UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. MISSISSIPPI POWER & LIGHT COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant

553 F.2d 480, 14 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1730, 1977 U.S. App. LEXIS 13070, 14 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 7603
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedJune 6, 1977
Docket75-2590
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 553 F.2d 480 (UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. MISSISSIPPI POWER & LIGHT COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant) 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
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. MISSISSIPPI POWER & LIGHT COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant, 553 F.2d 480, 14 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1730, 1977 U.S. App. LEXIS 13070, 14 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 7603 (5th Cir. 1977).

Opinions

AINSWORTH, Circuit Judge:

The United States brought this suit in 1974 to compel the compliance of appellant, Mississippi Power & Light Company (MP&L), with the equal opportunity obligations of Executive Order 11246, as amended,1 and the implementing rules and regulations, 41 C.F.R. § 60 — 1.1 et seq. The district court held that MP&L is a government contractor subject to the Executive Order and the rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto. The court held, moreover, that MP&L violated the Executive Order by denying the Government access to the company’s premises and books. Therefore, the court issued a general injunctive order, permanently enjoining MP&L from failing or refusing to comply with the Order, so long as the company has not obtained an exemption from the program’s coverage, and from refusing to allow the General Services Administration (GSA) or other appropriate federal agencies to conduct compliance reviews of MP&L and to have access to the company’s premises and books. In a subsequent order, the district court stayed the injunctive order, pending appeal to this court.

This case presents the question whether the Government can impose the equal opportunity obligations of the Executive Order on a state-franchised public utility which, pursuant to its franchise, sells substantial amounts of electricity to the Government and enjoys an apparent near-monopoly in its area in the sale of electric utility service, even though the company has not agreed to be bound by the Executive Order. For the reasons stated in United States v. New Orleans Public Service, Inc. (NOPSI), 553 F.2d 459, the companion case which we also decide today, we hold that the Government can compel the company’s compliance. Consistent with our opinion in NOPSI, we affirm the opinion of the district court, but set aside the court’s general injunctive order.

MP&L is a public utility franchised by the Mississippi Public Service Commission to supply electricity to a substantial portion of the western half of Mississippi. The area covered by the company includes the cities of Jackson and Vicksburg. MP&L is the primary supplier of electric energy in that area, the company’s franchise requiring that MP&L sell electricity to any consumer (including the Federal Government) requesting it. Thus, MP&L presently sells over $100,000 worth of electric service annually to various government agencies (including the GSA) with facilities in the state. The Government asserts that MP&L enjoys a “monopoly” under its franchise. The district court’s opinion does not address this point. However, MP&L itself admits that “the government had no alternative source of electrical service.” This fact triggers the policy we today announce in NOPSI, and we need not inquire further into the structure of the particular utility market or the precise details of MP&L’s franchise.

[482]*482The facts fully support the district court’s resolution of the issue whether MP&L is a government contractor subject to the Executive Order. The company admits that it has written and unwritten agreements to provide electric service to various federal agencies at fifteen different facilities, including the Post Office and Courtroom facilities at Jackson, Vicksburg and Green-ville, and the Peoples-Newman Building in Vicksburg. Under these contracts, the company has supplied the Government for many years, and each of the facilities receives over $10,000 worth of electricity annually. The district court took particular note of the contracts for the Post Office and Courtroom facilities at Jackson and Vicksburg. The Government stated that the. total value of those contracts, which were written, has been greater than $50,000 since 1973. MP&L admits that, while those contracts were executed in 1950, they have been amended through rate changes since the effective date of the Executive Order. However, MP&L states that only one of the contracts — that for the Greenville Post Office and Court House — has been executed since the Order’s effective date and that none of the contracts contains the equal opportunity clause required by the Executive Order. MP&L asserts that it is not subject to the Order because it has never contractually agreed to be bound by it. We incorporate herein the reasoning of NOPSI insofar as is necessary to reject appellant’s contention. The Government attempted to conduct compliance reviews of MP&L in 1972 and 1973, but the company responded that it was not subject to the Order. MP&L admits that it denied access to its premises to GSA officials in 1972.2 Having found that the Executive Order was applicable to MP&L, the district court was clearly correct in holding that the company’s refusal to comply with the Order constituted a violation of that mandate.

In this appeal, the company raises a number of issues. Specifically, MP&L makes the following assertions: (1) that the Government’s stated cause of action is not one upon which relief can be granted because said cause is neither authorized by statute nor recognized at common law; (2) that the Secretary of Labor exceeded his authority in issuing 41 C.F.R. § 60-1.4(e)3 because the regulation runs contrary to common-law contracts principles and principles of government-contract law; (3) that the district court opinion in the NOPSI case, which was adopted by the trial court herein, held erroneously that a contract provision not agreed to by the parties is incorporated into the contract when a government regulation requires the provision’s inclusion in the contract; (4) that the provisions in the Executive Order and implementing regulations4 for Government access to a contractor’s books and records contravene the company’s fourth amendment rights; (5) that the regulatory provision 5 for Government access to a contractor’s premises also violates the fourth amendment, and is void not only for that [483]*483reason but also because it was beyond the authority of the Secretary of Labor; (6) that the NOPSI court erred in holding that 41 C.F.R. § 60-1.4(e) makes NOPSI subject to the Executive Order, pursuant to the company’s unwritten contracts with the Government, and that the same principle applies herein with respect to MP&L; (7) that the NOPSI court erroneously held that a company such as NOPSI is subject to the Executive Order by virtue of 41 C.F.R. § 60 — 1.4(d);6 (8) that the Government has violated its own'rules and regulations, 41 C.F.R. § 60-2.2(c),7 by failing to give MP&L a 30-day show cause notice prior to instituting this action, and therefore is estopped from pursuing this case; and (9) that the district court erred in holding that the Executive Order has the force and effect of law. - MP&L’s contentions are similar, although not identical in all respects, to those of the appellant in NOPSI. We find that, with the exception of MP&L’s eighth assertion supra and some others which are without merit and do not require discussion, all of the preceding contentions are disposed of by our NOPSI opinion.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
553 F.2d 480, 14 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1730, 1977 U.S. App. LEXIS 13070, 14 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 7603, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-of-america-plaintiff-appellee-v-mississippi-power-light-ca5-1977.