Marlowe v. Fisher Body

489 F.2d 1057, 6 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1083, 1973 U.S. App. LEXIS 6641, 6 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 8997
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedDecember 6, 1973
DocketNo. 73-1359
StatusPublished
Cited by155 cases

This text of 489 F.2d 1057 (Marlowe v. Fisher Body) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Marlowe v. Fisher Body, 489 F.2d 1057, 6 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1083, 1973 U.S. App. LEXIS 6641, 6 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 8997 (6th Cir. 1973).

Opinion

LIVELY, Circuit Judge.

This case was begun in the district court as an action for damages under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2(K)0e et seq. The original complaint was filed on August 5, 1970 and the only defendant was Fisher Body, a division of General Motors Corporation (hereafter General Motors). It was alleged in the complaint that by concerted action of its officers, agents and employees conspiring together General Motors had willfully deprived plaintiff of his civil rights by discriminating against him in his employment because of his religion and national origin. The complaint asserted that the plaintiff had been denied the valuable right of advancement or promotion and of overtime in an arbitrary and capricious manner because he is a member of the Jewish faith. The complaint stated that plaintiff had filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (hereafter EEOC) on July 9, 1969 and had received from EEOC on July 10, 1970 a notice of right to sue within 30 days. By its answer, General Motors denied that there had been a discriminatory refusal to grant overtime and promotion or other acts of discrimination. By an order dated September 13, 1971 plaintiff was permitted to add International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, Local 596 (hereafter UAW) as a defendant and to file and serve an amended complaint within 20 days.

The amended complaint sought relief under the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, as well as Title VII of the 1964 Act and asserted jurisdiction to proceed against UAW pursuant to provisions of the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 151 et seq. Plaintiff sought to have his action treated as a class action under Rule 23(b)(2), Fed.R.Civ.P. The court refused to permit plaintiff to proceed in this manner and there is no appeal from the order denying a class action. The amended [1060]*1060complaint sought preliminary and permanent injunctions as well as damages. In addition to adopting the allegations of discrimination contained in the original complaint, the amended complaint asserted that UAW had been apprised of the situation and by collusion with General Motors was failing to represent the plaintiff in good faith. The collective bargaining agreements between UAW and General Motors were referred to and it was alleged that pursuant to these agreements the defendants “. . . have established a promotional and seniority system, the design, intent and purpose of which is to continue and preserve, and which has the effect of continuing and preserving, the defendants’ policy, practice, custom and usage of limiting the employment and promotional opportunity of Jewish employees of the Company because of religion or national origin.” It was further alleged that the amended complaint is based on a series of ineid-tents “ . . . continuously occurring over the plaintiff’s period of employment with FISHER BODY, and up to and including the present time or after the filing of the original Complaint. That the acts alleged are continuous in nature and have been and are occurring to the present date, that Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) violations have been brought even after the first Complaint was filed and therefore this AMENDED COMPLAINT will air those issues and facts alleged in the original Complaint and perpetuated after the original Complaint was filed.” (emphasis in original)

Both defendants filed answers denying the material allegations of the amended complaint and raising affirmative defenses, including the alleged failure of the plaintiff to exhaust his administrative remedies under the collective bargaining agreement referred to in the amended complaint or his intra-union remedies under the constitution of UAW. They also asserted that the court lacked jurisdiction because of the alleged failure of the plaintiff to file charges with the EEOC within the time permitted by Title VII prior to bringing suit.

After taking the plaintiff’s deposition, General Motors filed a number of motions, some of which were ruled on by the court in a Memorandum Opinion filed January 26, 1972. The court denied a motion to strike references to 42 U.S. C. § 1981, holding that the statute in question was designed to deal with prejudice in the broadest sense and that prejudice against Jews is based upon race as well as religion. The court granted a motion to dismiss the class action claim and ordered that the action be limited to consideration of incidents arising subsequent to May 3, 1967, the date of a consent decree between the parties entered before the Michigan Civil Rights Commission.

Following further pretrial discovery, General Motors filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds that plaintiff had failed to file a timely charge with EEOC as required by 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(b) and (d); that 42 U.S.C. § 1981 can serve as a basis for jurisdiction of suits brought only by non-white persons, and that the applicable statute of limitations of Michigan barred any proceeding under 42 U.S.C. § 1981. UAW then filed a motion “for summary judgment or in the alternative to dismiss,” listing the same reasons as given in the General Motors motion and in addition relying upon the alleged failure of the plaintiff to exhaust his contractual and intra-un-ion remedies. The district court granted the motions of both defendants and dismissed the complaint.

In his Memorandum Opinion and Order, the district judge held that the court did not have jurisdiction because the plaintiff had failed to file his complaint with the EEOC within the time period prescribed in Title VII. He found that the discrimination complained of occurred on May 10, 1967 and that the claim was filed with EEOC on October 18, 1968 which was more than 17 months after the commission of the [1061]*1061discriminatory act. He also held that the actual discrimination complained of by the plaintiff was not of a continuous nature since the plant must reach 100 per cent of its productivity in order for any employee to be eligible to work overtime and that each time such condition is met and plaintiff is denied overtime constitutes a separate violation. He thus held that the continuing violation doctrine does not apply to relieve the plaintiff of the 210-day limit prescribed in Title VII. The court also held that the applicable Michigan statute (M.C.L.A. § 423.307(b)) requires that a complaint be filed with the Michigan Civil Rights Commission (hereafter MCRC) within 90 days of the alleged act of discrmination. The court found that the complaint filed with MCRC on September 21, 1967 alleging a violation on May 10, 1967 was not timely. It was further held that failure to file a timely complaint with local or state authorities rendered the plaintiff ineligible to take advantage of the extended 210-day time limit contained in 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(d).

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Bluebook (online)
489 F.2d 1057, 6 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1083, 1973 U.S. App. LEXIS 6641, 6 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 8997, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marlowe-v-fisher-body-ca6-1973.