Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. H. S. Camp & Sons, Inc.

542 F. Supp. 411, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12812, 29 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 32,930, 33 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 330
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedJune 1, 1982
Docket77-69-Civ-Oc
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 542 F. Supp. 411 (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. H. S. Camp & Sons, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. H. S. Camp & Sons, Inc., 542 F. Supp. 411, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12812, 29 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 32,930, 33 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 330 (M.D. Fla. 1982).

Opinion

OPINION

CHARLES R. SCOTT, Senior District Judge.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (‘EEOC’) brought this class action against H. S. Camp & Sons, Inc. (‘H.S. Camp’) alleging racial and sexual discrimination in defendant’s employment practices in violation of Section 703(a) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a) (1981) (hereinafter ‘Title VII’). Plaintiff seeks a permanent injunction enjoining defendant from engaging in discriminatory employment practices based upon race and sex, an order requiring defendant to institute an affirmative action program to eradicate the effects of the alleged past unlawful employment practices, and backpay, with interest, for those members of the class adversely affected by the alleged discriminatory practices.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On August 27, 1974, Patty Coffie filed a charge of employment discrimination with EEOC against H.S. Camp. (Ex. 16). Ms. Coffie, a black employee, alleged that she was discharged by H.S. Camp because of *418 her race and sex. Following an investigation of the charge, EEOC determined that there was reasonable cause to believe Ms. Coffie’s discharge was racially motivated. (Ex. 1). EEOC further concluded that there was reasonable cause to believe that H. S. Camp engaged in classwide discrimination against black and female employees. (Ex. 1).

H. S. Camp declined EEOC’s invitation to conciliate, and EEOC commenced this action on November 30, 1977. EEOC alleges that since July 2, 1965, H.S. Camp has continuously and intentionally engaged in unlawful employment practices in violation of Section 703(a) of Title VII. Specifically, EEOC claims that such unlawful employment practices include failing to hire black and female applicants because of their race and sex, maintaining segregated departments on the basis of race and sex, assigning black and female employees to jobs on the basis of race and sex, failing to promote black and female employees because of their race and sex, and discharging Patty Coffie because of her race and sex.

During the trial, EEOC moved for permission to file a supplemental complaint including a claim of retaliation, in violation of Section 704(a) of Title VII, by H.S. Camp against a white female employee who had contacted EEOC. The Court denied this motion, although evidence of the alleged retaliation was admitted in support of EEOC’s claims under Section 703(a) of Title VII.

EEOC also filed a motion to amend the complaint to conform to the evidence seeking to include the following claims:

I. That defendant has continuously, from July 2, 1965 up until the present time, failed or refused to post EEOC posters in a conspicuous place on its facility in violation of Section 711(a) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. Section 2000e et seq.
2. That defendant has wilfully failed or refused to post EEOC posters on its facility, after notice, from at least March 1, 1975 to the present time, in violation of Section 711(b) of Title VII.
3. That defendant has continuously, from July 2, 1965, up until the present time, maintained racially segregated restroom facilities in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 703(a)(1) thereof.
4. That the defendant has continuously from July 2, 1965 up until the present time, paid less wages to female employees than to male employees on account of their sex for equal or comparable work, in violation of Section 703(a)(1) of Title VII.
5. That defendant has continuously from July 2, 1965 up until the present time, discharged Black employees due to their race, in violation of Section 703(a)(1) of Title VII.
6. That defendant has continuously from July 2, 1965 up until the present time, paid blacks less wages than white employees for the same or comparable work and jobs due to their race, in violation of Section 703(a)(1) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. Section 2000e et seq.

The Court granted plaintiff’s motion to amend the complaint to conform to the evidence with respect to the claim of failing to display EEOC posters but denied the motion with regard to the allegations of classwide discrimination in setting wages and discharging employees since July 2, 1965. The allegation of maintaining racially-segregated restroom facilities had been properly set forth in previous pleadings and, therefore, the motion to amend the complaint to include that claim was stricken. 1

Upon reconsideration, the Court finds that the claims of discharging black employees because of their race and paying black and female employees lower wages because of their race and sex were litigated with the implied consent of the parties. *419 These allegations were set forth in plaintiff’s trial brief and in the joint amended pretrial stipulation, although they were limited to the time period from August 15, 1974 until the present. Evidence was admitted at trial concerning these claims without objection. Moreover, H.S. Camp introduced evidence on the issue of class-wide discrimination in setting wages and vigorously cross-examined EEOC’s expert statistician with regard to his analysis of H.S. Camp’s discharging practices. Consequently, the order entered on June 9, 1980 will be modified and plaintiff’s motion to amend the complaint to conform to the evidence will be granted pursuant to Rule 15(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure with respect to EEOC’s classwide claims of discrimination in setting wages and discharging employees for the period from August 15, 1974 until the present.

EEOC filed a second motion to amend the complaint to include a claim of discrimination against black employees because of their race in the terms, conditions and privileges of employment. The Court granted this motion.

This action-was certified as a class action pursuant to Rules 23(a) and (b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 2 and the trial of the issues of liability and damages was bifurcated. Following completion of the liability proceedings, EEOC moved to decertify the case as a class action. In support of its motion, plaintiff cited General Telephone Co. of the Northwest, Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 446 U.S. 318, 100 S.Ct.

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542 F. Supp. 411, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12812, 29 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 32,930, 33 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 330, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/equal-employment-opportunity-commission-v-h-s-camp-sons-inc-flmd-1982.