Dobbins v. Local 212, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

292 F. Supp. 413
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedOctober 10, 1968
DocketCiv. A. 6421, 6473
StatusPublished
Cited by92 cases

This text of 292 F. Supp. 413 (Dobbins v. Local 212, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dobbins v. Local 212, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, 292 F. Supp. 413 (S.D. Ohio 1968).

Opinion

OPINION

HOGAN, District Judge.

INTRODUCTORY

Section I.

Somewhere between these two extremes lies the answer to the problem raised in this case. The Local Union 212 (hereinafter referred to as “U”) has approximately 800 journeymen members. All are White (hereinafter abbreviated as “W”). U not only does not have, but it never has had a Negro (hereinafter abbreviated as “N”) member. That is one extreme. As the Fifth Circuit said in State of Alabama v. United States, 304 F.2d 583 (1962, affirmed 371 U.S. 37, 83 S.Ct. 145, 9 L.Ed.2d 112):

“In the problem of racial discrimination, statistics often tell much, and courts listen.”

Compare the statistical recitations in Monroe v. Board of Commissioners, 391 U.S. 450, 88 S.Ct. 1700, 20 L.Ed.2d 733 (1968). Going to the other extreme for a statistic — since statistics may be bilateral — in March of 1968, a union electrical contractor, Incore Electric, and the successful subcontractor on two of the largest electrical construction projects in the Cincinnati area (being the building that is going on just west of this Federal Building and covering almost two blocks) in good faith addressed a letter to a representative number (practically all) of N contractors in the electrical business in this area. The contractor said that he had a present need for “several electricians of the minority group.” He further called attention to the fact that *418 journeyman electricians, in his employ, were earning $5.55 per hour. Although this request was, on this record, known to individuals in the business and with the knowledge of the N electricians in this area, this good faith request was answered by only one person — who had no trouble with either the contractor or the U in obtaining and keeping employment.

In May, 1967, the plaintiff Dobbins (hereinafter referred to as “D”) commenced an action against the U under Title 7 (42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.). The D action was also bottomed on 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (part of the statute of 1866). 1 The D action purported to be a class action. The fact that, on this record, D is the only N to have satisfied the procedural requirements of Title 7 before filing an individual action is neither here nor there. The Fifth Circuit has recently held that, assuming other de facto members of the class, a plaintiff who has satisfied the procedural requirements of Title 7 may sue on behalf of others similarly situated who have not gone through the procedural requirements. Oatis v. Crown Zellerbach Corp., 5 Cir., 398 F.2d 496 (July, 1968). However, Rule 23 F.R.Civ.P. does require a showing that there is more than one person in the class. On this record there is no one in D’s class, as we shall see. D evidently agreed, since he took no step as required by the Rule. Furthermore, the prerequisites under Section (b) of Rule 23 are not here present. It is determined, therefore, that the D action is not a class action and not maintainable as such, but is an action on behalf of the individual plaintiff only.

On July 24, 1967, only a matter of weeks after the D action was filed, the United States, by Ramsey Clark, Attorney General, filed a Title 7 action against the U. Basically, the D action asserted discrimination with respect to membership in the U. Basically, the government action was directed toward claimed discrimination both in respect of membership and employment opportunities. On September 6, 1967, on motion of the United States, the two pending actions were consolidated. At the same time, as required by Title 7, the actions, as consolidated, were advanced. The trial was approximately a year after commencement, which is approximately a year and a half in advance of when the cases would have been reached on the docket as a matter of course. The point is thát at a very early date in the history of these cases (i. e., a matter of a few months after filing and before any substantial discovery had been commenced) the Attorney General of the United States, in this Court, was actively pressing a claim which of necessity included the D claim, for all practical discovery, trial and evidentiary purposes, and in the light of that fact, there was no need in this District for a “private Attorney General” thereafter. Compare Newman v. Piggie Park, 390 U.S. 400, at 402, 88 S.Ct. 964, 19 L.Ed.2d 1263 (March, 1968).

The Cincinnati Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee in the electrical field (hereinafter simply “JATC”) is a voluntary, unincorporated association, composed of six members. Each serves for a term of years. Three are designated by the U. Three are designated by the Cincinnati Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association (hereinafter “NECA”). It formulates and administers the apprenticeship training program in and for the jurisdiction of the U. In that connection, it incurs and pays expenses, which subject will be dealt with again herein. The funds of JATC are provided 50% by U and 50% by NECA. It is not controlled by either U or NECA — while the U members may want one or the other thing and NECA members may want something different, the conclusions of the JATC in such matters are arrived at by good faith bargaining.

*419 On April 9, 1968, after these cases had been assigned a trial date of July 9, 1968, and approximately a month after JATC had notice that such an effort would be made, the JATC was added as a defendant in Civil 6473; and on April 11, 1968, the United States filed an amended complaint against both defendants, adding the claim, as against JATC, of discrimination by reason of race or color in connection with JATC standards and admission to the apprenticeship program.The JATC first filed motions which were deferred for disposition until trial and which are dealt with hereinafter. 2 On June 10, 1968, the JATC answered.

It has been and still is the claim of the JATC that it had no adequate time prior to trial to prepare its defense and that it, therefore, was deprived of certain Constitutional rights. In an effort to set that claim at rest, the trial of this case was adjourned from July 24th to August 6, 1968; the government had rested its' case on July 24 against both defendants, and the JATC was afforded the interim adjournment for preparatory purposes before putting on its case, so that, prior to the time the JATC was required to defend itself evidentiary-wise, there was a substantial period of time in which it knew exactly what it had to prepare itself for — and, of course, its preparation could only amount to self-discovery, which never presents anyone much problem. The trial extended over a period of approximately fifteen days, involves a record exceeding 3100 pages of transcript, and several hundred pounds of exhibits.

Section II.

The Facts With Respect to The U

1. The U is a labor organization, being an unincorporated association of members engaged in the electrical construction industry in Cincinnati and thirteen surrounding counties in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. The U’s offices are in Cincinnati, Ohio.

2.

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Bluebook (online)
292 F. Supp. 413, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dobbins-v-local-212-international-brotherhood-of-electrical-workers-ohsd-1968.