Air Lines Stewards & Stewardesses Ass'n, Local 550 v. American Airlines, Inc.

455 F.2d 101, 4 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 152
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedJanuary 18, 1972
DocketNos. 71-1614, 71-1615
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 455 F.2d 101 (Air Lines Stewards & Stewardesses Ass'n, Local 550 v. American Airlines, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Air Lines Stewards & Stewardesses Ass'n, Local 550 v. American Airlines, Inc., 455 F.2d 101, 4 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 152 (7th Cir. 1972).

Opinion

CUMMINGS, Circuit Judge.

In these two class actions, the Union 1 and certain former stewardesses asserted that both defendant airlines had violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.) by terminating stewardesses who had become pregnant. They sought reinstatement, back pay, and other relief. On June 1, 1970, the Union filed appropriate charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and a month thereafter the Commission notified the Union that it was entitled to initiate civil actions in the district court in accordance with 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e) and (f). These suits were filed a fortnight thereafter.

Although the district court initially refused to permit the Commission to participate as amicus curiae, in March 1971 it was granted leave to file an ami-cus brief in support of plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and did so on April 30, 1971.

After our decision in Sprogis v. United Airlines, 444 F.2d 1194 (7th Cir. 1971), certiorari denied, 404 U.S. 991, 92 S.Ct. 536, 30 L.Ed.2d 543 the parties entered into settlement negotiations resulting in July 14, 1971, memoranda of understanding. The two airlines agreed to place pregnancy-discharged stewardesses on a hiring list according to their seniority at the time of discharge (plus 90 days in the American Airlines case). Upon the occurrence of a vacancy, a stewardess would have ten days to accept reemployment on condition that she meet weight restrictions and other qualifications in effect at the time of her discharge. As the Commission notes, the proposed settlement did not entitle the stewardesses to immediate, unconditional reinstatement, full seniority from time of first hire, and back pay from date of discharge.

At a hearing on July 16, 1971, the district court entered orders permitting the suits to proceed as class actions, and permitting notice of the proposed settlement and an August 30, 1971, hearing thereon to be given to the stewardesses’ class by publication in the union newspaper. A copy of the notice was also mailed to each stewardess at her last known address. On August 18 and 19, 1971, the airlines mailed copies of the proposed settlement to members of the class.

On August 5, 1971, the Commission sought to intervene as of right in both suits under Rule 24(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. However, the motions to intervene were denied on August 11, 1971, on the ground that

“These parties have always been fairly represented, they have been represented by competent counsel.”

Thereupon the Commission appealed, and on August 25, we granted a stay pending resolution of the consolidated appeals.

Rule 24(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governs intervention of right. Clause 1 of that Rule permits intervention when a statute of the United States confers an unconditional right to intervene. No such statute has yet been enacted as to the Commission2. [104]*104Significantly, 3B Moore’s Federal Practice H 24.06 [2] p. 24-94 (2d ed. 1969), notes, that Congress has allowed the United States to intervene in various types of proceedings under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but nothing is said about Commission intervention.

Clause 2 of Rule 24(a) also permits intervention of right “[1] when the applicant claims an interest relating to the property or transaction which is the subject of the action and [2] he is so situated that the disposition of the action may as a practical matter impair or impede his ability to protect that interest, [3] unless the applicant’s interest is adequately represented by the interested parties.” These three conditions have not been met.3

I. The Commission’s Interest in the Subject Matter of the Action and Practical Impairment of its Interests.

In an attempt to satisfy the first condition, the Commission asserts that its interest in these cases is predicated on Section 706(i) of the Act, which provides :

“In any case in which an employer, employment agency, or labor organization fails to comply with an order of a court issued in a civil action brought under subsection (e) of this section, the Commission may commence proceedings to compel compliance with such order.” (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(i)).

Under this Section the Commission claims an interest both as the government agency empowered by Congress to enforce court orders and as the representative of the class on whose behalf these suits were brought. The Commission characterizes its interest as that of monitoring remedies in private Title VII cases to make certain that they vindicate the policies of the Act and afford appropriate relief. If this were the actual nature of the Commission’s interest, it might be sufficiently related to a judicial proceeding approving a consent decree to justify intervention. However, the Commission’s self-characterization is overstated.

Clearly Section 706(i) empowers the Commission to initiate court proceedings to compel compliance only when (1) a court order, coercive or consensual, has issued and (2) the subject of that order has failed to obey it.4 This provision does not, as the Commission contends, [105]*105charge it with responsibility in fashioning relief as opposed to determining the existence of a violation, and it does not “authorize [d] its participation in ail suits brought by private individuals upon the entry of judgment in their favor.” (Emphasis in Commission’s main brief.)

When Congress provided for the intrusion of the Commission in Section 706 (i), it did not make a dichotomy between establishing the underlying offense, from which the Commission was deliberately excluded,5 and fashioning complainants’ remedies. Here the Commission asserts that the proposed settlement violates the Act and that it affords narrower relief than would be awarded upon successful litigation.6 This is simply the Commission’s subjective assertion that conduct that will be permitted to the defendants is conduct violative of Title VII. Plainly the Commission cannot bring suit to establish that contention.7 Since relief is always tailored to remedy the conduct found offensive, dissatisfaction with the court’s appraisal of the conduct can always be articulated in terms of inadequacy of the relief afforded. Consequently, without subverting the manifest intent of Congress that only private litigants and the Attorney General may sue to establish an unfair employment practice,8 we cannot accept the notion that Congress meant to invest in this Commission a participating interest in formulating Title VII remedies. Braddy v. Southern Bell Telephone & Telegraph Co., No. 71-2172 (5th Cir., decided January 11, 1972).

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455 F.2d 101, 4 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 152, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/air-lines-stewards-stewardesses-assn-local-550-v-american-airlines-ca7-1972.