Oden v. Oktibbeha County Mississippi

• Decision Date: 27 March 2001
• Docket Number: No. 99-60878,99-60878
• Parties: (5th Cir. 2001) JESSE ODEN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. OKTIBBEHA COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI; DOLPH BRYAN, Individually and in his official capacity as sheriff, Defendants-Appellants
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 458

246 F.3d 458 (5th Cir. 2001)

JESSE ODEN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. OKTIBBEHA COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI; DOLPH BRYAN, Individually and in his official capacity as sheriff, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 99-60878

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS, FIFTH CIRCUIT

March 27, 2001

[Copyrighted Material Omitted]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, Aberdeen

Before POLITZ, SMITH and PARKER, Circuit Judges.

ROBERT M. PARKER, Circuit Judge:

Defendants Oktibbeha County, Sheriff Dolph Bryan in his official capacity, and Dolph Bryan individually appeal from the judgment of the district court in which a jury awarded plaintiff Jesse Oden compensatory and punitive damages for Sheriff Bryan's failure to promote Oden to chief deputy. We reverse the punitive and compensatory damages against Oktibbeha County and Dolph Bryan individually and affirm the jury's compensatory damage award against Sheriff Bryan in his official capacity.

I.

In September of 1976, Jesse Oden and George Carrithers joined the Oktibbeha County Sheriff's Department. Oden worked as a part time radio operator, while Carrithers served as a part time jailer. The Department promoted Oden to full time road deputy in 1979. Carrithers received the same rank in 1980.

Sheriff Dolph Bryan dismissed his former chief deputy in 1986. Deputy Oden inquired about the job, but Sheriff Bryan informed him that he would not fill the vacant position. At the same time, Sheriff Bryan assigned Deputy Carrithers to office duties and gave him the title "administrative assistant." Deputy Oden remained working in the field. In 1997, Sheriff Bryan promoted Deputy Carrithers to chief deputy.

Deputy Oden filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming age and race discrimination. Oden then sued Oktibbeha County, Sheriff Dolph Bryan in his official capacity, and Sheriff Dolph Bryan individually, asserting causes of action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 1981, and 42 U.S.C. 1985.¹

Oden presented evidence at trial showing his seniority, superior law enforcement training, and background in business management. According to Oden, these assets should have ensured his promotion to chief deputy. The defendants argued that the chief deputy position was not a promotion in favor of Deputy Carrithers; rather, the assignment of the chief deputy rank was merely a change in job title. The defendants also claimed that Deputy Oden was unqualified. At the close of the plaintiff's case, the district judge entered a directed verdict for the defendants dismissing Oden's age discrimination claim. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Deputy Oden for race discrimination and assessed compensatory and punitive damages against all three defendants.

I. Proper Defendants Under Title VII and 42 U.S.C. 1981

Oktibbeha County and Sheriff Bryan ("Appellants") argue that the district court erred by denying their motion to dismiss the County and the Sheriff in his individual capacity. This Court recognizes that Title VII does not provide the exclusive remedy for discrimination by employers. See Hernandez v. Hill Country Tel. Coop., Inc., 849 F.2d 139, 142-43 (5th Cir. 1988). Courts may not, however, indiscriminately assess damage awards against persons and entities that are not responsible for an employer's unlawful discriminatory conduct. See Huckabay v. Moore, 142 F.3d 233, 241 (5th Cir. 1998) (holding that only employers are liable for unlawful conduct under Title VII). Because the remedies against the defendants under Title VII and 1981 were not separated, we must determine whether the district court erred by assessing compensatory and punitive damages against Oktibbeha County and the Sheriff in his official and individual capacities.

A. Defendants and Remedies under 1981

Plaintiffs may plead causes of action under both Title VII and 1981 against private employers to remedy discrimination in private employment contracts. See Runyon v. McCrary, 427 U.S. 160, 174 (1976); Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc., 412 U.S. 454, 459 (1975). Plaintiffs may also pursue a 1983 cause of action against persons acting under color of state law in order to assert their substantive rights under 1981. We must determine whether Oden can assert an independent cause of action under 1981 against Oktibbeha County and the Sheriff in his official and individual capacities.

1. The County and the Sheriff in His Official Capacity

In 1989, the Supreme Court held in Jett v. Dallas Independent School District, 491 U.S. 701, 731 (1989), that 1981 did not provide a separate cause of action against local government entities. The Court concluded that plaintiffs must assert a cause of action against state actors under 1983 to remedy violations of civil rights under 1981. See id. Several courts have addressed the continuing significance of the Court's plurality decision after Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1991. The Act amended 1981 by adding subsection (c), which states that the rights protected by 1981 "are protected against impairment by nongovernmental discrimination and impairment under color of state law." 42 U.S.C. 1981(c).² In order to determine whether Oden could pursue a separate cause of action under 1981 against Oktibbeha County and the Sheriff in his official capacity, we must address whether the 1991 amendment abrogated the Court's holding in Jett and created a separate cause of action against local government entities.

Subsection (c) does not expressly create a remedial cause of action against local government entities, and we are not persuaded that such a remedy should be implied. In Jett, the Court held that Congress intended 1983 to be the sole remedy for discrimination by persons acting under color of state law. See Jett, 491 U.S. at 731. The Court reasoned that 1981 implicitly created an independent cause of action against private actors because no other statute created such a remedy. See id. at 732. Because 1983 provided a remedy against persons acting under color of state law, the Court declined to imply a cause of action under 1981 independent of 1983. We are persuaded that the conclusion in Jett remains the same after Congress enacted the 1991 amendments. Subsection (c) addresses only substantive rights. Section 1983 remains the only provision to expressly create a remedy against persons acting under color of state law. The addition of subsection (c) creates no more of a need for the judiciary to imply a cause of action under 1981 against state actors than existed when the Supreme Court decided Jett.

The legislative history of the 1991 amendment is supportive of our conclusion. By enacting subsection (c), Congress stated that it intended to codify the Supreme Court's decision in Runyon v. McCrary. See Butts, 222 F.3d at 894 (citing H.R. Rep. No. 102-40(I), at 92 (1991), reprinted in 1991 U.S.C.C.A.N. 549, 630; H.R. Rep. No. 102-40(II), at 37 (1991), reprinted in 1991 U.S.C.C.A.N. 694, 731). See also Anderson v. Conboy, 156 F.3d 167, 179 (2d Cir. 1998). In Runyon, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that 1981 implies a right of action based on racial discrimination against private actors. See Runyon, 427 U.S. at 174-75. There is no congressional statement of intent to overrule Jett. By codifying Runyon, Congress confirmed that 1981 implies a cause of action against private actors.

The question follows then why, if Congress only intended to codify Runyon, does subsection (c) include language referring to persons acting under color of state law? The Ninth Circuit reasoned that this allusion to persons acting under color of state law implies Congressional intent to create a remedy in addition to 1983. See Oakland, 96 F.3d at 1213. We disagree. "[T]he judicial power to imply or create remedies . . . should not be exercised in the face of an express decision by Congress concerning the scope of remedies available under a particular statute." Jett, 491 U.S. at 732 (citing National R.R. Passenger Corp. v. National Assn. of R.R. Passengers, 414 U.S. 453, 458 (1974). Because Congress neither expressed its intent to overrule Jett, nor explicitly created a remedy against state actors in addition to 1983, we are not willing to deviate from the Supreme Court's analysis of 1981 in Jett. Accordingly, Deputy Oden could not maintain an independent cause of action under 1981 against Oktibbeha County and Sheriff Dolph Bryan in his official capacity.³

2. The Sheriff in His Individual Capacity

Sheriff Dolph Bryan claims that the district court erred by failing to dismiss Oden's claims against him in his individual capacity. The Sheriff does not dispute that 1981 provides an implicit cause of action against private actors in private employment discrimination cases. See Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc., 412 U.S. 454, 459 (1975); Adams v. McDougal, 695 F.2d 104, 108 (5th Cir. 1983). Rather, he argues that he is not a proper party in this suit because he was acting in his official capacity.⁴

While the Supreme Court has extended 1981 liability to cases involving private employment contracts, it has not imposed personal liability on elected officials for discrimination in the terms and conditions of local government employment contracts. Cf. Brown v. General Servs. Admin., 425 U.S. 820, 835 (1976) (holding that Title VII is the exclusive remedy for seeking money damages against the federal government). In Huckabay v. Moore, this Court concluded that an individual was not an employer for purposes of Title VII when acting in his official capacity. See 142 F.3d at 241. Only officials should be responsible for discriminatory decisions concerning government employment contracts. See id. See also Grant v. Lone Star Co., 21 F.3d 649, 652 (5th Cir. 1994) ("Only 'employers,' not individuals acting in their individual capacity who do not otherwise meet the definition of 'employers,' can be liable under ...