McWilliams v. Escambia County School Bd.

Decision Date05 October 1981
Docket NumberNo. 80-5872,80-5872
Parties27 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 269, 27 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 32,175 Cleveland McWILLIAMS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. ESCAMBIA COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD, Defendant-Appellee. . Unit B *
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

William D. Wells, New York City, for plaintiff-appellant.

Robert W. Kievit, Pensacola, Fla., for defendant-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

Before TUTTLE, RONEY and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.

R. LANIER ANDERSON, III, Circuit Judge:

Appellant Cleveland McWilliams, a teacher in the public school system of Escambia County, Florida, filed this employment discrimination action against the Escambia County School Board ("Board") under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C.A. § 2000e et seq., and under 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 1981 and 1983 (West 1974). McWilliams contends that the Board unlawfully discriminated against him on the basis of his race (1) in transferring him out of his position as a visiting teacher, (2) in demoting him to the position of classroom teacher, and (3) in failing to promote him to certain administrative positions. As to the transfer and demotion, the district court ruled that McWilliams' complaint was time-barred. As to the promotions, the district court held that race played no part in the Board's rejection of McWilliams for each position. We affirm.

I. TRANSFER AND DEMOTION.

McWilliams contends that he was discriminatorily transferred out of his visiting teacher position in the summer of 1977 through the Board's improper application of an unwritten visiting teachers' seniority rule. He also contests his concurrent demotion to a classroom teaching position as violative of the Board's policy of placing a transferee into the best available position for which the transferee is qualified, including positions the transferee previously held. As to his demotion, McWilliams argues that instead of placing him either into his pre-visiting teacher position of administrative dean or into other positions available at the time of his transfer, the Board chose for racially discriminatory reasons to demote him to the position of classroom teacher. The district court ruled that McWilliams was time-barred under Title VII from challenging either his transfer or his demotion. We uphold this ruling.

Title VII requires persons claiming discrimination to file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") within 180 days after the allegedly discriminatory practice occurs. 42 U.S.C.A. § 2000e-5(e) (West 1974). This limitations period begins to run from the time that the complainant knows or reasonably should know that the challenged act has occurred. Hamilton v. General Motors Corp., 606 F.2d 576, 579 (5th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 447 U.S. 907, 100 S.Ct. 2990, 64 L.Ed.2d 856 (1980); Chappell v. Emco Machine Works Co., 601 F.2d 1295, 1303 (5th Cir. 1979); Reeb v. Economic Opportunity Atlanta, Inc., 516 F.2d 924, 931 (5th Cir. 1975); see Delaware State College v. Ricks, 449 U.S. 250, 101 S.Ct. 498, 66 L.Ed.2d 431 (1980). 1

Here, McWilliams filed his EEOC complaint on February 2, 1978. Thus, any act challenged under Title VII of which McWilliams had or reasonably should have had knowledge prior to August 6, 1977, is barred. The district court ruled that McWilliams reasonably knew before August 6, 1977, that he was to be transferred out of his visiting teacher position and to be placed into a classroom teaching position. Thus, the district court held that McWilliams' claims of discriminatory transfer and of discriminatory denial of certain positions open at the time of his transfer were barred under Title VII. The record contains ample evidence to support the district court's ruling. At some time prior to August 6, Charles Stokes, the Superintendent of Schools, told McWilliams that he would be treated in the same manner that Charles Williams, another visiting teacher, was treated. Williams had been transferred out of his visiting teacher position and demoted to classroom teacher. On August 1, 1977, Dennis Fillingim, Coordinator of the visiting teachers, told McWilliams that he was "no longer on the payroll" and that he should see Roger Mott, the Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Services, for reassignment. McWilliams saw Mott also on August 1, 1977. Although Mott's testimony is not completely clear, we cannot reverse as clearly erroneous the district court's finding that McWilliams' demotion to classroom teacher was "apparent" to him from the August 1 McWilliams-Mott conversation. Considering all of the evidence in the record, we must uphold the district court's ruling that McWilliams reasonably knew of his transfer and demotion before August 6, 1977.

Because McWilliams was aware of his transfer and demotion before August 6, 1977, he is time-barred from pursuing any Title VII claim stemming from those acts. This bar extends to all positions that McWilliams claims he was denied in violation of the Board's policy of giving transferees the best position available at the time of the transfer, including positions the transferee previously held. When the Board effectively informed him before August 6, 1977, that he was to be given a classroom teaching position, McWilliams reasonably and immediately should have known that he was not going to be transferred to his old position of administrative dean at A.V. Clubbs Middle School, in possible violation of the Board's transfer policy. At that point, McWilliams reasonably knew all of the facts necessary to file an EEOC complaint as to his demotion and transfer. Even if McWilliams did not discover the denial of other available positions until after August 6, 1977, such as the administrative deanship of Escambia High School, this fact is irrelevant. His claim of discriminatory demotion was complete and apparent to him before August 6, 1977. Information concerning other denials of available positions would merely reinforce his claim of discriminatory demotion.

McWilliams urges that regardless of the outcome of the Title VII limitations question, his claims of discriminatory transfer and demotion survive under § 1983, one of his alternative causes of action, because of a four-year Florida statute of limitations allegedly applicable to § 1983 employment discrimination cases. McWilliams has also claimed relief under § 1981, which is subject to a limitations period as well. Because the Florida limitations period applicable to McWilliams' §§ 1981 and 1983 claims is two years, not four years, we hold that his discriminatory transfer and demotion claims are barred under §§ 1981 and 1983, as well as under Title VII.

Because § 1981 contains no express statute of limitations, the controlling period is the most closely analogous limitation in the state in which the action is filed. Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc., 421 U.S. 454, 462, 95 S.Ct. 1716, 1721, 44 L.Ed.2d 295 (1975). The weight of authority reveals that the Florida limitations period applicable to § 1981 employment discrimination cases is Fla.Stat.Ann. § 95.11(4)(c) (West Supp.1981), which prescribes a two-year period for "an action to recover wages or overtime or damages or penalties concerning payment of wages or overtime." Caldwell v. Martin Marietta Corp., 632 F.2d 1184, 1186-87 (5th Cir. 1980); Cutliff v. Greyhound Lines, Inc., 558 F.2d 803, 804-05 (5th Cir. 1977) (applying Fla.Stat.Ann. § 95.11(7)(b) (West 1960), the predecessor to 95.11(4)(c)); Johnson v. Duval County Teachers Credit Union, 507 F.Supp. 307, 309 (M.D.Fla.1980); Colston v. Pingree, 498 F.Supp. 327, 335 (N.D.Fla.1980); Wong v. Calvin, 87 F.R.D. 145, 149 (N.D.Fla.1980); see Williams v. Western Electric Co., 618 F.2d 1110, 1111 (5th Cir. 1980) (holding § 95.11(4)(c) generally applicable to employment discrimination cases). Contra, Drayton v. City of St. Petersburg, 477 F.Supp. 846, 861 (M.D.Fla.1979) (applying four-year limitation for "an action founded on a statutory liability" under Fla.Stat.Ann. § 95.11(3)(f) (West Supp.1981)); Bennett v Georgetown Manor, Inc., 452 F.Supp. 590, 591 (S.D.Fla.1978) (same).

Even though § 95.11(4)(c) may appear on its face to be limited to actions merely for the recovery of back pay, the two-year period prescribed by that section has been applied to § 1981 employment discrimination cases regardless of whether the plaintiff requested legal or equitable relief. See Williams v. Western Electric Co., 618 F.2d at 1111 (reinstatement, back pay, damages); Cutliff v. Greyhound Lines, Inc., 558 F.2d at 803 (damages and injunctive relief); Wong v. Calvin, 87 F.R.D. at 147 (injunctive relief, actual and punitive damages); Colston v. Pingree, 498 F.Supp. at 335 ("remedies in addition to back pay").

The limitations period applicable to McWilliams' transfer and demotion claims under § 1983 is a slightly more complicated issue. This court has apparently never explicitly decided which Florida limitations period applies to § 1983 employment discrimination cases. At least one district court, however, has concluded that the two-year period of Fla.Stat.Ann. § 95.11(4)(c) (West Supp.1981) applies to § 1983 employment discrimination actions. Wong v. Calvin, 87 F.R.D. at 149. In choosing which Florida limitations period to apply, we must determine the "essential nature" of the § 1983 claim and the limitations period that the Florida courts would hold applicable to this type of claim. Beard v. Stephens, 372 F.2d 685, 688 (5th Cir. 1967). The essential nature of McWilliams' § 1983 claims is employment discrimination. We are bound by our holdings in Cutliff v. Greyhound Lines, Inc., supra, and Williams v. Western Electric Co., supra, that an employment discrimination case filed in Florida is considered to be a suit for the recovery of wages, even though the plaintiff requests more than just back pay. We have found no Florida cases considering which limitations period to apply to...

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