Redditt v. Mississippi Extended Care Centers, Inc.

718 F.2d 1381, 33 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 286, 37 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 972, 1983 U.S. App. LEXIS 15363, 32 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 33,912
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedNovember 10, 1983
DocketNo. 82-4377
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 718 F.2d 1381 (Redditt v. Mississippi Extended Care Centers, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Redditt v. Mississippi Extended Care Centers, Inc., 718 F.2d 1381, 33 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 286, 37 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 972, 1983 U.S. App. LEXIS 15363, 32 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 33,912 (5th Cir. 1983).

Opinion

JOHNSON, Circuit Judge:

Ora Dell Redditt, a black nurse’s aide at Care Inn Nursing Home in Grenada, Mississippi (Care Inn Grenada), brought this action against defendant, Mississippi Extended Care Centers, Inc., alleging that she was discriminatorily discharged on the basis of her race in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. and of 42 U.S.C. § 1981. The district court denied class certification and dismissed plaintiff’s individual claim. On appeal plaintiff contends that the district court erred both in dismissing her individual claim and in denying her motion for class certification to represent all black employees allegedly discriminated against in hiring, discharging, promotions and all other terms and conditions of employment. We vacate the judgment of the district court for failure to comply with Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a) and 23(a) and remand.

I. Background

Care Inn Grenada is a nursing home operated by defendant Mississippi Extended Care Centers, Inc. since February 1971. Care Inn Grenada hired plaintiff Redditt as a nurse’s aide in August 1972. Almost five years later, on July 14, 1977, a charge was brought against plaintiff by Norene Clements, a nonemployee sitter at the nursing home. Clements alleged that plaintiff hit the back of a male patient’s hand with his shoe because he was trying to help himself have a bowel movement. Plaintiff denied [1383]*1383striking the patient. Plaintiff’s and defendant’s versions of the details of the incident vary greatly. Briefly, plaintiff and Earline Jones, another nurse’s aide, had helped the patient to the bathroom when a patient across the hall called out to Jones to get him some ice. Jones left the room for a minute or less to get the ice and when she returned Clements was standing in the doorway or was on her way out of the room. Clements had entered the room to ask plaintiff to help her put Clement’s patient, who was on the same floor as plaintiff’s patient, to bed. The physical abuse of plaintiff’s patient allegedly occurred during the brief interval when Jones had left the room. Another patient, John Morris, shared the room with plaintiff’s patient, but a curtain separated the two men so that Morris could not have seen what actually happened. Clements testified that when plaintiff’s patient began yelling after he was struck, both Sue Harris, a licensed practical nurse (L.P.N.), and Jones rushed back to the room. Harris had been in the room previously to give plaintiff’s patient his medicine, but the testimony varied as to when Harris was in the room. Plaintiff contends that when Jones returned to the room, Harris was also present. Harris testified that she did not witness the incident but reported that she examined the patient’s hand as soon as the incident was reported to her and again the next day. On her first examination she found the patient’s hand to be red and on the second examination she found a bruise.

Clements reported the alleged incident to Harris, and Harris reported it to Larry Parks, the administrator at Care Inn Grenada. That evening Parks called plaintiff into his office to discuss the incident. Plaintiff denied striking the patient and requested that Parks call all people involved to his office, especially Clements. In addition to talking to Sue Harris about the incident, Parks talked to Jones who stated that she did not see plaintiff strike the patient. According to Jones, Parks did not ask her any other questions about the incident. Parks testified that he also talked to Morris who stated that he did not see plaintiff strike the patient but that he did hear the patient yell. Parks did not question Clements about the incident until after the E.E.O.C. investigation had begun and offered no explanation for his not doing so.1 Parks testified that he did not question the patient about the incident because Parks felt that he was too senile to know what had happened. According to Parks, he did not want to make a snap judgment and took the matter under advisement. According to plaintiff, Parks told her to forget about the incident.

On July 24,1977, plaintiff was involved in a second incident which was reported to Parks by Sue Harris. Harris’ version was that she gave plaintiff an order which plaintiff initially refused to obey. According to Harris, she asked plaintiff to get some help to bring a male patient who had wandered out of the building back into the nursing home; plaintiff responded that she was tired of the whole business and didn’t care if the patient got back inside, but eventually did go get several aides to help Harris. Plaintiff denied refusing to assist Harris. According to plaintiff, Harris and another L.P.N., Lois Johnson, had told plaintiff that they would tend to the patient and if he got outside they would let plaintiff and other aides know about it. While plaintiff was putting a tray on a cart in B Wing, Annie Jones, another nurse’s aid, told plaintiff that Johnson had said the patient had gotten outside and they needed assistance in getting him back inside. Jones and plaintiff then took the geriatric chair outside where Harris, Johnson, and the patient were waiting. Plaintiff claimed that two other aides and another L.P.N. were also present. Plaintiff testified that she then assisted in bringing the patient [1384]*1384back inside. Annie Jones’ version was basically the same as plaintiff’s, although on cross-examination Jones conceded that she could not know whether plaintiff had already been outside before Jones came to B Wing to solicit plaintiff’s help.

Following this second incident, Parks called plaintiff into his office; she denied the charge of insubordination to Harris. According to plaintiff, when she asked Parks to call in the witnesses to the incident, he responded that he did not have time to be bothered. Parks then sent plaintiff home. Ten days later, on August 4, 1977, he called plaintiff back to his office to talk. According to plaintiff, Parks said that he would have a witness present. When plaintiff arrived, however, and asked where the witness or witnesses were, Parks replied that he did not “need any damn witnesses.” Parks did not deny making this statement, although he did deny using abusive language in that particular context.2 At trial Parks did not make any claim that he interviewed witnesses to this incident. Annie Jones testified that Parks never questioned her about the incident. During the meeting of August 4, Parks terminated plaintiff on the basis of the two charges against her — physical abuse of a patient and insubordination. Plaintiff asked Denver Northrip, the area nursing home administrator, to look into the matter. Northrip, however, testified that he simply relied on the information Parks had given him about plaintiff’s discharge and did not interview any of the persons involved.

In that same month, August 1977, plaintiff filed a charge of discrimination with the E.E.O.C. and received a right-to-sue letter in August 1979 and the E.E.O.C.’s determination of reasonable cause to believe plaintiff was discharged on the basis of her race in violation of section 704(a) of Title VII. On November 5, 1979, plaintiff brought this suit as a class action, asking for declaratory relief, injunctive relief, reinstatement in full, damages, and costs.

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718 F.2d 1381, 33 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 286, 37 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 972, 1983 U.S. App. LEXIS 15363, 32 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 33,912, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/redditt-v-mississippi-extended-care-centers-inc-ca5-1983.