Smith v. State of Ala.

996 F. Supp. 1203, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2543
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Alabama
DecidedFebruary 27, 1998
DocketCivil Action 97-T-551-N
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 996 F. Supp. 1203 (Smith v. State of Ala.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smith v. State of Ala., 996 F. Supp. 1203, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2543 (M.D. Ala. 1998).

Opinion

ORDER

MYRON H. THOMPSON, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff Jessie Lorenzo Smith brought this lawsuit alleging that the defendants (the State of Alabama, the Alabama Department of Transportation, and the department’s agents, Jimmy Butts, Ray Bass, Don Arkle, and Rex Bush) discriminated against him because of his race, in violation of the following: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 1981a, 2000e through 2000e-17; the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution, as enforced through 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983; and 42 U.S.C.A. § 1981. Jurisdiction is proper under 42 U.S.C.A. § 2000e-5 (Title VII) and 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 1331 (general federal question) and 1343 (civil rights).

The case is now before the court on the defendants’ motion to dismiss. In their motion to dismiss, filed on June 24, 1997, and their brief in support of motion to dismiss, filed August 13, 1997, the defendants seek dismissal on the grounds that: (1) res judicata and collateral estoppel preclude Smith’s claims; (2) it is improper to maintain an action separate from Reynolds v. Alabama Dep’t of Transp., civil action no. 85-T-665-N (M.D.Ala.) (Thompson, J.), which is still pending; (3) Smith’s claims have already been considered and resolved by a special master; (4) Smith’s claims have been resolved by the Transportation Department’s grievance procedure; (5) Smith’s §§ 1981 and 1983 claims against the State of Alabama, the Transportation Department, and the department’s agents in their official capacities, are barred by the eleventh amendment to the United States Constitution; (6) individual claims under Title VII against the Transportation Department’s agents are inappropriate; (7) punitive damages are not available against the State of Alabama, the Transportation Department, and the department’s agents in their official capacities; (8) Smith lacks standing to assert claims that the defendants have discriminated against other employees of the Transportation Department; (9) to the extent that Smith alleges claims of disparate impact discrimination, such claims are not a viable cause of action under §§ 1981 and 1983; and (10) the Transportation Department’s agents are entitled to qualified immunity against Smith’s claims against them in their individual capacities. For the reasons that follow, the defendants’ motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I. MOTION-TO-DISMISS STANDARD

In considering a defendant’s motion to dismiss, the court accepts the plaintiff’s allegations as true, Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b), Andreu v. Sapp, 919 F.2d 637, 639 (11th Cir.1990), and construes the complaint liberally in plaintiff’s *1206 favor. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1686, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). The lawsuit may not be dismissed unless plaintiff can prove no set of facts supporting the relief requested. Scheuer, 416 U.S. at 236, 94 S.Ct. at 1686; Duke v. Cleland, 5 F.3d 1399, 1402 (11th Cir.1993).

II. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Smith is an African-American male who has been employed by the Transportation Department since 1978 and, over the course of his tenure, has suffered discrimination because of his race as a result of the actions of the department’s agents. Smith alleges that Transportation Department agents have denied him hiring, training, and promotional opportunities. All of Smith’s claims of discrimination prior to March 16,1994, are addressed in the consent decree entered on that date in Reynolds v. Alabama Dep’t of Transp., civil action no. 85-T-665-N, 1994 WL 899259 (M.D.Ala. March 16, 1994). Smith alleges, however, that departmental agents have continued to discriminate against him since March 16, 1994, by depriving him of promotions, job assignments, training, and compensation, as well as subjecting him to retaliatory evaluations, supervision, and harassment for participating in protected activity such as filing equal employment opportunity charges and internal grievances at the Transportation Department. He alleges that the defendants also actively recruited and aided white applicants and employees of the Transportation Department but did not assist him, and the defendants have used secretive practices in filling positions, including out-of-classification assignments. Smith further contends that these discriminatory practices represent the official policies of the defendants and that the implementation of such policies and practices by the defendants has deprived him of the same rights as those enjoyed by other employees.

III. DISCUSSION

Each of the grounds on which the defendants are seeking dismissal is discussed separately below.

A. Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel

In their motion to dismiss, the defendants contend that the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel preclude Smith from bringing all of the claims he raises in this lawsuit. They argue that all of the claims arise from the same nucleus of operative fact as those that have already been addressed in the 1994 Reynolds consent decree and the backpay award entered on April 16, 1997, pursuant to the Reynolds consent decree, see Reynolds, civil action no. 85-T-665-N (M.D.Ala.) (Doe. no. 1785). After a review of the complaint, the court does not agree that Smith’s claims arise from the same nucleus of operative fact.

It is clear that the doctrine of res judicata does apply to cases in which a consent decree was entered. Richardson v. Alabama State Bd. of Educ., 935 F.2d 1240, 1244 (11th Cir.1991). But the doctrine only applies when four prerequisites are met: (1) there is a final judgment on the merits of the first action; (2) the first decision is rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction; (3) the parties to both actions, or those in privity with them, are identical; and (4) the causes of action in both suits are identical. Id. As to the fourth prerequisite, whether the causes of action in both suits are identical, the inquiry is not only whether both cases advance precisely the same legal theory, but also whether the legal theories and claims arise out of “the same nucleus of operative fact.” NAACP v. Hunt, 891 F.2d 1555, 1561 (11th Cir.1990). In this case, the causes of action are not identical because they do no arise out of the same nucleus of operative fact. In the instant lawsuit, Smith is seeking redress for the discrimination he has suffered since the entry of the consent decree in Reynolds, not the discrimination he has faced from the beginning of his tenure with the Transportation Department to the entry of the consent decree. Consequently, because the two suits involve different time periods, the two suits could not arise from the same nucleus of operative fact.

In addition, the doctrine of collateral estoppel does not apply here.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Jerome v. Hertz Corp.
15 F. Supp. 3d 1225 (M.D. Florida, 2014)
Price v. Jefferson County
470 F. Supp. 2d 665 (E.D. Texas, 2006)
Morgan v. State of Ala.
5 F. Supp. 2d 1285 (M.D. Alabama, 1998)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
996 F. Supp. 1203, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2543, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-state-of-ala-almd-1998.