Griggs v. Hinds Junior College, 76-1477
| Decision Date | 17 November 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 76-1477,76-1477 |
| Citation | 563 F.2d 179 |
| Parties | 15 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 7936 John W. GRIGGS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. HINDS JUNIOR COLLEGE et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
John L. Walker, Jackson, Miss., for plaintiff-appellant.
L. A. Smith, III, Asst. U. S. Atty., Robert E. Hauberg, U. S. Atty., Jackson, Miss., W. Scott Welch, III, James L. Martin, Jackson, Miss., for Hinds Junior College, et al.
Giles W. Bryant, Spec. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, Miss., for Garvin H. Johnston.
A. F. Summer, Atty. Gen., Jackson, Miss., for defendants-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.
Before COLEMAN, SIMPSON, and TJOFLAT, Circuit Judges.
This is an appeal from the district court's dismissal of a civil rights action claiming employment discrimination on the basis of race. The appellant, plaintiff below, contends that the district court erred in dismissing his complaint under Rule 12(b)(6), Fed.R.Civ.P., for failure to state a claim for relief, without granting him leave to amend. We find that the district court abused its discretion in failing to grant the amendment and we reverse.
After commencing suit against Hinds Junior College and Manpower Development and Training Program of Hinds Junior College, the appellant amended his complaint to add as parties defendant the Superintendent of the Department of Education of the State of Mississippi and the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. Several of the defendants moved to dismiss the amended complaint for failure to state a claim, and their motion was granted. Appellant subsequently moved for a reconsideration of the order of dismissal and for leave to amend and supplement the complaint pursuant to Rule 15(a), Fed.R.Civ.P. No contention was made in the district court, or before us, that the motion for leave to amend was untimely. Nonetheless, the district court denied appellant's application for leave to amend, refused to reconsider the previous order of dismissal, and dismissed the amended complaint as to the remaining defendants.
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provide that "leave (to amend the complaint) shall be freely given when justice so requires." Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a), Lone Star Motor Import, Inc. v. Citroen Cars Corp., 288 F.2d 69, 75 (5th Cir. 1961). Granting leave to amend is especially appropriate, in cases such as this, when the trial court has dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim. Willingham v. Kneeland Industries, Inc., 415 F.2d 755 (6th Cir. 1969). As...
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...Act, an amendment to the complaint, if needed, would be warranted since no responsive pleading has been filed. Griggs v. Hinds Junior College, 563 F.2d 179, 180 (5th Cir. 1977); Kelly v. Delaware River Joint Commission, 187 F.2d 93, 94 (3d Cir. 1951). Because the liability of Chase Overseas......
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...in cases, such as this, in which the trial court has dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim. See Griggs v. Hinds Junior College, 563 F.2d 179 (5th Cir. 1977). Since appellant certainly had no reason to anticipate the holding of Monell and the appellees would not be unduly prej......
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