let's talk about that. As I understand it, what he 

Said now was, "If you want - I'll have to run if I want

SZ3c_._J.
* -72-



Q. (Cont'd) to get back any faster from the - from the office.

that - that is indicative of his general attitude. That one - 
that one instance alone is indicative of his entire attitude. 
We've got another incident here where he refused to get a lunch. 
We’ve got a later incident where he refused to hook up some 

wires.
Q. Is that in his record?
A. Yes.
Q. Where?
A. It is now. It was a late entry.
Q. Where is it?
A. It's not in this one. /
Q. When did he refuse to hook up some wires?
A. On April 9th. Yes, it’s here - it's here, 4/9/72.
Q Well, I'm sorry. I believe the defense counsel has furnished 

me with a copy of their - this record prior to the entry of 
this thing. Well, what was this all about?

A. This was a - a late entry wherein he was helping one Woodrow
Hodges up in the top of the Clarification House, and they were
involved in changing a motor on some exhaust fans and bypassing\
some switches* independent switches to the exhaust fans. Now,

A. That must be his testimony. It's not on the record.

A. I'm not saying that. I said his general attitude, sir. Nov/,

this is testimony that comes to me through the Foreman on a

rr 73- i



A. (Cont'd) card, and the card states that Hodges instructed
IBaxter to bypass the switch which involves moving three wires 
from the bottom and replacing them on the top which bypasses 
the switch because it was inoperable and they didn't have another 
switch to replace it. It was a task that is customarily done.
He refused to do it, stating that he wasn't no electrician - 
that he ought to go get an electrician to do it; so when there 
was - when it was contested by his Foreman and in the presence 
of this Hodges, he asked him why he refused to do it. He said 
he didn't think .it was safe, and he didn't trust nobody about 
nothing, and he wasn’t no electrician.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Is it your testimony that this is indicative of his 
attitude in the past . . .

A. Exactly . . .
JUDGE AIAIMO: . . . time that you knew him? •
A. That's exactly my testimony.
Q. Mr. Blackwelder, do you know there's testimony in this case

ij
by Mr. Oetgen that, in fact, Adam Baxter is not an electrician, 
and that that's why he didn't consider him for the job - that 
he was not an electrician?

i!
A. He’s an Electrician's Helper, sir, which does qualify him for 

some electrical trade.
Q. Then he would be qualified by virtue of his being an Electrician's

Helper for consideration for Boiler Room Operator?
A. I've already stated before that he was considered for Boiler



A. (Cont'd) Room Operator Relief, and he failed.
i \

Q. Do you know - do you know when this entry was made?
A. It was made - no, I really don't, frankly. I can't date it 

for you. I'd be glad to if I could.

A./ No, sir. It's possible that it wasn't made until a later date,
/' maybe ' a week.

/ '  -  • .  'Q. Is it ordinarily a policy to wait a week before putting these 
things into the file?

A. It's not unusual a bit. It's just the process - the Foreman 
sometimes carries the card around in his pocket for tv/o or 
three days. -Sometimes it lays on my desk. Sometimes it lays 
around.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Let me ask you. On these complaints, is an employee 
well, as I understand it, it's supposed to be - the Foreman is 
supposed to notify the employee when he has such a complaint
registered.

'
A. Yes, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Is there any effort made by you or the central

office to-see if the employee is notified, to be given a chance

A. If it's serious enough that it comes to my attention, I do
interview the employee and get his side of the story. Otherwise, 
we - it's my understanding that the Foreman interviews this

Q. Why - do you know whether it was made on April 9th?

to explain it, you know, or . .

man and gets his side of the story.

-75 *



Q. But you didn't interview him?i i
A. No, sir.
Q. You just said when you consider it very serious, you make every 

effort to interview him.
A. The Foreman directs him to come to me.
Q. / Did you not just testify that if it's very serious, you make an - 
I that you interview them . . .

A r At the Foreman's request. I'll have to clarify that.
Q. You always do it at the Foreman's request?
A. If a Foreman thinks it's serious enough, he sends the party to 

me, and we talk with him jointly.
Q. Has any Foreman ever sent Adam Baxter to you?
A. Yes. Adam Baxter has been sent to me before.
Q. And did you discuss the problem with him?
A. That particular problem which he was sent to me for, yes.
Q. Did you discuss this problem - this late, problem with him?

A . No.
'iQ. All right, sir. Did Mr. Simpson request you to xerox these

cards on or about the fifth day of May, 1972?
A. I really'don't know. I've xeroxed so many documents that I 

just truthfully don't remember what I xeroxed when.
Q. Do you recall when you delivered any documents to Mr. Simpson? 
A. I've delivered documents to Mr. Simpson almost on a daily basis 

for several weeks.
Q. Do you remember specifically xeroxing the records of the

76-



Q. (Cont'd) employees in the Boiler Room?
A. Oh, yes, several times.

'JUDGED ALAIMO: Let's ask Mr. Simpson. When were you furnished this 
last entry? When were you furnished that information?

MR. SIMPSON: Your Honor, I couldn't tell you the exact date. We 
have had, as Mr. Blackwelder said, several documents and many 
documents furnished to us at one time or another. We - when 
we got ready for trial, Your Honor, I wanted to get three xerox 
copies of everything, so that Your Honor would have one, Mr. 
Farrington would have one, and we would have one. In turn, I 
had Mr. Blackwelder1s office double-check all personnel cards 
to be sure they were up to date, but a couple of personnel 
cards, I had noticed, only had entries there of pay through 
1970. I wanted to be sure they were through '71 or after re­
turns, and it's very possible that in the shuffling of docu­
ments to everybody, I may have gotten Mr. Farrington an old
one on Adam Baxter rather than a current one, which shows the

.*71 returns. That's very possible. I apologize to Mr. Farring­
ton. I certainly didn't mean to deceive him.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
MR. SIMPSON: But actually, the Boiler Room records have been

xeroxed, I guess, at least three occasions over the last year or 
so. v. j

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Proceed.
Q. This is the same card that was xeroxed before but with just an



Q. (Cont'd) additional entry on it?
/A. Mes, it is.

Q. Well, if it was xeroxed yesterday, then this entry was made
I
sometime before yesterday but after the time it was furnished 
us. Mr. Simpson furnished me with the copies on May 8th.

A. That's possible.
MR. SIMPSON: Your Honor, I think - now, I think he's asking about 

what I did, and I think perhaps I should explain. .1 furnished 
Mr. Farrington documents as directed. My own correspondence 
will show when I did and then the other day I furnished with 
corrections to one of the schedules. You remember that?

MR. FARRINGTON: Right.
MR. SIMPSON: And I've forgotten what else I furnished you but, 

anyhow, I've been exchanging documents with Mr. Farrington 
for days.

MR. FARRINGTON: Several days.
MR. SIMPSON: Several times.
MR. FARRINGTON: For the record, Your Honor, we were to exchange 

documents, this document that I received, on May 8th. The 
interest being in trying to establish from Mr. Blackwelder, 
if he knows . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: Of course, there's no one - no one, yet, has said 
when those documents, which you exchanged on May 8th, were 
made.

MR. FARRINGTON: That's what I am trying to determine.

*



A. And I really don't know. I would be very happy to tell you,
but I just don’t know. I've made so many that I can't recall.
!
IQ. pid you ever explain to Adam Baxter that he was not considered 
for a promotion because of his attitude?

A. I haven't personally, no, sir.
Q. Have you ever instructed tiny of your Foremen to discuss with 

Mr. Baxter about not being considered for a promotion because 

of his attitude?
A. I haven't persoanly, no, sir.
Q. Have you ever requested of Mr. Baxter that he change his atti­

tude?
A. I haven't personally, but I know he has had that request made 

to him.
Q. Who do you know made such a request?
A. Mr. Edwards. Ralph Edwards, Maintenance Superintendent, 
p. You, of course, do not know what he said. Did you hear Mr.

Edwards tell him?
A. No, I did not.
Q. So you did not have the commercial authoritive attitude to stop 

and tell him that’s what he's doing?
A. At that particular point?
Q . Right.
A. At that particular point, I did not tell him, no, sir.
Q. Now, you testified that the standing rule that whenever an

incident like this occurred that the Foreman should give a

-79-



Q. (Cont'd) verbal warning to the employee at that particular 
time or something?

A. The first warning should be a verbal warning, yes, sir.
Q. And in any case, there should be a verbal warning given, even 

though there's a write-up in sight?
A. Yes.
Q. Can you think of any reason why any person of supervisory 

position, who observes an employee doing something that he 
considered a violation of a company rule, why he wouldn't give 
him a verbal warning?

A. No, sir. I can't think of any reason why.
Q. Now, you testified that you had two black Floor Chiefs?
A. Yes.
Q. Those, in fact, were hired - promoted to that job in late 1971, 

were they not?
A. It was a lateral move, Mr. Farrington.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Was it in '71?
A. Yes, sir.

Q. In your statement that it was a lateral move, you mean a date, 
but they didn't receive a merital rate increase when they 
moved?

A. No, they did receive a rate increase. I don't want to mislead 
you, but there was a change of classification which brought them

H
Q. It was in late 1971?
A. It was in '71

i j
-80-



(Cont'd) from an Area Assistant Foreman classification, which
we abolished, to a Floor Chief classification, and now, wc have 
four and are able to train them in the whole aspect of the 
packaging operation where they might be better available to have' 
a more equal opportunity for a Foreman's job in the future.
Prior to 1971, you didn't have any blade Floor Chiefs?
No, sir. I had two black Assistant Foremen.
None of these four black Floor Chiefs supervise any white 
employees, do they?
A Floor Chief is over a Station Operator, and I have white 
Station Operators.
All right. You said you had some .white employees working purely 
in the Warehouse Department. Kow long have they been working 
that job?
Well, - my first one worked about - approximately three months 
before he quit.
Let's go back just a minute. Do you know Frank King?

■

Yes.
Is that the same job Frank King had?
Yes, basically.
Now, going into the rest of the testimony, what happened to 
the other whites?
The first, as I said, the first one was Jerry Sherrod, and he 
worked for about three months. He was a slender fellow, slight 
build, couldn't keep up physically. That was his story when he

81



A. (Cont'd) left us. The next person was one Romus Edenfield,

ers job.
Q. Where did he gor"
A. Well, he went to a fork lift. He changed work from a fork

/ lift for a while. He worked as a Checker Relief. He worked as
■ a Billing Clerk Relief, mainly because of his dexterity and 

\
I qualifications. He came to us with a very good education, but 

we started him at entry level just like we do everybody else, 
and that was the only opening we had.

Q. And so he was able to progress up and has, in fact, progressed
up?

A. Because there was nobody else in that area.
Q. Who else did you have?
A. Paul Hodges, Jr., was the other white.
Q. What happened - where is he?
A. And he worked probably a little longer in the Floor Loading 

capacity, and then he went - also drove a fork lift. He's 
worked in our Portion Pack, and now, he's also a Checker Relief

Q. So he has. .been able to progress from this Floor Loader's job 
through - up through the ranks?

A. Due to an acute knee, and he was the only one available that 
could do it.

Q. When did these individuals first become employed in the Floor 
Loader's job?

and he worked possibly for a year or better in the Floor Load­

- 8 2 -



f*.

A. Mr. Farrington, I'd have to refer to my hiring schedule there.
i \

They are listed.
Q. They are listed?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. So they are - it v/as after 1965?
A. / Oh, yes,
Qj All right. I hand you what has been marked for identification

. . \

as Defendant's Exhibit Number Thirty-Six, "New Hires since 1965." 
I have flipped through there and found Jerry Sherrod's name, 
which is the first entry - th'e first name of those that you 
mentioned.

A. Right.
Q. He was the first white who you hired on to this . . .
A. He's the first v/hite that I hired, yes, sir.
Q. Can you tell us what day he was hired from your records?
A. Yes, 3/10/69.
Q. 3/10/69?
A. March 10, 1969.
Q. That is the first white Floor Loader to your knov/ledge?
A. Yes, sir.'-
Q. Has there been any more v/hite Floor Loaders thafi the three you

i jhave mentioned?
A. Not since I have been there.

f i
Q. Nov/, you also testified that you have a black Sugar Boiler who 

v/as over some additional whites.

-83-



A. Yes.
Q. He, in feict, only received his promotion in 1971?
A. *70 or so. Pie started his training in '70 and received 

his promotion in' *71.
Q. You also have white Sugar Boilers, do you not?
A. Oh, yes, sir.
Q. You have five - at least five?
A. Yes, we have at least five.
Q. Do you recall how long these - you testified that these whites, 

who started as Floor Loaders,. also progressed through the Fork 
Lift Driver job?

A. Sure.
Q. Do you recall how long these men spent on that job?
A. No, I don't.
Q. Well, let me ask you this question. Defendant's Exhibit Number 

Forty-Two, I think, which you've seen, is a roster of jobs for 
each-year of '65 through '71?

A. I am trying to stay with you. Are you talking about job clas­
sifications ?

Q. This is -it looks like this.
A. Oh, yes.' Okay, all right.
Q. Now, all of these - none of these indicate any whites in the 

Fork Lift Operators job. May we assume from that that many 
people progress out of that job in less than a year?

A. Well, unless it was - they were designated a permanent Fork Lift

-84-
*



w

A.

Q.

Q.

A.

Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

A.

Q.

(Cont'd) Driver, they wouldn't have been listed. Any temporary
i \assignments are not listed on there as being permanent.

Do you know whether these whites were permanent Fork Lift Drivers 
or not?
I doubt very seriously that they were. They were probably 
utilized on a relief basis.
And they have left that classification now. In other words, 
they are at a higher rate than the Fork Lift Driver?
They are at a Relief Checker job now. Both men are, yes.
And that's a higher job than .the fork lift job?
Yes, but they are not permanently assigned. They are just 
relief.
In 1971, the company employed five Clerk Typists at its product­
ion facility in Fort Wentworth, all of whom were white. Why 
are there no black Clerk Typists?
Couldn't find one.
Couldn't find one?

. j!Couldn't find one.
You testified, sir, that you had many more applications for 
jobs than.you had jobs. Are you saying that you never have had 
an applicant - an application from a black Clerk Typist?
No, sir. I didn't say that at all. I had several applications 
and interviewed all, but the qualifications of the ones we

|1selected were better.
In 1971, you had eight people working in the Yard Crew as gar-

0 0 -
85-



Q. (Cont'd.) deners, and you've had about that same number through-

think your figures are wrong.
Q. Well, I took - I'm sorry. I took . . .
A. Maybe you - are you speaking of any other department, or is it 

Gardening?
Q. It says Garden Crew and Yard Crew.
A. Okay. Gardening is one crew, and the Yard Crew is another.
Q. Why have you never had any whites in either of those jobs?
A. Never had one apply.

A. If I have a job vacancy that is open in the Yard, then the word 
gets out. We make sure that the word gets out that there is a 
vacancy in the Yard Gang. Now, anybody that wants to apply and
is perfectly willing and able to apply, we'll accept all appli­
cations, which are white or black.

Q. How do you go about getting the word out? Who do you get the 
word out through?

A. I have a grapevine.
Q. Does that consist of the employees in the Yard Crew?
A. Black and white, all over - plant-wide. It's just part of this 

upward and downward communication.

but the years, and all of them are now and have always been
(black. Why have there never been any whites?

A. I have never had eight people in the Gardening Section. I

to it?

8 6 -



Q. You are saying that the grapevine is plant-wide?
A. Certainly.
Q. All right. Suppose you had a vacancy in the Yard Crew, would 

you notify everybody in the plant of that?
A. It goes out on the grapevine which includes everybody in the 

plant.
Q. How does it get out on the grapevine? What . . .
A. Well, let's say I have four or five key blacks and four or

five key whites. We might put this word out at a supervisory 
meeting, which they have daily, "We're going to hire somebody 
in the Yard Gang eventually, but there is a need there for one 
or two people, tell the folks, 11 and it goes out from there.
Our grapevine is very effective. They know what day we1 ire 
going to shut down before I do.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Would they also know if there's an opening in any 
place in the plant?

A. Yes, sir. They would know. Any place in any twenty-four hour 
period, they v/ould know it.

Q. All right, for example, how about a vacancy in a job like, say, 
Billing Clerk?

A. Okay, sir.
Q. Would you - which blacks v/ould you tell about the vacancy in 

that job?
A. I tell the - primarily the blacks in the Warehouse.
Q. And what' s the - v/ho are the names of those blacks that you

87



!

u

Q. (Cont'd) would tell about the vacancy?
A. Well, I'd tell - first of all, I would tell your two black 

Checkers. They are the persons that are more likely to be 
progressed into that spot because they know the operational 
procedures; they know the customs; they know the importance of 
the task, and they are more acceptable applicants.

Q. Do you know whether or not there was any vacancies in Billing 
Clerk for the last six or seven years?

A. Yes, there has.
Q. All right. Did you inform any blacks of those vacancies?
A. I put that same word out on the same network of those same 

key people that I do every job.
Q. Did you inform any blacks of those vacancies?
A. Yes.
Q. Who?
A. Well, it would be ray key people that I talk to are Shaveys and 

Wally Thomas and Hamilton and Pollidore, and there's likely to 
be one or two more.

Q. Did you tell each of those people about the vacancy in the 
Billing Clerk job?

A. You're asking me to be very specific. I cannot be that specific. 
I don't know if I spoke to each and every person or not, but I 
do know that the two blacks in the Checker jobs were well 
informed, and I'm sure I spoke to others. -j

Q. Why then were they not promoted to the job?
539 a

- 88 -

*



A. There were others that were better qualified. Number one -
let's give a for instance, Mr. Farrington, if I may. Number one, 
one of the positions was filled by a John Harris who v/as, in 
fact, a Floor Chief in the Packing House. He had a serious 
heart attack, and because of his heart attack, v/as restricted.
He needed a job that we could put him in that was a sit-dov/n 
position. This was the best lateral move that we could find.
It calls for very little decrease in pay. Nov/ then, we filled 
one of the positions with him. The other was the Senior Checker.

Q. In each instance v/here I have asked you about a vacancy in a 
job that was filled by a white person, your answer has been 
that you either had someone more qualified or you couldn't 
find anybody qualified for that particular job. Is that generally 
true? Could you say that qualified for most any job vacancies?

A. No. I think the record will show that out of a hundred and
seventy promotions, we've, promoted ninety-two blacks. I think 
that speaks for itself.

Q. Yes, sir. I'm talking about the jobs where you haven't promoted 
any blacks to?

A. Be specific, Mr. Farrington.
i !Q. All right. Let's talk about Lab Analyst.

A. Okay, sir.
Q. Do you state that you can't find any qualified blacks to fill

MA. Lab Analyst?
Q. That's right

-89-
4



Q. (Cont'd) that position?
A. I have a qualified bbick in the position.
Q. When was she hired?
A. It's a he.
Q. When was he hired?
A There again, I'll have to ask you to refer to the record. I 

think-it was sometime in 1969. He came in the Packaging House
as a Tester, and he progressed right on up to Lab Analyst.

Q. When did he progress to this job? When was his promotion to 
this job?

A. '70.
Q. Are you positive about that?
A. Let me refer to the record. His name is Ronald Coleman.
Q. I hand you what has been marked for identification as Defendant's 

Exhibit Number Thirty-Five, "Promotions since 1965."
A. Okay, sir. In 1970, it states that Ronald Coleman was a Station 

"W" Trainee, and he is promoted to Bench Chemist that year.
Q. I hand you what has been marked as Defendant's Exhibit Number 

Forty-Two which are job classifications, and tell me if Bench 
Chemist is listed.

A. The same thing as Bench Chemist is Lab Analyst. Yes, Bench
Chemist is listed. No, I have it here. Yes, sir, it's listed, 
and we have . . .

(
Q. Well, let's talk about the Lab Analyst which is a separate

position.

-90-



A. All right, sir.
Q. Now, no - no blacks are in that job, are they?
A. No, sir.
Q. Okay. Will you - would it be a fair statement that you haven't 

found any blacks qualified for that job?
A. All of the people that have the job of Lab Analyst have pro­

gressed in grade within the company under normal progression.
Q . And nobody . . .
A. And Coleman is now in line for that.
Q. And nobody has ever been able to progress that far?
A. No. We've never - no, we've never had any before now.
Q. Well, how about Junior Electricians?
A. Junior Electricians?
Q. Right. You have and have had two white Junior Electricians

since 19G5 and no blacks. Are you saying no blacks can progress 
or have been able to progress to that job?

A. I'm saying that they haven't progressed.
Q. Nov/, the Senior Electricians, you have eight whites and no 

blacks. Blacks haven't been able to progress to that job 
either?

A. Evidently not.
Q. You have black Electricians Helpers, don't you?
A. Yes, we do.
Q. And you have had for at least seventeen years, have you not?
A. I can't confirm the years, but we've had them for a good long

91



A. (Cont'd) while
Q. jDo you know of any reason why they have not been able to

'progress to Chief Elec- - to Electrician - I'm sorry - Chief 
Electrician to Senior Electrician or to Junior Electrician in 
these seventeen years.

A. Yes, for the same reason that they haven't progressed in other 
areas.

Q. All right. Why is that?
A. Qualifications.
Q. What are the qualifications necessary to progress to a Senior 

Electrician?
A. The same qualifications that we've talked about all along and, 

in addition to, aptitude for the job, ability on the job.
Q. Why hasn't Adam Baxter been promoted to an Electrician's job?
A. The same reason he wasn't promoted to an Operator's job.
Q. Because of his attitude?
A. Because of his ability and attitude.
Q. What about his ability?
A. Lack of it.
Q. How do you know that he cannot do Electrician's work?
A. I go strictly by what the Chief Electrician tells us.
Q. And the Chief Electrician has told you that he can't do - that 

Adam Baxter can't do the work?
\

A. That's what he says.
Q. Who is this Chief Electrician?

-92-



(  '/
A. Miller Dodson.

i \

Q. And how long has he been out there?
A. Close to thirty years.
Q. Why then has Mr. Baxter not been demoted from his job as Electric­

ian's Helper, if he can't do the work?
A. / Nobody has been demoted in the plant, Mr. Farrington.
Q.' You don't give demotions?
A I No, sir. It has not been our custom to give demotions as far 

as status or job classification is concerned. I've already 
stated that we reduced a person's wages two cents, but that's 
not a demotion.

Q. Why then has-he not been fired, if he can't do the work?
A. The job that he is doing is adequate to keep him employed at 

that pay grade.
Q. In other words - and he's going to always be in that job?
A. Unless he. himself deems otherwise.
Q. Now, how can he himself deem it otherwise? How can he get out 

of that job?
A. I think we've made it already clear. He can improve his atti­

tude. He'-can improve his desire to do a good job. He can |j
show his initiative to his Foreman, and, the people he works I
for, and he'll progress. It's just that simple.

Q. Have you ever told him that?
A. I myself have never told him that, no, sir.
Q. And how can he demonstrate his change in attitude to you to
....................  IHHth . L

-93-



Q. (Cont'd) your satisfaction?
A. I think that's very simple. The first step is the'beginning.
Q. What is the first step?
A. Shov; that he really wants to do the job.
Q. How can he do that? I mean, what is it that Mr. Baxter has got 

to do?
A. Mr. Baxter has got to do exactly what I just stated. He's

got to show a willingness and a desire to do a good job. He's 
got to show a spirit of cooperation among - not only to his 
Foreman - but to his peer group, his employees that he works 
with. He's got to shov; that he is able to do the job. He's 
got to make a stab at it. Let's go back to the one incident 
where he refused,to wire. If he had taken that job and done it 
that would have been a first step.

Q. You haven't heard Mr. Baxter's explanation of that yet, have 
you?

A. Only from the Foreman.
Q. You haven’t heard Mr. Baxter's explanation of that yet, have 

you?
A. Only from the Foreman.
Q. Sir, would you answer my question?
A. No, I haven't . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, he's answered it. I mean there's no point - 

I understand what he means and so do you.
Q. Then there may be some explanation other than the one the

., 5 % 0 ^ .
-94-



Q. (Cont'd) Foreman gave?
A. pther than the one that Baxter gave the Foreman.
Q. 'Sir, you have not heard Baxter's explanation about that?I
A. I told you, Mr. Farrington. No, sir, I have not heard - all 

I go by is what the Foreman testified on the card. He wrote 
it on the card and signed his name to it.

Q. Then there may well be another reason for Baxter's failure to 
perform that wiring than the one you have heard?

A. If there is another reason, he did not explain it to the Fore­
man when he had the opportunity. -

JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, of course, Mr. Blackwelder, you don't know 
that. In other words, you are only relying on what the Fore­
man told you.

A. Told me and wrote, yes, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes, so then if there was an inaccuracy there, you 

would have no knowledge of it?
A. No, sir.
Q. Are you familiar with the job classification Oiler?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. From '65 through '71, you've had a consistent number of six. 

They have all been black. Do you know why you've never had a 
white Oiler?

A. No, sir. Other than the fact that there hasn't been an opening
\

that there wasn't a black next in line to cover, and we've 
tried to promote the best qualified, and the man that's the

-95-



A. (Cont'd) most senior into the job. In fact, we did upgrade
tthe Oiler's job to that of a Senior Mechanic Helper.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Sir, the statistics seem to show here that most of 
the - well, I use the word menial for lack of a better term - 
but the dirty jobs and certainly some that you could character­
ize as menial are filled by blacks pretty generally, I would 
say, at first glance. At least, this is the statistics that 
I'd see.

A. Judge . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: 2\nd this ought to be somehow explained in this 

record, at least, to my satisfaction.
A. Okay. May I try?
JUDGE ALAIMO: Sure.
A. Our average employment is 17.4 years per person.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes, I . . . f
A. Okay. That means that our turnover rate is very small.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
A. Since we've made our determined efforts, since the inception

of the Civil - Title Seven Civil Rights Act of '64, effective 
*65 - since we've made a determined effort in that regard, since

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Your explanation of this is that because 
of a low turnover rate, you couldn't have a drastic change . . . 

A. Every chance that we've had to make a turnover that we could 
promote a black, we've.done so, and it's just going to take

H
that date, there's just been so many openings.

t



IA. (Cont'd) time for this balance to catch up.
iQ. Where have you promoted any blacks to?

A. (Well, the next job - any job above the one thev were now at
I that time carrying that we had an opportunity to do so. That's 
where they were going to move to.

Q. Now, how about the forty-eight you hired, if you've hired out 
there since 1965? Why is it that they have been - the whites 
have gone to only jobs in which whites were already working, 
and the blacks only went into jobs in which blacks were already 
working? Why is that?

A. Can you be specific?
Q. Any - all of them, every single one of them. According to your 

records, of the black hires were assigned jobs in which only 
other blacks were working.

A. Well, let me - let me disagree with you, just right off the top 
of my head. I know I have a Utility Operator on Station "F" 
that, heretofore, mostly has been filled by blacks. I've 
got a Cleaner on . . .

Q. Let's go back. A Utility Operator?
A. Yes.
Q . When was . . .
A. That's an entry level job on Station "F".
Q. And when was this gentleman hired?

\

A. '70.
Q. And what was his name?.

-97-



A. Lloyd - .
Q. Lloyd Rogers?
A. Lloyd Rogers, yes.
Q. And that job is Utility Operator?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Was there a white already working in that job when he came to 

work for you?
A. No, sir.
Q. Can you give me another example?
A. More recently, I have a white that was hired into the Cleaning 

section.
Q. And how long ago was that?

I :A. About two and a half, three months ago, but this is - the job 
has just come open, and I opened it just like I did anybody, 
and this guy was the best choice.

Q. Prior to 1971 though - excuse me, 1972 - there never had been 
any whites in the Cleaning Area?

A. Not to my knowledge, sir.
Q. Are those the only two jobs that you can think of?
A. Well, I've hired entry level, which we've already explained, in 

the Warehouse - whites going into what had been an all black 
work force. We have hired whites into the Packaging Department 
I've hired one who came in the same day that my last black 
Lab Technician came in, and they came in through the Packaging 
Department and the Quality Control section as a Tester, whose

-93-



A. (Cont'd) function was to drop the bags a number of times until 
it broke, testing the strength of the paper, and also various 
other testing procedures; and this v/hite came in to what had 
previously been mostly black, and he progressed, and I brought 
a black right in behind him. This guy's name is Walter Whiteman 
for the record, and the one right behind him was Ronald Coleman 
which was a black, and he followed the same path of progression. 
They both are now serving as Bench Chemists in the process.

Q. Now, all the people you've talked about have been black. Why 
have all the blacks been hired at jobs in only which blacks 
work?

A. Give me a specific.
Q. Well, all of them, anybody.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, a moment ago, you made that complaint about the 

whites but apparently . . .
Q. Well, I was . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: . . . his testimony, that wasn't correct.
Q. I'm trying to get the record straight, Your Honor.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
Q. I've handed to you Defendant's Exhibit Thirty-Six, "New Hires

Since '65."
A. Okay, sir. Let's go from here. What's your question?
Q. Well, I want - as far as we can determine, every black who has

been hired since '65 has been hired into a job in which only 
other blacks v/ere already working. ;i

99-



A. Well, I've just given you several instances where that's not true 
Q. No, those were white people you were talking about.
JUDGE ALAIMO: No. He mentioned Ronald Coleman, which I understand 

to be a black.
A. Yes.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Didn't he?
Q. I'm sorry. I - I - I thought he was promoted to that position. 
JUDGE ALAIMO: That's when he was hired.
A. He went through the same progression situation that the other 

white did.
Q. I see. What was his . . .
A. So he's gone into an all white - what had been previously

been . . .
Q. What was his entry level job?
A. Tester, the same as Walter Whiteman.
Q. Was Tester previously an all black job or an all white job?
A. It was - well, we'd just - it was all white job.
Q. It was a white job?
A. Well, let's see. It's - the time before, it had previously 

been held by a white employee.
Q. Okay. So we've got Ronald Coleman
A. Who quit. Okay
Q. Ronald Coleman. Anybody else?
A. Walter Whiteman first. He was the white.
Q. Let me back up and re-phrase my question

- 100 -

4



A. Okay.
Q. Were any other blacks that you know of during this period other 

than Ronald Coleman who were initially assigned their first 
job which was traditionally a white job?

A. / May I have a moment?
/JUDGE ALAIMO: Certainly.

A.' Yes. James - James Stokes was hired in ’68. Now, he was a
. - ■ . V/ white that went into what had previously been an all black 

situation, and that was Car Cleaner job. Now, he was hired 
into that job. Okay?

. JUDGE ALAIMO: All right, now. That was a white/black. Now, let’s 
get a black/white.

A. A black into a white situation. Was hired initially, correct?
Q. That’s right, initially.
JUDGE ALAIMO: That’s what his question is.
A. All right, sir. Ronald Coleman would be the one. Sorry to take 

so long; just bear with me.
| iQ. Quite all right.

A. The. only other one that I see would be the professional in the 
lab.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Now, out of the forty-eight new hires since 1965, i|
there’s been one black that was hired in a theretofore traditionally 
white entry7 job?

I!
A. Just for the initial hiring?

$i

JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes. £&<x ........... J..
-101 4



A. Yes, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: The initial job.
A. But they - they've been progressed into it many times over.
Q. Do you have any explanation as to why that's true?
A. No, sir. I would have to say that it has to be circumstance, 

or coincidence more than anthing else. I - I can truthfully 
state to you that I have - I don't think anybody in the employ­
ment process, the hiring process as it is now - would intentionally 
go to look for a black for an all black job, and that's just 
as truthful as I can be.

*
JUDGE ALAIMO: Do you want some more water?
A. No. I was just going to taste some.
Q. I have a classification on my card here called Scrubbing Machines 

and Trash Operators.
A. Okay.
Q. That's always been an all black job. Do you have any explanation 

for why that . . .
A. Well, we just put a scrubber machine in - let's say the last

four or five years. This is another area of mechanized updating. 
What used to be all hand-mopped and all hand-swept, and now, we ;i
take a machine and do it. We utilize these machines to take 
care of some of our disabled people that are unable to walk and 
unable to stand; and on one in particular, a Larry Bowers, who 
is relative a new man, was hired into another area. Because he

i
had a motorcycle accident and injured a leg that is non-repairable,

. . . . . . . . . . . . _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 * 3 © .
- 102- i



A. (Cont'd) we now have him on one of these scrubbing machines.

have more black applications possibly than we do white applica­
tions, and that's mainly because of employee referral. We have 
more blacks than whites working in our plant.

Q. What is a Volume Loader?
A. A Volume Loader?
Q . Right.
A. Could it be a Pay Loader?
Q. I - I take it it's someone who loads'- I understand that is is 

a classification provided for Liquid Sugar Loaders. Is it 
Liquid Sugar Loaders?

A. Yes, I know what a Liquid Sugar Loader is, but the Volume Loader 
has got me.

Q. Well, what is a Liquid Sugar Loader?
A. A Liquid Sugar Loader is the job that's handled on the liquid 

side - that's across from the White Sugar Warehouse where we
have a series of tankage, a Tank Farm. Now, on this Tank Farm, 
the blends are made that would be mixed say for - if we had a 
Peach Packer customer, you would mix a sucrose blend with a 
corn syrup blend, and that's the job that the Liquid Sugar 
Loader, not only in . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: He blends the . . .
A. He blends it. It's a mechanized operation - instruments and so 

forth . . .

The only explanation I can tell you, Mr. Farrington, is that v/e

SS*o.
-103-



JUDGE ALAIMO: Rather a sophisticated operation?
A. Yes, it is. We have two Blend Station Operators that have

since - now, these are the only two jobs that I can think of 
right, off the top of my head that have been really created.
We talked a minute ago about the reasons that they're not in 
upper jobs. We haven't created many jobs, but we have created 
two called Blend Station Operators, and both of those are filled 
by blacks.

Q. That job has always been all white - I'm sorry, all black?
A. Which one, sir?
Q. The Liquid Sugar Loader.
A. No, you're talking about the Liquid Sugar Loader Helper.
JUDGE ALAIMO: I would think that - I just asked him, Mr. Earring- 

ton, whether that was a fairly sophisticated job, and he
•I

indicated yes, and it would seem that way. If you were blending 
these various flavors to blend with sugar . . .

Q. I understand that, but nevertheless, it's a segregated job.
j|

JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, is it as a policy? Has it been traditionally jj
a black job . . .

ji
A. The Liquid Sugar . . .

\  ■ i jJUDGE ALAIMO: . . . since '65? ij
A. The Liquid Sugar Loader? The job that you've asked me about is 

the Liquid Sugar Loader, and it's primarily been white.
Q. I see. Now, the Liquid Sugar Helper has been an all black job?

A. As long as I've been involved in it, yes, sir.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  I

-104- *



Q. All right. The job you described to the Judge, this sophisti­
cated job, is the one that has been filled by whites?

A. Up until last year or so. We now have two blacks in that job.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, when you get a new hire, why is it that - I 

assume you'd get a new hire in a helper situation. Why is it 
that - for instance - that it is always a black instead of a 
white?

\
Aj All right, sir. To upgrade anybody into a Liquid Sugar Helper's 

job, we look among the people in that department, primarily 
your Floor Loaders. All right. All of the Floor Loaders, with 
the exception of these three that we mentioned before, are 
black. Here ..is a chance to upgrade a person . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes, I understand that, but has that happened?
In other words, have those black helpers to the Liquid Sugar 
Loaders been promoted to the . . .

A. Yes, sir. We - in plant promotion.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Okay. All right.

■

A. That's the primary objective.
Q. Okay. Let's go to the Packaging Department. In your record, 

you have one group called the Machine Feeders, Weight Checkers, 
Inspectors, and Cleaning. It covers a pretty broad ground.
I take it that it was compiled that way because they all pay 
about the same rate of pay?

A. That's right, sir. The same job classification really.
Q. And in '65, you had seventy-eight blacks in that classification

'o
-105- *



Q. (Cont'd) and no v;hites. In '71, you had forty-nine blacks in
that classification and no whites.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Which classification is that, now?
Q. It's Packaging - for instance, there is a Machine Feeders, 

Weight Checkers, Inspectors, and Cleaning.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Now, is this a classification that you sort of made
/• up out of the information you had, or is this one that the

/  \I company'uses?
■

Q. This came - that classification came from Defendant's Exhibit 
Forty-Two.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Okay. All right. Now, you said there was seventy- 
some-odd in !65?

Q. Seventy-eight blacks.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Seventy-eight, all black?
Q . Right.
JUDGE ALAIMO: And now in ‘71, there were how many?
Q. Forty-nine blacks.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Still all black?
Q. All blacks.
JUDGE ALAIMO:., Okay. Would you answer that question?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Well, they - I really didn't ask him a question. The question 

is how do you account for the fact that there's never been any 
whites in this classification?

A. Well, we huiven't hired into that area primarily. That's the

106



A. (Cont'd) biggest reason. There's been no hiring into that 
general area. We - when we took the cleaning function, the 
Sanitation Department, as such, and made it a separate body 
within itself, v/e v/ithdrew all the Cleaners from the Packaging 
Department and put them into this area - into this department 
wherein Shavers is the Foreman. That's the biggest reason, and 
then normal attrition would have taken some, but there's been 
no hiring into that area.

Q. All right. How about Bale Packer Operator? Are you familiar 
with that job?

A. Okay, yes, right. Packer Operators who . . .
Q. In '65, you had sixteen blacks and no whites. In ' 70-1 

believe that job has been eliminated, hasn't it?
A. Well, almost, it's been ever decreasing, because as we've put 

more sophisticated equipment in and, of course, this job has 
been eliminated, but the people have been retained in other 
capacities.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, I can understand where they tended to go down, 
for instance, from the seventy-eight to forty-nine, but there 
has been no new hiring, and that's the perfect explanation as

Q. But - well, as I understood it, he said "We haven't done . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Any hiring. tl
Q. He said that "We have not done any hiring at all."
A. Oh, no. The record says we hired forty-nine people. I'm saying

to why there wouldn't be any whites in there.

-107-



A. (Cont'd) we didn't hire into that area.
Q. In that area - in that classification that I just mentioned,

have you not hired anybody at all since '65?
A. No, sir. I don't remember in hiring anybody into that area.
MR. SAPP: Excuse me, Your Honor. I'm not certain now which

classification we're talking about. The last we talked about 
was the Bale Packer Operator, and before that, we talked about 
the group Machine Feeders, Weight Checkers, Inspectors, and 
Cleaning.

MR. FARRINGTON: That's what we're talking about. The last one you 
mentioned is the one in question.

JUDGE ALAIMO: In the Machine Feeders, the Checkers, the Cleaners, 
that we talked about originally, in which there were seventy- 
eight all black in 1955 and forty-nine all black in 1971, a 
drop of about thirty.

A. Yes, but my Cleaners have been taken out of that section entire­
ly and put into a department of their own.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right, but has there been any hiring?. ! j
A. No, sir.
Q. Okay. How about in packaging specialty sugars - the twelve/five,

the six/ten's and thirty/two operators - in other words, would
you explain to the Judge what those mean.

A. Twelve/five's, thirty/two1s, and six/ten's?
Q. Yes. What do the numbers mean . .
A. All right . .

-108-



Q. . . .  get that number?
i \

A. There's twelve five-pound bags in a bale, and there's six ten- 
pound bags in a bale, and there's thirty two-pound bags in a 
bale. What we refer to is just - just the thirty/two operation 
would consist of the filling unit, the sealer, and the Packer/

/ Operator.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Still the five-pound bags are the same thing as the

/  -  ■ '/ . two-pound bag?
A. Yes, except the five-pounds and ten-pounds are more automated 

now. . They have a Griswald Packer that does the job. The only 
one that still maintains the Packer Operator is the thirty 
pound - the thirty two-pound bags. Is that sufficient?

Q. In 1355, you had seven of those operators. In 1971, you had 
nine operators. All of them have always been black. Do you 
know why you haven't had any whites in this job?

A. Are you saying that there was an increase?

Q. Yes.‘ |i
. ■A. From when?- j!

Q. From *65 through '71.
A. In the Packer Operator . . .
Q. . . .  twelve/five's, six'ten's, and thirty/two's. Ij
A. Well, there shouldn't have been an increase at all being that

we've been ever decreasing. If the figures reflect an increase, 
then I'll just have to say my figures are incorrect in that 
regard, because unless they were temporarily serving and whoever



A. (Cont'd) counted that particular time, I guess made a miscalcu­
lation. It's always decreased.

Q. But those have always remained an all black job?
tA. There *s been no hiring into them, yes, sir.

Q. Okay. How about Fork Lift Operators?
A. / Okay. What' s your question?
Q ./■ My question is I haven't seen any permanent whites in that job 

\in '65 through *71 even though there has been an increase in 
that from eight to fourteen to sixteen back down to ten in '71.

A. All right. We've gone to a more mechanized loading operation, 
wherein we use less Floor Loaders now than we ever have. We 
have slip-sheet - what we call a slip-sheet operation - and 
this uses primarily a fork lift to do the job, wherein it used 
to be manual labor involved to go in catch them off of a 
conveyor belt and stack them by hand. Now, you can take a 
whole pallet load on a fork lift, move them into the box car, 
and unload them, and slide the sheet out from under them. So 
it's taken the manual part out of it, and in so doing, increased 
our Fork Lift Operators, who had been drawn from the Floor 
Loader people. I

Q. How is it then that the white Floor Loaders never were assigned 
to this job of Fork Lift Operator permanently, but the blacks 
are?

A. Well, there again, qualification. They could do the job when 
we went to - when we put out a need for a Checker; they were

Cf
-no- /



A. (Cont'cl) available; they were the people that could do the job 
jat the time. Blacks were considered right along with them, and
I in later testimony, I think that will come out.
I

Q. I'm not sure that I understand exactly what the company policy 
is. What I don't understand about it is how a man can come in 
as a Floor Loader and progress through several temporary jobs 
to some job up the ladder without ever becoming permanent in 
one of the jobs below him.

A. Well, if he exercises his ability in a relief capacity to
handle each job he's assigned to, then it's a recognized fact 
that he knows that job and they can use him as a relief on 
many different jobs. A person who is versatile enough to 
relieve on many jobs, is a valuable person to have. Now, these 
two developed are - were qualified in that regard. Every job 
that they were assigned to, they could carry out. It doesn't 
mean that they were given the opportunity before the black, 
because in many cases, the black was given the opportunity, 
but let's say they just progressed faster. When we got into 
an acute situation where we needed a Checker; we had two 
that were physical disabilities, had major operations, and 
dropped out of picture, and vie were caught in a rush - a price 
increase; we had to make do with what we had, and what we had
the best of what we had to fill the Checker's jobs was these

\
two whites. It's just that simple.

Q. So they were, in fact,, were leaving from Fork Lift Operator

- 111-



Q.

A.

Q.

A.
Q.

A.

Q.

A.

(Cont'd) jobs when the Checker jobs became available?
Phey could have been Floor Loading or they could have been on 

'the Fork Lift, or they could have been in another capacity. 
Yes, sir, but the one on Fork Lift - of Fork Lift - has showed 
up as being an all black job. '
All right, sir.

I'm trying to figure out how these whites got through there 
without ever getting permanently assigned.
The only one thing that I - that I can tell you about those 
two whites in particular was that they were at times utilized 
in fork lift operations as relief people.
Yes, sir. I take it then a reliever on the fork lift was the
type that could relieve on the next job up, or is it that 
formalized?
It's not that formalized, but he could if he's qualified. 
There's no reason why anybody with the same qualifications 
that's been exemplified by these, as examples, can't do the 
same thing.

Q. Let's talk about the Checker job.
A. All right, sir.
Q. How long does it take a man to learn how to do that?
A. It depends on the individual.
Q. The average individual?

\
A. The average individual?
Q . The average type.

o

- 112-

*



A. Let’s say about anywhere from ninety to a hundred and twenty
days.

Q. Now, v/hen these white individuals were relieving the Checker’s

A. Only when they're carrying it by themselves. On-the-job train-
/ ing, no, sir. If they are carrying the job - if they are relieving
■ the jbb, everybody in the plant, when they are relieving on a

/  \/ higher paid job for over four hours a day, gets the pay on 
a temporary basis.

Q. So if they were training for'that job, they wouldn't be getting 
the . . .

A. No, sir. No., sir, because it requires a full paid man to be
right there with him.

Q. How can a man learn to be a reliever on a job that he doesn't 
occupy permanently and get paid for that relief work more 
quickly than a man whose put in the job?

A. You’ll have to repeat the question.
Q. Here - here's - here's my problem.
A. Okay.
Q. My problem is that these white people relieve on this job, 

the Checker job, apparently without any ninety-day training

A. No, sir. They're relieved without that increase in pay until 
they're deemed qualified to hold the job. Now, that doesn't -

job, would they receive the Checker rate of pay?

period, and they receive their full rate of pay for the Checker
job.

-113-



A. (Cont'd) just because I say ninety days, if they can qualify

their advantage, and they've utilized the incentive that's 
there for them - incentive being the rate of pay once they're 
qualified. The same thing is applicable to the blacks.

Q. Do you know, in fact, whether or not these two individuals 
performed this Checker work without the Checker rate of pay?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. For . . .
A. With instructions.
Q. And for how long do this?
A. Oh, I couldn't be specific about length of time, but I do know

that while they were on their training period, they never 
received the pay.

Q. All right. Do you remember talking, maybe some years ago, to 
a gentlemen from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission?

A. Do I remember talking to one?
Q. Yes.
A. I talked to an investigator on one occasion that I can recall.

I talked to one last week.
Q. This would have been some five years ago after Adam Baxter filed 

this suit.
MR. SAPP: Your Honor, I wonder if I might have his name referred 

to. We are talking now about five or six years ago when he was 
supposed to have talked to him.

sooner - if they can qualify in thirty to sixty days, it's to

-114-



JUDGE ALAIMO: Sure, if he has it.
MR. FARRINGTON: I don't recall the name. I have a report here . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: You have a report from that man or rather a report 

that contains the name?
MR. FARRINGTON: There is a report that contains the name, but I

don't have the report with me. Perhaps it's not Mr. Blackwelder 
who made this statement or whose name is contained in this 
report, but I'm just asking if five years ago, you talked to 
an E.E.O.C. investigator about Adam Baxter's employment?

A. Oh, no, sir. I've talked to an E.E.O.C. investigator about
another individual, but never Adam Baxter.

Q. You've never talked with one about Adam Baxter?
A. No, sir.
Q. You've explained the fact that the company has so many relatives 

of relatives working there, at least in part, by the fact that 
when the company moved here in 1917, the employees came and 
moved their families with them and lived on the company prem- -
cottages, I believe you referred to them, on the company 
premises. All right, now. Did they bring any black employees 
with them?

Q. How about people who did not work or whose families did not 
work for the original company, like for example, Frank King's 
family? How is it that so many of their relatives get to work - 
get hired by the company?

A. Yes, sir. There were black and white that came with them. If

-115- *



A. Referral. Referral. • When the word goes out that we need
people in various areas, of course, these people are, more than 
likely, want to push relations more than a good friend. A 
brother would come ahead of a good friend or a cousin or so
forth, and if he's a good employee, and if v/e get good job

/ references on him, then we have no aversion to hiring him.
Q./ In fact, your primary source of new employees is from relatives
/ of other employees, is it not? Isn't that one primary source?

A. That has been the foundation of the company in the past.
Q. Suppose you had two applicants for a job, both equally qualified, 

and one was a relative . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: He's already . . .
A. The Judge has already asked me that.
Q. He has? Okay.
JUDGE ALAIMO: He's already answered that.
Q. Explain to me just a little bit about those company cottages.

What are they? I've heard them mentioned.
A. Well, we don't have them anymore.
JUDGE ALAIMO: You talked about a village as I recall.
Q. A village,- what were they?
A . What ?
Q. What were they?
A. Housing. Residential housing for - for the - for those people

that lived - some of our employed - this goes back years ago
in 1917. We didn't have a road to the refinery at that time

-116-



A. (Cont'd) and all of the employees had to go back and forth by
I
boat. Many times, due to shifting sandbars, et cetera, the 
.boat would get held up, and the time came for a shift change, 
and these were kind of the emergency stand-by people that lived 
on the place. Primarily those people that were in key jobs 
like a mechanic and an electrician and so forth. Of course, 
through the years, it's changed.

Q. Do you know at a peak how many houses they have had out there? 
A. No, sir, I don't.
Q. Do you know approximately how many?
A. I really don't.
Q. Do you kno%'/ whether or not any black employees ever lived in 

any of these homes?
A. I'm sure. Yes, sir.
Q. How big of an area was it? How big of an area does the houses 

cover?
A. All of it in total?
Q . Right.
A. I'd say thirty-five, maybe thirty-five acres - thirty, thirty-

Q. I refer'just a minute to Defendant's Exhibit Thirty-Five,
"Promotions Since 1965." You talked a good bit that you con­
sidered a promotion to be; one, where^a rate increase had

of those elements be required to be present, or one of them, or

five acres. That's strictly a guess estimate on my part.

occurred, or ; two, a change in job classification. Would both

-117-



Q. (Cont'd.) which? For example, if a man got a general rate
increase but not a change in job classification, v;ould that be 
considered a promotion?

Q. If he got a change in classification but not a change in rate, 
would that be a promotion?

A. It's possible if it - if it provided him with a better oppor­
tunity to expand and as a training ground for future work, but 
I don't know of any such instance that I entered something like 
that. Generally, it would involve both the rate increase and 
the job classification.

Q. But it is possible where he changed classification but didn't 
actually receive a rate increase, that that could have been 
counted . . .

A. I doubt it, but it might be.
Q. It is within the realm of possibility?
A. I would agree with that, sir.
Q. Now, I believe that you testified that you got "our Affirmative 

Action Program out of the icebox" or some very colorful term 
like that in about 1968?

A. My meaning was that we really got it organized into a meaning­
ful package in about 1968,yes, sir. We had drafted and played 
with it, and during the year 1967, trying to get an adequate 
Affirmative Action Program, one that would reflect the things 
that we wanted to find out.

A. No

118



JUDGE AIAIMO: It's one o'clock. Do you have much longer, Mr. 
Farrington? It's one o'clock.

MR. FARRINGTON: Yes, sir, we do.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Let's suspend till two fifteen for lunch. 
NOTE: The Court recessed for lunch at 1:00 P.M.
NOTE: The Court reconvened at 2:15 P.M.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Let me ask you gentlemen. Have the interrogatories 
to the Defendant together with their answers and amended 
answers - have they been introduced into the record?

MR. FARRINGTON: No, I don’t believe they have, Your Honor. Some 
portions of them have been introduced as other exhibits. Well, 
we would like to offer them.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
MR. SIMPSON: Your Honor, I had just assumed that the original 

interrogatories had been . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: I had too, but then I checked back in my notes and 

I didn't see that they were actually included - just so we're
IJ

sure that they are in the record.
MR. SIMPSON: Pardon us, Your Honor. Pardon us for their absence.

I have no objections for the Defendant.
^ ' v !i

MR. FARRINGTON: I really don't think we have got any. '
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Well then, without objection, they will 

be admitted into evidence.
MR. SIMPSON: The - they were - as Your Honor may recall from the 

record, there were objections initially because it involved an

-119-



MR. SIMPSON: (Cont'd) import lawyer that answered interrogatories .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes, of course, subject to that - to those objections.
MR. SIMPSON: Yes. Your Honor overruled those objections.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes, sir.

CROSS EXAMINATION OF MR. BLACKWELDER BY MR. FARRINGTON RESUMED:
Q. Mr. Blackwelder, before lunch, I think we had just begun to

talk about your company's Affirmative Action Program that got 
going in 1958. That document has been marked for identification 
as Defendant's Exhibit Thirty-Three.

JUDGE ALAIMO: And what is that? The Affirmative Action Program?
Q. The Affirmative Action Program, Your Honor. I would like for 

you to, if you will, turn to the first of the four pages. Is 
this the document that you - is this your Affirmative Action 
Program?

A. This is a consolidated version. Yes, sir.
Q. What do you mean by consolidated version?
A. Well, we've tried to include all of the Affirmative Action 

Programs basically from 1968 to date in this one document.'
If you will notice, the back pages will show you each year our 
new hires and our upgradings, et cetera.

Q. Would you explain to the Court exactly what an Affirmative 
Action Program is and why any company would be interested in 
having something called an Affirmative Action Program?

A. I can only explain it from my standpoint of view, Mr. Farring-
J|

ton, and that would be that although we are not a government
- ......... . Slf(3L-

- 120 -



A. (Cont'd) contractor, we know that we have obligations in the
area of minority impovement, and we primarily went into the area 
in '63, and from then on each year mainly as an internal check 
in our own system.

Q. Do you know whether or not an Affirmative Action Program is 
required of any company that .does business with the U. S. 
Government ?

A. Yes. Any government contractor must have an Affirmative Action

Q. Do you know whether this term Affirmative Action Program is
something the Department of Labor uses in referring to policies 
developed by companies for upgrading minorities?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. Phase one, "In keeping" - and I'm reading from it, Mr. Black- 

welder - "In keeping with the foregoing policy," and that's the 
policy that's just been outlined in the preceding paragraph . .

A. Yes, sir . . .
Q. "It will be our practice to periodically bring this policy/ 

policies to the attention of all our employees." Nov/, would 
you tell me, if you would, how this policy has been brought to 
the attention of the black employees of Savannah Sugar and the 
dates?

A. Yes, sir. If you continue to read that sentence, it says "to 
emphasize it particularly to our first-line supervision, 11 and 
this has been our route of communication, through the first-line

Program

- 121- *



A. (Cont'd) supervisors with our instructions to give it to the 
employees.

Q. So you depend on the Supervisors to disseminate this information 
to the employees?

A. We depend on our Supervisors for all sorts of communication - this 
being one of then, sir.

Q. You don’t or you haven't, I've taken it, called all of the 
employees in . . .

A. Mass meeting?
Q. Yes, or - or phoned them up or something like that, have you?
A. No, sir, not to my knowledge.
Q. Approximately how many first-line supervisors do you have?
A. May I guess at fifteen?
Q. Yes. I just wanted for you to approximate it.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Fifteen?
A. I might be low.
JUDGE ALAIMO: First-line supervisors?
A. Yes.

.

Q. This is the group of people you accomplish . . .
A. Are you talking about plant-wide?
Q. This is'the group of people - I am asking about the group of

people upon whom you depend to disseminate this information.
A. Right. May I refer to the record? I really must . . .
Q. An approximation is all we're interested in.
A. Okay. Let's say fifteen to thirty. I know that's a wide range,

- 122- 4



A. (Cont'd) but I'm just really not sure at this point.
Q. How many of those are black?
A. First-line employees, I have one Foreman.
Q. What is he the Foreman of?
A. The Sanitation Department.
Q. That is Shavers?
A. Yes, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Does that mean the Janitors - the clean-up people?
A. It means the - yes. Yes, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Okay.
A. Custodial workers, and their primary function is cleaning.
Q. All right. In the next sentence, "We shall periodically

evaluate and analyze the effectiveness of our policy and seek 
to identify problem areas in our hiring policies, in-plant 
opportunities, and the relationship with the community of which 
we are a part."

A . Right.
Q. Let us talk a minute about the identify - identifying the pro­

blem - the problem areas in your hiring policies.
A. Okay, sir.
Q. Since this Affirmative Action Program has been adopted, have you 

in fact, attempted to identify any problem areas in the hiring 
policies?

A. Yes, sir, we have. I think v/e just got some of them this
mornxng.



Q.

A.

Q.

A.

Q.

A.

Q.

A.
Q.

What problems have you identified as being - what areas have
i \you identified as being problems in the hiring policies?

The areas we've previously discussed about whites going into 
all black areas’ and blacks going into all white areas previous­
ly. Is that what you're speaking of?
Well, that and any other problem areas that you have identified.
Well, other than getting the best qualified people, that was 

\the only problem areas that have shown up in our Affirmative 
Action Program.
What have - has the company determined to do about this problem 
area?
Through this. Affirmative Action Program and through the inter­
nal checks that were made because of it, I think we have made 
positive steps in that regard, some of which were outlined this 
morning.

!What sort of steps have you made?
Well, we talked about hiring whites, in particularly, into* I!*
situations where previously there had been all black and vice

- (iversa.
And we also determined, I believe, that only one blaclt in the
blacks 'that you hired since 1965 had been assigned to a previous-

,  * |ly white job? i
Two, I think, is'right. i
The second one was a biologist who was a professional person 
with a college degree?

-124-
i



/

A. A very qualified person, yes./
Q.

JAnd she was only hired this year, is that correct?
A. hn 1970.
Q. In 1970?
A. 1971, July. I'm sorry.
Q.• 1971. She is not a person who would come through in the normal 

course of your applicant flow? Isn't she a specialized person 
that . . .

A. Sure, she's a specialized person, but her explication came in 
in the normal flow. Of course, I went out and sought the 
applicants.

Q. Do you recall whether or not her name was on - was included on

u Defendant's Exhibit Humber ThirLy-Six, the list of new hires?
A. Her name is Betty Ludholt.
Q. Would you check it?
A.

•
I don't see her name, Mr. Farrington. My only explanation for 
that would be that maybe my professional people aren't listed !J H
here. It's a good chance of that. I don't see any others.

Q. So then, on that list, we were able to identify one - one 
person?

A. I'd have to say yes.
Q. And also on the list, I believe, it shows that at least twenty-

A.
seven black employees being hired during this period? 
That's what the record shows.

L Q. Is this consistent with your policy at - of attempting - to hire
5 ICa.. .k i >  jl
-125-

*



/

Q. [Cont'd) blacks to perform a white job - the fact that only
one has been so hired?

A. /Well, there's two things that depend on - that call for new
hires, and that's - one is a vacancy in the job, and there's 
a need to fill the vacancy. If a vacancy appeared in those 
particular areas and all of ray applicants for that particular 
job were black, or white, then perhaps they would have been 
hired into that category.
Now, do you seek all of your applicants for that particular 
job, but didn't I understand you that applicants don't'apply 
for any particular job?
The applicant - let's say the applicants that we consider 
from a group.

Q.

A.

Q.

A.
How would you determine what group to consider?
Well, I have them, grouped into job preference. Now, when they 
apply on the application, there's a line that states "job 
preferred," and there's also a line that calls for "job experience. 
As we analyze the applications as they come into us, if a person, 
say for instance, has had fork lift driving experience, he would 
normally go into what we call the Warehousing group; and if he 
calls for a specific job like Packaging, or he might have a 
laborer - I have a classification called general laborers, and i
it would go into that classification, and if I have an opening

\  Ifin that regard, that's the first place I "look.
If he calls for a specific job, that means that he must know

S77<k, ..... _JL
- 126 -



Q. (Cont'd) that that particular job is available?
i \A. Possibly.

Q. And he would have learned that probably from a company employee? 
A. Possibly.
Q. How else would he pick or select his preference for.a particular

I
I job?

A J. You would have to ask the individual. That might be all of his
/  \/ exper— my experience has been that related to hrs past experience 

plus the fact that you've just brought out have a great bearing 
on what they put on there.

Q. Do you, when an applicant comes in, have any method of inform­
ing applicants of the various entry level job classifications, 
whether or not you have any vacancies in them or not?

A. Yes, sir. Most of ray applicants, if I interview them, will ask 
me -when I ask them "What type of job are you interested in?", 
they will say "What type of jobs do you have?" They're not 
familiar with the sugar refining operation.

Q. Do you have a list of jobs for them, or do you just generally 
run through them?

A. I have a,list, but I generally run through them.
|iQ. Do you explain to them what each different job . . .

A. Yes, sir. I tell them the difference m  the process 30b, and
packaging, and warehousing, et. cetera, mechanical, right on

'up.
Q. Do you have any idea how many of the twenty-seven blacks hired.... $7&x. ^  .j ,

• -127-
*



Q. (Cont'd) during that-period expressed a preference for a job
i \

they eventually got?
A. I don't have any idea, sir.
Q. Is their preference for a job a primary consideration in assign­

ing them?
A. / No. The primary consideration is to fill the vacancy wherein

/ there's an entry level job located - wherever it's located.
/  . \/ Nov/, if'the person who wants that job, if he's aware of it, 

if he's been referred, he might ask for that specific job, 
and if that's the job that he wants, and he desires it and wants 
to be considered, then v/e do so.

Q. Now, I believe that I asked a question a few minutes ago, and
I'm not sure whether - I think you might have gotten on to 
something else.

A . Okay.
Q. The question was is the fact that only one black has been

assigned to any of the traditionally white jobs consistent with 
your aims of your Affirmative Action Program?

A. Well, my only answer that I can give you to that question is
the fact <-that there haven't been a significant number, perhaps 
maybe none, job openings in what you call a previously all 
white category. If you will give me a specific, I can better 
answer your question.

Q. Okay. I believe your records reflect that during this period, 
there v/ere twelve vacancies in all the white categories, and

-123- *



Q. 1d) the six additional ones had some whites and blacks.

A. 6kay. Just . . .
Q. Low, I don't know - all right. Raw Sugar Clerk? Any blades 

ever been in that job?
A. No, sir, but I interviewed for'some.
Q. How about the Records Clerk? Any blacks ever been in that job?
A. Not to my knowledge.
Q. How about General Office Relief?
A. If I can remember, we only had - there were only two that J. can 

remember, I think I was the first one.
Q. Is that your old job?
A. Yes, sir. On both of these jobs you previously mentioned, I . 

did survey the - several ladies in my Packing House Operation 
and asked them if they were interested, and if they had the 
typing experience, and if they were willing to try, and- I got
turned on all counts.

Q. How about Instrument Trainee? Any blacks ever been in that job
• |]A. Not to my knowledge, sir.

Q. Records Clerk? We already talked about the Records Clerk.

A. Yes. !}
JUDGE ALAIMO: That document that you have there, how many . . . Jj
q . Your Honor, I am referring to Defendant's Exhibit Thirty-Six,

"New Hires in 1965." It shows the'name of the person hired, his

race , the.date he was hired, the department or job hired into .
All right. . Nov/, in any place, do you have jobJUDGE ALAIMO:



JUDGE ALAIMO: (Cont'd) descriptions for these various job cate-
/Igories?

A. We don't have a form of job descriptions, Judge. No, sir.
Q. On this Exhibit, however, there is a statement of the qualifi­

cations necessary for the job and gives a little indication 
about what the job may involve but not an awful lot. While 
we're on the subject, you have a number of people, both black 
and white, listed on here with no - no statement of the job 
hired into. Do you know what . . .

A. Could you show me one, sir?
Q. Oh, I see what you've - it's "Other Applicants Included."
A. Right.
Q. How about the Productions and Shipping Clerks? Any blacks in 

there?
A. The same thing as a Billing Clerk?
Q. It says . . .
A. Production and Shipping Clerk? Yes, that's what - that would 

even be a Checker or Billing Clerk, but the Checker, of course 
the category it is - if I may see it, I can be more explicit 
with you.

NOTE: Defendant's Exhibit Thirty-Six handed to Mr. Blackwelder.
A. Okay. Yes, that's in the Payroll Section. To my knowledge, 

none have. That calls for an accounting background, as you 

probably saw.
Q. Also, while we're on Exhibit Thirty-Six, there are a number of

577 a ..........  -



Q. (Cont'd) names in here, "Other Applicants Considered." This is
/I
hot an - a docket list of all the applicants you considered for

A. It's probably not as complete as it could have been, but time 
didn't permit us to.

Q. This is just a sampling of the other applicants who were consid­
ered?

A. Yes, sir. Of course, this was probably the final screening.
Q. Nov/, yes. Let's go back to the question. Is the fact that 

only one person has been assigned to a formally white job 
consistent with your Affirmative Action Program? Is that what 
you're after?

A. I think you and I both know that that's not what we're after.
We're after improving our overall system throughout, and that's 
the purpose of continuing to update our Affirmative Action 
Program year after year, in spite of the fact that we don't 
have to.

Q. You mean you don't have to because you're not a government 
contractor?

A. Well, let's say it's not a forced issue. It's a voluntary 
issue.

Q. What have you done to overcome this problem area? I mean,
have you adopted any program, any specific program, to overcome 
this problem - this problem area that we're talking about?

A. We come into the area Of goals and timetables. I'm sure that's

the jobs?

i!

-131 *



A. (Cont'd) maybe what you're referring to.
Q. That's one of the things I could be referring to. I don't know

if you've adopted that or not?
A. Well, we've gone into it this past year in an effort to try

to, although we're still hampered - we're hampered by the fact 
that there's no jobs open that often, but when they are, it's 
our intention to upgrade our minorities right along v/ith the 
rest of them.

Q. Would you explain to the Court - goals and timetables are again 
a government work of art — would you explain to him exactly what 

it is.
A. Goals and timetables, Your Honor, are something that's usually 

set forth on a five-year basis . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: By whom?
A. By the government.
JUDGE ALAIMO: By the Labor Department?
A. Yes, sir. It's recommended by them . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, what's it a part of?
A. All right. It's a part of the Affirmative Action Program that 

says "I will" - it says in part "I will within the next five 
years," and it's in steps, "try to promote a minority employee

it
into a upper level job" - a higher level job. You try to set 
yourself based on who you know's going to retire, based on
who you assume, because of statistics, is going to ciic. You 
try to shoot at a target based on who you're going to promote

-132-



A. (Cont'd) in - over the next five-year period.
Q. /None of us used the word "quota," Your Honor. It's not a

/
I quota system, but it's a system dealing with numbers. As Mr. 
Blackwelder suggests, you try to project how many vacancies 
you're going to have and then you try to project how many 
blacks you're going to try to get into that job. It's not a - 
it's not a statement that you 1 "We're going to put X-number 
of blacks in X-number of jobsj' but it will be an attempt to get 
at least an X-number of blacks into those jobs . . .

A. It's an all - it's all in upgrading the system. It's for the 
minority group.

Q. Do you often . . .
A. Docs that answer your question?
Q-
A.
Q.
A.

Q.

A.

I'm sorry?
Did that answer your question?
That is what you have done?
Yes. We are working on that now at the present time. You see, 
we - we 1 re - every year, we change our format on our Affirma­
tive Action Program. As you know, there's been a recent change 
in the overall requirements. In keeping with that, we've gone 
to the change also.
Do you have - are you working on goals and timetables in both 
hiring and for promotions?
I don't know how they could do much of it on a hiring. We've 
primarily looked at it in the promotional area. We promote

i-133-



A. (Cont'd) now almost one to one. Perhaps we probably promote
i \

more blacks than whites. According to the record, I think it 
will bear it out.

Q. Slightly more in numbers and slightly less in percentage. In 
other words, you promoted, I believe, something like ninety 

/ blacks and seventy whites, but that was - that meant that
/ twenty-eight percent of the blacks got promoted and thirty-
/ \
/ . eight percent of the whites got promoted, from the standpoint 

of people working . . .
A. Well, you can work the figures any way you want to.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Are more blacks employed, by your company than whites? 
A. Yes, sir.
Q. That's correct. About sixty-three percent of the work force is 

black. So you have not adopted a goals and timetables for 
hiring?

A. Yes. It would be included. Perhaps .it's just not as important
as the promotional aspect, because we're dealing with a declining

i;tiwork force. In 1965, you probably noticed we hired nobody; 
in .'6 6, very limited; last year, in '70, maybe two people or 
five at the most counting professional employees. So as we 
are dealing with a declining work force, hiring becomes less 
important. Our practice is, because we feel like we've been 
doing a pretty good job in that area, if there is some improve- i i
ments that can be made, we will intend to make them; but 
promotions are our primary objective in upgrading our people -

-134-



A. (Cont'd) existing people.
Q. But nevertheless, you hired forty-eight people . .
A. That was from '65 to '71, yes, sir.
Q. So you don't have - besides these vacancies, you don't have

vacancies in - in an entry level job?
A./ No, I haven’t said that.
MR. SAPP:' Your Honor, I would just like to interject something
1  '/ here. We1ve gotten into the Affirmative Action Program that is 

required by the Department of Labor. Now, we haven't made any 
offer of this document as being one that had been submitted to 
the Department of Labor for all proposed contracting clients 
which controls Affirmative Action Program for a government 
contractor. There are more requirements than happen to be 
contained in the Affirmative Action Program than the tentative 
one that meets the Department of Labor goals and timetables - 
provisionally known as Order 405, Order 40 . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: I didn't - I didn't reach that assumption.
MR. SAPP: All right. I was just making . . .
JUDGE A.LAIMO: It's just a voluntary program that you always like 

to be in;- From then on, I didn't . . .
MR. SAPP: All right.
Q. The vacancies that I called out to you awhile ago, that is the 

job classifications Time Clerk, Records Clerk . . .
A. All right, sir.
Q. Each of these was identified as being white. There were, as a

-135-



Q.

u

(Cont'd) a matter of record, twelve such vacancies during this
I \period. Do you know why no blacks were assigned to those vacan­

cies?
A. I can only tell you that I attempted to hire them, and I did

interview some — some applicants, but the Qualifications were
so overwhelming to the person that we did hire, that that was
the reason that we made the selection.

\Have you ever considered ways entry - white entry level job -
I

vacancy occurred - reviewing the records of your incompetent 
employees to determine if perhaps some of them might be able to 
fill that job. For example, you have a vacancy in a white 
entry level job, one of the twelve - one of those twelve . . .

A. Well, give me one. One of those that you just listed?
Q. Any of them. One of those I just mentioned. Any one of them. 

Have you ever considered reviewing the application or reviewing 
the records of any of your black employees who were already 
working there, rather than reaching ouside the plant to get 
somebody to fill the job?

A. I stated a minute ago that I've - I had surveyed some Packing 
House employees for one of the jobs, in particular, that I 
remember'well, and other than that, no. We have thought about 
qualifications that might could be utilized in the other areas. 
We have thought about it, and I have made an attempt at that 
one time. That's all that I can remember.

Q. You don't have any system of hiring notices, do you?
rG

-136-
*



A. No, sir - pre-informed
Q. On page two of the Affirmative Action Program, number three, one 

/of your resolutions is that "our policy of non-descrimination 
had reached all of our recruitment sources in the community and 
including sources - sources serving minority employees." Now,
I believe the testimony's fairly clear in this case, that the 
primary source is through these other employees?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. How has your policy of non-descrimination as it relates to 

recruitment been related to your'employees?
A. By word of mouth.
Q. It's again through the supervisory feeddown?
A. lie put this out the same times we put our other directives out 

regarding equal opportunity.
Q. So anytime in this program you've thought about informing the 

employees, you would use this system of speaking through the 
supervisory levels?

A. Yes. lie have that, and we now have a company news letter.
It's called "The Hotline," that we utilize for other communica­
tion basis. I don't recall ever putting this in "The Hotline."
It's new. Our only outside institution that I can recall, 
communication this too, was the Georgia Employment.

Q. Georgia Employment Service? x \
A. Yes.
Q. How often did you make, referrals to Georgia Employment?

ii

-137-



A. Very seldom.
Q. Have you ever, if you recall, advertised in the newspaper for 

a vacancy?
A. I have no recollection of ever advertising in the newspaper.
Q. You never, to your recollection, used any kind of media - radio 

advertising, any kind of formalizing of this sort?
A. No. Every time the Savannah Machine and Foundary does so on 

the radio and in the newspaper, we get alot of calls, but we 
never have.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Again, ways include sources serving minority employees 
again, you name means of communicating. You do this through 
your supervisory employees?

A. Yes, sir. That’s correct.
Q. At the bottom of page two, you state that you make an annual

evaluation of new employees hired on the preceding year in order 
that any problem areas may be identified and evaluated and - 
that sums it up? I assume yon 1 re talking about problem areas
and improving them?

JUDGE ALAIMO: That is the kind of line that you would generally 
give in a Government directive.

A. That's right, sir.
Q. I've seen this language before.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes, so have I.
Q. All right. Were you talking about there the problem areas in 

recruitment or were you talking about problem areas in hiring?

l!

138



A. Really, basically in hiring, sir. We don't have any recruiting
( \problem, no.

Q. You state that "distribution includes the nature of the job
v/hich recuited and then censored directives, race and sex, goes 
directly" - you actually attach them to this Affirmative Action 
/ Program? Is that what you are referring to? The confirmation
■ of this . . .

/  - . 'AjL Yes, sir.
f
Q. The next paragraph, "an annual review shall, when applicable, 

include identification of job classification or departments 
where minority group members are not presently employed. This 
information will be brought to the attention of the individuals 
concerned. " VThere . . .

A. What page are you on, Mr. Farrington?
Q. I'm sorry. I'm at the top of page three, the first full para­

graph.
JUDGE ALAIMO: The paragraph beginning "Each annual review."
A. Okay, sir. I'm with you.
Q. Have you, in fact, made an identification each year of the job 

classifications in which whites are hot employed? I'm sorry - i1•
in which blacks are not employed? !.

A. We - we have a conference each year upon the completion of our 
Affirmative Action Program, and those that participate in the

1 j
hiring and the promotional processes do, in fact, discuss the 
things that have happened during the past year,,and we talk about

-139-



A. (Cont'd) some of the areas of improvement.
Q. Okay. Do you have to make a list of a job? Do you keep any -

do you keep a record of the jobs in which no blacks are employed 
and go down that list and discuss each job specifically?

A. Yes. It comes out in the program in the final analysis. These 
things do show up, and v/e have discussed specifics. I don't 
keep a list as such. I know the job areas.

Q. So when you meet, you can sit down and rattle off the names
of the jobs where you hire in black employees?

A. Yes, sir, I sure can.
Q. Now, before lunch, v/e v/ere talking about jobs that I think were 

Floor Chief, Sugar Boiler, and two or three other jobs which 
have traditionally been held as a white job v/hich had in 1971 
had their first blacks assigned to them. How do you account 
for the fact that only until 1971 blacks had never been assigned 
to any of these jobs?

A. Here again, it is the result of our Affirmative Action Program 
and the things that it has shown us in the past. Here v/as a 
goal that we had set for ourselves some two or three years 
before, and here was the time that it happened.

Q. So you didn't really get any results from your Affirmative 
Action Program in terms of numbers, did you?

A. I don't think you could say that exactly - that we didn't get 
any results - but here's one good positive example of the 
result that came from it into a real top rated job.

14 0



Q. Yes. Well, it's obvious - I mean, you must feel that you got
i l

some results in the earlier years, but I'm talking about numbers. 
A. Numbers. This is the vast numbers. The same controlling factor

fworks here that did before. The fact that there's not but just . 
so many jobs opening up in the upper levels. As those jobs 

/ open up in the upper levels, then we can shoot for it with the
/' best qualified person. If we can have any opportunity at all to
/ \
! put a minority in there, that's what we're going to do.

Q. You’re saying that prior to 1971, if there was a vacancy, it's 
just that the opportunity just wasn't there?

•A. I think you'll see, prior to 1971, that there were some that
they implaced then that were upgraded, but you'fe homing in on 
one particular individual.

Q. I understand that, but in '71, there seems to be a great jump - 
not a big jump - but maybe two through five or six, but at least, 
we're getting there somehow.

A. The tree that was planted years ago is beginning to bear some
J jfruit.V ' J<

Q. Was,the people who you promoted in 1971 - well, obviously, they 
were qualified at that time. Were they qualified any time prior
to that or could they have been promoted based on qualifications.
at sometime prior to that?

A. If there was a vacancy sometime prior to that and they were as 
qualified then as they were in '71, I'm sure they would have 

put them there.

-141-



Q. Okay. This - did you state earlier that employees did not use
i \

visitor's rest rooms?
A. They're not supposed to use the visitor's rest room. That's 

what I stated. I sent a memo out to the Guard down at the 
gate many months ago.
Many months ago? It wasn't years ago?
I don't know. I'm just - that's verbage. I don't know how 

\much, but I do recall a memo on it, and I'm sure it's on file. 
Q. Nov/, with regard to this Buckins' matter, the loan - did you 

know when he came in there that he was going to be a witness 
in this case?

A. Sure.
Q

A.

Q

A.

Q.

Was the statement you made to him m  reference to that?
The statement I made to him, Mr. Farrington, was purely off 
the top of ray head, that I was grateful that he - thrit we did, 
in fact, have one benefit that he still liked.
Does that statement refer though to the fact that ho obviously 
had some complaint against the company?
No, I was obviously surprised when I saw him as a witness, 
because he had never been to my office and told me he was 
unhappy.
Now, does what you say refer to the fact that Mr. Buckins had 
made a complaint? Is that what you were talking about?

A. I simply made a statement that I was glad that he - there v/as
a benefit that he approved of. Now, to ask me to justify it or

’ -142-



IA. (Cont’d) rationalize why I said it, it's just like you might
I * ....... ■
I say "good morning."

Q. I But his appearing as a witness prompted the complaint - prompted 
I'm sorry, not the complaint - prompted your statement?

A. I really don't know what prompted it.
Q. Did his appearance as a witness prompt it or did it not prompt

A. I still don't really know. It's just all an implausive comment 
on my part. Nov;, the reason behind it was p r o b a b l y  because I 
never knew until he did decide to appear as a witness against us 
that he had complaints with us.

,1
Q. So then, in fact, the reason behind it was nothing?
JUDGE ALAIMO: I think it's a fair statement. It is an implausive 

response to something that surprised him.
Q. And plus the fact it was the complaint.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes . . .
Q. And your statement was in response . . .

A. Yes, sir. I believe they do for the upper - I think for the 
executive officers. \

it?

JUDGE ALAIMO: . . . my construction of what he says.
Q. You statement was in response, then, to the complaint?
A. It's as the Judge stated.

1
Q. Does the company have a stock option plan?

Q . Do they have it for - are you . .
A. Am I . .

-143-



Q. Are ^ou that high up?
A. /I'm afraid not, no, sir.
Q. !Are you not eligible for the stock option plan?
A. No, sir. I certainly am not.
Q. I don't know that we covered this particular question. We

talked around it a good bit. When a vacancy on an entry level 
job occurs, what do you do? Do you go first to the - I believe 
you said you collected these applications in particular depart­
ments, depending on their experience or their preference?

A. All right. The. Foreman would first be the first fellow to cry 
that he needs a hand - he needs some help. He's got a real 
need for another body or another person to fill it. If we can 
convince the Plant Superintendent that that need is valid, and 
then the Plant Superintendent would tell me "Get some applica­
tions for that particular vacancy," and then starts the screen­
ing process.

Q. All right. Let's stop right there.
A . Okay.
Q. Where do you go to get the applications?
A. I have an application file.
Q. Is the - is it departmentalized in any way?
A. It's exactly as I mentioned a minute ago.
Q. You go to that particular department based on your previous 

departmentalization of it?
A. That would be my inclination, yes.

-144-



/Q. Do you ever deviate from that?/
.A. I have on occasion.

IQ. What would deviate it?
A. If I couldn't find an adequate person with the, let's say,

adequate qualifications, I would deviate and go into another 
area. If - primarily if I had some knowledge of that person, 
having interviewed him, I might look further.

Q. All right. Then you take these applications to the Plant 
Manager?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. And then you and he - well, what do you and he do?
A. We discuss them and analyze them, look at the past qualifica­

tions. We determine we might break it down to four to si:-: 
people; when in turn, we might call the third party. If we call 
a third party in, it would be the Supervisor in that department. 
We let him look them over.

Q. All right, now. Once you get three - you said you break it 
down to four to six people. Does that mean four to six . . .

A. Applications.
Q. And then what happens after you've gotten it down that far?
A. We analyze . . .
JUDGE A K M  MO: Let me interrupt a minute. Nov/, are these application 

you have a file on or perhaps some that you have a file on and
j jsome that . . .

A. I don't refuse anybody, an application, Judge. If they walk in
............. ..... ......... s m  <x .....  ........ .:!

-145-



A. (Contact) off the street and say "I want to apply for a job," 
I give them an application.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Then you go to your file?
A. Yes, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: When such a vacancy occurs . . .
A. It's a pretty massive file . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Sure.
A. It might be - have five, six hundred applications . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
Q. All right. After you get the four to six, then what happens?
A. All right. Then comes the screening, the final screening. 

We might bring in - out of the six - we might pick four to

them again. We talk to them "specifically about the job involved 
in it, and we might . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: Would this also be true of just a laborer1s job?
A. Yes, sir. We still pull - pull that many, at least, out of 

the laborer's - we can be that selective, you know.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
Q. Who does the interviewing when they come back?
A. Primarily, the Plant Superintendent. I've already interviewed

them the first time. We bring him back, and at that time, if 
the Foreman of the station wherein the vacancy appears, he has 
the option to interview them also if he wants to talk to them. 
In fact, we would encourage that and have, and then he is in

I

bring back in for secondary interviews, and then we talk to

-146-



A.

Q.

A.
Q.

A.
Q.

(Cont.'d) the decision-making process about who gets hired.
His recommendation is listened to, and mine, and the final word 
or final approval comes from the Plant Superintendent.
Now, earlier we talked about the grapevine, about it - you know 
making . . .
Sounds kind of crude, I assure you.
In other words, it1s probably descriptive. When a vacancy 
occurs, I assume that the word of that, or when some entry level 
job is about to come open, or the Foreman has convinced the 
Plant Superintendent that he needs somebody new, does that 
information go out on the grapevine?
Yes, sir.
All right. In respon that going out, do you consider the
applications that come bade in?

A. Yes, we do.
Q. Okay. I take it that you never select an employee and then 

figure out where'he's going?
A. No, sir. In past years, it *s been my practice to usually hire 

for a particular job. Now, we have hired - one, for instance, 
just to be specific - I interviewed a candidate who was black 
for a job on the Cleaning Crew, but he was an exceptional 
individual and had a great deal of mechanical ability and back­
ground. I knew that in the future that there was going to come 
open an Oiler's classification. So I hired this individual in 
the Cleaning assignment, so that I would not lose him and could

*
-147-



A. (Cont'd) utilize him later, which I did.
i iQ. What - did you say an Oiler's classification?

A. Yes. That's a job that intermingles with a Mechanical Helper.
Q. That's the one we previously discussed as having six people 

in the plant of which all. of them were black?
A ./ Right.
/ 'Qi You don't do that very frequently or do you do it frequently?

/  \
AL Whenever I can pick up an exceptional person that way that's

/  ■ ;  .
got the qualifications that I can see and project there might 
be a need of where we can utilize them later on, I would be 
prone to do that again, yes.

Q. Do you have any idea of how many times you've done that since 
1965?

A. Gosh, no.
Q. When was the Brass Check system terminated?
A. To the best of my knowledge, it was July of 1967.
Q. Do you know v/hat precipated that termination?
A. Yes. When we were involved in streamlining our payroll section 

and going from the old payroll machines that were manually 
operated.to a data - computer data situation - it was decided 
at that, time to go full measure rather than to pay off in cash 
on a day-by-day basis continually.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes, sir. I would have thought that that would have 
been a very expensive way to handle that situation and why you 
all continued it - just from looking at it from a business

. , , ,  _ _ _ _ _ _  m
-148-



JUDGE AIAIMO: (Cont'd) -standpoint - over all those years, it1 s
i i

difficult for me to understand, unless you made up for it some 
other way.

tA. Well, I wish I could give you an intelligent answer on that, 
Your Honor, but I - all I know is that at that precise time,

/ we decided to go all the way and waiver - v/aiver the insurance
/ requirements and place them all on a permanent payroll status,
/ . . \
/ and we'd pay them all on the checking system.

Q. Did you ever receive any employee complaints about the Brass 
Check system?

A. None other than the fact that some of them remarked to me
whether I - or not I was in this position - I don't remember. 
The bonus time is always a sad time of year for some to get 
and some not to, and some got - you know - the various benefits 
such as the hospitalization which is - can save you a great 
deal of money in a critical situation.

Q. Did any group of employees eyer come to you as a group?
A. No group of employees ever came to me, Mr. Farrington.
Q. Did, anybody complain to you about the system who was not him­

self a Brass Check employee?
\  ' vA. Not to my knowledge.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Do you contend that there are - there was a greater 
percentage of blacks on the Brass Check than whites?

Q. Let me ask that question. When the Brass Check procedure was
terminated, I believe you mentioned two - a father and son that600 cr

-149-



(Cont1 d) were white.
?he majority were black, sir.
I How many were on Brass Check when the position was terminated?
I
Probably - may I guess?

Q. Yes.
A. I would say roughly twenty-eight.
Q. Twenty-eight?
A. Twenty-five to twenty-eight.
Q . Other than this one father and son team, was anybody - any other 

of those people white?
A. Maybe two. One was a Night Watchman, and one was a - I don't 

really know what his title was. We referred to him as the Rat 
Man, but he was kind .of an exterminator-type guy. lie was white. 
He walked around and killed the . . .

Q. Rodents?
A. Yes, rodents - poison bait stations and so forth. He was an 

elderly person.
Q. Most - a majority of them were black?
A. Yes, sir, I have said that.

tj
JUDGE ALAIMO: Was the majority of them relegated to the lower job 

classifications?
A. If I had to analyze it, Judge, I'd have to answer you yes. Most 

of them were. Most of them were . . .
\

Q. Let me ask you this question. Do you have a straight Brass
Check rate or does it depend on what this individual was doing?

60/0V
-150-



A. No. It was all - everybody made the same rate.
Q. Everybody on Brass Chech?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What was - do you recall where the Brass Check's rate was in 

relation to the other jobs?
A. Probably about fifteen cent on the hour below.
Q. Below your normal pay in other jobs?
A. Belov/ our base pay card, yes. Right.
Q. About the time that the Brass Check position was terminated, was 

there any union activity going on out there?
MR. SAPP: Your Honor, I'm gfoing to object to any further questions 

along this line of Brass Check employees. Mr. Farrington has 
had four years to get the issues in this case pinned down. We 
get to trial, today is the first time any contention has ever 
been made by the Plaintiff that the Brass Check system is dis­
criminatory, and this is very late in the day for anything of 
this nature to come up.

JUDGE ALAIMO: What do you say to that?
MR. SAPP: I think .it's fully been explained.
MR. FARRINGTON: Our contentions are that we were trying to deter­

mine whether or not any - if union activity at the plant which 
most of the blacks were involved in or, at least, a majority of 
the blacks as a group, had anything to do with the - getting 
rid of the Brass Check system.

MR. SAPP: Your Honor, I'm going to object to that question. He's

151



MR. SAPP: (Cont'd) stating - number one - stating evidence which
i i

is not in the record; number two, as I understand it, a secret 
ballot election was held, and so whether it was a black group 
or a white group, I'm sure is unknown to Mr. Farrington or 
anyone else. I certainly object to the questions. Tie's laid 
no foundation whatsoever for them.

Q./- I will withdraw them, Your Honor. Nov;, we've talked about what
. . \

the company is trying to do with new hires and new promotions.
Have you as - in the capacity of Affirmative Action Officer for 
your company, made any plans or have you talked about or tried 
to do anything about the existing jobs changing the racial com­
position of those jobs that are already existing?

A. As you know, Title Seven doesn't require us to knock anybody 
out of a job to replace it with somebody else, and that's 
completely out of the question; but v/e have, as I have previous­
ly stated, discussed and made plans for some areas that promo­
tions will be upcoming and have been forthcoming.

||
Q. But you've made no attempt to or you don't have any plans for

changing the structure of the existing job patterns except through 
promotions, or hiring?

■
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, hov; else would you suggest it could be done?
MR. FARRINGTON: Well, for example, let's take a black employee

in an all black job and a white employee in an all white job and
Ij

transfer them.
JUDGE ALAIMO: You mean right then?
............................................................... .

!i
-152-



MR. FARRINGTON: Right then.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Without regard to whether they could perform the job

sufficiently . . .
MR. FARRINGTON: Assuming that . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: . . . qualified to do it?
MR. FARRINGTON: No, certainly not. The qualifications would cer­

tainly have to be considered, but assuming that they were 
qualified.

JUDGE ALAIMO: For what reason? I mean, wouldn't that be sort of 
disruptive, unless you've got some real reason for doing it 
other than just mixing them up?

MR. FARRINGTON: There could be a number of reasons for doing it, 
but . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, I would like you to suggest some. You know .
MR. FARRINGTON: The reason is that the job classifications are 

segregated, and the act simply prohibits segregation in job 
discrimination. As a result . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: The continuation of a policy, I see.
MR. SAPP: Your Honor. . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: It's difficult for me to understand Title Seven

quite, you know, in that light - to where it would take almost 
an affirmative disruption of employees to bring that about. It 
would be difficult for me to believe that.

MR. FARRINGTON: Well, let me just say this. This case is - this 
case is a bit different from your ordinary Title Seven case.

-153-



MR. FARRINGTON: (Cont'd) An ordinary Title Seven case has got two
things; one, a simplified promotional move usually‘through a 
collective bargaining agreement.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Sure.
MR. FARRINGTON: Also, most Title Seven cases usually, at least,

have a stable or an expanding work force with some promotional 
opportunities opening up. Here you have neither a simplified 
promotional advancement, and you also have a declining work 
force.- So something other than what ordinarily hasn't been 
done in Title Seven cases, we think, may have to be done, and 
that's just - the gist of my question is directed towards that - 
whether anything other than what he's already suggested has 
been considered by them.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right, Mr. Sapp.
MR. SAPP: Thank you very much, Your Honor. I really have no basic 

objection to Mr. Blackwelder answering these questions, which 
I think is really asking if we want to - I hate to use the 
expression - bus employees, because that's what he's talking 
about. You're moving employees from one department to another 
because of an existing racial imbalance, but I do think that 
this whole area is really one which Mr. Blackwelder is not 
competent to testify. This is really very court - implying the 
company has violated the act in a fashion that is appropriate 
to relief and support.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, I think he's been able to handle himself quite

-154-
*



JUDGE ALAIMO: (Cont'd) well on the stand.

MR. SAPP: Well, I don't have any objections to his answering
them. I just don't know that it's really going to serve any 
purrjose.

JUDGE ALAIMO: I don't really know the answer to that . . .
A. May I answer it, Judge?
JUDGE ALAIMO: It might be a good thing to do. It would be diffi­

cult for me to think that you could do this without really 
disrupting the manufacturing process.

MR. FARRINGTON: I don't know that you can do it either, Your 
Honor. That's why I asked the question. I just asked that 
question simply to try to gain information and insight as to 
what the company has tried to do about this situation.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, first, what'd you do - take a Boiler Room 
Helper and put him over into an Electrician's Helper's job, 
if you had a white in one and a black in the other - just to 
switch them? I

MR. FARRINGTON: Yes.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, how could you do this without somehow disrupt­

ing that job unless the man had multiple qualifications?
MR. FARRINGTON: Well, at Savannah Sugar, it seems that most of

the employees do have multiple qualifications, because I believe 
there's something in the record that the company encourages 
employees to move from place to place.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Well, ypur question is "has he thought

-155



JUDGE ALAIMO: (Cont'd) about that as a policy" or "has the company
thought about that as a policy?"

Q. Has the company thought about something like that as a policy?
A. I could only answer you in this regard. Our goals are the

same, but our measures are different. We have not thought about 
that as a measure of equalization.

Q. Does the company, in fact, have a policy encouraging employees 
to move from job to job in order that their skills might be 
broadened?

JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, I think of - I think in your brief - one of 
your briefs, one of your - maybe it was your suggest . . .

MR. SAPP: Your Honor, the deposition testimony of one of the wit­
nesses the Plaintiff owes in this case, the company has attempt­
ed to have employees relieve the various areas of the plant in 
order to train them to go into higher jobs.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes, I think that's common knowledge.
MR. FARRINGTON: Your Honor, sir . . . I
MR. SAPP: That's what he's talking about.
MR. FARRINGTON: May I read the statement from the Defendant's

proposed findings of facts submitted back in, I believe, January
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes.
MR. FARRINGTON: In reading the statements, Mr. Blackwelder, I ask 

you if this is a fair statement of company policy?
JUDGE ALAIMO: What page is that on?
MR. FARRINGTON: Your Honor, I believe that's on page five.

£ q 7 g v  . . .
-156-



Okay. All right.
I

JUDGE ALAIMO:
MR. FARRINGTON: It's about the new phase.

/
JUDEE ALAIMO: Yes, I see.
Q. Does it have the policy of encouraging the employees to work 

from time to time in different'departments to learn different 
jobs so they can be better employees and to have better oppor­
tunities for an increase in rate of pay or for a better job?
Is that the company's policy?

A. With the understanding that it is management controlled and with 
the availability of the person, that 'we have a stable work force 
now that v/e don't have extras running around, but if there is 
such an extra., and he can train on other stations, v/e do, in ■ 
fact, encourage it.

Q. Is this a com- - is this statement a safe sampling of company 
policy?

A. With the exceptions that I gave you.
Q. Well . . .

■A. Well, withihe qualifications that I gave you, they have to be 
available. We can't just encourage everybody that - a man on 
a packaging machine, we can't encourage him to run down to the 
Electric Shop and study to be an Electrician. Common sense 
tells us that he's got to remain on that packaging machine or
it won't run, but v/e do, in fact, encourage our people to learn\
whatever they can, and if the opportunity presents itself, they 
can utilize that training in a promotion.

-157-



u

Q. So the company doesn’t really have a policy of encouraging 
/employees - employees to work from time to time in different 
I departments across the board?I “

A. We've had employees who worked across the board in different 
departments. I think we're going all the way around the tree 
to say the same thing.

JUDGE ALAIMO: I think this is a common sense policy that probably 
every manufacturer in the country would say they had within - 
they'll always say within reason, you know.

Q. Well, I think a. lot of the companies- don't have this to offer. 
I really . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, if . . .
Q. You're getting along.the lines of progression . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: It's like one of those home country and mother 

arguments. It sounds very good, and I think that the .- . .
Q. It goes along with this law suit, and it is, in fact, a policy 

then - then that may be a vehicle for some relief.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, I think to the extent that Mr. Baxter, who is 

an electrician - an Electrician's Helper, was also put on as
a relief Operator there in the Boiler Room, is an indication

\ ' vthat this is the case, isn't it?
Q. It would seem to me in behalf of Mr. Adam Baxter . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: This sort of thing was not uncommon. I've gathered\

this from the evidence. Nov;, if I'm wrong, I wish you would 
point it out, but this is the impression I've gotten.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  . .  . „„ 6o 9 &  . . . . . . . . . . . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

I

a
l!iI •

li
;i

-153- *



Q. Xtfell, that - that is my impression too.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. So this is what I think they're talking 

about when they made that statement in - in this proposed 
finding.

Q. What efforts - or what kind of programs do you have to try to 
insure that black employees who are working in segregated all 
black job classifications have an opportunity to get out of 
those classifications?

A. I'm not sure I understand the question. Number one, define 
a segregated job classification.

Q. A classification in which only blacks work.
A. You're implying that it's intentional, is that correct?
Q. No, sir. I am not implying anything. I'm just saying that the 

fact that the job is segregated. Do you have any method or 
plan of attempting to encourage or being sure that they 
have an opportunity to get out of those segregated job classi­
fications?

A. Okay, sir. Let's talk about the Packaging Department which is 
primarily a situation that you referred to as a segregated job 
classification. The plan is by progression. They can go into 
what previously was an all white classification in the Packaging

!jHouse, that of Floor Chief; what previously was an all white 
section, that of Cleaning. Is that the type of situation you

il
are referring to? •! 1

Q. How did the - how did the whites get there? How did the white

159



Q. (Cont'd) Floor Chiefs get there?
A. Through their own initiative.
Q. IThey didn't have to come through those black jobs though?
A. 0’n, they were all hired in an entry level job.
Q. But they weren't black jobs? They weren't the packaging jobs?
A. They were supply men and everything else. Just like the other 

fellows did.
Q. They were not hired as packaging - as Packers?
A. They were hired in the entry level, and they did all the jobs 

in the Packing House. They've been involved in the barest 
aspects of the Packing House. Now, that includes . . .

Q. They did not perform the same jobs as the black employees did?
A. HeU, that's news to me.
Q. All right. Mr. Blackwelder, Defendant's Exhibit Forty-Two

lists job classifications as of July 2, 1965. There are some 
seventy-eight entries on there. Only two of those entries show 
both black and white employees working in the same job classi­
fication, and those arc Mechanics. Nov/, are you still saying 
that a black who is now Floor Chief has worked in the same job 
that whites - that blacks have worked in?

served an entire working period in the Packing Department. I'm

they are at right now because of their own abilities, qualifica-

A. I'm stating that those people that are now Floor Chiefs have

stating that they came in at entry levels. The same as any guy
off the street could come in, and they've' gone to the job that

h

- 160-

*



(Cont'd) tions, and initiative.
Q. But they did not go through these same jobs as the black folks?
A. If you're asking me, if they permanently held a position such 

as a relief man or a Stacker or something - is that your 
question?

Q Or - well, let's see.
A Bag Pack.
Q Utility'Relief, Supplier, Paper Baler, Silo Operator, Hummer, 

Cleaning Machines . . .
A. I think the record will show that they never permanently held 

one of those jobs, but they have experience in all of them.
Q. Those whites ,v/ere never hired to those jobs?
MR. SAPP: Your Honor, I object. Now, that wasn't said. He's

mis-stating his testimony. He says they performed those jobs.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, he's asked him now whether they were actually 

assigned to those jobs.
Q. On a permanent basis.
A. On a permanent year by year basis, I don't think - I think the 

record will bear that out that they . . .
JUDGE A L A I M O H a v e  there ever been any white Boiler Room Helpers?
A. Your Honor, I don't remember one in ray tenure in this particu­

lar job.
Q. The record indicates that from '65 to date, there have not been 

any. Mr. Baxter can probably answer the question.
JUDGE ALAIMO: I see.

\

6^<X
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c
I

W

Q. All right. No further questions.
MR. SAPP: I haven't anything further, Your Honor. 
JUDGE ALAIMO: I have some questions I want answered. 
A. All right, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Prior to 1965 or '64, is it a fair statement to say 

that the Defendant had a segregated work force? Is that a fair 
statement?

A. I'm - in most senses of the word, I would have to say yes.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. What I'm saying is that there are some 

jobs that were exclusively white, or which whites were hired 
for, and others were pretty well exclusively black. That's 
prior to '64.

A. I think that fell into a pattern that was indicative of most 
of this part of the country.

JUDGE ALAIMO: And any vestiges that exist now just because of that 
pattern was created prior to 1964?

A. Certainly. We can't change the pattern overnight.
ji

MR. SAPP: Excuse me. ■
JUDGE ALAIMO: Is it correct to say yes?
MR. SAPP: I'm sorry, Your Honor. I couldn't hear the witness's r

last answer.
JUDGE ALAIMO: I don't recall what his last answer was right at the 

moment. He said it was a fair statement that any segregation 
that exists now is a result of a pattern which existed prior to 
'64 and hasn't been completely erradicated. Is it a fair state-

£  ( 3

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JUDGE ALAIHO: (Cont'd) raent that on July 2nd which would be 1965I \
which would be the effective date of Title Seven . . .

A. Yes, sir . . .
JUDGE ALAIIIO: . . . that there were seventy-five different job

/classifications? I may be calling on your memory more than I 
should.

Okay. I'm going - I'm going to . . .
i 'MR. FARRINGTON: May I - may I interject here just a minute?
JUDGE ALAIHO: All right. .
MR. FARRINGTON: Let me point out - I think we've explained it

once, but it makes more sense now. This is Defendant's Exhibit 
Forty-Two. There are seven of these sheets for each year from 
'65 to '71. Entries on here - they are separate jobs. Vie 
counted these, and there are seventy-five entries on the sheet. 

JUDGE ALAIHO: All right.
MR. FARRINGTON: And . . .
JUDGE ALAIHO: Are those - what is that Exhibit, if it is one?
MR. FARRINGTON: It is. That's Exhibit Number Forty-Two.
JUDGE ALAIHO: Okay. From Exhibit Forty-Two, those seventy-five * T

different' listings, is it fair to state that they are in thew • .  !j
nature of job classifications? i!

A. Yes, sir. Primarily job classifications and wage classifica­
tions, yes, sir.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. From that, is it fair to state that

seventy-three of those classifications were racially segregated?
.................................................................................. ..... ... ................... ..

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A. I'd have to stop and count them.
i \

JUDGE AIAIMO: All right.
A. I can only assume that. Well, you've already done that.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Okay. I have not, as a contention has been made to

that effect, and I just wanted to verify these thing's, if they're 
/ verifiable from your records.

MR'. SAPP: Your Honor, I think the record will c l e a r l v  reflect
- . v

I thxs.
JUDGE AIAIMO: That this is. correct?
MR. SAPP: Prior to ' 6 5 - 1  don't know if those figures - particular 

figures - are correct, but the documents which are in evidence 
will clearly - indicate, I think, as of June 30th of every year 
since '65, the race identity of employees in the various classi­
fications throughout the plant.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
A. Yes, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, it's important for me to determine, and I want

iyou to check that record, whether in 1968, March of '68, that
v

sixty-nine of the seventy-four job classifications were still 
either totally black or totally white.

! iA. I don't have a '68 with me, sir.
MR. SAPP: May I make a suggestion?

\

JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes, sir.
■

MR. SAPP:. Perhaps the easiest way to do this would be for - the 
witness won't read back from the record right now, but the

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MR. SAPP: (Cont'd) witness could give you the total number of job
t \

classifications which were held only by blacks as of that 
particular date.

MR. SAPP: That will save some time. .
I

JUDGE ALAIMO: Sure. That's fair enough. Just take one - either
r the black or the white as of that date.

/  * • • 'A. Okay, sir. in 1968, as of June 30th, you had three hundred and
l

twenty-nine black employees out of a labor force of 509. Is 
that what you're looking for, sir?

JUDGE ALAIMO: No, sir. You had, as I gather, about seventy-four 
job classifications.

MR. SAPP: May I approach the bench, Your Honor?
JUDGE A LAIMO: Certainly.
MR. SAPP: Maybe I can point out to the witness what you're looking- 

for.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Certainly.
MR. SAPP: Now, on here, you've got the total number of employees

in .each job classification, and next to it, you have the number 
of Negrovemployees in the particular job classification.

A . Okay.
MR. SAPP: The Court is interested in knowing of the job classifi­

cations, which were in existence at that time, how many of them 
were there in which on3.y blacks were employed. You can deter­
mine that by looking at it. There were five Payloader

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. That's fair enough

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MR. SAPP: (Cont'd) Operators, and there were five Negroes in the
job, and that was a classification in which only blacks were 
employed.

A. Okay.
JUDGE AIA IMO: Thank you.
MR. SAPP: Give him the total number of classifications.
MR. FARRINGTON: If I might make a suggestion, Your Honor. Miss 

Roney testified that she compiled these figures from the 
Exhibits, and that they were proven correct to the best of her 
knowledge. It seems to me that until the company refutes that, 
we have to take it that she’s correct.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, I suppose that's true, Mr. Farrington, but 
I just wanted it checked with the Defendant's witness because 
some of the things that are in here, and they came from her 
testimony, were gainsaid by the testimony here on behalf of
the Defendant or contradicted.

A. I count thirty-six classifications that carry only all black. 
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Well, thirty-six all black. Nov;, are 

thirty-eight then - no. Let me see. Thirty-six? Are thirty- 
three all white?

A. I would assume so. You want me to count them, sir?
JUDGE ALAIMO: No, that's all right. I mean . . .
A. You see, many of these classifications are one on one.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes - well, I realize that . . .
A. See?

6 / 7 ^
- 166-



JUDGE ALAIMO: But then they were made by you all and . . .
« \

A. Yes, sir, but it's a classification. If there's one man,
it's hardly any place for the opposite color to be involved.

JUDGE ALAIMO: From - let's see - during the two years, that is up 
to '68, '65 to '63 .. .

A./ All right, sir.
JUDGE ALAIMO: The number of whites promoted as well as blacks - that

/  V/ is all the whites were promoted into all white classifications, 
is that correct. At least, that was my understanding from 
your testimony.

A. Well, it's highly possible, sir. They were all in some sort of 
a job affiliated training and went on up. That's probably 
true. They did go into white situations.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Now, the contentions made that from '65 through '71, 
through last year, that, as you have testified, there were 
forty-eight new employees hired by the company in that period 
of time?

A. That's correct. Forty-eight or forty-nine. Right.
. ■iJUDGE ALAIMO: Yes. Now, that none of these black hires were

assigned'to traditionally white entry level jobs. You know
there were some openings during that period, of twelve, is that

‘correct? Is that contention correct?
A. No, sir. We made the fact clear several times over here with - 

the one job that we made note of was the Lab Bench Chemist.

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JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes.
A. /That's the one, and the other one was the professional billing,

and the others were - I made the statement that we made an effort 
to interview and to hire blaclc applicants for those jobs.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Let me ask you this. At any time when you did 
screen some blades to get into white - what had previously- 
been white entry jobs, and you said that in screening the 
applicants, you hired the most qualified ones, and they just 
happened to be white based on their qualifications?

A. That's true. '
JUDGE ALAIMO: Now, were there any blacks that would be been

competent to do the job, although not quite as well qualified 
as those whites, that - you interviewed?

A. I think . . .
JUDGE ALAIMO: Do you understand what I am saying?
A. Yes, sir. I do, and I must say that there was one in particu­

lar that would have been competent if, in fact, the girl she >
ijwas competing with had not been a previous employee of the
it11company and was rehired for that particular job.

JUDGE ALAIMO: She had left employment and attempted to apply?
A. Right. And so, she had done the job before, and that weighed 

heavily in her favor.
\ 1*JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, Mr. Blackwelder, if the company had, as you 

have stated, and I - I'm not saying that this isn't the case, 
made an attempt to try- to correct some of these programs or

. . . .

-163-



JUDGE ALAIMO: (Cont' d) the methods that you had previously used

to do so.
A. Okay. First of all, let's see why the opportunity was created. 

We had a woman that was taken out because of a serious opera­
tion. In the recovery of this operation, which affected her 
nervous system, she decided she didn't want to go back - she 
wouldn't come bade to work. Well, we had a doubling up of 
efforts then. Our girls in that particular area were working 
enormous amounts of overtime to try to keep up with it. The 
work load was just terrific. Here was an applicant that came 
walking up to the door that had previously been involved in 
this, didn't require any training. It was just very necessary 
that we hire that woman at that particular time.

JUDGE ALAIMO: Were there any other incidences that you can recall 
where, while you may have hired the best applicants, that 
happened to be white, yet there was a qualified black applicant 
who could have filled that job?

A. This same applicant might well have applied - we might well
could have applied to another opening later on had she been

N\  - vavailable. When I contacted her again, she was not available.
JUDGE ALAIMO: From the standpoint of training, other than an Opera­

tor - for instance, training a Helper - is there any other 
program of training out there to upgrade employees?

A. We have some programs of training which our Training Director

by trying them and hire some blades, and here was an opportunity

-169-



A. (Cont'd) will bring to you shortly.
JUDGE ALAIMO: I see. All right. Is it a fair statement to say 

that the company grants promotions, as you have testified, 
almost basically out of the recommendation of the Supervisor?

considered for that particular promotion, a Supervisor's 
recommendation would carry a great deal of weight.

JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. Now, I believe I had asked you whether 
there were any black employees in the Administrative Offices, 
and my recollection is that there were none?

A. V7e have two.
JUDGE ALAIMO: You have two now?

• Ja 6  S  / kL 1  i. »

JUDGE ALAIMO: They have been hired within the last two years?
A. Yes, sir. We've had one that's been there a good long while. 

She's the Mail Clerk.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right.
MR. FARRINGTON: Your Honor, would Mr. Blackwelder tell us what 

they do?
A. I was just in the process of doing that.
MR. FARRINGTON: Yes, we can't hear.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes. One is the Mail Clerk.
A. I'm sorry. One is the Mail Clerk, and one is the professional 

employee that I spoke of.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Yes.

A. I'd say, if it boiled down to two or three applicants to be

-170-



MR. FARRINGTON: The biologist?
A. Yes.
MR.I FARRINGTON: She's not really down with the clerks at the front

office?
A. She's down there many times every day.
JUDGE ALAIMO: Well, I mean any Administrative Office itself.

How many employees do you have in there?
A. Only the one that's there on that first floor all the time but 
JUDGE ALMIMO: No. I mean how many total employees in the Adminis­

trative Office?
A. Oh. Nov;, counting Engineering staff and all? You see, the

Administrative Office is spread. I have a Purchasing area that
has seven people . . .

JUDGE ALAIMO: No. One office is called the Uptown Office?
A. Yes. That's downtown.
JUDGE ALAIMO: The Downtown Office?
A. Yes. I can't speak for that, sir. I really don't know who's 

down there.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. That's not . . .
A. Yes, we have - that's the city office.
JUDGE ALAIMO: All right. I have no further questions.
MR. SAPP: I don't have anything further, Your Honor.

NOTE: The witness withdrew from the stand.\

END OP -TESTIMONY OF MR. PRESTON PI AC It 7E LDER.

-171



C E R T I F I C A T E
I

I I certify that the foregoing one hundred and seventy-one
/ pages \of typewritten material were taken down and then
; transcribed under my supervision, and I certify that the

same contains a true and correct transcript of said 
typewritten material.

.1
I further certify that I am a .disinterested party to 
this action and that I am not of kin nor counsel to any 
of the parties hereto.

This fourteenth day of July, 1972.

Walter Cy. DeLoach
Official U. S. Court Reporter
Southern District of Georgia

4

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