Platt v. Burroughs Corp.

424 F. Supp. 1329, 14 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1057, 1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11721
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 22, 1976
DocketCiv. A. 76-1888
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 424 F. Supp. 1329 (Platt v. Burroughs Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Platt v. Burroughs Corp., 424 F. Supp. 1329, 14 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1057, 1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11721 (E.D. Pa. 1976).

Opinion

OPINION

GORBEY, District Judge.

The plaintiff, a former employee of defendant Burroughs Corporation, has included in his second amended complaint, two counts, the first of which purports to state a claim against Burroughs Corporation under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq., names five present or former employees of Burroughs, E. Gary Clark, Lucien Dick, Wilford Price, John Duff and John Scarpelli, as defendants, and alleges they conspired to deny him equal protection of the laws in violation of 42 U.S.C. §§ 1985(3) and 1986.

The defendants, Burroughs Corporation, Wilford Price, John Duff, John Scarpelli, the other two named defendants not having been served at the time, have filed a motion to dismiss plaintiff’s second amended complaint pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) on the grounds that:

1. The court lacks jurisdiction over the subject matter of Count I of the second amended complaint because it does not allege that plaintiff has entirely complied with the jurisdictional prerequisite set forth in § 7(d) of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, 29 U.S.C. § 626(d); and

2. Portions of Count I of the second amended complaint fail to state a claim upon which relief can be granted in that they are barred by the statute of limitations as contained in § 7(e) of the ADEA, 29 U.S.C. § 626(e); and

3. Count II of the second amended complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1985(3) and 1986 because:

(a) the general remedy of § 1985(3) is preempted by the more specific provisions of the ADEA;
(b) it fails to allege properly the existence of a class-based animus on the part of the individual defendants;
(c) it fails to allege properly and specifically the existence of a conspiracy among the individual defendants;
(d) it is barred in part by the applicable statute of limitations; and
(e) section 1986 liability presupposes the existence of a viable cause of action under § 1985(3) and items 3(a) and 3(d) refute such existence.

The contention of Burroughs that Count I should be dismissed for failure to comply *1332 with the notice provisions of ADEA requires a consideration of the notice provisions of § 7 of the ADEA.

The provisions of the Act which relate to notice are found in 29 U.S.C. § 626(d) which states:

“No civil action may be commenced by any individual under this section until the individual has given the Secretary [of Labor] not less than 60 days’ notice of an intent to file such action. Such [action] shall be filed (2) in a case to which section 633(b) of this title applies, within 300 days after the alleged unlawful practice occurred or within 30 days after receipt by the individual of notice of termination of proceedings under State law, whichever is earlier.
“Upon receiving a notice of intent to sue, the Secretary shall promptly notify all persons named therein as prospective defendants in the action and shall promptly seek to eliminate any alleged unlawful practice by informal methods of conciliation, conference, and persuasion.”

Section 633(b) provides:

“In the case of an alleged unlawful practice occurring in a State which has a law prohibiting discrimination in employment because of age and establishing or authorizing a State authority to grant or seek relief from such discriminatory practice, no suit may be brought under § 626 of this title before the expiration of 60 days after proceedings have been commenced under the State law, unless such proceedings have been earlier terminated . . ”

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in 43 P.S. § 952 et seq., has prohibited age discrimination and designated the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission as the supervising agency. Therefore the notice requirements of § 626(d)(2) are applicable in this case. Abundant case law has established the proposition that the notice requirements of § 626(d) are jurisdictional. Raynor v. Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co., 400 F.Supp. 357 (E.D.Va.1975); Powell v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, 494 F.2d 485 (5th Cir. 1974); Edwards v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Sales, Inc., 515 F.2d 1195 (5th Cir. 1975); Goger v. H. K. Porter, Inc., 492 F.2d 13, 7 FEP Cases 71 (3d Cir. 1974); Eklund v. Lubrizol Corp., 529 F.2d 247 (6th Cir. 1976); Hiscott v. General Electric Co., 521 F.2d 632 (6th Cir. 1975).

It is alleged in paragraph 15 that:

“In January, 1976, the plaintiff filed a Notice of Intention to Sue with the United States Department of Labor and filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, charging the defendant with age discrimination.”

The original complaint was filed in this court on June 15, 1976.

The acts of discrimination with respect to each of which the notice requirement applies, as alleged by plaintiff in his self-styled “amended complaint in equity”, are found in the following paragraphs:

“5. In May, 1972, the plaintiff was informed by an agent of the defendant that he was being demoted from his position of Manager of Employee and Industrial Relations (hereinafter Manager) to that of Personnel Specialist. This demotion was to be ‘without prejudice’ and without any decrease in compensation.”
“11. Beginning in July, 1974, and continuing until March, 1976, the defendant gradually diminished the plaintiff’s responsibilities, assigning him to less and less desirable tasks.”

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Bluebook (online)
424 F. Supp. 1329, 14 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1057, 1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11721, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/platt-v-burroughs-corp-paed-1976.