Ingram v. Madison Square Garden Ctr., Inc.

• Decision Date: 13 December 1979
• Docket Number: 78 CIV 1453 (LBS).,No. 76 CIV 5870 (LBS),76 CIV 5870 (LBS)
• Citation: 482 F. Supp. 918
• Parties: Henry INGRAM, James Britt, William Moody, and Roy T. Floyd, Individually and on behalf of all persons similarly situated, Plaintiffs, and Frances Williams, Edward Milon, Horace Mitchell, Herbert Bruton, Jovino Garcia, Intervenors, v. MADISON SQUARE GARDEN CENTER, INC., Madison Square Garden Corporation, Allied Maintenance Corporation, Allied Public Events Service Corporation, and Local # 3 I.B.E.W., Defendants. Shelly L. ANDERSON, James L. Perry, Individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. MADISON SQUARE GARDEN CENTER, INC., Madison Square Garden Corporation, Allied Maintenance Corporation, Allied Public Events Service Corporation, Local 3 I.B.E.W., Local 54, Service Employees International Union, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

482 F. Supp. 918

Henry INGRAM, James Britt, William Moody, and Roy T. Floyd, Individually and on behalf of all persons similarly situated, Plaintiffs, and Frances Williams, Edward Milon, Horace Mitchell, Herbert Bruton, Jovino Garcia, Intervenors, v. MADISON SQUARE GARDEN CENTER, INC., Madison Square Garden Corporation, Allied Maintenance Corporation, Allied Public Events Service Corporation, and Local # 3 I.B.E.W., Defendants.

Shelly L. ANDERSON, James L. Perry, Individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. MADISON SQUARE GARDEN CENTER, INC., Madison Square Garden Corporation, Allied Maintenance Corporation, Allied Public Events Service Corporation, Local 3 I.B.E.W., Local 54, Service Employees International Union, Defendants.

Nos. 76 CIV 5870 (LBS), 78 CIV 1453 (LBS).

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

December 13, 1979.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Lewis Tesser, New York City, for plaintiffs.

Menagh, Trainor & Rothfeld, Norman Rothfeld, New York City, for defendant Local Union No. 3, I.B.E.W.

OPINION

SAND, District Judge.

On October 3, 1979, this Court held that the manner in which Local # 3, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers ("Local 3") referred workers to Madison Square Garden ("the Garden") for employment as "laborers" violated both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (1970) and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (1970).¹ The Court found that the plaintiffs in the first of these two consolidated class actions,² the "Ingram" plaintiffs, were entitled to recover under § 1981 only, while plaintiffs in the second action, the "Anderson" plaintiffs, were entitled to recover under both Title VII and § 1981.³ Pursuant to the Court's initial decision to bifurcate the trial into a liability and a remedial stage, a hearing on all remedial issues was held on October 17, 1979, and both parties submitted briefs shortly thereafter.

Plaintiffs seek an injunction ordering Local 3 to regularize its referral practices⁴ and to refer to the Garden "in order of their current seniority" those class members who desire a laborer's position. Plaintiffs also seek full backpay for all class members who unsuccessfully applied for the job of laborer or who would have applied but for their belief that such application would be futile. Finally, plaintiffs seek an injunction ordering Local 3 to credit all class members who become laborers with full seniority for all purposes for the same number of years that they worked as cleaners at the Garden. Reasonable attorneys' fees and costs are also sought.

The Court finds that, as a general matter, an award of backpay, retroactive seniority and attorneys' fees is appropriate here. The case will now be referred to Magistrate Leonard A. Bernikow (or such other Magistrate as he shall designate) as Special Master under F.R.Civ.P. 53 who, in accordance with the general guidelines set forth below, will make recommendations to the Court as to both the entitlement of individual class members to such relief and the amount appropriately chargeable to defendant for attorneys' fees and costs.⁵ Plaintiffs' request for prospective injunctive relief is granted as modified herein.

I. Retroactive Seniority

When a court finds that an employer or union has engaged in a policy of unlawful employment discrimination, class action plaintiffs are not required to introduce specific evidence of individual acts of discrimination at the remedial stage of the proceeding. The proof supporting the finding of liability in such a case also "supports an inference that any particular employment decision, during the period in which the discriminatory policy was in force, was made in pursuit of that policy." International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 361-2, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 1868, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977). Where such a policy is found to exist, the Supreme Court has made clear that, as a general matter, the District Court must ordinarily grant seniority relief, absent reasons for denying such relief which, if applied generally, would not frustrate the central statutory purposes of eradicating discrimination and making persons whole for injuries suffered. Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. at 365, 97 S.Ct. 1843; Franks v. Bowman Transport Co., 424 U.S. 747, 771, 96 S.Ct. 1251, 47 L.Ed.2d 444 (1976). Since defendant Local 3 has made no argument that such reasons exist here and since this Court has already found that Local 3 engaged in a policy of unlawful employment discrimination, the Court now concludes that an award of retroactive seniority is appropriate. This, however, does not necessarily mean that each class member is entitled to such relief. Only actual victims of Local 3's discriminatory referral practices are entitled to retroactive seniority. Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. at 371-372, 97 S.Ct. 1843.

There are two means by which class members can demonstrate that they are actual victims. The first is for a class member to prove that he or she actually applied to Local 3 for referral to the Garden as a laborer. Once such an application is established, there is a presumption that the class member involved is entitled to retroactive seniority, and the burden is on the union to show that its failure to refer was for nondiscriminatory reasons. Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. at 362, 97 S.Ct. 1843. In this case, however, Local 3's referral practices made a formal application for reference to the Garden impossible: there was simply no established application procedure, and union officials deliberately frustrated informal attempts by class members to secure a laborer's position. See Op. at pp. 924-925; 925-926. A liberal construction of the term "application" is thus called for if class members are to be restored to their "rightful place" in the seniority scheme. See Acha v. Beame, 570 F.2d 57 (2d Cir. 1978); James v. Stockham Valves & Fittings Co., 559 F.2d 310 (5th Cir. 1977). Accordingly, any expression by a class member to a Local 3 official evidencing a desire either to become a laborer or to acquire information as to how to obtain a referral will be treated as an "application" for purposes of determining whether that class member was an "actual victim" of Local 3's discriminatory employment practices. To do less would penalize plaintiffs for union referral procedures and record-keeping practices which have already been condemned by this Court as violative of the employment discrimination laws. See E.E. O.C. v. Local 28 of the Sheet Metal Worker's International Assoc., 532 F.2d 821, 832 (2d Cir. 1976); Carter v. Shop Rite Foods, Inc., 470 F.Supp. 1150 (N.D.Tex.1979) (lack of formal application procedure was itself a tool of discrimination).

Absent an application as defined above, a second and more difficult way for class members to demonstrate that they were actual victims of Local 3's discriminatory referral practices is to prove that they were qualified for a laborer's position and that they would have applied for a referral had it not been for those practices. Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. at p. 368, 97 S.Ct. 1843 (referring to the nonapplicants' "not always easy burden".) In this case, the Court has already found that the atmosphere at the Garden was such that class members could reasonably have believed that seeking a referral from Local 3 would be futile. See Op. at pp. 925-926. Such a finding, while essential to the nonapplicants' case, does not mean that all nonapplicants who now seek laborers' positions are entitled to retroactive seniority. Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. at pp. 369-371, 97 S.Ct. 1843. Each such nonapplicant must come forward with evidence that he or she desired a laborer's job, possessed the requisite qualifications, and would have sought a referral but for the Union's discriminatory practices. Evidence of a class member's desire to become a laborer may consist of an informal inquiry or expression of interest to someone other than a Local 3 official,⁶ or even an "unexpressed desire credible and convincing." Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. at p. 371, n.58, 97 S.Ct. 1843. See, e. g., United States v. East Texas Motor Freight System, Inc., 20 EPD ¶ 30,103 (N.D. Tex.1979) (making individual retroactive seniority determinations for nonapplicants). The question is a factual one, but if a change from cleaner to laborer would have entailed a loss of seniority at the time the class member involved desired such a change,⁷ then whether that class member would have accepted a laborer's position at that time despite the loss of seniority is a relevant if not determinative consideration. See Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. at pp. 370-371, 97 S.Ct. 1843.

Although plaintiffs seek full seniority for the number of years that qualifying class members who become laborers worked at the Garden, no class member may be given retroactive seniority to a date earlier than the effective date of Title VII or the date of his application or proven "desire", whichever is later.⁸Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. at pp. 356-357, 97 S.Ct. 1843. Thus, an applicant or nonapplicant who qualifies for seniority relief under the standards set out above will be granted retroactive seniority as of the date of the next laborer hire resulting from a Local 3 referral which followed the class member's application or qualifying desire, subject to a maximum date of July 2, 1965. See, e. g., Harper v. General Grocers Co., 590 F.2d 713 (8th Cir. 1979); Sagers v. Yellow Freight System, Inc., 529 F.2d 721 (5th Cir. 1976); Linebaugh v. Auto Leasing Co., 18 EPD ¶ 8,904 (W.D.Ky.1978) (retroactive seniority awarded "as of date plaintiff should have been employed by defendant", i. e., as of date of next hire following her application). The source and date of laborer hires should be drawn from the books and records of the employer and the evidence...