Kellman v. Department of Mental Health & Corrections

610 F. Supp. 1031, 48 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 259, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18970, 38 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 35,728
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maine
DecidedJune 12, 1985
DocketCiv. No. 80-0355 P
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 610 F. Supp. 1031 (Kellman v. Department of Mental Health & Corrections) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kellman v. Department of Mental Health & Corrections, 610 F. Supp. 1031, 48 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 259, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18970, 38 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 35,728 (D. Me. 1985).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

GENE CARTER, District Judge.

Plaintiff Aurora Kellman filed this action on October 27, 1980, alleging that Defendant, the Department of Mental Health and Corrections of the State of Maine, discriminated against her on the basis of sex in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq., by refusing to hire her as a juvenile court intake worker. Presently before the Court is Defendant’s motion, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), to dismiss the action as barred by the principles of res judicata and collateral estoppel. The issues have been briefed by counsel. For the reasons set forth below, Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss is granted.

In late spring 1978, Plaintiff applied to the Defendant for a position as a juvenile court intake worker. Plaintiff was rejected for this position and on August 11, 1978, Plaintiff filed a complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission (the Commission) pursuant to 5 M.R.S.A. § 4611 (1979), alleging that she had not been hired for the position because of her age and sex. The Commission concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Plaintiff was the victim of age and sex discrimination and attempted conciliation pursuant to 5 M.R.S.A. § 4612(3) (1979). When conciliation efforts failed the Commission filed an action in Superior Court, on June 12, 1980, “for the use of” Aurora Kellman, pursuant to 5 M.R.S.A. § 4612(4)(A) (1979).1 After a [1033]*1033full trial in which Plaintiff as well as an expert witness testified, the Superior Court found in favor of the Commission on a disparate treatment theory and ordered in-statement of Aurora Kellman, an award of back pay, penal damages, and alteration of Defendant’s employee selection process.

On appeal the Maine Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment and remanded the case on the ground that the Court erred in its finding that the employer was obligated to do a reference check on an applicant whose personality it found to be “inappropriate.” Maine Human Rights Commission v. Dept. of Corrections, 474 A.2d 860 (Me.1984). On remand the Superior Court found that the Commission’s case was insufficient to prove that the Defendant’s reasons for not hiring the Plaintiff were pretextual. This finding was affirmed on appeal. Maine Human Rights Commission v. Maine Dept. of Corrections, 489 A.2d 1089 (1985).

On May 6, 1985, Defendant moved to dismiss this federal action as barred by principles of res judicata and collateral estoppel. Plaintiff objects to this motion, claiming that although the Supreme Court’s holding in Kremer v. Chemical Construction Corp., 456 U.S. 461, 102 S.Ct. 1883, 72 L.Ed.2d 262 (1982), would foreclose Plaintiff’s Title VII action in federal court if Plaintiff had been a party to the state court action, Plaintiff was not a party to that state action. Defendant argues that Plaintiff was a party or a real party in interest in the state action and is barred by its judgment from pursuing a federal action based on the same grievance.

Both parties agree that under the holding of Kremer a state court judgment regarding a claim under the Maine employment discrimination law would foreclose a Title VII suit in federal court based on the same grievance, when the law of Maine would give such preclusive effect to the first judgment. In Kremer, the Supreme Court noted that under 28 U.S.C. § 1738 the federal courts are bound to afford the same full faith and credit to state court judgments that the state itself would apply. The Court determined that Title VII does not supersede or interfere with this principle of comity and therefore held that where the plaintiff had appealed the decision of the New York State Division of Human Rights not to prosecute his complaint under the New York employment discrimination law, and had obtained a final state judgment in that matter which would be given res judicata effect by the New York courts, the plaintiff was barred by res judicata from pursuing a Title VII claim based on the same grievance in federal court. Therefore, under Kremer, this Court must look to the res judicata principles of Maine to determine the effect of the state judgment in the case brought by the Maine Human Rights Commission on the present Title VII suit. Kremer, 456 U.S. at 482, 102 S.Ct. at 1898.

In Arsenault v. Carrier, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court stated that:

In its classic formulation, the doctrine of res judicata provides that a final judgment rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction precludes another suit between the same parties or their privies on the same cause of action.
Res judicata prevents only the same parties or their privies from maintaining an identical cause of action.

390 A.2d 1048, 1050 (Me.1978) (emphasis in original) (footnote and citation omitted). The disputed issue then is whether Aurora Kellman was a party to the state suit brought by the Maine Human Rights Commission under 5 M.R.S.A. § 4612.2 Under [1034]*10345 M.R.S.A. § 4613(1) (1979), “Any such action shall be brought in the name of the commission for the use of the victim of the alleged discrimination or of a described class, and the commission shall furnish counsel for the prosecution thereof. Any person aggrieved by the alleged discrimination may intervene in such an action.” Under the procedure outlined in section 4613 Kellman was not a party plaintiff to the action brought by the Maine Commission on Human Rights. See, State v. Northern Products, Inc., 440 A.2d 1070, 1072 (Me. 1982). The Defendant points to the language of 5 M.R.S.A. § 4612(5) (1984 Supp.) as an indication that the victim of the discrimination, the complainant, is, in the contemplation of the Maine Legislature, a party plaintiff. This section provides in part, “The Legislature finds that persons who are not parties to a complaint under this chapter as a complainant or a person accused of discrimination have a right to privacy.” 5 M.R.S.A. § 4612(5) (emphasis added). Section 4612(5) states that the complainant is a party to the complaint made to the Commission, not a party to the lawsuit.3 It provides no support for Defendant’s argument that the complainant, Aurora Kellman, was a party plaintiff in the state lawsuit brought by the Commission under section 4612(4)(A).

Although Aurora Kellman is not a named party plaintiff, Arsenault, 390 A.2d at 1050, provides that:

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Bluebook (online)
610 F. Supp. 1031, 48 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 259, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18970, 38 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 35,728, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kellman-v-department-of-mental-health-corrections-med-1985.