United States v. St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Co.

52 F.R.D. 276, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14279, 3 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 8263, 3 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 738
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedMarch 9, 1971
DocketNo. 67 C 243(A)
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 52 F.R.D. 276 (United States v. St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Co., 52 F.R.D. 276, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14279, 3 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 8263, 3 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 738 (E.D. Mo. 1971).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

HARPER, District Judge.

Invoking Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C.A. § 2000e et seq.), the United States charged the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company (hereinafter referred to as Frisco) and the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (hereinafter referred to as Brotherhood) with having engaged in a “policy and practice” of discrimination against Negroes on account of their race. The amended complaint contains several allegations of discrimination. However, at the pre-trial conference the parties agreed to limit the issue to the alleged racial discrimination against the craft formally known as train porters.1 The plaintiff contends that the Negro train porters performed the same substantial duties as those duties performed by their alleged white counterparts, the railway brakemen. The plaintiff then avers that the train porters were artificially classified as porters and not brakemen due to their Negro race. They maintain that the above unlawful racial classification of train porters was established by Frisco and was perpetuated by Brotherhood. As a result of this alleged racially discriminatory practice, the Negro train porters have been denied equal employment opportunities, advancement and compensation as compared to the white brakemen. The plaintiff, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, seeks to have this court reclassify the former train porters as brakemen and to have former train porters carry over their seniority into the brakemen craft.

This case represents but another segment in the never ending encounters between the Negro train porters and the brakemen. The first case was commenced in 1946, Howard v. Thompson, 72 F.Supp. 695 (E.D.Mo.1947), appealed Howard v. St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Co., 191 F.2d 442 (8th Cir. 1951), and reviewed on grant of certiorari in Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Howard, 343 U.S. 768, 72 S.Ct. 1022, 96 L.Ed. 1283 (1952); the second ease was Howard v. St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Co., 215 F.2d 690 (8th Cir. 1954); and the third case was Howard v. St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Co., 244 F.Supp. 1008 (E.D.Mo.1965), appealed Howard v. St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Co., 361 F.2d 905 (8th Cir. 1966), cert. den. Howard v. St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Co., 385 U.S. 986, 87 S.Ct. 598, 17 L.Ed.2d 448 (1966). The prob[278]*278lem also has been dealt with in Nunn v. Missouri-Pacific Railroad Co., 248 F.Supp. 304 (E.D.Mo.1966); and in Norman v. Missouri-Pacific Railroad Co., 414 F.2d 73 (8th Cir. 1969). This court takes judicial notice of the extensive prior litigation between the train porters and the brakemen.

The craft of train porters was recognized by Frisco from 1918 until 1967. For a number of years prior to their elimination by Frisco, the train porters were represented by the Association of Railway Trainmen and Locomotive Firemen. The duties performed by the train porters were only on passenger trains and consisted of passenger-assistant tasks and some braking work on the head end of passenger trains. The craft known as brakemen was represented for years by the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen.2 The brakemen craft performed braking duties on both passenger and freight trains. There were only a very small number of Negroes in the brakemen craft when the Civil Rights Act was passed.3 Also, it is undisputed that Frisco has always dealt separately with the unions that represent the various crafts of which there were some eighteen.

In Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Howard, supra, the Supreme Court prohibited the brakemen union from forcing the Railroad by means of a threatened strike to discontinue the train porter jobs and replace them with brakemen. The Supreme Court held: First, the brakemen’s union is prevented by the Railway Labor Act from eliminating Negro train porter jobs in favor of brakemen; second, the reclassifying of train porters as brakemen is committed by the Railway Labor. Act to the National Mediation Board. In Howard v. St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Co., 361 F.2d 905 (8th Cir. 1966), the train porters sought to be classified as brakemen. In denying relief, the Court of Appeals followed the decision of the Supreme Court in Howard, supra, and held that the district court had no jurisdiction to reclassify or place the craft of train porters into the craft of brakemen. In substance, the train porters’ last complaint and this cause of action commenced by the United States are the same. The record in this case reveals that the reason this suit was instituted was the fact that the courts held against the train porters in 244 F.Supp. 1008; 361 F.2d 905; and 385 U.S. 986, 87 S. Ct. 598, 17 L.Ed.2d 448. In both instances the plaintiffs maintain that the train porters performed the essential duties of a brakeman, and that Frisco has refused to classify them as such because of their Negro race. This problem had never been presented under the Railway Labor Act. The present litigation does, however, differ in two respects from the past case on this subject: First, this action is commenced by the United States and not a private individual, and second, this action is brought after the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the Howard cases the courts have uniformly held they have no authority to reclassify crafts under the Railway Labor Act. However, the factual allegations within the plaintiff’s amended complaint allege a racially inherent discriminatory practice that the plaintiff contends is expressly prohibited by Title YII of the Civil Rights Act.

Frisco and Brotherhood raise the following affirmative defenses: Res judicata, collateral estoppel, and the failure to join indispensable parties. All of these defenses are rejected by this court. [279]*279The defenses of res judicata and collateral estoppel must be viewed in terms of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and in particular, Title VII, § 703(a) (2) and § 703(e) (2) (42 U.S.C.A. § 2000e-2). The pertinent portions of this part of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act provide:

“Section 703(a) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer—
“(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees 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, col- or, religion, sex, or national origin.
“Section 703(c) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for a labor organization—

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52 F.R.D. 276, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14279, 3 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 8263, 3 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 738, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-st-louis-san-francisco-railway-co-moed-1971.