Brooks v. Brinegar

391 F. Supp. 710, 13 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 36, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11720, 10 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 10,280
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Oklahoma
DecidedDecember 6, 1974
DocketCiv. 74-662-D
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 391 F. Supp. 710 (Brooks v. Brinegar) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brooks v. Brinegar, 391 F. Supp. 710, 13 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 36, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11720, 10 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 10,280 (W.D. Okla. 1974).

Opinion

ORDER

DAUGHERTY, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff alleges that she is a black citizen of the United States and the State of Oklahoma, and is employed by the United States Department of Transportation (Department) at the F. A.A. Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Plaintiff brings this action seeking both damages and injunctive relief to redress certain alleged reprisals alleg-. edly taken against her because she filed a complaint of racial discrimination with the Department. Plaintiff relies on 5 U.S.C. § 702, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343, 2201, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983 and 2000e-16(c). This suit is a civil action based on alleged discriminatory employment practices by a Federal agency and, as such, the only proper party Defendant is the head of the involved agency.. Jones v. United States, 376 F.Supp. 13 (D.C.D.C.1974). Furthermore, it is basic that the United States cannot be sued without its consent. United States v. Alabama, 313 U.S. 274, 61 S.Ct. 1011, 85 L.Ed. 1327. This being a suit against a Federal agency, the authority to sue it must be found in specific statutory language, or must be implied by virtue of the Agency’s being the offspring of a suable entity. Blackmar v. Guerre, 342 U.S. 512, 72 S.Ct. 410, 96 L.Ed. 534 (1952). It does not appear that the Department is the offspring of a suable entity, and it is apparent that none of the statutes relied on by Plaintiff, except 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-16(c), confers upon her the authority to sue an agency of the United States. Defendant Claude S. Brinegar as an individual is not a proper party defendant.

Plaintiff alleges in her Complaint that she filed a complaint of racial discrimination with the Department. This complaint was found by the Defendant to be without merit. Plaintiff appealed the Department’s decision to the United States Civil Service Commission. Plaintiff does not assert the result of this appeal. Plaintiff alleges that reprisals were taken against her because she filed the complaint of racial discrimination. Plaintiff then filed a second complaint with the Department based on these alleged reprisals. This second complaint was also found to be without merit by the Department. Plaintiff does not allege that this decision was appealed to the Civil Service Commission. It is this complaint of reprisals with which this lawsuit is concerned. Plaintiff alleges that she was notified of the Department’s adverse decision on her second complaint on July 3, 1974. This lawsuit was filed on August 2,1974.

Defendant has filed a Motion to Dismiss for lack of jurisdiction pursuant to the provisions of Rule 12(b) (1), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Defendant has submitted materials outside the *712 pleadings with his Motion which show that the Department’s decision on the •complaint of reprisals was rendered on June 26, 1974. Plaintiff has alleged that she received notice of this decision on July 3, 1974. Defendant has submitted materials outside the pleadings with his Motion which show that Plaintiff appealed the second adverse decision of the Department made on June 26, 1974 to the Civil Service Commission and did so on July 8, 1974 and it is Defendant’s position that Plaintiff, having filed an administrative appeal of the Department’s decision on her second complaint, is precluded by the terms of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-16(c) from bringing a civil action on the same complaint until one hundred and eighty days after the filing of the administrative appeal.

The procedure to be followed by a trial court in determining its jurisdiction if not prescribed by statute but is discretionary with the trial court. Tanzymore v. Bethlehem Steel Corporation, 457 F.2d 1320 (Third Cir. 1972); Gibbs v. Buck, 307 U.S. 66, 59 S.Ct. 725, 83 L.Ed. 1111. It is well settled that a Movant may submit affidavits and other materials outside the pleadings in support of a Rule 12(b)(1) Motion to Dismiss. 5 Federal Practice & Procedure, Wright and Miller, 1350; Tanzymore v. Bethlehem Steel Corporation, supra; Kerr v. Raney, 305 F.Supp. 1152 (W.D. Ark.1969). When a jurisdictional fact is controverted, it is the burden of the party asserting jurisdiction to show that the Federal court has jurisdiction. Tanzymore v. Bethlehem Steel Corporation, supra; Gibbs v. Buck, supra. However, when jurisdiction is challenged, the party asserting jurisdiction should be given the opportunity to present facts by affidavits, depositions, or by an evidentiary hearing, in support of his jurisdictional contentions. Local 336, American Fed. of Musicians, AFL-CIO v. Bonatz, 475 F.2d 433 (Third Cir. 1973).

Plaintiff has had ample opportunity to respond to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss. Defendant’s Motion was filed on September 3, 1974. Plaintiff was given a thirty day extension of time in which to respond to Defendant’s Motion. Plaintiff filed her response on October 30, 1974. Plaintiff does not in any way deny that she appealed the Department’s adverse decision on her complaint of reprisals to the Civil Service Commission. She has submitted no affidavit denying the appeal, nor is the appeal expressly denied in any of Plaintiff’s pleadings submitted subsequent to the filing of Defendant’s Motion. Therefore, the Court finds and concludes that Plaintiff appealed the Department’s adverse decision on her complaint of reprisals to the United States Civil Service Commission on July 8, 1974. This information is derived from the materials submitted by Defendant in support of its Motion to Dismiss. These materials are certified copies of documents from the files of the United States Civil Service Commission relating to a complaint of reprisals filed by Deloris U. Brooks, an employee of the Federal Aviation Administration.

It is Plaintiff’s position that she has the right to bring this suit because it was filed within thirty days of her receipt of notice of the Department’s adverse decision on her complaint of reprisals. As will later be seen, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-16(c) requires that an aggrieved employee wait one hundred and eighty days after the filing of an administrative appeal with the Civil Service Commission of an adverse decision of the Department with which he filed a complaint based on discrimination before filing a civil action on the same complaint.

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Bluebook (online)
391 F. Supp. 710, 13 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 36, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11720, 10 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 10,280, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brooks-v-brinegar-okwd-1974.