Duncan v. State

78 F.R.D. 88, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19731, 21 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 30,554, 21 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 524
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maryland
DecidedFebruary 3, 1978
DocketCiv. A. Nos. M-76-1650, M-74-826
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 78 F.R.D. 88 (Duncan v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Duncan v. State, 78 F.R.D. 88, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19731, 21 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 30,554, 21 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 524 (D. Md. 1978).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

JAMES R. MILLER, Jr., District Judge.

This memorandum addresses the four pending motions in Duncan :

1. Motion to Consolidate Duncan with Rawlings. Paper 21.

2. Motion to Certify Class in consolidated cases. Paper 20.

3. Motion of plaintiff to compel. Paper

22.

4. Motion of Defendant to compel. Paper 24.

In addition, the following motions are outstanding in Rawlings:

5. Motion to strike class allegations. Paper 4.

6. Motion to certify class. Paper 6.

7. Motion of plaintiff to compel answers to interrogatories. Paper 14.

8. Motion of defendant for protective order. Paper 20.

The decision on all motions depends largely (1) on the relationship between the Baltimore City Campus (UMAB) and the Baltimore County Campus (UMBC) and (2) on the relationship between “associate staff,” e. g. librarians, administrators, et al, such as plaintiff Duncan and faculty positions, such as plaintiff Rawlings. These relationships must be judged separately by the separate standards of Rule 42 and Rule 23, but determination of what the relationships are in fact is the initial task here.

I

MOTION TO CONSOLIDATE

A. UMAB v. UMBC

The University of Maryland at Baltimore and the University of Maryland at Baltimore County are geographically separate campuses of the University of Maryland. Each campus now has its own chancellor who reports directly to the President of the University. See Ex. 4, Baril Dep., Paper 30 in C.A. M-76-1650 [hereinafter Baril Dep.]; Baril Dep. 7; Ex. A, Baratz Aff., Paper 4 in C.A. M-74-826 [hereinafter Baratz Aff.]; Ex. C, Hornbake Aff., Paper [90]*904 in C.A. M-74-826 [hereinafter Hornbake Aff.].

Substantive decisions on the employment of associate staff and faculty are made by the chancellors and department heads on each campus within the regulations made on a university wide basis. See Personnel Policies and Rules for Associate Staff Employees of the University of Maryland (1974), Ex. 1, Baril Dep. [hereinafter Rules for Associate Staff]; Statement of Policy on Appointments and Promotions, A Report From the Faculty Comm, on Appointments, Promotions and Salaries (1957), Ex. B, Baratz Aff.; Baril Dep. 48 (as to Duncan); Baratz Aff. 2-3 (as to Rawlings).

Each campus has a separate personnel department. These separate-personnel departments have only limited responsibilities for employment decisions relating to the staff and faculty and the limited responsibility each exercises applies only to the respective campus on which it is located. E. g., Baril Dep. 7; id. at 11-12 (UMAB personnel office does not have personnel information for other campuses); id. at 15 (“The only information that we supply for faculty and staff would be that information required in the payroll system”); id. at 21 (UMAB personnel director only familiar with practices at UMAB); id. at 38 (UMAB personnel office has “little, if any,” contact with central university administration regarding associate staff).

Examination of the Rules for Associate Staff and of the Statement of Policy on Appointments and Promotions establish beyond doubt that the employment decisions for associate staff and faculty are made on the same campus as the employee is stationed and by the employee’s administrative and academic superiors on that campus.

For these reasons, this court concludes that to the extent these plaintiffs complain about the specific employment decisions affecting them and about the standard operating procedures or practices in applying the facially neutral university-wide Rules on Associate Staff or Statement of Policy on Appointments and Promotions,1 the controversy focuses on the individual campuses of the University, namely, the University of Maryland at Baltimore City and the University of Maryland at Baltimore County.

B. Associate Staff v. Faculty

Responsibility for employment decisions affecting associate staff and faculty is designated by two separate manuals adopted, apparently, by two separate and distinct entities within the University.

1. Associate Staff

Employment decisions affecting associate staff are regulated by the Rules for Associate Staff which was approved by the President of the University on September 24, 1973. These rules provide that associate staff positions may be created only by the chancellor. Id. at 8, Part II A. The campus personnel department will recommend to the chancellor whether a new position be on the associate staff or in a classified employee system. Baril Dep. 28. Official responsibility for recommending appointments and promotions rests with the heads of departments, the deans of colleges, or the equivalent, and the recommendation must be approved by the campus chancellor. Id. at 9, Part II B. The primary responsibility for recruiting rests in the department. Id. at 14. The various departments have the authority to hire and fire. Baril Dep. 25, 34. The campus personnel office has no authority to reject an applicant for an associate staff position, id. at 32, although upon request it will make a recommendation. Id. at 33. Employment decisions are communicated to applicants by the employing department itself, not the personnel department. Id. at 34. Although statistical data concerning applicants and new appointees is gathered by the personnel department to assure affirmative action compliance, id. at [91]*9125, 34, the personnel department may never know who the applicants were by name. Id. at 34. As a general matter, a person could be hired onto the associate staff and never have any dealing at all with the personnel department. Id. at 29. The only inevitable contact by an associate staff employee with the personnel department is the payroll system. See id. at 15-18.

2. Faculty

Employment decisions affecting faculty members are regulated by the Statement of Policy on Appointments and Promotions approved by the University of Maryland Faculty Senate on March 5, 1957. Baratz Aff. 5. Official responsibility for recommending appointments and promotions rests with heads of departments and deans of colleges. Statement Pt. B. This responsibility is exercised initially through Promotion and Tenure Committees organized for each academic department or division. Baratz Aff. 1-2. These committees are primarily responsible for the evaluation of the faculty member’s performance. Id. A report is made to the department or division head who makes the formal recommendation to the campus chancellor or vice chancellor. Id. at 3. Final decisions on faculty appointments and promotions are made by the campus chancellor unless the appointment makes the faculty member eligible for tenure in which case the final decision is made by the President of the University. Horn-bake Aff.

The campus personnel office’s only responsibility for faculty employees is to hold personnel files and process payroll. Baril Dep. at 31.

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Bluebook (online)
78 F.R.D. 88, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19731, 21 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 30,554, 21 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 524, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/duncan-v-state-mdd-1978.