Anderson v. Eneral Motors, Boxwood Road, Wilmington, Delaware 19804

817 F. Supp. 467, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4648, 1993 WL 109995
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedApril 7, 1993
DocketCiv. A. No. 92-335-RRM
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 817 F. Supp. 467 (Anderson v. Eneral Motors, Boxwood Road, Wilmington, Delaware 19804) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Anderson v. Eneral Motors, Boxwood Road, Wilmington, Delaware 19804, 817 F. Supp. 467, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4648, 1993 WL 109995 (D. Del. 1993).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

McKELVIE, District Judge.

The plaintiff is a former employee of the defendant General Motors Corporation of Boxwood Road, Wilmington, Delaware. On June 8, 1992, the plaintiff filed a complaint against the defendant alleging that it had violated the plaintiffs rights under Title VII. [468]*468Also on June 8, the plaintiff filed a Motion for the Appointment of Counsel.

On September 18, 1992, the defendant moved to dismiss the plaintiffs complaint. As the defendant submitted matters outside the pleadings in support of its motion, the Court will treat the motion as a motion for summary judgment.

On October 16, 1992, the plaintiff filed an answering brief in opposition to the defendant’s motion in which the plaintiff asserted a new claim against the defendant based upon recall rights allegedly acquired by the plaintiff pursuant to paragraph 64(e) of the General Motors-United Auto Workers National Agreement (“National Agreement”).

On December 3, 1992, the defendant filed its reply brief in which it responded to the new claim raised by the plaintiff in his answering brief.

This is the Court’s decision on the pending motions.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The plaintiff worked for the defendant as a manufacturing assembly worker from August 31,1981, to September 21,1981, when he was laid off. He was rehired on June 25, 1982, and was again laid off on October 1, 1982.

On December 27, 1991, the plaintiff filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) a Charge against the defendant of discrimination on the basis of race.

On March 10, 1992, the EEOC sent the plaintiff a Determination letter stating that the EEOC had completed its investigation of the plaintiffs allegation and had concluded that the defendant had not violated Title VII with respect to the issues raised in the plaintiffs Charge.

On June 8, 1992, the plaintiff filed this action. The plaintiffs complaint reads as follows:

I work for General Motors back in 1982, and about 3 months, was lay off and never call back. About 4 months ago a union member informed me General Motors had hired 100 new employees. I contact EEOC Philadelphia in which investigated allege charge and informed me of the right to sue within 90 days. I’m filing complaint violation of Title VII U.S.C. 42 § 2002, and under rule discovery. Enclose discovery Ex. A.

On September 18, 1992, the defendant moved for summary judgment arguing that the plaintiff had not stated a claim for relief under Title VII. In his answering brief in opposition to the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, the plaintiff recast his claim as follows:

I never needed to re[ap]ply because of my recall rights.... I worked until October ’82 and earn seniority rights and one was to be recall back according to U.A.W. and the General Motors Corp. Agreement. ... I was entitled to 60 months to be recall ...

II. DISCUSSION

A. Appointment of Counsel

In Mallard v. U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, 490 U.S. 296, 109 S.Ct. 1814, 104 L.Ed.2d 318 (1989), the Supreme Court held that under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d) a federal district court is not authorized to require mandatory appointments of counsel for indigent persons. While a Court is free to request that an attorney represent an indigent person under § 1915(d) in light of 42 U.S.C. § 1988, counsel should be requested by this Court only in exceptional cases. See Cook v. Bounds, 518 F.2d 779 (4th Cir.1975). Counsel should be appointed only where the plaintiff demonstrates a likelihood of substantial prejudice to him resulting from, for example, his inability without the assistance of counsel to present the facts and legal issues to the court in a complex but arguably meritorious case. Smith-Bey v. Petsock, 741 F.2d 22, 26 (3d Cir.1984).

Having reviewed the plaintiffs complaint and other papers filed by the plaintiff and the defendant in this case, the Court finds that no complex legal or factual issues exist to warrant the appointment of counsel.

[469]*469B. Title VII claim

Although the plaintiffs complaint alleges a violation of Title VII, nowhere in the complaint, or in any papers subsequently filed, does the plaintiff allege any facts or circumstances suggesting that the defendant discriminated against the plaintiff because of the plaintiffs membership in a protected class. In fact, the only mention of discriminatory treatment appears in the EEOC’s Determination letter which recounts that the plaintiff filed a Charge against the defendant alleging racial discrimination and concludes that the plaintiff had no evidence to support his accusation. See exhibit 1 to Plaintiffs Complaint. As the plaintiff has not alleged with particularity that he received discriminatory treatment on account of his race, he has failed to state a claim under Title VII. See, e.g., Kirkland v. Bianco, 595 F.Supp. 797, 39 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1306, 1308 (S.D.N.Y.1984).

It is apparent from the plaintiffs answering brief in opposition to the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, however, that the gravamen of the plaintiffs claim is not that the defendant violated his rights under Title VII, but rather that the defendant breached the National Agreement by violating the plaintiffs recall rights. The Court will now turn to an analysis of that claim.

B. Breach of the National Agreement

In his answering brief in opposition to the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, the plaintiff alleges that the defendant breached the National Agreement by violating the plaintiffs recall rights. Specifically, the plaintiff asserts that pursuant to the National Agreement he retained recall rights for a period of 60 months after his employment with the defendant had terminated.

In its reply brief in support of its motion for summary judgment, the defendant asserts that the plaintiff never acquired the seniority that would have entitled him to a 60-month recall period. In support of that argument, the defendant has submitted a copy of the 1982 National Agreement. Paragraph 56 of the Agreement providés that:

Employees shall be regarded as temporary employees until their names have been placed on the seniority list. There shall be no responsibility for the reemployment of temporary employees if they are laid off or discharged during this period.

Paragraph 57 provides that:

Employees may acquire seniority by working 90 days during a period of six continuous months....

The defendant asserts that the plaintiff was never entitled to be placed on the seniority list because he did not work 90 calendar days during a six-month period.

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817 F. Supp. 467, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4648, 1993 WL 109995, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/anderson-v-eneral-motors-boxwood-road-wilmington-delaware-19804-ded-1993.