Groton v. Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities

• Decision Date: 08 July 1975
• Citation: 169 Conn. 89,362 A.2d 1359
• Parties: , 13 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 11,482 City of GROTON v. COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES. PIONEER HOSE COMPANY NO. 1, INC. v. COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES.
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court

Page 1359

362 A.2d 1359

169 Conn. 89, 13 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 11,482

City of GROTON v. COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES.

PIONEER HOSE COMPANY NO. 1, INC. v. COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

July 8, 1975.

Bernard F. McGovern, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., with whom, on the brief, were Carl R. Ajello, Atty. Gen., and F. Michael Ahern, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellant (defendant in both cases).

Thomas B. Wilson, Groton, with whom, on the brief, was James F. Brennan, Jr., Groton, for appellee (plaintiff in the first case).

Joseph E. Moukawsher, New London, for appellee (plaintiff in the second case).

Before HOUSE, C.J., and COTTER, LOISELLE, MacDONALD and BOGDANSKI, JJ.

MacDONALD, Associate Justice.

These two appeals from a judgment rendered by the Superior Court sustaining appeals by Pioneer Hose Company No. 1, hereinafter Pioneer, and the city of Groton, hereinafter Groton, from an order of the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, hereinafter commission, have been ordered consolidated upon motion of the parties. The basic facts are not in dispute and together with the relevant procedural background, have been fully set forth in the memorandum of decision filed by the trial court and in the statement of facts and finding filed by the commission.

The appeals arise from a complaint dated January 9, 1968, filed by Charles M. Richardson, hereinafter Richardson, with the commission against Pioneer alleging an act of discrimination in that Pioneer denied Richardson membership in the volunteer fire company because of his race in violation of General Statutes § 31-126. A hearing tribunal appointed by the commission held a hearing commencing on September 18, 1968, and continuing on various days thereafter until terminated on December 10, 1968. The commission rendered its finding on May 13, 1969, and included in the facts which it found were the following: Pioneer is one of two organized volunteer fire companies in Groton. On October 11, 1967, Richardson, a resident of Groton, personally appeared at Pioneer's meeting room where he applied for and submitted an application for membership. The application form provided a space for the signature of the applicant's sponsor and when Richardson was advised by Donald S. Rollins, the foreman of Pioneer, that he needed a sponsor, Richardson asked if he might have a relative who was a fireman or member of the Mystic Fire Department sign as his sponsor. Richardson was advised that he could not since only a member of Pioneer could act as a sponsor. Nevertheless, Richardson submitted his application without a sponsor's signature and the application was accepted by Rollins. During that portion of the regular meeting of Pioneer when applications for new members were submitted, Richardson's application for membership was not read, as was customary. Instead, the membership was asked if anyone would sign his application, and upon receiving no response, the secretary was directed to return the application to Richardson, who was notified by certified letter, dated October 17, 1967, that his application was not valid in that it lacked a sponsor's signature as required by the bylaws of the organization. In fact, the official bylaws contained no provision pertaining to any requirement for a sponsor's signature on an application for membership; however, for a long time prior to Richardson's application, the organization had customarily required a sponsor's signature as a prerequisite for membership. The application contained no inquiry concerning the applicant's competency or experience as a firefighter. Richardson was black, and there were no black members of Pioneer at the time Richardson made application, nor did it appear that there ever had been any black members of Pioneer.

On January 9, 1968, Richardson executed a complaint under oath and personally delivered it to a representative and investigator of the commission. The commission's representative did not actually bring the complaint to the commission's office until the next morning, January 10, 1968, ninety-one days after the meeting of October 11, 1967. That complaint was amended on April 24, 1968, joining Groton as a party, in addition to adding to the complaint a specific claim of a violation of § 53-34 as to both plaintiffs. On September 18, 1968, and September 24, 1968, the complaint to the commission was again amended, the net effect of the amendments being to allege that Pioneer was an official or quasi-official agency of Groton, and to specify that Richardson was alleging discrimination under subsection (a) of § 31-126.

The hearing tribunal was of the opinion that the original complaint dated January 9, 1968, and as amended on April 24, 1968, adding Groton as a party, was duly filed within the ninety-day filing limitation as then provided by § 31-127; ¹ and further, that Pioneer, while assisting Groton's regularly constituted fire department in its fire fighting functions, was performing an essential governmental function, and, therefore, was an agent of Groton assisting it in carrying out its statutory duty of providing fire protection to its citizens. The tribunal finally concluded that the procedure of requiring an applicant to obtain a sponsor exclusively from among its own membership discriminated against blacks and other members of minority groups. On these bases the commission found that Pioneer and Groton violated General Statutes §§ 31-126(a) and 53-34, as amended, and issued a cease and desist order as set forth in the footnote. ² The hearing tribunal did not conclude that Richardson was, in fact, excluded from membership because of his race; nor was there presented to the tribunal any direct evidence of discrimination because of race. Richardson stated in his complaint dated January 9, 1968, that he believed his application for membership was not considered and accepted because of his race. However, he had earlier stated on October 19, 1967, that 'it appears that I was turned down as a result of a lack of knowledge of the company's membership.' In view of the finding and orders issued, it appears evident that the tribunal had abandoned its original claim that Richardson himself was denied membership because of his race and had substituted the broader claim of discrimination based on the procedures used by Pioneer in admitting new members, although proceeding in the context of the original Richardson complaint.

The plaintiffs appealed the tribunal's ruling to the Superior Court which concluded that the commission was without jurisdiction to issue the cease and desist order against either plaintiff. The principal bases for this conclusion were the court's findings that the complaint to the commission, originally and as amended prior to the hearing, was defective in failing to refer to the specific subsection of General Statutes § 31-126 claimed to have been violated, and further that the complaint had not been filed within ninety days of the alleged act of discrimination, as required by then § 31-127. The court found the act of discrimination to be Pioneer's refusal to accept Richardson's application on October 11, 1967, and the filing date to be ninety-one days later, January 10, 1968, the date the complaint entered the offices of the commission. The court never discussed the substative issues involved beyond the observation that no direct evidence of racial discrimination was presented to the hearing tribunal. The parties have assigned error in the conclusions of the court, but we are constrained to deal with those issues which we find to have been raised within the context of this appeal.

Before the trial court and in this appeal the plaintiffs raised the issue, rejected by the tribunal, that the hearing should have terminated upon the death of Richardson. The appendices to Pioneer's brief and the commission's brief present an additional factual background which requires discussion. During the pendency of the hearing before the tribunal. On October 1, 1968, Richardson died, and the attorney general requested an appropriate postponement of the proceedings in a letter to Arthur L. Green, then director of the commission. In a further correspondence, dated October 15, 1968, assistant attorney general Robert L. Hirtle, Jr., who was then serving as attorney for the commission prosecuting the Richardson complaint, recommended the following to director Green: 'Because of the unfortunate circumstances which have occurred, I am requesting that the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities terminate the hearing now pending on the Richardson complaint as an unfair employment practice. However, I am also recommending that the hearing continue before the same tribunal as an investigation under Section 31-125 of the General Statutes, into the broader public issues raised in this matter. These issues are first; whether the Pioneer Hose Co. No. 1, Inc., of Groton is a public or quasi-public agency of the City of Groton and second; whether the by-laws of this volunteer fire company provide a procedure for discrimination against a Negro applicant for membership in violation of basic constitutional guarantees.' Director Green rejected Attorney Hirtle's recommendation on October 17, 1968, in a letter addressed to the attorney general, the relevant portions of which are printed in the footnote. ³

The plaintiffs moved to dismiss the proceedings on November 25, 1968, when the hearing was resumed, because of Richardson's death. The tribunal denied the motions and the hearing proceeded to a final disposition. The plaintiffs included this as a ground for their appeal to the Superior Court and Pioneer has discussed the issue in its brief. The court concluded that '(a)lthough the complainant's right to personal relief did not survive, the public's interest and right to relief would not be extinguished by the death of a complainant under a valid proceeding.' We...