Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Local 638 ... Local 28 of the Sheet Metal Workers' International Ass'n

889 F. Supp. 642
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMarch 6, 1995
Docket71 Civ. 2877 (RLC)
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 889 F. Supp. 642 (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Local 638 ... Local 28 of the Sheet Metal Workers' International Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York 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. Local 638 ... Local 28 of the Sheet Metal Workers' International Ass'n, 889 F. Supp. 642 (S.D.N.Y. 1995).

Opinion

AMENDED AND CORRECTED

OPINION

ROBERT L. CARTER, District Judge.

Plaintiffs City of New York and New York State Division of Human Rights ask the court to hold defendant Local 28 of the Sheet Metal Workers International Association (“Local 28”) in contempt of court on the basis of numerous alleged violations of this court’s Order and Judgment entered in 1975 (“0 & J”) and the Amended Affirmative Action Program and Order (“AAAPO”) entered by this court in 1983. In the alternative, they seek modification of the AAAPO. Plaintiff Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is not a party to this motion. The parties also ask the court to approve several stipulations into which they have entered.

This court has continuing jurisdiction over this ease pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 because the ease was originally brought under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-6(a). It also has jurisdiction pursuant to the court’s inherent powers to enforce its orders and to punish violators for contempt. Roadway Express, Inc. v. Piper, 447 U.S. 752, 764-765, 100 S.Ct. 2455, 2463-2464, 65 L.Ed.2d 488 (1980); 18 U.S.C.A. § 401 (1966).

I. Background

Local 28 is a union representing sheet metal workers who work for contractors in the New York metropolitan area. The Local 28 Joint Apprenticeship Committee (“JAC”) is a management-labor committee which runs an apprenticeship program to teach sheet metal skills to entrants into the union. The Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors Association of New York City, Inc. and the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors National Association of Long Island, Inc. (“Contractors’ Associations”) are trade associations of building contractors which employ sheet metal workers in New York City and Long Island. The Contractors’ Associations were not named in the original complaint but have since been joined by the court for the purposes of obtaining complete relief.

The background of this case has been thoroughly documented in previous opinions of this court, the Second Circuit and the Supreme Court, see Local 28 of Sheet Metal Workers’ Int’l Ass’n v. EEOC, 478 U.S. 421, 106 S.Ct. 3019, 92 L.Ed.2d 344 (1986); EEOC v. Local 638 ... Local 28 of Sheet Metal Workers’ Int’l Ass’n, 753 F.2d 1172 (2d Cir.1985), aff 'd, 478 U.S. 421, 106 S.Ct. 3019, 92 L.Ed.2d 344 (1986); EEOC v. Local 638 ... Local 28 of Sheet Metal Workers’ Int’l Ass’n, 674 F.Supp. 91 (S.D.N.Y.1987) (Carter, J.), but for purposes of clarity this opinion will provide a summary of the ease.

*648 This case dates back to 1964 when the state of New York commenced proceedings in state court against Local 28 in response to the union’s refusal to admit blacks as members and apprentices. In 1971, the United States charged Local 28, the JAC, and several other unions and contractors’ associations with violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. The Local 28 case was severed, the EEOC was soon substituted for the United States, and the New York City Commission on Human Rights (“City”) and New York State Division on Human Rights (“State”) intervened as plaintiffs. Judge Werker of this court held a trial and determined that Local 28 and the JAC had violated Title VII and New York law by denying nonwhites 1 access to employment opportunities in the sheet metal trades. EEOC v. Local 638, 401 F.Supp. 467 (S.D.N.Y.1975) (Werker, J.), aff'd in part, 532 F.2d 821 (2d Cir.1976). He then entered the O & J, which enjoined Local 28 and the JAC from discriminating against nonwhites and enjoined a number of specific practices which he found to be discriminatory. He also ordered the union to achieve 29% nonwhite membership by July 1, 1981, awarded back pay to nonwhites excluded from union membership, appointed an administrator (“Administrator”), and ordered the parties to design new recruitment and admission procedures to achieve the membership goal. The Administrator accordingly proposed an affirmative action program, which the court adopted.

The Second Circuit affirmed Judge Werker’s finding of liability and most of the remedies that he had ordered, modifying only part of his remedy regarding the apprenticeship program. EEOC v. Local 638 ... Local 28 of Sheet Metal Workers’ Int’l Ass’n, 532 F.2d 821 (2d Cir.1976). On remand, Judge Werker adopted a Revised Affirmative Action Plan and Order (“RAAPO”) which, among other things, extended the 29% membership goal for one year, and the Second Circuit affirmed this plan. EEOC v. Local 638 ... Local 28 of Sheet Metal Workers’ Int’l Ass’n, 565 F.2d 31 (2d Cir.1977).

In 1982, the City and State commenced a series of contempt proceedings strikingly similar to the current proceeding, alleging that Local 28 and the JAC had failed to meet the membership goal because they had violated a number different provisions of the O & J and RAAPO. Judge Werker issued a civil contempt order, finding that Local 28 and the JAC had “failed to comply with RAAPO ... almost from its date of entry,” and imposed a fine of $150,000, which he ordered Local 28 and the JAC to deposit in a fund to be used to increase nonwhite membership in the union. EEOC v. Local 638 ... Local 28 of Sheet Metal Workers Int’l Ass’n, No. 71 Civ. 2877, 1982 WL 445, *4 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 16, 1982) (Werker, J.). In 1983 the City brought a second contempt proceeding on the basis of the failure of the union and the JAC to maintain and submit records in violation of the O & J, the RAAPO, and several administrative orders. The Administrator found contempt, and Judge Werker adopted his findings, ordering the union and the JAC to finance a computerized recordkeeping system. He also entered an Amended Affirmative Action Plan and Order (“AAAPO”) which, among other measures, increased the nonwhite membership goal to 29.23% and extended the deadline for meeting the goal to August 31, 1987. In 1987 this deadline was again extended to August 31, 1992, pursuant to a stipulation between the parties.

The Second Circuit affirmed most of Judge Werker’s contempt findings, upheld the contempt remedies he had ordered, and affirmed the AAAPO with modifications to the apprenticeship program, Local 28, 753 F.2d at 1172, and this opinion was upheld by the Supreme Court. Local 28, 478 U.S. at 482-83, 106 S.Ct. at 3053-54. When Judge Werker passed away, I inherited the case.

In the instant contempt motion, the plaintiffs allege that the union has violated the AAAPO and O & J by fading to achieve the membership goal, ensure equal work opportunities for its white and nonwhite members, *649 and keep accurate and complete records.

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889 F. Supp. 642, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/equal-employment-opportunity-commission-v-local-638-local-28-of-the-nysd-1995.