Whitfield v. City of Knoxville

• Decision Date: 06 March 1985
• Docket Number: Nos. 83-5510,83-5582,s. 83-5510
• Citation: 37 FEP Cases 288,756 F.2d 455
• Parties: 37 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 288, 36 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 35,072 Roy T. WHITFIELD, et al., Plaintiffs, Paris D. Goin, Plaintiff-Appellee, Cross-Appellant, v. CITY OF KNOXVILLE, et al., Defendants-Appellants, Cross-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 455

756 F.2d 455

37 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 288,

36 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 35,072

Roy T. WHITFIELD, et al., Plaintiffs Paris D. Goin, Plaintiff-Appellee, Cross-Appellant, v. CITY OF KNOXVILLE, et al., Defendants-Appellants, Cross-Appellees.

Nos. 83-5510, 83-5582.

United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit.

Argued Jan. 18, 1984.

Decided March 6, 1985.

Jon Roach, City Law Director, Knoxville Dept. of Law, Mark C. Scruggs (argued), Robert H. Watson, Knoxville, Tenn., for defendants-appellants, cross-appellees.

Herbert S. Moncier (argued), J. Anthony Farmer, Knoxville, Tenn., for plaintiff-appellee, cross-appellant.

Before ENGEL, MARTIN and CONTIE, Circuit Judges.

CONTIE, Circuit Judge.

Defendants City of Knoxville, City Mayor Randy Tyree and City Director of Public Safety Harold Shipley appeal, and plaintiff Paris Goin ¹ cross-appeals, from a district court judgment in favor of Goin in this action brought under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA). 29 U.S.C. Sec. 621 et seq. The district court's opinion is reported at 567 F.Supp. 1344. The defendants contend that the district court should have ruled Goin's action barred under the doctrine of res judicata. ² Goin asserts that the district court erred in refusing to award liquidated damages for a willful violation of ADEA. See 29 U.S.C. Sec. 626(b). For the reasons stated below, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I.

In December 1982, Goin was a policeman for the City of Knoxville. The district court found that he was performing his duties satisfactorily during the time period in question. The City was (and remains) an employer subject to the provisions of ADEA. See 29 U.S.C. Sec. 630(b). Section 122 of the City Charter provided in pertinent part Retirement after twenty-five years' service.

Any member of either of the uniformed departments who shall have served in one or both of said departments of the City of Knoxville, or any of its predecessors, for twenty-five (25) separate years, and has reached the age of fifty (50) years, shall upon his written application or upon the written recommendation of the director of public safety and the city manager (mayor) be retired from the service of the city, and shall be paid by the City of Knoxville, a pension....

The remainder of section 122 defined the level of pension that a retired employee would receive.

Upon the recommendation of Director of Public Safety Shipley, Mayor Tyree individually notified twenty-three policemen (including Goin) and thirty-three firemen in writing on December 16, 1982 that they were to be retired involuntarily under section 122 effective December 31, 1982. The notification letter from Tyree stated in part:

Pursuant to Section 122, the Director of Public Safety, due to certain revenue shortfalls which have necessitated a reduction in force, and after consultation with the Chief Operating Officer and myself, has recommended that you be retired from the service of the City effective December 31, 1982. I have concurred in and approved the Director of Public Safety's recommendation. Therefore, you will be retired from the service of the City in accordance with Section 122 effective December 31, 1982.

Plaintiff Goin was between the ages of forty and seventy at this time.

In an attempt to prevent the involuntary retirements, Goin and some of his fellow employees filed an action in the Knox County Chancery Court on December 23, 1982. The suit was based upon Tennessee's employment discrimination statute, Tenn.Code Ann. Sec. 4-21-101 et seq., ³ and upon various provisions of the Tennessee and federal constitutions. The plaintiffs sought a temporary restraining order, permanent injunctive relief and damages. No federal ADEA claim was pleaded.

The Chancery Court rejected the plaintiffs' statutory claim on the ground that although Tennessee generally prohibits age discrimination by employers, see Tenn.Code Ann. Sec. 4-21-105, and although a seniority system or employee benefit plan generally may not require or permit the involuntary retiring of employees on the basis of age, see Tenn.Code Ann. Sec. 4-21-125(2), the defendants' decision under section 122 of the Charter was within the scope of an exception contained in Sec. 4-21-125(2). The Chancery Court also rejected the federal and state constitutional claims. The court entered final judgment on February 8, 1983.

Goin and the other employees filed age discrimination charges with the EEOC. This ADEA suit was filed in the district court on April 13, 1983. The district court held that the action was not barred under principles of res judicata and that the defendants had violated ADEA by involuntarily retiring Goin because of age under section 122 of the Charter. The court granted relief but refused to award liquidated damages on the ground that the defendants had not willfully violated the Act:

The actions by the defendants were not willful violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. They were taken in good faith and reliance on the theory that the Act could not constitutionally be applied to the City.

567 F.Supp. at 1347.

Conceding on appeal that the involuntary retiring of Goin under section 122 of the Charter was improper under ADEA, the defendants argue that Goin's claim nevertheless is barred on grounds of res judicata because Goin should have presented his ADEA claim in the Knox County Chancery Court action. The defendants also contend that the ADEA violation was not willful because the issue of whether ADEA could constitutionally be applied to state and local governments had not been definitely decided as of December 16, 1982. ⁴

II.

We first address the issue of whether Goin's ADEA claim is barred under principles of res judicata because he did not assert the claim in the Knox County Chancery Court action. We hold that the claim is not barred, although for reasons different than those provided by the district court. ⁵

Since this case involves a state court judgment, ⁶ this court must afford the same res judicata effect to that judgment as would the Tennessee courts. 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1738; Migra v. Warren City School District Board of Education, 465 U.S. 75, 104 S.Ct. 892, 896, 79 L.Ed.2d 56 (1984); Kremer v. Chemical Construction Corp., 456 U.S. 461, 466, 102 S.Ct. 1883, 1889, 72 L.Ed.2d 262 (1982). Nothing in the ADEA evinces a Congressional intent that the rule set forth in Sec. 1738 should not apply in age discrimination cases. See Kremer, 456 U.S. at 485 (in order for a departure from traditional rules of preclusion to be justified, Congress must plainly state such an intention). Moreover, and contrary to Goin's assertion, the Tennessee courts will adjudicate properly presented ADEA claims. Parker v. Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, 677 S.W.2d 455 (Tenn.App.1983). Although the Tennessee courts will not adjudicate 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 or Sec. 1985(3) claims, Chamberlain v. Brown, 223 Tenn. 25, 442 S.W.2d 248 (Tenn.1969), that refusal stems from the legislative history and unique historical background of the Civil Rights Act of 1871. Id. 442 S.W.2d at 251-52. The Chamberlain holding does not support the conclusion that the Tennessee courts will not adjudicate ADEA claims. Parker, 677 S.W.2d at 456-57. Since the Tennessee courts provide a full and fair opportunity for plaintiffs to litigate ADEA claims in conjunction with state claims arising under Tenn.Code Ann. Sec. 4-21-124, an ADEA claim can be barred, if the circumstances warrant, where a state discrimination claim was adjudicated in the Tennessee courts and where the federal claim was not presented.

The Tennessee courts have held that if a second lawsuit involves the same parties acting in the same capacities and touches the same subject matter as the first lawsuit, then the principles of res judicata apply. National Cordova Corp. v. City of Memphis, 214 Tenn. 371, 380 S.W.2d 793, 798 (1964); Grange Mutual Casualty Co. v. Walker, 652 S.W.2d 908, 909-10 (Tenn.App.1983). These requirements clearly have been satisfied here. Thus, the doctrine of res judicata bars consideration of all claims that were or reasonably could have been litigated by Goin in the state court action. American National Bank & Trust Co. v. Clark, 586 S.W.2d 825, 826 (Tenn.1979); National Cordova Corp., 380 S.W.2d at 798; Gibson Lumber Co. v. Neely Coble Co., Inc., 651 S.W.2d 232, 234 (Tenn.App.1983).

In order to determine whether Goin could have raised the federal claim in the Knox County Chancery Court action, we first examine the language of ADEA. Title 29 U.S.C. Sec. 626(d) provides that a private plaintiff such as Goin may not commence a Sec. 626 age discrimination action until sixty days after the plaintiff has filed a charge with the EEOC. Moreover, where a state agency exists that may grant or seek relief from discriminatory practices, a private plaintiff may not commence a Sec. 626 age discrimination action until sixty days after state administrative proceedings have commenced. 29 U.S.C. Sec. 633(b); Oscar Mayer & Co. v. Evans, 441 U.S. 750, 753-58, 99 S.Ct. 2066, 2070-72, 60 L.Ed.2d 609 (1979). Tennessee has created such an agency. See Tenn.Code Ann. Secs. 4-21-103 & 4-21-104. Although a plaintiff need not wait longer than sixty days for a state agency to act, Evans, 441 U.S. at 761, a plaintiff must commence state proceedings and wait sixty days before filing an ADEA action.

In the present case, Mayor Tyree ordered Goin's involuntary retirement on December 16, 1982. The Chancery Court entered final judgment in favor of the City on February 8, 1983. Had Goin filed a charge with the EEOC and commenced state administrative proceedings on the same day that the Mayor ordered his involuntary retirement, sixty days still would not have elapsed before the Chancery Court entered final judgment. Thus, even had Goin wished to assert the ADEA claim during the pendency of the Chancery Court action, he could not have done so because of 29 U.S.C. Secs. 626(...