Smith v. North American Rockwell Corp.

50 F.R.D. 515
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 25, 1970
DocketCiv. A. No. 69-C-12
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 50 F.R.D. 515 (Smith v. North American Rockwell Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smith v. North American Rockwell Corp., 50 F.R.D. 515 (N.D. Okla. 1970).

Opinion

DECISION

BARROW, Chief Judge.

I

This is an action brought by plaintiffs against defendant North American Rockwell Corporation alleging that defendant has deprived plaintiffs of rights secured by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (hereinafter Title VII), and by the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981. In addition to relief on their own behalf, plaintiffs seek to represent as a class all persons similarly situated.

Defendant has moved to dismiss the Complaint or strike therefrom any reference to the Civil Rights Act of 1866, insofar as it purports to present a cause of action based on that statute, on grounds that the law is immaterial and impertinent with respect to this action and for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Such motions are based on Rule 12 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. In addition, defendant moves to sever the respective claims of the four plaintiffs on the ground that they are improperly [517]*517joined under Rules 18, 20, and 21 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Insofar as is properly necessary to reach the points raised by these pleadings, the present dispute arises out of the following facts.

Defendant is a large aerospace company which employed nearly 4,500 persons in its Tulsa Division at the time of the events alleged in the present Complaint. The company is organized into several separate divisions based on the type of work the unit is to perform. Among the divisions relevant to the allegations of the Complaint, are Management Planning and Finance, Laboratories, and Manufacturing. These divisions are further divided into departments.

Each of the plaintiffs was employed by the company in a different capacity and in a different department. Gloria Yvette Smith was hired on November 21, 1964 as a clerk-general (Job Code #7357, labor grade). She was originally assigned to Department 916 (Data Processing) and has remained in that department ever since. When Mrs. Smith was first hired her base rate of. pay was $2.28 per hour. On March 8, 1967 she was promoted to the position of librarian-data processing (Job Code #2157, labor grade 4). As of October 1, 1967, her base rate of pay was $2.97 per hour.

During the period prior to October 1967, Mrs. Smith suffered a continuous physical disability which required several extended leaves of absence. Her condition was diagnosed in July 1965 as a tumor of the brain. An important question arises whether Mrs. Smith’s condition substantially affected her ability to efficiently perform her work, and was responsible in part for her failure to advance as rapidly as she might have otherwise. Any evaluation of her progress must take into account her physical condition.

On January 3, 1969, the present Complaint was filed alleging that defendant discriminatorily refused to promote Mrs. Smith because of her race and color in violation of Title VII, and of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Mrs. Smith seeks back pay and injunctive relief from the alleged discriminatory failure to promote.

Billy Mack Rountree was employed by the company on January 10, 1966 as a plastic-parts fabricator (Job Code # 5946). On March 3, 1966, Mr. Rountree was upgraded to plastic-parts fabricator (Job Code #5944, labor grade 6). A cutback in the number of employees in the plant resulted in a realignment of the work force, under which Mr. Rountree was transferred from Department 965 (plastics) to Department 970 (Experimental Development) on May 7,1967. He remained in his classification of plastic-parts fabricator. Further reduction in the work force resulted in his downgrading to the position of drill operator and eventually to the position of identifier (labor grade 3). On June 3, 1967, Mr. Rountree was laid off for lack of work. During this period the size of the work force of the plant decreased from over 4,000 employees to approximately 3,300 employees.

Mr. Rountree filed the instant Complaint on January 31, 1969 alleging that he had been denied the opportunity to attend Blueprint School, based solely on his race, in violation of Title VII and the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Mr. Rountree seeks back pay and injunctive relief against the practices alleged in the Complaint,

The third plaintiff in this action, William Rosea Snoddy, began working for the company on August 26, 1963 as a messenger (Job Code #7997, labor grade 1). He received a series of promotions, finally reaching the position of analyst-research (Job Code #2057, labor grade 10) on July 10, 1966. Mr. Snoddy was assigned during this time to Department 939, which is the plastics unit in the Materials and Processes Laboratory. In [518]*518March 1967, Mr. Snoddy was among three employees considered for promotion to the position of associate-tests and development laboratory, but did not receive the promotion. He voluntarily terminated his employment on April 14, 1967.

On January 81, 1969, Mr. Snoddy filed the instant Complaint, alleging that defendant’s refusal to promote him was án act of discrimination because of his race and color which violated Title VII and the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Mr. Snoddy seeks injunctive relief and back pay.

The final plaintiff in this action, Dorothy Dews, was employed by the company on June 10, 1963 in the position of clerk-accounting, junior (Job Code #7248, labor grade 2). On December 27, 1964 she was promoted to the position of clerk-accounting (Job Code #7248, labor grade 3), the position which she currently holds. Mrs. Dews has been assigned throughout her tenure with the company to Department 904.

Mrs. Dews has claimed that she was denied promotion in her department because of her race, color and sex. She also alleges that the company deliberately transferred her from one area to another to avoid promoting her. Mrs. Dews joins in the present Complaint alleging that she has been denied opportunity for promotion because of her race and sex. She also seeks injunctive relief and back pay.

1. 42 U.S.C. § 1981 42 U.S.C. § 1981 states:

“All persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment, pains, penalties, taxes, licenses, and exactions of every kind, and to no other.”

The allegations attempting to establish the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981 as an independent jurisdictional ground cannot stand and are therefore to be struck from the Complaint.

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50 F.R.D. 515, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-north-american-rockwell-corp-oknd-1970.