Falcon v. General Telephone Co. of Southwest

611 F. Supp. 707, 39 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1116, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18876
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedJune 17, 1985
DocketCA 3-75-0403-R
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 611 F. Supp. 707 (Falcon v. General Telephone Co. of Southwest) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Falcon v. General Telephone Co. of Southwest, 611 F. Supp. 707, 39 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1116, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18876 (N.D. Tex. 1985).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BUCHMEYER, District Judge.

The history of this landmark case— which, as the Fifth Circuit has noted, “significantly altered the pertinent law of this Circuit” concerning class certifications in employment discrimination cases 1 — is contained in the following decisions: General Telephone Co. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 102 S.Ct. 2364, 72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982) and 450 U.S. 1036, 101 S.Ct. 1752, 68 L.Ed.2d 234 (1981), both reversing portions of the Fifth Circuit’s opinion in Falcon v. General Telephone Co., 626 F.2d 369 (5th Cir.1980), which in turn reversed parts of the decision by the Honorable Sarah T. Hughes, Falcon v. General Telephone Co., 463 F.Supp. 315 (D.C.N.D.Tex.1978).

The purpose of this opinion is to comply with the respective remands by the Supreme Court 2 and the Fifth Circuit, 3 and to determine what issues (if any) remain for trial in this case. Specifically, the opinion holds that:

(i) The individual plaintiff, Falcon— who claims he was denied promotion by the defendant, General Telephone, because of his race (Mexican-American)— may not maintain a class action on behalf of Mexican-American applicants who were not hired by General Telephone. 4
(ii) One of the 13 persons who filed claims in response to the class notice (463 F.Supp. at 317-21) would be permitted to intervene in this case to represent a class of Mexican-American applicants not hired by General Telephone. 4
(iii) However, “a more specific evaluation of both the plaintiff’s and the defendant’s” statistical evidence (626 F.2d at 382) establishes that the class claims are baseless and that General Telephone did not discriminate against Mexican-American applicants with respect to hiring. 4
*710 (iv) Falcon’s claims that he was subjected to race discrimination with respect to promotions cannot be resolved without a new trial.
(v) However, the maximum damages that Falcon can recover in a new trial are limited to the $1,040.33 awarded by Judge Hughes (463 F.Supp. at 321) and affirmed by the Fifth Circuit (626 F.2d at 383-84).
(vi) In addition, both of the remaining charges of discrimination — the class claims regarding hiring and Falcon’s individual claim concerning promotion— should be dismissed unless Falcon or the class pays General Telephone the $7,373.27 in costs of appeal, as ordered by the Supreme Court (457 U.S. 147, 102 S.Ct. 2364, 72 L.Ed.2d 740).
(vii) And, if the costs assessed on appeal are paid, then the only issues remaining for trial will be Falcon’s claims of promotion discrimination (liability only), and the amount of attorneys fees to which he may be entitled if he prevails on these claims.

These rulings, of course, change a landmark case into a simple one involving an individual claim of racial discrimination— and they reduce a total judgment of $67,-925.49 (457 U.S. at 153, 102 S.Ct. at 2368) to a maximum recovery of $1,040.33 (plus attorneys fees), an amount exceeded by the costs on appeal ($7,373.27), which are owed by the plaintiff to the defendant, General Telephone. Because of this result — which may well assure still another appeal in this ten-year old case — and because of the remands by the Supreme Court and the Fifth Circuit, the reasons for these decisions will be discussed in detail.

1. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The plaintiff, Mariano S. Falcon, a Mexican-American, filed this class action challenging the hiring and promotion practices of the defendant, General Telephone Company of the Southwest. The Honorable Sarah T. Hughes certified a class action without holding an evidentiary hearing; and, after a “Phase I” liability trial on October 20, 1976, she found that:

“Falcon was not discriminated against in hiring, but in promotions the defendant General Telephone discriminated [against him.] As to the class, however, General Telephone discriminated in hiring but not as to promotion.” (463 F.Supp. at 316.)

Then, following a “Phase II” damage trial, Judge Hughes awarded (i) $1,040.33 in damages to Falcon,1 *** 5 (ii) $40,057.66 in damages to the 13 class members who filed claims in response to the class notice, and (iii) $28,827.00 to Falcon and the class as attorneys fees. She specifically found that damages should not be awarded after October 20, 1976, the date of the “Phase I” liability trial, because General Telephone “by this date, had remedied the discriminatory practices which gave rise to the instant litigation.” (463 F.Supp. at 317.)

There was no appeal from the decisions by Judge Hughes that “Falcon was not discriminated against in hiring” and that the class was not discriminated against “as to promotion.” (463 F.Supp. at 316.) As to her other findings, the net result of the Supreme Court and Fifth Circuit opinions is this:

(i) the “across-the-board” class certification was affirmed by the Fifth Circuit (626 F.2d at 374-76), but was reversed and remanded by the Supreme Court for a “rigorous analysis” of the “prerequisites of Rule 23(a)” by the trial court. (457 U.S. at 155-61, 102 S.Ct. at 2369-72.) 6
(ii) The decisions that “Falcon was discriminated against ... in promotions” was affirmed by the Fifth Circuit (626 *711 F.2d at 377-80), but was reversed and remanded by the Supreme Court for “further consideration” in light of Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981).
(iii) The decision that General Telephone had discriminated “as to the class ... in hiring” was reversed and remanded for a more specific evaluation of both the plaintiffs and defendant’s statistics (626 F.2d at 380-82), and this issue was not involved in either of the Falcon appeals to the Supreme Court.

By the time the mandates had been returned to the Northern District of Texas, Judge Hughes was not in physical condition to deal with this matter. Accordingly, the case was assigned to this Court by random draw.

2. ISSUES RESOLVED:

CLASS PROMOTION CLAIMS, FALCON HIRING CLAIM

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Related

Mariano S. Falcon v. General Telephone Company
815 F.2d 317 (Fifth Circuit, 1987)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
611 F. Supp. 707, 39 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1116, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18876, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/falcon-v-general-telephone-co-of-southwest-txnd-1985.