Myers v. Gilman Paper Corp.
| Decision Date | 29 July 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 75-2201,AFL-CIO,75-2201 |
| Citation | 556 F.2d 758 |
| Parties | 15 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 680, 14 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 7750 Elmo V. MYERS et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. GILMAN PAPER CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellee, v. INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS AND AEROSPACE WORKERS (), et al., Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.
ON PETITIONS FOR REHEARING
Before RIVES *, GEWIN and MORGAN, Circuit Judges.
This matter is before us upon the joint petitions of appellant Unions for rehearing and the separate IBEW petition for rehearing, and the responses of the Company 1 and the appellees. Subsequent to the decision and judgment of the district court 2 and our opinion and judgment on appeal, 3 the Supreme Court rendered three pertinent decisions: International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977); United Air Lines, Inc. v. Evans, --- U.S. ----, 97 S.Ct. 1885, 52 L.Ed.2d 571 (1977), and Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison, --- U.S. ----, 97 S.Ct. 2264, 53 L.Ed. 113 (1977). The principal import of those decisions for this case is the holding that "bona fide" seniority systems, that is, systems which are facially neutral, which did not have their genesis in racial discrimination, and which were negotiated and have been maintained free from any illegal purpose, do not violate Title VII even though they perpetuate the effects of an employer's discrimination. Teamsters, supra, --- U.S., at ---- - ----, 97 S.Ct. 1843.
The theory on which this case proceeded in the district court and in this court was succinctly stated by the district court:
All that need be shown (to establish a prima facie Title VII case) is that, prior to the effective date of the Act, the Company engaged in racial discrimination and that, after the effective date of the Act, the previous discriminatory policies were carried forward by the racially neutral practices of the Unions. 392 F.Supp. at 423 (emphasis added).
See also 544 F.2d at 848. This theory was based on well-established Fifth Circuit precedents. Justice Marshall observed in his dissent in Teamsters:
As the Court also concedes, with a touch of understatement, "the view that § 703(h) does not immunize seniority systems that perpetuate the effects of prior discrimination has much support." Ante, at ---, n. 28 (97 S.Ct., at 1860, n. 28). Without a single dissent, six courts of appeals have so held in over 30 cases, and two other courts of appeals have indicated their agreement, also without dissent. --- U.S. at ----, 97 S.Ct. at 1876 (footnotes omitted).
Many of the decisions cited by Justice Marshall in his supporting footnote 2 were rendered by this court, and the recent Supreme Court cases have severely called into question their rationale and holdings.
It is clear at least that the judgments of the district court and this court cannot stand on the theory this case has proceeded on to date. Accordingly, we amend and modify our opinion to vacate and reverse the district court order finding the Unions liable and approving the consent decree except for the district court's approval of the monetary settlement between appellees and the Company, which is...
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