Dumas v. Tyson Foods, Inc.

139 F. Supp. 2d 1243, 2001 WL 363359
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Alabama
DecidedApril 5, 2001
DocketCIV. A. 93-C-2688-S
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 139 F. Supp. 2d 1243 (Dumas v. Tyson Foods, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dumas v. Tyson Foods, Inc., 139 F. Supp. 2d 1243, 2001 WL 363359 (N.D. Ala. 2001).

Opinion

139 F.Supp.2d 1243 (2001)

Janice M. DUMAS, Plaintiff,
v.
TYSON FOODS, INC., Defendant.

No. CIV. A. 93-C-2688-S.

United States District Court, N.D. Alabama, Southern Division.

April 5, 2001.

*1244 Alicia K Haynes, Kenneth D Haynes, Haynes & Haynes PC, Birmingham, AL, Larry R Mann, New South Federal Savings Bldg, Birmingham, AL, Joe R Whatley, Jr, Whatley Drake LLC, Birmingham, AL, Elizabeth R Jones, Birmingham, AL, for Janice M Dumas, plaintiff.

Michael R Jones, Paul A Gilker, Gilker & Jones, Mountainburg, AR, Peyton Lacy, Jr, Timothy A Palmer, David L Warren, Jr, Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC, Birmingham, AL, Thomas F Campbell, Campbell & Baker LLP, Birmingham, AL, for Tyson Foods, Inc., defendant.

Hycall Brooks, III, Charles I. Brooks, Brooks Firm PC, Birmingham, AL, for Cordell Miller, movant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION GRANTING ATTORNEYS' FEES AND EXPENSES

CLEMON, Chief Judge.

This case started in December of 1993. It was tried for five days in October-November of 1995. Plaintiff prevailed at *1245 trial. Defendant's appeal and Plaintiff's cross-appeal to the Eleventh Circuit were unsuccessful.

The case has been hotly contested, from beginning to end. Several motions for sanctions have been filed. At one point, Defendant sought to depose Plaintiff's attorneys. Defendant unsuccessfully sought a writ of mandamus against the judge. Counsel for both parties have at times unreasonably pursued or resisted discovery.

The Court held a hearing on Plaintiff's application for attorneys' fees in April of 1998, and partial attorneys' fees were awarded at that time. In this Opinion, the Court disposes of the remaining aspects of the attorneys' fees application.

I. Plaintiff's Efforts and Success

Brought and maintained by the then-discharged Plaintiff individually, had this case been certified as a class action, it could not have been more beneficial to Defendant's female workforce. At trial, Plaintiff exposed outrageous conduct directed at female workers by male workers and supervisors in the workplace at Defendant's chicken plant in Blountsville, Alabama. The jury was so moved by the reprehensibility of the workplace atmosphere that it returned a punitive damage award of $8,000,000 against Defendant. Plaintiff individually obtained all the relief that she could legally and equitably obtain under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. ("Title VII")—reinstatement, $323,000 in compensatory and punitive damages. On November 3, 1995, Defendant, its "managers, supervisors, employees, and those in active concert and participation with them [were] PERMANENTLY ENJOINED from maintaining the existence of a sexually hostile work environment for the female employees...." (Fin. Judgmt. & Perm. Inj. at 1.)

But before the ink was dry on the first Injunction, Defendant began retaliating against some of Plaintiff's trial witnesses. Plaintiff's counsel was obliged to file a Motion for an Order to Show Cause. On November 8, 1995, the Court held an evidentiary hearing on Plaintiff's Show Cause Motion.

Based on the evidence adduced at the Show Cause hearing, the Court issued, on the same day, an Anti-Retaliation Injunction against Defendant, permanently enjoining it from retaliating against Plaintiff and other employees because of their "direct or indirect support of plaintiff's position in this case or their opposition to perceived unlawful employment practices based on sex at [Defendant]'s Blountsville Plant." (Anti-Retaliation Inj. at 1.) Defendant was ordered to post the following Notice at each of the time clocks, bulletin boards, management offices, break rooms, and eating facilities of the Blountsville facility. Because the Notice is fairly descriptive of what this lawsuit was about and what it achieved, the Notice is reproduced here:

In 1993, a former worker of the Company, Ms. Janice Dumas, filed a lawsuit claiming that the workplace here at Tyson is unfair, insulting, embarrassing, disrespectful, and humiliating for the female workers. This is what is known in law as a claim of a "sexually hostile work environment." A sexually hostile work environment is unlawful. The case was tried by a federal court jury in Birmingham in November 1995.
Mrs. Dumas won the case.
Federal Judge U.W. Clemon has now issued a court order telling the Company to stop and discontinue any actions that discriminate against women on the basis of sex. This means that in the future, the men workers and supervisors must treat the women workers just as they would want their mothers and sisters to be treated on a job. If Tyson *1246 does not follow the court order, it will be held in contempt of court and it may be exposed to a heavy fine or its managers may be sent to jail.
From now on, ANY MALE SUPERVISOR OR EMPLOYEE WHO SUBJECTS A FEMALE WORKER TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE (including production lines, break rooms, cafeteria, restrooms) WHETHER BY WORDS (such as "bitch," "whore," "sweetheart," or "darling") OR CONDUCT (such as touching a woman's body, embracing her, kissing her, exposing his private parts, simulating a sex act by use of chicken parts or otherwise) WILL BE PROMPTLY REPRIMANDED, SUSPENDED, AND/OR FIRED. Any such supervisor or employee may also be held in contempt.
Also, THE COMPANY WILL PROMPTLY REPRIMAND, SUSPEND, OR FIRE ANY EMPLOYEE, MALE OR FEMALE, WHO THREATENS, ABUSES, OR INTIMIDATES AN EMPLOYEE WHO EITHER TESTIFIED FOR MRS. DUMAS OR SUPPORTED HER CASE. It is unlawful and a violation of the court order to retaliate against anyone because he or she helped another person on a sex discrimination claim.
* * * * * *
THE COMPANY ENCOURAGES ANY FEMALE WORKER WHO FEELS THAT SHE HAS BEEN HARASSED, RETALIATED OR OTHERWISE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST BECAUSE OF HER SEX, OR ANYONE WHO IS A WITNESS TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT OR DISCRIMINATION TO MAKE A COMPLAINT DIRECTLY TO THE PLANT MANAGER OR SHIFT MANAGER. NO ONE WILL BE TREATED DIFFERENTLY BECAUSE HE OR SHE HAS MADE SUCH A COMPLAINT.

Id.

Thus, this litigation achieved all the relief that the law provides in terms of transforming Defendant's pervasive sexually hostile work environment into one which accords respect to the basic humanity of its female workers.

II. Reasonable Hourly Rates

Alicia Haynes has practiced law in the Northern District of Alabama since 1987, specializing in employment cases. If Haynes had been retained to represent a Title VII defendant in 1998, she would have billed at an hourly rate of $175-190. Because she worked on a contingency basis and achieved significant results, the Court finds that a reasonable hourly rate for her is $215, in light of similar awards made by this judge in similar cases.

Larry Mann has practiced in the Northern District of Alabama since 1992. Before entering private practice, he had worked for a decade in a paralegal capacity with two law firms specializing in plaintiffs' cases. As co-counsel with Haynes, he successfully represented a plaintiff in another employment case in this Court, which resulted in a jury verdict of $887,000. If Mann had been retained to represent a Title VII defendant in 1998, he would have billed at $150—160 hourly. The contingency of his fee arrangement, similar awards by this judge, and success factors of Johnson v. Georgia Highway Express,

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