EQUAL EMP. OP. COM'N v. UNITED ASS'N OF J. & A. OF PLUMB., ETC.

• Citation: 427 F.2d 1091
• Decision Date: 27 May 1970
• Docket Number: No. 20514.,20514.
• Parties: EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Petitioner-Appellee, v. UNITED ASSOCIATION OF JOURNEYMEN AND APPRENTICES OF the PLUMBING AND PIPEFITTING INDUSTRY OF the UNITED STATES AND CANADA, LOCAL UNION NO. 189, and Mechanical Contractors Association of Central Ohio, Inc., Respondents-Appellants.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit)

427 F.2d 1091 (1970)

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Petitioner-Appellee, v. UNITED ASSOCIATION OF JOURNEYMEN AND APPRENTICES OF the PLUMBING AND PIPEFITTING INDUSTRY OF the UNITED STATES AND CANADA, LOCAL UNION NO. 189, and Mechanical Contractors Association of Central Ohio, Inc., Respondents-Appellants.

No. 20514.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

May 27, 1970.

Topper & Alloway, R. Brooke Alloway, N. Victor Goodman, John J. Duffey, Columbus, Ohio, for respondents-appellants on Motion for Stay.

Stanley P. Hebert, Gen. Counsel, Russell Specter, Deputy Gen. Counsel, Marian Halley, Charles L. Reischel, Attys., Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Washington, D. C., on brief for petitioner-appellee in Opposition to Motion to Stay.

ORDER ON MOTION FOR A STAY

WEICK, Circuit Judge.

United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, Local Union No. 189, a labor union, has filed a motion to stay an order of the District Court. The motion was heard in chambers and was submitted to the Court on oral arguments and briefs.

The controversy initially arose in a private action filed in the District Court by Gwylard Locke against respondents under Section 706(e) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5. In that action Locke, a Negro, alleged that the union's job referral system was discriminatory. The action was docketed as Civil Action No. 68-148.

A settlement agreement was entered into by the parties on May 29, 1968, pursuant to which the Court granted an injunction against the union, rendered a judgment in favor of Locke against the union in the amount of $10,000 — damages, and ordered the parties to renegotiate and submit to the Court Articles XV and XVI of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the union and Mechanical Contractors Association of Central Ohio, Inc., which articles related to Hiring Hall, Referral Procedures, and Seniority and Lay-Offs. The union paid the money judgment.

The union and the Contractors Association did renegotiate said Articles XV and XVI, as ordered by the Court, and agreed upon a revision which was submitted to and approved by the Court on September 30, 1968. In the revision, seniority rights with respect to hiring and layoffs were preserved. Group I consisted of about 800 journeymen with five or more years' experience in plumbing work. Groups II and III contained over 300 additional men, about 30 of whom were Negroes in Group III. Members in Group I receive preference in hiring and layoff, over the men in Groups II and III.

In its Memorandum of Approval, entered on September 28, 1968, the District Court approved the renegotiated Articles XV and XVI of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (a copy of which was attached to the Memorandum), "as appearing to be in compliance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964."

In May, 1969, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed in the District Court a "Petition to Show Cause" against the respondents, which was docketed as Civil Action 69-160, 311 F.Supp. 468. The petition alleged that the Hiring Hall System, which had theretofore been approved by the District Court in the private action of Locke, perpetuated the alleged discrimination which existed prior to 1968, and hence was unlawful. EEOC claimed the right to file the petition under Section 706(i) of the Civil Rights Act.

EEOC filed a motion for summary judgment, which was granted by the Court. An order was entered which in effect abolished the seniority system and placed all Negroes in Class I.

The union appealed, and moved to stay the order of the District Court pending appeal. In support of its motion to stay, the union contends: (1) That EEOC was without authority to initiate the suit which it filed; and (2) That the Court erred in granting summary judgment.

In considering this motion, it is necessary only to determine whether the union is likely to prevail in its appeal, and whether it will sustain irreparable injury if stay is not granted.

Relative to the first ground, the Act specifically grants authority to the Attorney General to institute civil actions in the appropriate District Court "to insure the full enjoyment of the rights herein described." 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-6. The Attorney General has not taken any action under this statute.

The provision of the Act...