Trader v. Fiat Distributors, Inc.

• Decision Date: 23 August 1979
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 76-249.
• Citation: 476 F. Supp. 1194
• Parties: Wayne C. TRADER et al., Plaintiffs, v. FIAT DISTRIBUTORS, INC., and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Local 326, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Delaware

476 F. Supp. 1194

Wayne C. TRADER et al., Plaintiffs, v. FIAT DISTRIBUTORS, INC., and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Local 326, Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 76-249.

United States District Court, D. Delaware.

August 23, 1979.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Sheldon N. Sandler, Bader, Dorsey & Kreshtool, Wilmington, Del., for plaintiffs; Kenneth L. Johnson and Larry W. Newell, Johnson & Smith, P. A., Baltimore, Md., of counsel.

Leonard L. Williams, Wilmington, Del., for plaintiffs Barnes and Jones.

Russell J. Willard, Jr., Hastings & Willard, Wilmington, Del., for defendant Fiat Distributors, Inc.; Ronald M. Green, and Robert L. Jauvtis, Epstein Becker Borsody & Green, New York City, of counsel.

Francis S. Babiarz, Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell, Wilmington, Del., for defendant Local 326.

OPINION

MURRAY M. SCHWARTZ, District Judge.

This case is an action for equitable and legal relief to redress an alleged deprivation of rights, privileges, and immunities secured to plaintiffs and the class they seek to represent under the Constitution and laws of the United States. Specifically, plaintiffs seek back pay and an injunction against defendants, Fiat Distributors, Inc., ("Fiat") and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen, and Helpers of America, Local 326 ("Local 326"), barring them from engaging in discriminatory practices with respect to recruitment, job classifications, hiring, referrals, assignments, promotions, transfers, layoffs, recalls, discipline, discharges, benefits, apprenticeship training programs, compensation, and other conditions and privileges of employment. In addition, plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2201 (1970) of their right and that of the class they seek to represent to equal employment opportunity without discrimination based on race.

The claims asserted by the plaintiffs are alleged to arise under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.; the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981; and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C. § 206 et seq. Jurisdiction of this Court is invoked pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343(4) and 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.

Plaintiffs, black employees of Fiat, filed their original complaint on August 6, 1976, alleging that Fiat engaged in a pervasive pattern and practice of race and sex discrimination at its plant in Wilmington, Delaware. Plaintiffs' complaint also charged that Local 326 discriminated against them by failing to fairly represent them in seniority matters and other terms and conditions of their employment with Fiat.

On August 26, 1976, Fiat and Local 326 filed motions to dismiss, asserting that the complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and that the Court lacked jurisdiction over the subject matter of the complaint. (Doc. No. 4). At the defendants' request, the Court stayed the action to allow all parties sufficient time to engage in conciliation efforts with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission. (Doc. Nos. 17 and 22). Unfortunately, conciliation efforts proved unsuccessful and the Court heard oral argument on the defendants' motions to dismiss in September, 1978. (Doc. No. 35). As a result of that hearing, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on October 16, 1978.

The case is presently before the Court on motions brought, pursuant to Rules 8(a) and 12(b)(6) F.R.Civ.P., to dismiss the amended complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Renewing their previous arguments, defendants seek dismissal of this action with prejudice pursuant to Rule 41(b) F.R.Civ.P. on the grounds that the amended complaint contains only broad and conclusory allegations which do not satisfy the pleading requirements of Rule 8(a) F.R.Civ.P. (Doc. Nos. 36 and 37).

In the event the Court fails to dismiss the amended complaint, defendants press the following additional arguments:

1. That they are entitled to recover the attorneys' fees incurred in making the instant motion.

2. That the Title VII claims of plaintiffs William R. Hugee,¹ Raymond E. Jones, and Marcus P. Brunswick should be dismissed for failure to properly file suit within the ninety day time period specified in 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(1).

3. That plaintiff Janice Wilson's claim of sex discrimination should be dismissed as it had been previously withdrawn by the plaintiffs.

4. That 10 Del.C. § 8111 (1974) bars all of plaintiffs' claims for back pay under the 1866 Civil Rights Acts which antedate the filing of the original complaint by more than one year, exclusive of the unlawful discharge claims.

The Court will first analyze the sufficiency of the allegations in the plaintiffs' amended complaint² and then address the alternative arguments raised by the defendants' motions.

I. The Title VII and Section 1981 Allegations

All civil actions, including civil rights cases, are governed by the requirement that any pleading setting forth a claim for relief contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Rule 8(a)(2) F.R.Civ.P. Although notice pleading is generally sufficient, it is well established in this Circuit that civil rights complaints, especially those drafted by experienced counsel, must set forth with specificity the acts of each defendant that are alleged to have violated plaintiff's civil rights.³See Hall v. Pennsylvania State Police, 570 F.2d 86 (3d Cir. 1978); Rotolo v. Borough of Charleroi, 532 F.2d 920 (3d Cir. 1976); Robinson v. McCorkle, 462 F.2d 111 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 1040, 93 S.Ct. 529, 34 L.Ed.2d 492 (1972); Kauffman v. Moss, 420 F.2d 1270 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 400 U.S. 846, 91 S.Ct. 93, 27 L.Ed.2d 84 (1970); Negrich v. Hohn, 379 F.2d 213 (3d Cir. 1967); Euster v. Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission, 431 F.Supp. 828 (E.D.Pa.1977); MacMurray v. Bd. of Trustees of Bloomsburg State College, 428 F.Supp. 1171 (M.D.Pa. 1977); Scott v. University of Delaware, 385 F.Supp. 937 (D.Del.1974). Explaining the rationale behind the specific pleading requirement in civil rights cases, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals stated:

In recent years there has been an increasingly large volume of cases brought under the Civil Rights Act. A substantial number of these cases are frivolous or should be litigated in the State courts; they all cause defendants—public officials, policemen and citizens alike, considerable expense, vexation and perhaps unfounded notoriety. It is an important public policy to weed out the frivolous and insubstantial cases at an early stage in the litigation, and still keep the doors of the federal courts open to legitimate claims. Rotolo v. Borough of Charleroi, supra at 922, quoting Valley v. Maule, 297 F.Supp. 958, 960 (D.Conn.1968).

While the degree of specificity necessary to satisfy the more stringent pleading rule in civil rights cases will necessarily depend upon the legal theory asserted, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has repeatedly emphasized that vague and conclusory allegations of legal deprivations that fail to state facts upon which to weigh the substantiality of the claim do not satisfy the requirements of Rule 8 F.R.Civ.P. See Rotolo v. Borough of Charleroi, supra at 922-23; Kauffman v. Moss, supra at 1275; Negrich v. Hohn, supra at 215. Rather, as Judge Steel recently noted in Passerin v. Maher, Civ. No. 79-166, Slip op. at 8 (D.Del. June 21, 1979)

Some semblance of factual specificity is necessary to assure the Court that the wrong complained of not only has some basis in fact but also that it is of federal cognizance. See Kedra v. City of Philadelphia, 454 F.Supp. 652 (E.D.Pa.1978); Marshall v. Electric Hose and Rubber Co., 65 F.R.D. 599 (D.Del.1974). In this regard, the most recent pronouncements of the Third Circuit teach that a civil rights complaint must specify, with a sufficient degree of particularity, the unlawful conduct allegedly committed by each defendant and the time and place of that conduct. See Hall v. Pennsylvania State Police, supra at 89; Rotolo v. Borough of Charleroi, supra at 922-23; Environmental Aid, Inc. v. Goodard, 433 F.Supp. 906, 912-13 (W.D.Pa.1977).

The complaint in the instant case alleges 35 separate counts of discriminatory conduct committed by defendants Fiat and Local 326. Because the allegations in the individual counts are essentially repetitious, no effort will be undertaken to analyze each count separately. Rather, the Court will examine a representative selection of the claims in order to provide some guidance to the plaintiffs in the preparation of their amended complaint.⁴

A. Claims Against Fiat

1. In Count 5 of the amended complaint plaintiff, Donald DeVille, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., alleges:

Plaintiff, Donald DeVille, was hired by the Defendant on June 25, 1975. He complains that the Defendant has discriminated against him because of his race, illustrated as follows: The Plaintiff filed his application for employment with Defendant on March 17, 1975, but was not hired until June 26, 1975. Whites filed applications for employment after the Plaintiff, and were hired before he was, thus granting them more seniority than the Plaintiff. Plaintiff was discriminated against in other terms and conditions of employment, including the Defendant's suspension, lay-off and discharge policies.

COUNT 6. Against Defendant, Fiat Distributors, Inc. Plaintiff, Donald DeVille, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1981 makes claim as follows:

All of the facts as stated in Count 5 are herein incorporated by reference.

Fiat complains that these allegations fail to comply with the civil rights pleading requirements announced by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals as "DeVille does not even state that he was qualified for the employment sought at the time he made application. He does not mention the job classification he sought to fill." (Doc....