Ripp v. Dobbs Houses, Inc.

366 F. Supp. 205, 6 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 566
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Alabama
DecidedSeptember 14, 1973
DocketCiv. A. 73-368
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 366 F. Supp. 205 (Ripp v. Dobbs Houses, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ripp v. Dobbs Houses, Inc., 366 F. Supp. 205, 6 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 566 (N.D. Ala. 1973).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF OPINION AND ORDER

GUIN, District Judge.

On April 13, 1973, F. Paul Ripp commenced this action in the Southern Division of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, against some five defendants — Dobbs Houses, Inc., Squibb-Beech-Nut, Inc., Airline Services Division of Dobbs Houses, Inc., Dobbs Houses Flight Kitchen of Birmingham, and an individual, identified as Jim Shaner, “Manager”, of the Dobbs House Flight Kitchen. Plaintiff seeks to assert claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq.; the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981; and the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. §,1985.

According to the allegations in plaintiff’s complaint, during 1970 plaintiff, a white person, was employed at the Dobbs House Flight Kitchen at the Birmingham Municipal Airport. On December 22, 1970, he alleges that he was “illegally discharged because of his association and sociable attitudes toward his fellow employees who were of the Black race”. Plaintiff further alleges that defendants maintained employment practices and policies which operated to discriminate against the employment opportunities of blacks.

Pursuant to F.R.Civ.P. Rule 12(b), defendants moved separately and severally, to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint on the ground that it fails,- for several reasons, to state claims against defendants upon which relief can be granted. Defendants make several contentions. First, all defendants urge that plaintiff’s complaint does not state a cause of action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (the “Act”), because plaintiff does not claim to have been discriminated against on account of his race. Defendant Shaner, the individual defendant, who apparently was plaintiff’s immediate supervisor, urges that no claim under Title VII may be stated with respect to him, in any event, because he is not an “employer” within the meaning of the Act.

Second, all defendants urge that plaintiff may not complain of discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, since that statute is limited in application by its terms, to racial discrimination. Third, defendants contend that no claim has been stated under 42 U.S.C. § 1985, because plaintiff has not averred that any defendants conspired to deprive plaintiff of protected rights, and because the white plaintiff cannot complain of invidious discrimination against blacks. Finally, with respect to the claims under both 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1985, defendants urge that any possible cause of action which conceivably may have been *208 stated is barred by the applicable one-year Alabama statute of limitations, with respect to all defendants except Dobbs Houses, Inc.

Having considered the pleadings, briefs, oral argument, and the affidavit of Larry D. Stebbins, the Court is prepared to decide the various issues raised by the motions.

In reaching its decisions, the Court is mindful of the fact that, for purposes of the motions to dismiss, the well-pleaded allegations of plaintiff’s complaint are taken as admitted. Barnes v. Merritt, 376 F.2d 8 (5th Cir. 1967). Furthermore, the Court is cognizant of the Fifth Circuit’s admonition that “procedural technicalities” should not operate to deprive a Title VII plaintiff of an opportunity to vindicate rights protected by the Act. Sanchez v. Standard Brands, Inc., 431 F.2d 455, 461 (5th Cir. 1970); Burns v. Thiokol Chemical Corp., 483 F.2d 300, 305 (5th Cir. 1973). With these considerations in view, the Court will consider the issues raised by defendants’ motions to dismiss.

PLAINTIFF’S TITLE VII CLAIMS

The fundamental prohibition which Title VII directs toward employers is found in Section 703(a) of the Act. In pertinent part that section provides:

It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer—
(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or
(2) to limit, segregate, or classify employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin (emphasis added).

The statutory language makes abundantly clear that an employer may not arbitrarily penalize any employee because of his race, or any other protected characteristic.

Significantly, plaintiff makes no complaint that he has suffered any detriment on account of his race. In paragraph 3 of his complaint, for example, plaintiff alleges that he was “employed by Defendant Dobbs House at its Birmingham Airport Facility until, to-wit, 22 December, 1970, when he was illegally discharged because of his association and sociable attitude toward his fellow employees who were of the Black race”. The class, which plaintiff seeks to represent, is that group of persons which is affected by defendant’s employment practices, which “tend to unlawfully restrict the free association of individuals” (paragraph 5 of plaintiff’s complaint) .

In paragraph 6 of his complaint, plaintiff alleges that he was discharged because he refused to discriminate against black employees; further, he alleges he was ordered “not to associate with black employees”. While plaintiff makes these allegations concerning his allegedly restricted associations, he also avers that the defendant engaged in unlawful employment practices which operate to discriminate against black employees. Fairly stated, the gravamen of plaintiff’s complaint is that defendants have abridged his freedom to associate with persons of his own choosing. See, e. g., Langford v. City of Texarkana, 478 F.2d 262 (8th Cir. 1973). The question is whether plaintiff has stated a claim for relief under Title VII which this Court may consider. The Court concludes that plaintiff has failed to do so.

The employment practices which plaintiff attacks in his complaint are practices which result in disparate treatment of black employees. Plaintiff avers that he is a white citizen. The

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Bluebook (online)
366 F. Supp. 205, 6 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 566, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ripp-v-dobbs-houses-inc-alnd-1973.