EEOC v. LOCAL 40, INTERN. ASS'N IRON WORKERS, 71 Civ. 2877 (RLC).

• Decision Date: 14 December 1994
• Docket Number: No. 71 Civ. 2877 (RLC).,71 Civ. 2877 (RLC).
• Citation: 885 F. Supp. 488
• Parties: EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff, v. LOCAL 40, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BRIDGE, STRUCTURAL AND ORNAMENTAL IRON WORKERS, ... The Joint Apprenticeship Committee, Iron Workers Locals 40 & 361 ... and Allied Building Metal Industries, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

885 F. Supp. 488

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff, v. LOCAL 40, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BRIDGE, STRUCTURAL AND ORNAMENTAL IRON WORKERS, ... The Joint Apprenticeship Committee, Iron Workers Locals 40 & 361 ... and Allied Building Metal Industries, Defendants.

No. 71 Civ. 2877 (RLC).

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

December 14, 1994.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

E.E.O.C. Washington, DC (Johnnie L. Johnson, of counsel), for plaintiff E.E.O.C.

C. Vernon Mason, New York City, for plaintiff-intervenors.

Colleran, O'Hara & Mills, Garden City, NY (Edward J. Groarke, of counsel), for defendants.

OPINION

ROBERT L. CARTER, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Roysworth D. Grant and Willie Ellis seek to have defendants Local 40, Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Ironworkers ("Local 40"); the Joint Apprenticeship Committee, Iron Workers Locals 40 & 361; and Allied Building Metal Industries found in contempt of court for their failure to comply with two orders — one issued by Judge Werker in EEOC v. Local 638 ... Local 40, No. 71 Civ. 2877 (S.D.N.Y. March 5, 1980) (Werker, J.) ("Werker Order"), and one issued by Judge Knapp in Grant v. Bethlehem Steel Corp. and Local 40, 76 Civ. 847 (S.D.N.Y. May 14, 1979) (Knapp, J.) ("Knapp Order"). Defendants contest the court's jurisdiction to issue contempt orders in both cases.

I.

In 1975, Grant and Ellis brought a complaint on behalf of themselves and a class of minority ironworkers before Judge Knapp of this court alleging that Local 40 and Bethlehem Steel Corporation had violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. They subsequently amended the complaint to allege that Local 40 had retaliated against them for bringing the original complaint. Judge Knapp found that retaliation had occurred, and he ordered the union to stop retaliating, to refer Grant and Ellis to employment on the same basis as other workers, and to pay their attorneys' fees and reimburse them for back pay. Grant v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., No. 76 Civ. 847 (S.D.N.Y. May 14, 1979) (Knapp, J.), aff'd, 622 F.2d 43 (2d Cir.1980).

The plaintiffs seek to enforce the Knapp order in this court, "presenting the anomalous proceeding of one judge taking cognizance of an alleged contempt committed before and against another judge, which possesses ample powers, itself to take care of its own dignity and punish the offender." Ex parte Bradley, 74 U.S. (7 Wall.) 364, 372, 19 L.Ed. 214 (1868). A motion for contempt of an order issued by Judge Knapp should be brought before Judge Knapp. Plaintiffs have proffered no reasons why Judge Knapp cannot hear the contempt motion, so I decline to exercise jurisdiction over the motion for contempt of the Knapp order.

II.

In 1971, the United States filed a complaint charging a number of unions and contractors' associations, including defendant Local 40, with violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. The Local 40 case was subsequently severed. After a three-day trial Judge Gurfein found that defendant Local 40 had violated Title VII, and he issued an order requiring it to remedy its discriminatory practices by instituting specific membership and referral policies and practices. United States v. Local 638, 347 F.Supp. 169 (S.D.N.Y.1972) (Gurfein, J.). In 1977, the EEOC (which had been substituted as a party for the United States) sought to hold Local 40 in contempt for violation of Judge Gurfein's order, and plaintiffs Grant and Ellis intervened, along with Louis Martinez, who is not a party to this contempt motion. The parties entered into a consent decree, signed by Judge Werker (who had inherited the case from Judge Gurfein), which permanently enjoined Local 40 from discriminating against minorities and ordered further changes in the union's referral practices, EEOC v. Local 628 ... Local 40, No. 71 Civ. 2877 (S.D.N.Y. March 5, 1980) (Werker, J.), and which the plaintiffs now seek to enforce. Upon Judge Werker's demise, I inherited the case.

Since 1980, Grant and Ellis have written numerous letters to the union and have filed several charges with the EEOC alleging that the union has violated the Werker order. In 1989, the EEOC commenced an investigation into Local 40's compliance with the order and subsequently received various records from Local 40, which it is still reviewing.

In their contempt motion and the accompanying affidavits, Grant and Ellis make numerous allegations, several of which pertain to the Knapp Order and are thus not under the purview of this proceeding. Other allegations, however, if proven, go to the very heart of the job referral system set up by the Werker Order and would constitute serious violations of it. These include (but are not limited to) failure to offer referrals to members of Local 40 present in the hiring hall, failure to issue consecutive referral preference numbers to all eligible applicants, failure to refer applicants according to the lowest referral preference number, failure to announce requests for referral in the order they are received, failure to allow eligible applicants the opportunity to bid on each referral request, and maneuvering special requests for the purpose of not referring Grant and Ellis to long-term positions as stewards or foremen.

This court has inherent and statutory power to enforce its decrees and to punish violators for contempt. Roadway Express, Inc. v. Piper, 447 U.S. 752, 764-765, 100 S.Ct. 2455, 2463-2464, 65 L.Ed.2d 488 (1980); 18 U.S.C.A. § 401 (1966). Local 40 claims, however, that the court currently lacks jurisdiction to enforce the Werker decree on the grounds that it expired in 1983. It claims further that the plaintiffs lack standing to bring a contempt motion and that any claims for relief are barred by the doctrine of laches.

A.

Local 40 asserts that the court no longer has jurisdiction to enforce Judge Werker's order because of a clause in the consent decree ("the termination clause") which reads:

This Order, as modified, shall expire three (3) years from the date of entry hereof; notwithstanding the foregoing, EEOC shall have the right, upon good cause shown, to make application to the Court at least thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of this Order to have the same extended beyond the expiration date on such terms and conditions as the Court may direct.

(Werker Order ¶ 13.) The EEOC has never moved for extension of the decree, and the union argues that the decree was dissolved in 1983.

The union's argument confuses the court's supervisory jurisdiction over the case with its continuing jurisdiction to enforce its permanent injunctions. See generally Lloyd C. Anderson, Release and Resumption of Jurisdiction Over Consent Decrees in Structural Reform Litigation, 42 U.Miami L.Rev. 401 (1987) (discussing the distinction between releasing jurisdiction over a case and dissolving a decree). Institutional reform litigation often requires judges to be closely involved in the detailed workings of an institution over what may be a fairly long period of time, and "a court that has entered such a decree may pass through levels of disengagement as the decree moves toward achievement." Consumer Advisory Bd. v. Glover, 989 F.2d 65, 67 (1st Cir.1993). The court will be most involved during the supervisory stage, when the judge is "concerned not with the enforcement of a remedy already given, but with the giving or shaping of the remedy itself." Battle v. Anderson, 708 F.2d 1523, 1538 (10th Cir.1983) (quoting Owen Fiss, Forward: The Forms of Justice, 93 Harv.L.Rev. 1, 27-28 (1979)). During this period, the judge may appoint special masters, pay attention to details of the remedy, and adjust time tables. Consumer Advisory Bd., 989 F.2d at 67.

The court and the parties will eventually develop a remedy that no longer requires fine-tuning by the court and which can function without close court supervision. Although the court will reduce its involvement in the case, it retains the power to ensure that the parties comply with the remedy and that the goals of the decree are attained. There are two sources of this power. First, courts must protect the interests of parties to the decree. "`A court has an affirmative duty to protect the integrity of its decree....' A defendant who has obtained the benefits of a consent decree — not the least of which is the termination of the litigation — cannot then be permitted to ignore such affirmative obligations as were imposed by the decree." Berger v. Heckler, 771 F.2d 1556, 1568 (2d Cir.1985) (cite omitted). In order to protect this interest, the court must allow parties to enforce its injunctions through contempt proceedings. As the Seventh Circuit has observed, "No one wants an injunction that cannot be enforced, or that can be enforced only by bringing a fresh suit.... An injunction is supposed to be a swift and effective remedy, summarily enforceable through contempt or other supplementary proceedings in the court that issued the injunction." McCall-Bey v. Franzen, 777 F.2d 1178, 1183 (7th Cir.1985). Second, "a district court has a significant administrative interest in securing compliance with its orders." EEOC v. Local 580, Int'l Ass'n of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Ironworkers, 925 F.2d 588, 592 (2d Cir.1991). "Where `a right and a violation have been shown, the scope of a district court's equitable powers to remedy past wrongs is broad, for breadth and flexibility are inherent in equitable remedies.'" Berger, 771 F.2d at 1568 (quoting Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Bd. of Educ., 402 U.S. 1, 15, 91 S.Ct. 1267, 1276, 28 L.Ed.2d 554 (1971)).

A court's power to enforce its permanent injunctions does not end until the injunction itself has ended, even if the court has not explicitly reserved jurisdiction. McCall-Bey, 777 F.2d at 1183. The parties remain obligated by the court's orders, and the court retains the power to enforce its orders, until the court...