Scofield v. Board of Trustees

65 F.R.D. 595, 19 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 865, 19 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1028, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14132
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Mississippi
DecidedJanuary 28, 1975
DocketNo. EC 74-93-K
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 65 F.R.D. 595 (Scofield v. Board of Trustees) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Scofield v. Board of Trustees, 65 F.R.D. 595, 19 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 865, 19 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1028, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14132 (N.D. Miss. 1975).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ORDER

READY, Chief Judge.

The court has before it for determination the maintainability of the above suit as a class action under Rule 23(c), F.R.Civ.P. The defendants have moved to dismiss the case as a class action and also for a protective order limiting the scope of discovery sought by plaintiff’s interrogatories. After review of the pleadings, affidavits and other evidentiary materials on file, the court holds, for reasons that follow, that the motion to dismiss the class action is well taken and should be sustained. The court also concludes that the motion for protective order to limit interrogatories, other than to the extent defendants have already filed answers, should be sustained.

The named plaintiff, Pearlie Scofield, a black resident of Shannon, Mississippi, sues the defendant Trustees of the Lee [596]*596County Board of Education and the Lee County Superintendent of Education. Invoking federal jurisdiction under the federal civil rights statutes and the Constitution, plaintiff alleges that she was unlawfully, because of her race, dismissed as a teacher at the Saltillo Day Care Center, a public institution under defendants’ control which serves children of pre-school age. Plaintiff seeks to maintain suit on her own behalf and also as a class action “in behalf of all other Black teachers who have been denied employment or dismissed from the Saltillo Day Care Center and Black teachers who have been denied employment, dismissed from employment, or demoted in the Lee County School District as a result of discriminatory practices by the defendants.” (Complaint, ¶5). The plaintiff alleges in her complaint only the stock phrase that “the members of the class on whose behalf plaintiff sues are so numerous as to make it impracticable to bring them before the court.” Plaintiff does not demonstrate that any other black teacher, named or unnamed, has been the victim of racially discriminatory practices by defendants. Although given full opportunity, plaintiff has failed to identify, either by affidavit or otherwise, other blacks alleged to be adversely affected in school employment by defendants, and failed to provide any factual material to enable the court to judge the propriety of maintaining the case as a class action.

The defendants challenge the existence of Rule 23(a) prerequisites, specifically the requirements of numerosity of the class and commonality of issues. Since we sustain the defendants’ Rule 23(a) contentions, it is unnecessary to reach alternative arguments based upon Rule 23(b)(2) and (3).

The affidavits and interrogatory answers provided by defendants disclose the essential facts to be as follows:

Plaintiff Scofield was employed at the Day Care Center for approximately 6 months, from January 2 to June 30, 1973, when her contract of employment expired and was not renewed. The Day Care Center has had a small faculty: 7 teachers (4 white, 3 black) for 1972-73; 5 teachers (3 white, 2 black) for 1973-74; and 4 teachers (2 white, 2 black) for 1974-75. During these years, no Day Care Center teacher of either race was discharged during the period of employment; and only Scofield was not awarded a new employment contract contrary to the teacher’s desire.

In addition to the Day Care Center, defendants employ teaching personnel at seven county educational attendance centers at Belden, Guntown, Mooreville, Plantersville, Saltillo, Shannon and Verona. From January 1972 to the present date, only two black teachers at these other educational centers have not been offered new teaching contracts. In both cases, the teachers were not offered a new contract of employment when their principals failed to recommend them. One dismissed teacher, who had taught at Belden less than a full school year, is separately represented by an attorney of his choice and has contacted the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with respect to his dismissal. The other dismissed teacher, who had taught at Shannon, obtained an attorney of her choice and pursued her remedies under the Mississippi Fair Dismissal Act. This procedure resulted in extensive findings of fact and conclusions of law adopted by the Board of Education, with a decision that the involved teacher not be granted a new contract. No appeal was taken under the Mississippi statute on behalf of this teacher.

Prior to 1972, three black teachers caused complaints to be filed with the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; in September 1968, HEW representatives investigated certain contract complaints and determined that there was no basis for the complaints. In 1969 representatives of HEW again [597]*597responded to complaints to reemploy three black teachers and concluded that race was not a factor in their dismissal. It further appears that in 1970 HEW administrative proceedings involving the Lee County School Board determined that the affirmative action adopted by defendants to employ or offer employment to members of the minority race who had been dismissed and the establishment of new recruitment procedures complied with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The administrative proceedings were thus terminated favorably to the defendants on May 6,1970.

Excluding plaintiff Scofield, no more than 8 blacks, from 1968 to date, have been terminated as teachers by the defendants; presumably, these 8 persons would have complaints of racial discrimination generally comparable to that of the named plaintiff. It is apparent that the size of the purported class is not so great that joinder of all members is impracticable, a requirement which is a basic element of a class action. Although there is no definite standard as to what size class satisfies Rule 23(a)(1), there is abundant authority to the effect that classes containing not more than 25 persons are too small to satisfy the numerosity requirement. 7 Wright & Miller, Federal Practice & Procedure, § 1762 at 596-97. In Holly Springs Funeral Home, Inc. v. United Funeral Service, Inc., 303 F.Supp. 128 (N.D.Miss.1969), we held that where the members of the class were probably not more than 10 and at the very most 12, the number was insufficient to qualify as a class action. In two cases of former teachers affecting the same school district, Judge Orma R. Smith held a class action was not maintainable where the plaintiffs were able to show that only 3 teachers were members of the purported class. Givhan v. Board of Education of Western Line Consolidated School District, 363 F.Supp. 714 (N.D.Miss.1973); Ayers v. Board of Education of Western Line Consolidated School District, 61 F.R.D. 414 (N.D.Miss.l973). Similarly, in Bonner v. Texas City Independent School District of Texas City, Texas, 305 F.Supp. 600, 616 (S.D.Tex.1969), the court rejected a class action sought to be maintained by a black teacher alleging his non-rehire was racially motivated where the size of the class did not exceed 5. In a reasoned opinion, Judge Noel stated:

“Rule 23(a)(1), F.R.Civ.P., specifies as a prerequisite to a class action that: ‘One or more members of a class may sue or be sued as representative parties on behalf of all only if (1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable’. This prerequisite is not met here. The only Negro teachers not rehired by defendants for the 1965-1966 school year other than plaintiff were Mrs. Hall, Mr. Niles, Miss Rice, and Mrs. Randall. The total class thus could number no more than 5 persons. Seventeen potential class members were held too few in DeMarco v. Edens, 390 F.2d 836 (2d Cir. 1968). Sixteen were held to few in Giordano v.

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Bluebook (online)
65 F.R.D. 595, 19 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 865, 19 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1028, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14132, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/scofield-v-board-of-trustees-msnd-1975.