Jones v. Brennan

401 F. Supp. 622, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15921, 11 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 10,672, 15 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1019
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedSeptember 30, 1975
DocketCiv. A. 19139
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 401 F. Supp. 622 (Jones v. Brennan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jones v. Brennan, 401 F. Supp. 622, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15921, 11 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 10,672, 15 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1019 (N.D. Ga. 1975).

Opinion

ORDER

MOYE, District Judge.

This federal employee employment discrimination action, brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-16(c), is presently before the Court on defendant Peter J. Brennan’s motion to dismiss or in the alternative for summary judgment. Defendant Brennan urges that the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to hear this case and in the alternative that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that defendant Brennan is entitled to summary judgment on the merits. Plaintiff opposes the motion.

I. Facts

Plaintiff Charlie C. Jones is a black male who was employed in October 1972 in Atlanta, Georgia, as Fiscal Management Advisor in the Office of Administrative and Management Services, Department of Labor, a GS-14 position. Defendant William U. Norwood was the Regional Manpower Administrator of the Manpower Administration for Region IV of the U.S. Department of Labor. Mr. Norwood was allegedly responsible for employment and personnel decisions within the Labor Department’s Region IY. Defendant Peter J. Brennan was Secretary of the United States Department of Labor.

The plaintiff alleges that on or about October 15, 1971, the position of Assistant Regional Manpower Administrator for Administration and Management (hereinafter “ARMA for AM”) in Re *624 gion IV became vacant due to the transfer of the holder of the position, a black GS-15. Plaintiff alleges he was the “heir apparent” to the position, being “the most knowledgeable and most qualified individual for the position.”

Plaintiff alleges that on October 15, 1971, defendant Norwood, a white GS-15 and the Regional Administrator, laterally transferred Mr. Lawrence Weatherford, a white GS-15, from the position of Assistant Regional Manpower Administrator for Unemployment Insurance (hereinafter “ARMA for UI”) to the position of Acting Director ARMA for AM. On March 28, 1972, exercising “management prerogative,” defendant Norwood appointed Mr. Weatherford permanently to the position of ARMA for AM. Defendant Norwood then advertised for the AMRA for UI position (which plaintiff alleges was an extremely technical job for which no black could yet qualify) by open competition by Merit Staffing and thereby gained a white GS-15 for ARMA for UI.

Plaintiff alleges that defendant Nor-wood deliberately and intentionally designed a situation whereby plaintiff and other eligible GS-14 blacks could not gain GS-15 status by appointment to the ARMA for AM position.

Plaintiff wrote a number of letters of complaint to officials in the Labor Department during October 1971 to March 1972, and formally registered a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Counselor of the Department of Labor on May 4, 1972. On April 24, 1973, the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management rendered a decision that racial discrimination existed at the time of the promotion and that plaintiff was denied a full and fair opportunity to compete for promotion to the position of ARMA for AM. This decision was appealed to the Board of Appeals and Review of the U.S. Civil Service Commission which rendered a decision on September 6, 1973. The Board accepted the factual findings of the Deputy Assistant Secretary that plaintiff and two other black GS-14 employees had been denied full and fair opportunity to compete for the position of ARMA for AM because of racial discrimination. The Board, however, limited its relief to ordering that the plaintiff be afforded priority consideration for the next GS-15 vacancy. Although plaintiff has been subsequently promoted to a GS-15 position, he alleges that the promotion with back pay benefits should be effective as of October 15, 1971—the date of the discriminatory promotion of Mr. Weatherford.

Defendant Brennan’s statement of facts as to which there is alleged to be no genuine issue of material fact is based on the administrative record of the U.S. Civil Service Commission (Exhibit “A”) and excerpted below:

“On October 15, 1971 in a memorandum to Regional Manpower Administration Executive Staff concerning ‘Executive Staff Assignment Changes,’ Mr. William Norwood, Regional Manpower Administrator, Region IV, Manpower Administration, United States Department of Labor, announced that Mr. Ludwin Branch, Assistant Regional Manpower Administrator for Administration and Management, GS-15, was leaving to take a position in the national office of the Manpower Administration. Mr. Nor-wood stated at that time that Mr. Larry Weatherford, Assistant Regional Manpower Administrator for Unemployment Insurance, GS-15, would assume the additional duties of Assistant Regional Manpower Administrator for Administration and Management as an interim arrangement, effective October 26, 1971 (Record, page 64).
Standard Forms 50 and 52 concerning the permanent reassignment of Weatherford from Unemployment Insurance to Administration and Management show an effective date of March 19, 1972. (Exhibits ‘B’ and ‘C’).
On March 28, 1972, in a memorandum to the Regional Manpower Ad *625 ministration Executive Staff concerning ‘Change in Staff Assignment,’ Mr. Norwood announced that the permanent reassignment of Mr. Weather-ford from Assistant Regional Manpower Administrator for Unemployment Insurance to Assistant Regional Manpower Administrator for Administration and Management had been approved and that Mr. Weatherford was that date relieved of his previous responsibilities as Assistant Regional Manpower administrator for Unemployment Insurance. In addition, this memorandum stated that Mr. Nor-wood was appointing Mr. Luther McGahee to serve as Acting Assistant Regional Manpower Administrator for Unemployment Insurance until the position was filled permanently through nation-wide recruitment (Record, page 68).
On April 13, 1972, the Plaintiff Charlie Jones was advised that he had been found not qualified for the position of Assistant Regional Manpower Administrator for Unemployment Insurance because his application indicated that he lacked the required specialized experience (Record, page 70).
On May 4, 1972, Mr. Jones brought his complaint to the attention of Miss Kay Davenport, Equal Employment Opportunity Counselor. Miss Davenport conducted an informal investigation, but her findings were inconclusive. However, Mr. Jones steadfastly contended that Mr. Weatherford’s assignment was racially discriminatory and that it came as the result of Mr. Norwood’s intent to deny Mr. Jones the opportunity to apply for the Administration and Management position. On June 9, 1972, a conference was held with Mr. Jones, Miss Davenport and Mr. Henry Huettner, Regional Director, but they were unable to arrive at any mutually satisfactory solution. Miss Davenport advised Mr. Jones of his right to file a formal complaint of discrimination (Record, pages 80-82).
On June 15, 1972, Mr. Jones sent his formal complaint of racial discrimination to Miss Davenport (Record, pages 37-40). On June 21, 1972, Miss Davenport received Mr. Jones’ formal complaint (Record, page 72) and on June 22, 1972 forwarded the complaint to Mrs. Velma Strode, Director of Equal Employment Opportunity, U.S.

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401 F. Supp. 622, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15921, 11 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 10,672, 15 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1019, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-brennan-gand-1975.