Coleman v. Humphreys County Memorial Hospital

55 F.R.D. 507, 4 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 998, 16 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 221, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13230, 4 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 7938
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Mississippi
DecidedJune 15, 1972
DocketNo. GC 68-47
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 55 F.R.D. 507 (Coleman v. Humphreys County Memorial Hospital) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Coleman v. Humphreys County Memorial Hospital, 55 F.R.D. 507, 4 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 998, 16 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 221, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13230, 4 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 7938 (N.D. Miss. 1972).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

ORMA R. SMITH, District Judge.

This class action, filed October 25, 1968, seeks injunctive relief to restrain defendants from operating the Humphreys County Memorial Hospital, at Belzoni, Mississippi, in a racially discriminatory manner.

After the filing of the complaint the court set the action down for hearing on plaintiffs’ application for the issuance of a preliminary injunction. The court directed that the action be submitted and tried on the merits at that time.

The hearing was set for November 26, 1968. The court, however, before the date for the hearing, entered an order cancelling the hearing and directing that the application be heard at a later date, when counsel notified the court that all discovery proceedings had been completed.

There was no further action by the court until the action was set for a status report on January 20, 1970. At that time counsel for the parties announced to the court that they were of the opinion that a final decree upon which they could agree might be submitted to the court, thereby disposing of the action.

In response to this announcement, the court entered an order providing that counsel should submit the decree to the court within 30 days, or, in lieu thereof, each counsel should submit a decree for the court’s consideration, it appearing that counsel might hold different views on some aspects of the matter.

On March 11, 1970, the court extended the time for submission of the decree or decrees until March 16, 1970.

The decree or decrees were not forthcoming, and the court scheduled status hearings on the action for June 30, 1970, January 5, 1971, and July 15, 1971. On the occasion of the July 15, 1971 hearing the court entered an order directing counsel to prepare and submit to the court a stipulation of facts, the representation having been made to the court that there was no substantial dispute between counsel as to the facts in the case.

The order did not fix a date for the filing of the stipulation, but, contained a briefing schedule for the parties, once [509]*509the stipulation had been filed. Plaintiffs were granted ten days after the filing of the stipulation within which to file a brief in support of their position. Defendants were granted ten days thereafter within which to reply, and plaintiffs were granted ten days after receiving defendants’ reply, within which to respond.

The court set a hearing on the status of the action for January 27, 1972. Counsel for the parties appeared at the hearing, and announced to the court that the stipulation had been filed with the clerk on January 24, 1972. Since that time the briefs have been filed and have been given due consideration by the court. The action is now ripe for decision.

This Memorandum contains the court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law as required by Rule 52(a) F.R.Civ.P.

The three plaintiffs are black residents and citizens of Humphreys County, Mississippi. The Humphreys County Memorial Hospital (hospital) is situated in the City of Belzoni, and serves Humphreys County and the surrounding trade territory. The 1970 census of Humphreys County shows 5089 white, 9460 black and 52 “other” residents of the county.

The defendant hospital was erected and is now owned and is being operated by Humphreys County, Mississippi. The construction was accomplished in 1950 with the assistance of the United States of America, pursuant to the provisions of the Hill-Burton Act.1 The hospital is operated by the county through a board of trustees, the members of which are appointed by the Humphreys County Board of Supervisors pursuant to the provisions of Miss. Code Ann. § 7129-55 (1971 Cum.Supp.). The trustees serve five year terms which are staggered so that each year there is a new appointment to be made by the Board of Supervisors.

From the time the hospital opened in 1950 until the filing of this action in 1968 defendants practiced racial discrimination in operating the hospital. It is not necessary for the court to describe in this decision the details of the discriminatory practices, since the parties have stipulated that such was the practice during this period of time. The details of the discriminatory practices are clearly defined and enumerated in the stipulation which has been filed with the court.

In July 1965 the three named plaintiffs in the action sub judice, with one other black citizen of the community, brought a civil action against the members of the Board of Supervisors of the county, the municipal authorities of the City of Belzoni and other elected officials of the county and city. They alleged that the public officials, against whom the suit was filed, furnished municipal and governmental service on a racially discriminatory basis. The plaintiffs attacked in that suit the racially discriminatory manner in which the hospital was being operated.

When the 1965 action was tried by this court in 1968, the court held that relief against the hospital could not be afforded plaintiffs because the hospital and its board of trustees had not been made parties to the action. Coleman v. Aycock, 304 F.Supp. 132 (N.D.Miss. 1969). Coleman v. Aycock was tried by the court in mid-September 1968 but the opinion in the case was not rendered until September 22, 1969. After the trial, but before the decision, the complaint in this action was filed.

The court said, in Aycock:

“The Court takes judicial knowledge of the fact that a suit is now pending in this Court to desegregate the hospital, brought by three of the four [510]*510plaintiffs herein, against the hospital and its Board of Trustees. Coleman v. Humphreys County Memorial Hospital, Civil Action No. GC 6847.
Plaintiffs contend that regardless of the fact that the hospital suit is pending in the Court, nevertheless the Court should enjoin the members of the Board of Supervisors in the case sub judice from contributing county funds for the operation or support of the hospital unless and until the hospital abandons its policies of racial segregation.
The Court is of the opinion and so finds that the frontal attack in the hospital suit is sufficient to afford plaintiffs and the class they represent any relief to which they may be entitled, and that injunctive relief in the case sub judice is not necessary or proper under the circumstances. . . .” 304 F.Supp. at 140.

The racially discriminatory practice was continued by the hospital until after the hearing in Ayeock, and even after the filing of the action sub judice. It was not until February 11, 1969 that defendants took affirmative action to desegregate its facilities. It was on that date that defendant Board of Trustees adopted a resolution declaring its intention to enter into an assurance of compliance with the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) that the hospital would comply with the requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and with the requirements of HEW issued pursuant thereto.

The stipulation filed by the parties reflects that the hospital no longer segregates patients by wings, the waiting rooms are no longer segregated by custom or policy, and that black employees can and do utilize the hospital’s cafeteria.

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Related

In Re Greene County Hospital
59 B.R. 388 (S.D. Mississippi, 1986)
Smiley v. City of Montgomery
350 F. Supp. 451 (M.D. Alabama, 1972)

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Bluebook (online)
55 F.R.D. 507, 4 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 998, 16 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 221, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13230, 4 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 7938, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coleman-v-humphreys-county-memorial-hospital-msnd-1972.