McCann L. REID, Plaintiff-Appellant and Cross-Appellee, v. MEMPHIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee and Cross-Appellant

521 F.2d 512, 1975 U.S. App. LEXIS 13050, 10 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 10,373, 11 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 129
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedAugust 20, 1975
Docket74-1761, 74-1762
StatusPublished
Cited by39 cases

This text of 521 F.2d 512 (McCann L. REID, Plaintiff-Appellant and Cross-Appellee, v. MEMPHIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee and Cross-Appellant) 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
McCann L. REID, Plaintiff-Appellant and Cross-Appellee, v. MEMPHIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee and Cross-Appellant, 521 F.2d 512, 1975 U.S. App. LEXIS 13050, 10 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 10,373, 11 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 129 (6th Cir. 1975).

Opinions

WEICK, Circuit Judge.

Appellant Reid has appealed from an order of the District Court denying his motion to assess attorney’s fees against appellee, Memphis Publishing Company. The Publishing Company has cross-appealed from a judgment entered against it in favor of Reid in the amount of $7,349, for damages for allegedly failing to employ him as a copyreader in one of its newspapers, because of his religion.

This is Reid’s second appeal. Our opinion in the first appeal is reported at 468 F.2d 346 (6th Cir. 1972).

In his complaint Reid alleged that the defendant failed to employ him as a copyreader in one of its newpapers, Memphis Press Scimitar, because of his race (Negro) and his religion (Seventh Day Adventist) in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. He prayed for a mandatory injunction ordering the defendant to employ him as a copyreader, awarding him back pay from the date of his application for employment (September 1967), and attorney’s fees.

The District Court heard the evidence and on August 13, 1971 it adopted findings of fact and conclusions of law. The Court found that the defendant did not discriminate against the plaintiff in failing to employ him, either on account of his race or his religion.1

Relying on our decision in Dewey v. Reynolds Metals Co., 429 F.2d 324 (6th Cir. 1970), affirmed by an equally divided court, 402 U.S. 689, 91 S.Ct. 2186, 29 L.Ed.2d 267 (1971), the District Court held that the Press Scimitar was not required to accommodate Reid’s religious practice of not working on Saturdays inasmuch as the position of copyreader, for which Reid had applied, required work on Saturdays. The Press Scimitar had never employed a copyreader who would not work on Saturdays. The District Court dismissed Reid’s complaint.

On appeal (Reid’s first appeal) the panel approved the findings of fact of the District Court and also its conclusions of law with respect to the racial issue, and that issue is no longer in the case.

The panel distinguished Dewey on the ground that it involved a major issue of arbitrability which is not present in the case at bar.2

Dewey was further distinguished on the ground that Regulation § 1605.1 of E.E.O.C. (39 C.F.R. 1605, adopted July 10, 1967) requiring accommodation, had not been adopted and was not in force at the time the controversy in Dewey arose, although the District Court in that case had erroneously applied it retroactively. This regulation was in full force and effect at the time Reid applied to defendant for employment.

[514]*514The employer in Dewey also permitted its employees to arrange for substitutes when they were required to work on Saturdays or Sundays, and we held that was an accommodation.

The panel remanded the case to the District Court to determine—

whether the Press Scimitar could make “reasonable accommodation” to the religious practices of appellant Reid “without undue hardship.” (468 F.2d 346)

It is interesting to note that in the “Conclusion” of his brief filed in the first appeal in this Court on March 8, 1972, Reid—

. respectfully prays this Court to reverse the decision of the district court and order the defendant appellee immediately to offer acceptable employment to the plaintiff.

Notwithstanding this prayer, it appears from the record in the present appeal that Reid nearly two years previously had accepted employment from another employer on July 1, 1970, at a salary higher than that offered by defendant. No mention was made of this fact in the findings of fact and conclusions of law adopted by the District Court at the first trial on August 13, 1971, nor in our opinion in the first appeal. 468 F.2d 346 (6th Cir. 1972). We would think that if this fact was in evidence the District Judge would have included it in his findings.

In his brief filed in the present appeal (second appeal) Reid offers the following explanation of his conduct, in footnote 1 on page 11:

Today plaintiff, because of the lengthy delays of litigation, has other employment. He sought this employment to survive and to mitigate damages. Like teachers discharged without due process, he is entitled to back-pay. If he were still interested in this job, the defendant could, for the time, attempt an accommodation. The court below has denied attorneys fees because no injunction is now necessary. The net effect of that ruling is to penalize plaintiff and his counsel for attempting to mitigate damages.

No supporting record references are cited. This explanation simply does not make sense. Reid had already accepted other satisfactory employment at a higher salary, more than a year prior to the time the District Court adopted its findings of fact and conclusions of law at the first trial.

At the time Reid made application to defendant for the position of eopyreader, Reid had employment as Editor of TriState Defender, at a salary of $100 per week. His beginning salary in defendant’s employ would have been $125 per week plus stated annual increases if his work was satisfactory.

The claim that he accepted the new employment to mitigate damages is not understandable. He was not required to quit his employment at Tri-State Defender in order to secure a higher salary, for the benefit of the defendant, and he did not do so.

Furthermore, on the remand it does not appear that Reid offered to give the defendant the benefit of his higher salary to reduce his claim for damages, and the District Court in assessing damages allowed only the difference between the salary offered by defendant ($125 per week) and his salary at Tri-State Defender ($100 per week) in computing damages at $7,349, for the period from October, 1967 through June, 1970. Thus Reid’s new position was not accepted by him in order to “survive and mitigate damages” as his brief alleges.

On the remand it was clear that the issue of mandatory injunction had long become moot, and the District Judge considered only the question of damages.

The District Court stated:

Since this suit was filed plaintiff has gained other satisfactory employment and does not at this time seek to become employed by the defendant. The relief now sought is monetary damages only. The amount of damages sought is the difference between what plaintiff would have earned while working as a eopyreader for the defendant and the pay he received until he took a position paying more than he [515]*515would have earned as a copyreader for the defendant, and attorney’s fees. (369 F.Supp. at 686)

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521 F.2d 512, 1975 U.S. App. LEXIS 13050, 10 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 10,373, 11 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 129, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccann-l-reid-plaintiff-appellant-and-cross-appellee-v-memphis-ca6-1975.