Craig v. Alabama State University

• Citation: 451 F. Supp. 1207
• Decision Date: 01 May 1978
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 76-21-N.
• Parties: Charles R. CRAIG, for himself and for all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY, Levi Watkins, Individually and in his official capacity as President of Alabama State University, the Board of Trustees of Alabama State University, Mrs. L. W. Noonan, Dr. R. J. McLaughlin, Mayor Andrew M. Hayden, Ross Dunn, Robert L. Potts, Lewis J. Willie, Mayor A. A. Chandler, and Robert L. Glynn, Individually and in their official capacities as Members of the Board of Trustees of Alabama State University, Tom Radney, Individually and Ed Moss, in his official capacity as a Member of the Alabama State University Board of Trustees, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Alabama

451 F. Supp. 1207

Charles R. CRAIG, for himself and for all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY, Levi Watkins, Individually and in his official capacity as President of Alabama State University, the Board of Trustees of Alabama State University, Mrs. L. W. Noonan, Dr. R. J. McLaughlin, Mayor Andrew M. Hayden, Ross Dunn, Robert L. Potts, Lewis J. Willie, Mayor A. A. Chandler, and Robert L. Glynn, Individually and in their official capacities as Members of the Board of Trustees of Alabama State University, Tom Radney, Individually and Ed Moss, in his official capacity as a Member of the Alabama State University Board of Trustees, Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 76-21-N.

United States District Court, M. D. Alabama, N. D.

May 1, 1978.

Howard A. Mandell and Delores R. Boyd, Mandell & Boyd, Montgomery, Ala., and Susan Williams Reeves, Birmingham, Ala., for plaintiffs.

Solomon S. Seay, Jr., Gray, Seay & Langford, Montgomery, Ala., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JOHNSON, Chief Judge.

In this class action, plaintiffs contend that, in its employment practices, Alabama State University ("A.S.U.") has engaged in a pattern and practice of discrimination against whites. Specifically, plaintiffs contend, A.S.U. has discriminated against whites in the hiring of its administrative, teaching, and clerical and support staff and in the promotion and tenure of its faculty.

This action is brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983, 1985(3), and 2000e. Jurisdiction is founded on 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343. The named plaintiff to this action is Charles R. Craig, formerly an associate professor of English at A.S.U. Defendants include Dr. Levi Watkins, President of A.S.U., the Board of Trustees of A.S.U. and its individual members, and the university itself.

The case was tried to the Court and is now submitted for decision on the issue of defendants' liability. As authorized by Rule 52(a), the Court, in this memorandum opinion, incorporates its findings of fact and its conclusions of law. Rule 52(a), Fed. R.Civ.P.¹

The controlling law in this case is not in dispute. As both plaintiffs and defendants recognize, both the Constitution and the civil rights statutes pursuant to which this suit is brought outlaw affirmative discrimination against whites as well as against members of racial minorities. E. g., McDonald v. Santa Fe Trail Transportation Co., 427 U.S. 273, 96 S.Ct. 2574, 49 L.Ed.2d 493 (1976); Detroit Police Officers Ass'n v. Young, 446 F.Supp. 979, 1015 (E.D.Mich. 1978); WRMA Broadcasting Co., Inc. v. Hawthorne, 365 F.Supp. 577 (M.D.Ala.1973). The only issue presented in this case, therefore, is a factual one: whether, as alleged by plaintiffs, A.S.U. has been guilty, in its employment practices, of racial discrimination against whites.

Upon the evidence presented at trial, the Court concludes that, in the hiring of its administrative, teaching, and clerical and support staff and the promotion and tenure of its faculty, A.S.U. has, as alleged by plaintiffs, engaged in a pattern and practice of discrimination against whites.

Administrative Staff

The dispute between the parties with respect to A.S.U.'s employment of white administrators is focused on the university's post-1967 behavior. Up until 1967, A.S.U. was operated as an officially segregated state institution. Lee v. Macon County Board of Education, 267 F.Supp. 458 (M.D. Ala.), aff'd mem. sub nom. Wallace v. U. S., 389 U.S. 215, 88 S.Ct. 415, 19 L.Ed.2d 422 (1967). As such, it employed no white professional staff. Plaintiffs contend that after A.S.U. was ordered to desegregate in 1967, id., it continued to practice racial discrimination against whites in the hiring of its administrative staff. Defendants deny these charges.

The statistical evidence in this case strongly supports plaintiffs' position. In 1967, the year of the decision in Lee, A.S.U. employed approximately 30 administrative staff, none of whom were white. Since that time, there has been considerable turnover in A.S.U.'s staff. Also, since 1967, the ranks of A.S.U.'s administrative staff have swelled from approximately 30 to well over 50 in number. Thus, since Lee, there has been ample opportunity for the university to hire white administrators. Yet, in 1976, some nine years after Lee, of the 56 administrative staff employed by A.S.U., only four were white.

"Absent explanation, it is ordinarily to be expected that nondiscriminatory hiring practices will in time result in a work force more or less representative of the racial . . . composition of the population . . . from which employees are hired." Teamsters v. U. S., 431 U.S. 324, 349 n. 20, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 1856, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1976). In the instant case, the relevant population from which A.S.U. draws its university administrators is overwhelmingly white.² At trial, defendants offered no convincing proof indicating that they were unable to attract or recruit qualified white administrators to the A.S.U. campus. Thus, based on the figures cited above, the Court concludes that, since 1967, A.S.U. has engaged and continues to engage in a pattern and practice of discrimination against whites in the hiring of its administrative staff.

That A.S.U. has discriminated against whites in the hiring of its administrative staff is also reflected by the credible testimonial evidence presented at trial concerning the attempts of Dr. Paul Shafer, a white, to obtain an administrative position at A.S.U. Dr. Shafer was hired by A.S.U. as an associate professor of education in the fall of 1971. After rendering outstanding service to the university as a faculty member, he attempted to secure an administrative post at A.S.U. First, he sought to be appointed to the chairmanship of the Education Department at A.S.U. Next, he sought appointment as dean of the School of Graduate Studies. For each of these positions, he made informal applications to Dr. Levi Watkins, president of A.S.U. For each, he was recommended for appointment by his academic dean, Dr. Gordon Bliss, dean of the College of Education. Yet, despite his impressive record at the university and the recommendations of his dean, he was turned down for each position, and a black was hired in his stead.

The evidence in this case clearly demonstrates that the university's refusal to hire Dr. Shafer for an administrative post was racially motivated. When Dr. Shafer was turned down for the chairmanship of the Education Department, the evidence reflects, Dean Bliss sought out Dr. Watkins for an explanation of this action. He was told by Dr. Watkins that, though Watkins thought Shafer well-qualified for the post, there was substantial alumni and "community" opposition to hiring more whites in administrative positions within the university. In light of this, Dr. Watkins said, he did not feel that he could appoint Dr. Shafer to chair the Education Department. Likewise, when Dr. Shafer was turned down for the deanship of the Graduate School, he, too, was told by Dr. Watkins that the university's failure to hire him in this position was due to alumni and community resistance to hiring more white administrators at A.S.U. Though Dr. Watkins denies having made such statements to either Dr. Bliss or Dr. Shafer, the Court finds his testimony on this point not to be credible.

Faculty

The dispute between the parties with respect to A.S.U.'s employment of white faculty is, like their dispute concerning the employment of white administrators, focused on the university's post-Lee behavior. It is undisputed that, prior to Lee, the university had never employed a white faculty member. Plaintiffs contend that, since Lee, the university has continued to discriminate against whites in the hiring of its faculty. Further, plaintiffs contend that, since 1967, A.S.U. has been guilty of racial discrimination in the promotion and tenure of its faculty. Again, defendants deny these charges.

The statistical evidence in this case presents strong proof that, in its hiring, promotion, and tenure of faculty, A.S.U. has, since 1967, engaged in a pattern and practice of discrimination against whites. With respect to hiring, the evidence reflects that, at the time of the decision in Lee, A.S.U. employed approximately 95 full-time faculty members. As with its administrative staff, there has been considerable turnover among A.S.U.'s faculty since 1967. Moreover, since 1967 the size of the faculty has grown from approximately 95 to nearly 200. Yet, in 1976, of the 196 full-time faculty at A.S.U., only 36 were white. Defendants have not shown that A.S.U. has been unable to recruit or attract to its campus qualified whites. Nor have they denied that the relevant "labor pool" from which the university draws its faculty is overwhelmingly white. Based on the figures noted above, the conclusion is inescapable that, since 1967, A.S.U. has discriminated against whites in its hiring of faculty. See Teamsters v. U. S., supra, at 340 n. 20, 97 S.Ct. 1843.

With respect to the promotion of faculty, the evidence reflects that white faculty find it much more difficult to make their way up the academic ladder at A.S.U. than do their black colleagues. Black faculty members, the evidence reflects, are able to obtain promotions in rank at the university almost as soon as they become qualified for them. White faculty members, however, once they have obtained the qualifications necessary for advancement in rank, must often wait long periods of time before being promoted. This pattern of unequal treatment, the Court concludes, clearly demonstrates that A.S.U. has, since 1967, discriminated against whites in the promotion process.

With respect to the tenure of faculty, the evidence reflects that, up until the filing of this lawsuit in 1976, white faculty have not been represented among the tenured faculty at A.S.U. in proportion to their representation among the university's faculty as a whole. In 1969, for example, while whites made...