Moody v. Albemarle Paper Co.

50 F.R.D. 494, 2 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1081
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. North Carolina
DecidedSeptember 28, 1970
DocketCiv. No. 989
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 50 F.R.D. 494 (Moody v. Albemarle Paper Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moody v. Albemarle Paper Co., 50 F.R.D. 494, 2 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1081 (E.D.N.C. 1970).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

LARKINS, District Judge:

This cause is now before the court upon the several motions below-listed in a civil action instituted by the Plaintiffs upon the alleged deprivation of their rights to equal employment opportunities pursuant to the provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 United States Code Annotated Section 2000e et seq., jurisdiction in the court being grounded in the “Act” and pursuant to the provisions of Title 28 United States Code Annotated Section 1343.

The specific motions before the court for its determination presently are as follows:

(1) Plaintiffs’ Motion to Add or Join the Albemarle Paper Company, the Hoerner Waldorf Corporation, the First Alpaco Corporation and the Ethyl Corporation as parties defendant pursuant to the provisions of Rules 19, 20 and 25(c), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; and,
[496]*496(2) Motion of Defendant Albemarle Paper Company, (“old” Albemarle), to Dismiss.

Issues have been joined by the parties Memoranda of Law in support and opposition to and of the motion to add or join parties and in support of the motion to dismiss, and opposition.

The court will first look to the merits of Plaintiffs’ collective motions to add or join the parties above-named. Then a determination upon Defendant “old” Albemarle’s Motion to Dismiss will be made.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

This action was originally instituted on August 25, 1966, with Albemarle Paper Company, a Virginia corporation, being named -defendant in the original suit. Although at that time and until October 31, 1968, “old” Albemarle was a wholly owned subsidiary of Ethyl Corporation; neither Ethyl, Hoerner Waldorf, Alpaco, nor Albemarle Paper Company (a Delaware corporation — hereinafter referred to as “new” Albemarle) were named as parties defendant. Of course “new” Albemarle had not been formed at that time.

On October 31, 1968, pursuant to an agreement dated October 25, 1968, between Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle Paper Company, Interstate Bag Company, Inc., a Virginia corporation, and Hoerner Waldorf Corporation, a Delaware corporation, “old” Albemarle transferred all of its property and assets, real, personal, tangible and intangible, located in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, to Albemarle Paper' Company, a Delaware corporation, i. e., “new” Albemarle. This was done by deed, bill of sale and related documents. On that same date, “old” Albemarle, by amendment to its charter, changed its name to First Alpaco Corporation. And Hoerner Waldorf paid to the account of First Alpaco Corporation a specified amount of money for the assets of “old” Albemarle, including those at Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina.

Since October 31, 1968, “old” Albemarle has had no control over any property or person working at its former mill in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. At no time did First Alpaco Corporation ever own any property or control any person working at the former mill of “old” Albemarle. On February 20, 1969, First Alpaco Corporation was merged into Ethyl Corporation. (Affidavit of Fredrick P. Waren, Secretary of Ethyl Corporation).

“New” Albemarle, being the nominee of Hoerner Waldorf pursuant to the original agreement of October 25, 1968, presently has all management and control over the Roanoke Rapids facility in question — that being the situs of the alleged deprivation of Plaintiffs’ rights.

In response to the plaintiffs’ motions to add or join parties, the corporations therein named have relied primarily on this court’s earlier ruling in this same case reported in 271 F.Supp. 27 (E.D.N. C., 1967). There this court, in allowing the motion of the international union to dismiss, held that where the international union was not named by plaintiffs in their complaint filed with the equal employment opportunity commission charging the denial of rights to equal employment opportunities, the plaintiffs were not entitled to join the international union as a party defendant in a class action brought under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This court said then that “the requirement that all defendants be named in the charge filed with the Commission goes to the competence of a district court to entertain the action * *.”

But the decision there is distinguishable from the issue now directly in litigation. That determination establishing that the international must have been named in the charges before the E.E. O.C., was based on the fact that the local union (said union having been named before the E.E.O.C.) was autonomous in [497]*497nature and was not an agent of the international union so as to permit the international union to be joined by plaintiffs as a party defendant. The court stated:

“The contention that the local union is the agent of the international union-is without merit, the records indicating that the local is merely affiliated with the international and enjoys an autonomous existence. This is insufficient to establish responsibility of the international for any alleged unlawful conduct on the part of the local.” Moody v. Albemarle Paper Company, 271 F.Supp. 27, 29 (E.D.N.C., 1967).

In other words, the international union was not, to any extent, viewed by the court as being the successor in interest to the local union — the local being a separate entity unto itself.

Further, a distinction between the issue there and that herein presented lies in the fact that at no time between the filing of charges by the plainiffs before the E.E.O.C. and institution of the suit in this court had the stance or posture of the international union changed. While, as per the corporations herein sought to be joined, two of these companies, First Alpaeo Corporation and Albemarle Paper Company, a Delaware corporation, were not in existence at the time of filing of charges with the E.E. O.C. or institution of the suit in district court. Neither did Hoerner Waldorf Corporation have any interest in the charges or the suit. Now, Hoerner Waldorf, as the parent corporation of “New” Albemarle surely would have an interest in protecting its “nominee” and wholly owned subsidiary from liability.

Only Ethyl Corporation, though it has engaged in some corporate shuffling involving liquidation of assets, stands now in substantially the same position as parent of Alpaeo Corporation, as it did at the time of the filing of charges before the E.E.O.C. as the parent of “Old” Albemarle Paper Company.

However, even that stance is questionable in its similarity to the position of Ethyl Corporation at the time of the filing of charges before the E.E.O.C., because of the fact that on February 20, 1969, First Alpaeo Corporation was merged into Ethyl Corporation.

The fact situation before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Mickel v. South Carolina Employment Service, 377 F.2d 239 (4th Cir., 1967), was startlingly similar to those present in the earlier Moody ruling in that (1) there was a potential party-defendant in existence at the time of filing of charges before the E.E.O.C. which was not joined and (2) that party was not considered by the court to have been an agent of any party named in those charges before the E.E.O.C.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
50 F.R.D. 494, 2 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1081, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moody-v-albemarle-paper-co-nced-1970.