Hervey v. City of Little Rock

599 F. Supp. 1524, 40 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 912, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20843
District Court, E.D. Arkansas·Decided December 31, 1984·No. Nos. LR-C-80-44, LR-C-79-235 and LR-C-80-311·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

HENRY WOODS, District Judge.

I.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

Much of the prior history of this litigation is set forth in Hervey v. City of Little Rock, 101 F.R.D. 45 (E.D.Ark.1984) wherein I decertified the discharge subclass No. (2). There now remain for disposition subclasses No. (1) and (3) in the class stipulation entered into by the parties on October 26, 1981, as well as the individual claims of Robert Hervey, Robert Walker, Leo Anderson, Jesse MacHenry Johnson, Estella Robinson, and Mollie White. The parts of the stipulation pertinent to this phase of the litigation read as follows:

1. All nonuniformed, nonmanagement, nonsupervisory black person's employed by the defendant who have allegedly been discriminated against because of their race in promotions or transfers since January 24,1977 for purposes of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and since 180 days prior to May 28, 1981 for purposes of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e.
3. All nonuniformed, nonmanagement, nonsupervisory black persons employed by the defendant who have allegedly been discriminated against in the terms, conditions and privileges of their employment because of their race, for purposes of injunctive relief only, since January 24,1977 for purposes of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and since 180 days prior to April 2, 1979 for purposes of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e.

The class representatives were stipulated as follows:

Fourth, plaintiffs Hervey and Robinson are the proper class representatives for the subclass 1 above.....All of the plaintiffs are proper class representatives for subclass 3 above.
Fifth, each of the plaintiffs will continue to prosecute and try their individual claims of racial discrimination, and the plaintiffs Mollie White and Estella Robinson will also continue to prosecute and try their individual claims of sexual discrimination.

It was agreed that the matter would first be tried on liability and later on damages and remedies.

The conflict among counsel, which has plagued this litigation from the outset (see 101 F.R.D. at 48), has continued apace. On [1526]*1526April 25, 1984 I designated Ms. Janet Pulliam as the lead counsel for subclasses (1) and (3). Ms. Pulliam is a competent and experienced lawyer who, along with Judge Perlesía Hollingsworth, had filed the original class action suit for Robert Hervey and Robert Walker. Along with Judge Hollingsworth, she also represented two of the other three individuals (Leo Anderson and Jesse M. Johnson) involved in the remaining aspects of the class case. On March 27, 1984 the Court set this matter for trial on July 16,, 1984. On July 12, 1984 Mr. Richard Quiggle who, along with Mr. John Walker, had been representing Estella Robinson and the individual plaintiff, Mollie White, filed a motion to withdraw as counsel. In the motion he stated:

1. The undersigned entered this case in early 1980 after becoming associated with Mr. John Walker by virtue of an employment contract. This contract controlled the nature and extent of my involvement in this and several other cases.
2. I do not now, nor have I ever, directly represented any of Mr. Walker’s clients — Ms. Mollie White or Ms. Estella Robinson — in this matter or any other
3. My contractual relationship with Mr. Walker has now terminated. Thus, there is no basis for my continuing involvement in this matter as an attorney of record for the purpose of the rescheduled trial.

When the case was called on July 16, 1984, Mr. Quiggle appeared and requested that I hold his motion in abeyance (T. 2233). This portion of the trial was concluded on July 18,1984. During this time, the following witnesses testified: Plaintiff Robert Walker, plaintiff Robert Hervey, intervenor Leo Anderson, and intervenor Jesse MacHenry Johnson, as well as anecdotal witnesses Louis Porch, Harold Blackwell, James Nathaniel, Saleem Madyun, and Charlie Gordon. Plaintiffs also called Ronald Lloyd, Former Director of Personnel for the City. The principal witness was Dr. Martin Shapiro, plaintiffs’ expert witness. On July 18, 1984 plaintiffs completed their class action proof and rested that phase of their case. I advised the parties that I would give the plaintiffs an opportunity to bolster their prima facie case by presenting testimony in the individual cases, of Robert Hervey, Robert Walker, Jesse Johnson, Mollie White, Estella Robinson, and Leo Anderson. Craik v. Minnesota State University Board, 731 F.2d 465 (8th Cir. 1984). I further advised the parties that at the close of this testimony I would decide first, whether, in view of the stipulation as to subclasses, a viable class representative remains for subclass one, and second, whether plaintiff had made a prima facie case on the two remaining subclasses (letter to counsel, November 2, 1984). The cases of Hervey, Anderson, Walker, and Johnson were reset for November 26, 1984, and the individual cases of Estella Robinson and Mollie White were set for November 27, 1984 (letter to counsel dated November 2, 1984). On November 15, 1984 I received the following letter from Mr. Richard Quiggle:

Mr. Walker, or someone from his office, will be handling the testimony of Ms. Estella Robinson and Ms. Mollie White when the trial in this case reconvenes. Accordingly, it seems to me that my presence would be surplus, and not required: Therefore, I do not intend to attend the remaining portions of the trial, unless, of course, the Court determines that my presence is required.

(Court’s Ex. 1.) A copy of this letter went to all counsel, including Mr. John Walker. Before the trial began on November 26, I received a second letter from Mr. Quiggle dated November 26, 1984 referring to a letter of Mr. Walker dated November 23, 1984. Other counsel and the Court had not received Mr. Walker’s letter of November 23 (T. 2798) at the beginning of Court on November 26, but it was delivered to me in the middle of the afternoon on November 26 (T. 2900). In this letter Mr. Walker stated:

Please be advised that Mr. Richard Quiggle is still the attorney responsible for presenting the cases of Ms. Mollie White and Ms. Estelle Robinson. He has indicated that I or someone from my office [1527]*1527will be making those presentations. That is not correct. Mr. Quiggle has prepared the individual cases of both persons, has their personal files and the notes of his paralegals and their support witnesses, and has led plaintiffs to be: lieve that he will be making the presentations. I further state to the Court that the clients have an expectation based on his. subsequent involvement with them and their payments of fees and costs to him that he will continue their representation.
Moreover, before last week, he represented to the Court that he was still their counsel. He has been lead counsel on their matters and all related matters as well.

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Hervey v. City of Little Rock, 599 F. Supp. 1524, 40 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 912, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20843 (E.D. Ark. 1984).

599 F. Supp. 1524 (Hervey v. City of Little Rock) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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