Goodman v. Board of Trustees of Community College District 524

498 F. Supp. 1329, 25 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 540, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9607, 26 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 31,802
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedOctober 20, 1980
Docket80 C 1870
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 498 F. Supp. 1329 (Goodman v. Board of Trustees of Community College District 524) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Goodman v. Board of Trustees of Community College District 524, 498 F. Supp. 1329, 25 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 540, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9607, 26 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 31,802 (N.D. Ill. 1980).

Opinion

ORDER

BUA, District Judge.

Melba Goodman, a former employee of Moraine Valley Community College [MVCC], has filed the present action against the Board of Trustees of Community College District 524 and James D. Koeller, President of Moraine Valley Community College. The Board of Trustees is the governing board of Moraine Valley Community College. The plaintiff’s complaint sets forth three causes of action against both defendants: (1) Count I asserts a claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., alleging employment discrimination on account of sex; (2) Count II presents a claim under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 [ADEA], 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq., alleging employment discrimination on account of age; and (3) Count III sets forth a state law claim for breach of an employment contract. Federal jurisdiction with respect to Count III is founded upon the doctrine of pendent jurisdiction.

Presently before the court are the defendants’ various motions for dismissal and/or summary judgment, and certain motions to strike.

FACTS

The plaintiff is a female born on October 20, 1920. She was hired by the Board of Trustees of MVCC in October, 1969. In 1970, she was appointed to the position of Assistant Dean of Admissions and Records. In September of 1978, the position of Associate Dean of Admissions and Records became vacant. In her complaint, Ms. Goodman contends that the defendants passed over her and offered this position to a younger male whose qualifications were inferior to those of the plaintiff.

The complaint further alleges that this discriminatory appointment violated the policy and procedures adopted by the Board of Trustees in their written Affirmative Action Program adopted in 1975. In said Affirmative Action Program, the Board of Trustees declared that factors of sex and age would not count against the promotional opportunities of any faculty member. According to the plaintiff, this policy was violated when the defendants refused to promote her to the position of Associate Dean. The plaintiff also contends that the defendants violated certain Affirmative Action Program procedures when refusing her the opportunity to apply for the position of Associate Dean.

Soon after the allegedly discriminatory appointment at issue was made, the plaintiff submitted her resignation to the MVCC (Complaint ¶ 10; Defendants’ Exhibit III).

In her complaint, the plaintiff alleges that, following this incident, she filed charges of sex discrimination in May of 1979, with both the Illinois Fair Employment Practices Commission [FEPC] and the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission [EEOC]. The FEPC investigated her charge and found “substantial evidence” of sex discrimination in the denial of promotion, but not “substantial evidence” to indicate that the plaintiff’s voluntary resignation from the MVCC amounted to a constructive discharge (Plaintiff’s Exhibit B; Defendants’ Exhibit II). On February 25, 1980 the EEOC, without conducting an independent investigation of the charges, issued a notice of right to sue (Plaintiff’s Exhibit C).

Regarding her ADEA claim, on March 7, 1979 Ms. Goodman filed a complaint with the United States Department of Labor alleging that age discrimination was a factor in her being denied the opportunity for promotion to the position of Associate Dean. On May 7, 1979 the EEOC (following an administrative reorganization) issued a notice to the plaintiff stating that, because conciliation efforts had failed, she could commence suit under the ADEA.

The present action was commenced on April 16, 1980.

*1332 I. The Title VII Count

The defendants have raised in their motions to dismiss and/or for summary judgment two jurisdictional and procedural defenses to Count I, both of which are premised upon the plaintiff’s failure to comply with certain requirements of Title VII. In addition, they challenge the availability of compensatory and punitive damages under Title VII. Each of these defenses will be considered separately.

A. Definition of “Employer” under Title VII

Defendant Koeller moves for dismissal, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1), Fed.R.Civ.P., on the ground that he is exempt from liability under Title VII because he is not an employer, as that term is defined in 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b).

Section 2000e(b) defines “employer” as “a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has fifteen or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, and any agent of such a person ...” (emphasis added). The 1972 amendments to Title VII extended the definition of “person” to include “governments, government agencies, [and] political subdivisions,” 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(a). Pursuant to the clear language of the statute, therefore, if the Board of Trustees is an employer and Koeller was its agent, for the purposes of this litigation he also would be an employer who could be held accountable for any statutory violations. Kelly v. Richland School District 2, 463 F.Supp. 216, 218 (D.S.C.1978). As regards this issue, defendant Koeller does not dispute that the Board of Trustees is an employer. Rather, he appears to be contending that he was not the Board’s agent.

Evidentiary materials submitted to the court provide facts from which defendant Koeller’s agency relationship with the Board of Trustees can reasonably be inferred. In this respect, plaintiff’s Exhibit B is of considerable significance. Exhibit B reveals that the Board of Trustees had specifically authorized President Koeller to make hiring recommendations within his administration. Accordingly, when actually making those initial hiring decisions, defendant Koeller likely was acting as an agent for the Board, and as such was an employer for the purposes of Title VII.

Other courts have found an agency relationship to lie in similar factual settings. In Schaefer v. Tannian, 394 F.Supp. 1128, 1132 (E.D.Mich.1974), the court held that officials of the Detroit Police Department charged with the operation of the Department and with responsibility for its hiring and assignment practices were “agents” coming within the provisions of the statute. In Kelly, supra, one of the defendants, the administrative superintendent of the school district, moved for dismissal on grounds virtually identical to those now being raised by defendant Koeller. The court, however, found the administrative superintendent to be an “agent”.

This court accordingly, because it believes for purposes of said motion that he may have been the Board of Trustees’ agent, will deny this motion to dismiss defendant Koeller.

B. Motion to Dismiss Unnamed Defendant

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Gallagher v. Gallagher
130 F. Supp. 2d 359 (N.D. New York, 2001)
Kelleher v. Aerospace Community Credit Union
927 F. Supp. 361 (E.D. Missouri, 1996)
United Airlines, Inc. v. ALG, INC.
873 F. Supp. 147 (N.D. Illinois, 1995)
Bartley v. National Union Fire Insurance
824 F. Supp. 624 (N.D. Texas, 1992)
Stychno v. Ohio Edison Co.
806 F. Supp. 663 (N.D. Ohio, 1992)
Wanner v. State of Kan.
766 F. Supp. 1005 (D. Kansas, 1991)
Home Savings Ass'n v. State Bank of Woodstock
763 F. Supp. 292 (N.D. Illinois, 1991)
McHugh v. University of Vermont
758 F. Supp. 945 (D. Vermont, 1991)
Sagarino v. Town of Danvers
750 F. Supp. 51 (D. Massachusetts, 1990)
Talley v. Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, Inc.
713 F. Supp. 254 (N.D. Illinois, 1989)
Hicks v. Clyde Federal Savings & Loan
696 F. Supp. 387 (N.D. Illinois, 1988)
Suarez v. Illinois Valley Community College
688 F. Supp. 376 (N.D. Illinois, 1988)
House v. Cannon Mills Co.
713 F. Supp. 159 (M.D. North Carolina, 1988)
Three D Departments, Inc. v. K Mart Corp.
670 F. Supp. 1404 (N.D. Illinois, 1987)
Ditch v. Bd. of County Com'rs of County of Shawnee
650 F. Supp. 1245 (D. Kansas, 1986)
Griswold v. EF Hutton & Co., Inc.
622 F. Supp. 1397 (N.D. Illinois, 1985)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
498 F. Supp. 1329, 25 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 540, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9607, 26 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 31,802, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goodman-v-board-of-trustees-of-community-college-district-524-ilnd-1980.