# Petition — Blue Cross Mutual Hospital Insurance v. Jenkins

> Briefs, arguments, decisions, and more.

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/brief%3Amicro_IA40385004_0672%3A1

## Record

- **Collection:** Supreme Court brief
- **Document type:** Petition
- **Published:** January 1, 1976
- **Citation:** 429 U.S. 986

## Text

Ix Tus

Supreme Court of the United States

Oocroszr Tant, 1976

No. 76-448

BLUE CROSS MUTUAL HOSPITAL INSURANCE, Mo.
BLUE SHIELD MUTUAL MEDICAL INSURANCE, mo.

Petitioners,

BEVERLY JEANNE JENKINS,
Respondent.

PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT

Counsel for Petitioners

——
Midwest Law Printing Co., Chicago 60601, Financial 6-3988

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Opinions Below

we

Questions Presented

Federal Statutes Involved

Statement Of The Case
Reasons For Granting The Writ

I.

The Decision Of The Seventh Circuit Involves Im-
portant Questions Of Federal Law Which Hav
Not Been But Should Be Settled By This Court

II.

The Seventh Circuit Has Rendered A Decision

Conflict With The Decisions Of Other

Appeal On The Same Matter
Conclusion

or © WwW Ww 88

Appendices:
District Court Orders

Seventh Circuit Panel Decision
Seventh Circuit En Banc Decision

Statutory Provisions

42 U.S.C. §2000(e)-5(b)

42 U.S.C. §2000(e)-5(f) (1)

28 U.S.C. §$1292(a) (1)

Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, Rule 4(a) — 31a

Cases
Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co., 415 U.S. 36 (1974) .. 13

Belcher v. Bassett Furniture Indus., 376 F. Supp. 593
(W. D. Va. 1974) .... 14

Bowes v. Colgate-Palmolive Co., 416 F.2d 711 (7th Cir.
1968) 10, 16

Danner v. Phillips Petroleum, Inc., 447 F.2d 159 (5th
Cir. 1971) 15

EEOC v. General Elec. Co., 532 F.2d 359 (4th Cir.
1976) 13, 14, 17

EEOC v. Hearst Corp., 10 C.C.H. E.P.D. 10246 (W. D.
Wash. 1974) 14

EEOC v. Mack Trucks, Inc., 10 F.E.P. Cases 1028 (D.
Md. 1974) 2 14

EEOC v. Mississippi Federal Co-op. Services, 8 F. E. P.
Cases 731 (S. D. Miss. 1974) 14

EEOC v. New York Times Broadcasting Service, Inc.,
346 F.Supp. 651 (W. D. Tenn. 1973) 14

EEOC v. Rexall Drugs Co., 9 C.C.H. E.P.D. 9936 (E.
D. Mo. 1974) 14

Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc., 421 U.S. 454
(1975) 12

King v. Georgia Power Co., 295 F.Supp. 943 (N. D. Ga.
1968) 10

iii

Latino v. Rainbo Bakers, Inc., 358 F.Supp. 870 (D. Col.

1973) 14
Sanchez v. Standard Brands, Inc., 431 F.2d 455 (5th
Cir. 1970) 9, 11
. Miscellaneous
93 BNA Lab. Rel. Rep. 6 (Sept. 6, 1976) 10
28 U.S.C. Section 1292(a) (1) 8,9
Fed. Rules Appellate Procedure, Rule 4(a) 9

In Tus

Supreme Court of the United States

Ocrosper Term, 1976

No.

BLUE CROSS MUTUAL HOSPITAL INSURANCE, INC.,
BLUE SHIELD MUTUAL MEDICAL INSURANCE, INC.,

Petitioners,

BEVERLY JEANNE JENKINS,
Respondent.

PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT

The Petitioners, Blue Cross Mutual Hospital In-
surance, Inc. and Blue Shield Mutual Medical In-
surance, Inc. (hereinafter “Blue Cross-Blue Shield”),
respectfully pray that a Writ of Certiorari issue to
review the decision and judgment of the United States
Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (hereinafter
called “Seventh Circuit”) entered in this cause on July
21, 1976.

a

OPINIONS BELOW

The original opinion of a panel of the Seventh Circuit
is reported at 522 F.2d 1235 and printed in the Appen-
dix hereto at 8a. The opinion of the Seventh Circuit on
rehearing en banc with Judges Tone, Pell and Bauer dis-
senting is reported at ..... F.2d ....., 13 F. E. P. Cases 52,
and printed in the Appendix hereto at 18a. The perti-
nent orders of the United States District Court for the
Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division, are
printed in the Appendix hereto at la, 2a.

JURISDICTION

The decision of the Seventh Circuit sitting en banc
with Judges Tone, Pell and Bauer dissenting was
entered on July 21, 1976. This Petition for Certiorari
was filed within ninety (90) days of that date. The
jurisdiction of this Court is invoked under 28 U.S.C. Sec-
tion 1254 (1).

QUESTIONS PRESENTED

1. Does a district court’s denial of a preliminary in-
junction make appealable an order of the district court
determining that the action not be maintained as a class
action where the time for appealing the class action
determination has run and where the order denying the
preliminary injunction was not necessarily based on the
class action order?

x

2. Can a Plaintiff in a Title VII action who filed suit
prior to any attempt at conciliation by the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (hereinafter
referred to as the “EEOC”) raise issues in her judicial
complaint which are in no way like or related to the
allegations in her charge to the EEOC, did not grow out
of an EEOC investigation and were not the subject of
EEOC conciliation efforts prior to the filing of the com-
plaint?

3. Can a Plaintiff in a Title VII action who filed suit
prior to any attempt at conciliation by the EEOC raise
issues in her judicial complaint which were not stated in
her charge to the EEOC, did not grow out of an EEOC
investigation and were not the subject of EEOC concilia-
tion efforts prior to the filing of the complaint?

4. Can a Plaintiff in a Title VII action who filed suit
prior to any attempt at conciliation by the EEOC raise
issues of sex discrimination in her judicial complaint
where she states no sex discrimination issues in her
EEOC charge and where sex discrimination issues did
not grow out of an EEOC investigation and were not the
subject of EEOC conciliation efforts prior to the filing of
the complaint?

FEDERAL STATUTES INVOLVED

The federal statutes involved are Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. Section 2000e
et seg., and more particularly 42 U.S.C. Sections 2000e-
5(b) and -5(fX1), Appendix 28a-30a, and 28 U.S. C.
1292(aX1), Appendix 3la, and Rule 4(a) of the Federal
Rules of Appellate Procedure, Appendix 31a (set out in
pertinent part).

*

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Basis of Federal Jurisdiction. Plaintiff brought this
action in the United States District Court for the
Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division, pur-
suant to 42 U.S.C. Section 2000 (e)-5(f) and 42 U.S.C.
Section 1981. Jurisdiction of the Seventh Circuit was in-
voked pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 1292 (a (I) when
Respondent appealed the denial of her requested
preliminary injunction by the District Court.

Facts of Case. Beverly Jeanne Jenkins filed a charge
of discrimination against Blue Cross-Blue Shield with
the EEOC on June 8, 1971. (Def. App. 1, Pl. App. Ial.)
She checked the box marked “race or color” and made
the following statement of her charge:

“I feel that I am being discriminated in the terms
and conditions of my employment because of my
race, negro. I have worked for Blue Cross and Blue
Shield approx. three years during which time I
had] no problem until May, 1970 when I got my
natural hair style. Later when I came up for promo-
tion, it was denied because my supervisor, Al
Frymier, said I could never represent Blue Cross
with my Afro. He also accused me of being the
leader of the girls on the floor. The pressures I was
working under kept me upset, therefore, I asked for
a leave of absence. I was told I had to take a vaca-
tion before I could be granted a leave of absence. I
was granted a week of vacation and on my return I
was asked to take a ninety day leave, quit, or be
fired, time they said to get myself together; and at
the end of this time they would be able to place me
on another job. A White employee who associated
with me might have been denied her promotion
because of her association with me.”

| References to “Def. App.” or “Pl. App.” refer to the appen-
dices filed by the parties in the Seventh Circuit.

—ͤ—ü—ũ— ̃ ——— — ae,

——ͤ—y—— — K¼

——

Before the EEOC could investigate or attempt to con-
ciliate her charge, Miss Jenkins’ attorneys filed the
broadest conceivable class action in the United States
District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, In-
dianapolis Division, on August 28, 1972. (Def. App. 1.)
The complaint included boilerplate class action
allegations of pattern and practice race and sex dis-
crimination in hiring, assignment, dress, pay, promo-
tion, recruitment, job requirements and testing.”

2 Specifically plaintiff's complaint alleged that Blue Cross-
Blue Shield discriminated on the basis of race and sex by:

“a. Maintaining requirements for office and clerical
positions which denied blacks equal opportunity for
employment in such positions which are neither By 7
rela nor necessary to the safe, efficient conduct of
defendant’s business.

b. uiring employees to within strictly delineated
colle of dress codes and hairstyles which, not only dis-
criminate against blacks because of their race, but more
invidiously 7 the ability of blacks to rid themselves
of a vestige of slavery by requiring them to white
hairstyles and dress styles as a term and condition of
employment.

c. Failing and refusing to hire, facilitate the hiring of, or
promote — Who 2 black A* 8 or
manageri itions in departmen r

where the 4— of workers are black.

d. Assigning blacks and women to the e of-
fice and clerical jobs and virtually excluding them from
higher-paying office and clerical and managerial
positions.

3 blacks less money than whites for identical
jobs.

f. Failing and refusing to promote blacks and women
because of their race and sex.

g. Failing and refusing to hire blacks because of their
race.

h. Failing to recruit blacks on the same basis for the
same jobs as whites.

i. Utilizing paper and pencil tests which deny and tend
to deny blac persons equal opportunity for hiring and
promotion, which tests are not job-related and are not
n to the safe and efficient conduct of the defen-
dants’ business.”

(Footnote continued on following page)

a om

In her initial answers to Defendants’ first in-
terrogatories more than six months after the suit was

filed Miss Jenkins admitted that she had no real factual .

support for her boilerplate class action allegations (Def.
App. 7) nor could she elaborate meaningfully on those
allegations in her deposition.

In January, 1974, Defendants moved the District

Court to determine that the action not be maintained as

a class action. At that time, after almost a year of dis-
covery on the broadest possible basis, Plaintiff was un-
able to name another single individual with a complaint
even remotely similar to hers, and the only named al-
leged class members were three individuals who sought
unsuccessfully to intervene in her lawsuit.

After Defendants filed their motion, Plaintiffs at-
torneys rushed to Court with a petition for a
preliminary injunction and/or partial summary judg-
ment. The motion sought to enjoin Defendants’ from us-
ing a supervisory performance review system.

On July 17, 1974, the District Court issued its order
determining that Plaintiff's action not be maintained as
a class action. Appendix 2a. The District Court applied
the “like and related” test and on the basis of that test
determined that the class Plaintiff could represent in a
Title VII suit was limited to persons denied promotion

continued

The complaint requested injunetive relief inst these al-
leged practices, as well as reinstatement of the plaintiff and
back pay and other restitutionary relief for the plaintiff and

other members of the alleged elass injured because of the al-
legedly discriminatory practices.

— —

3

or not hired for wearing an Afro hair style. Since no
evidence had been presented to show that this group
would be so large that joinder would be impracticable,
the class action was not allowed.

On January 21, 1975, the District Court denied Plain-
tiff's motion for preliminary injunction and/or summary
judgment and plaintiff appealed this denial pursuant to
28 U.S.C. Section 1292 (a1). Appendix la. On
September 8, 1975, a three member panel of the United
States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled
that:

“Upon careful examination of the complaint and the
charge, Judges Bauer and Tone agree that the Trial
Court properly construed the particular charge
here in light of the general principles, and that the
charge does not form a proper basis for the com-
plaint that the Defendant pursued a practice and
pattern of discrimination in the manner alleged in
the complaint. Judge Tuttle would hold that the
charge was sufficient under the announced stan-
dard to support the allegations of the complaint.
The Court is unanimously of the view that the
charge does not form a proper basis under Title VII
of any complaint of discrimination on the basis of
sex.”
Appendix 17a.

Plaintiff petitioned for rehearing en banc and rehear-
ing was granted. On July 21, 1976, the Seventh Circuit
sitting en banc overturned the three judge panel decision
by a vote of 4 to 3 ruling that:

“The majority of this court conclude that the Plain-
tiff sufficiently charged both racial and sex dis-
crimination in her EEOC form in order to be eligi-
ble to represent a class composed of ‘all black and
female persons who are employed, by Blue Cross-
Blue Shield, Inc.“

Appendix 25a, 26a.

The judgment of the District Court was reversed and
the case remanded for further proceedings not inconsis-
tent with the July 21, 1976 opinion.

*
REASONS FOR GRANTING THE WRIT

I.

THE DECISION OF THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT IN-
VOLVES IMPORTANT QUESTIONS OF FEDERAL
LAW WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN BUT SHOULD BE
SETTLED BY THIS COURT.

A.

The Plaintiff appealed to the Seventh Circuit under 28
U.S.C. Section 1292(aX1), which provides for appeal of
the denial of a preliminary injunction. Yet on appeal she
sought and the Seventh Circuit granted review of the
District Court’s determination that the action not be
maintained as a class action.

The panel decision of the Seventh Circuit recognized
that class action determinations are not appealable
orders except in rare instances not invoked by Plaintiff
in this case. The panel, however, allowed review because
it held the class determination directly controlled the
subsequent disposition of the request for preliminary in-
junction.’

However, if that were so then Plaintiff's right of
appeal matured at the time the district court issued its
class action order, July 17, 1974, and her notice of
appeal of that order, which was not filed until February,
1975, was clearly untimely.

Meanwile, the District Court’s order denying the mo-
tion for preliminary injunction makes no reference
whatever to the class action order. The preliminary in-

On this issue the panel was affirmed unanimously by the
Court en bance.

2

junction request could have been denied for failure to
meet the requirements for preliminary relief even if it
had not been outside the scope of the action.

Neither the Plaintiff nor the Seventh Circuit cite
authority for allowing review of a class action deter-
mination in such circumstances.‘

Permitting appellate review of such an order in the
circumstances is in direct conflict with the express
limitations of 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1292(aX1) and with the
time limits imposed by Rule 4(a) of the Federal Rules of
Appellate Procedure.

B.

No issue is more important and fundamental to the
administration and development of the law under Title
VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 than the scope of the
complaint which a charging party may file in federal
district court under that statute; and that issue is raised
squarely and unavoidably by the decision of the Seventh
Circuit Court of Appeals in this case.

Under Title VII’s statutory scheme the charge filed
with the EEOC serves first to activate the investigative
and conciliatory procedures of Title VII. If, and only if,
those procedures fail to effect voluntary compliance, the
charge defines the scope of the issues for purposes of
prompt adjudication. This basic scheme was specifically
recognized by the Court in Sanchez v. Standard Brands,
Inc., 431 F.2d 455, 466 (5th Cir. 1970):

The cases cited in the Seventh Circuit panel decision are
inapposite to the questions posed by this case. The cases cited
all involved appeals directly from the orders reviewed. In one
case the order appealed from was an order of dismissal, Oatis
v. Crown Corp., 398 F.2d 496 (6th Cir. 1968), and
in another 2 of a class action order was denied. Hackett
v. General Host. Corp., 455 F.2d 618 (3rd Cir. 1972). None of
the cases cited permitted a plaintiff to get review of a class
33 issued six months prior to the filing of the notice
of appeal.

_ oe

“A charge of discrimination is not filed as a
preliminary to a lawsuit. On the contrary, the pur-
pose of a charge of discrimination is to trigger the
investigatory and conciliatory procedures of the
EEOC. Once a charge has been filed the Commis-
sion carries out its investigatory function and
attempts to obtain voluntary compliance with the
law. Only if the EEOC fails to achieve voluntary
compliance will the matter ever become the subject
of a court action.”

See also Bowes v. Colgate-Palmolive Co., 416 F.2d 711
(7th Cir. 1968).

To accommodate those situations where an EEOC in-
vestigation has raised issues not specified in the charge
to the EEOC but “like or related” to those issues
specified the courts created the “like and related” test.
In King v. Georgia Power Co., 295 F.Supp. 943, 947
(N.D. Ga. 1968), the source case for the test, the court
said:

“This rule, broadly speaking, in effect limits the
civil action to that range of issues that would have
been the subject matter of the conciliation efforts
between EEOC and the employer. F the civil action
were not so limited, then the primary emphasis of
this Title would be circumvented, 1.e., an emphasis
upon voluntary settlement of all issues without an ac-
tion in the District Court.” (Emphasis added.)

In fashioning the rule the court in King particularly
heeded the EEOC’s argument:5

“The practice of the Equal Employment Opportuni-
ty Commission is to follow this general principle

5 Now even the EEOC is backing away from expansion of
charges to include “like and related” issues. In its recent
memorandum on procedures for handling pre-FY 1974
charges, the EEOC said:

For all pre-F 1974 charges, any addition of any like-
.and-related or wing-out-of issues should be avoided.”
93 BNA Lab. Rel. Rep. 6 (Sept. 6, 1976).

| an

{recited in the above text] and ta e evidence, make
findings, and seek to obtain relief with respect to
those unlawful employment a which are like
and related to the charge filed and which grow out
of the proceedings before the Commission. In order
that respondent employers will be susceptible to the
conciliation process, we believe there should be con-
sistency between the scope of relief that is available
in court and that which is likely to flow from con-
ceiliation by the Commission, and that deference
should therefore be given the Commission’s inter-
pretation of the scope of inquiry.” Jd. at 947 n. 2.

The King rule and reasoning were later approved and
followed in Sanchez v. Standard Brands, Inc., supra.

The decision of the Seventh Circuit in the present case
turns its back totally on this recognized and well-
established relationship between the charge, investiga-
tion, and conciliation by the EEOC and repudiates the
whole concept of the “like and related” test. In the pres-
ent case Plaintiff filed her lawsuit before the EEOC
had processed her charge. Her charge itself had not
been investigated by the EEOC. At the time she filed
her lawsuit the EEOC had made no attempt whatsoever
at conciliation of any of the matters alleged in her
judicial complaint. Yet, the Seventh Circuit would
reward Plaintiff for bypassing the EEOC by permitting
her to raise in her judicial complaint matters far beyond
the allegations in her charge to the EEOC.

One cannot conceive a charge narrower or more
unique than that filed in this case by the Plaintiff with
the EEOC, nor can one conceive a complaint with
allegations broader than the boilerplate class allegations
in Plaintiff's complaint. Yet, the Seventh Circuit ruled
that Plaintiff's charge was sufficiently broad to support
her complaint.

Plaintiff's attorneys have argued that the voluntary
compliance policy is satisfied by letting the EEOC seek
conciliation after the lawsuit is filed. This is like sending
in the peacemakers after the war has started. This
Court has recognized properly that filing a lawsuit dis-
courages conciliation where the single biggest induce-
ment to conciliation is the avoidance of litigation. This
Court said in Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc.,
421 U.S. 454, 461 (1975): “We recognize, too, that the
filing of a lawsuit might tend to deter efforts at concilia-
tion . .”. In addition, the EEOC would lose all control
of the conciliation procedure when, as was the case here,
the plaintiff filed a class action.

There may be some justification for permitting a
plaintiff to raise in court issues not specified or raised in
a charge to the EEOC where they are like and related
issues which were developed by the EEOC in its in-
vestigation and were the subject of EEOC efforts at con-
cilation since such expansion does not circumvent the
statutory policy favoring conciliation and voluntary com-
pliance. But there can be no justification for permitting
a plaintiff's attorneys to depart totally from her charge
in a situation where there has been no EEOC investiga-
tion or attempt at conciliation.

The Seventh Circuit’s decision in this case gives a
plaintiff's attorneys a blank sheet to write on if they file
suit without giving the EEOC opportunity to investigate
and conciliate. Such a rule frustrates totally the volun-
tary compliance policy of Title VII. The only conceivable
beneficiary of such a rule would be the Title VII plain-
tiffs’ bar, since the rule would obviously be fee-
generating by encouraging the filing of lawsuits and
frustrating voluntary compliance. It has never been a
policy of Title VII to encourage litigation at the expense
of voluntary compliance and since the 1972 amendments
to Title VII primary. reliance for enforcement has been

— —

only “. . . a preliminary to a lawsuit.

the ruling of the Seventh Circuit stands, then Title
VII has become little more than an amendment to 42
U.S.C. Section 1981 to allow attorneys’ fees. That was

courts which have since reviewed Title VII and
emphasized the voluntary compliance procedures. In
Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co., 415 U.S. 36, 44 (1974),
this Court itself said regarding the elimination of dis-
crimination under Title VII:

“Cooperation and voluntary compliance were
selected as the preferred means for achieving this

goal.”

C.

The Seventh Circuit’s decision also involves the ques-
tion of whether a plaintiff whose charge to the EEOC
did not raise issues of sex discrimination may raise those
issues in her judicial complaint.

a=Sifion

In her charge to the EEOC the Plaintiff did not men-
tion or allude to sex discrimination in any way. The only
way sex got into her charge at all was through the fact
that in her narrative statement of her charge Plaintiff
used the word “girls” to refer to some other employees
and used two personal pronouns of the feminine gender.

The Seventh Circuit determined that this was suf-
ficient to raise issues of sex discrimination in hiring,
recruitment, job requirements, pay, promotion,
assignments, dress, and testing.

No other court has departed so far from reality in
assessing the scope of a charge. A few courts have per-
mitted a plaintiff to raise sex discrimination issues in a
judicial complaint when they were not raised in the
charge, but in those cases the sex discrimination issues
had been raised by the EEOC in its investigation of the
charge. See, e.g., EEOC v. Mack Trucks, Inc., 10 F.E.P.
Cases 1028 (D. Md. 1974); EEOC v. Mississippi Federal
Co-op. Services, 8 F.E.P. Cases 731 (S.D. Miss. 1974);
Latino v. Rainbo Bakers, Inc., 358 F. Supp. 870 (D. Col.
1973). However, most courts have not permitted sex dis-
crimination issues to be raised in a judicial complaint
even where they were developed by the EEOC in its in-
vestigation if the issues were not raised by the charge.
See, e.g., Belcher v. Bassett Furniture Indus., 376 F.
Supp. 593 (W.D. Va. 1974); EEOC v. Hearst Corp., 10
C. C. H. E.P.D. 10246 (W.D. Wash. 1974); EEOC v. Rexall
Drugs Co., 9 C.C.H. E.P.D. 9936 (E.D. Mo. 1974); EEOC

v. New York Times Broadcasting Service, Inc., 346 F.

Supp. 651 (W.D. Tenn. 1973).

Most importantly, prior to this decision no court had
ever permitted a plaintiff who did not allege sex dis-
crimination in her charge to the EEOC to raise sex dis-

—15—

crimination in a judicial complaint where issues of sex
discrimination were not developed by the EEOC in its
investigation.

In summary, under the Seventh Circuit’s unique view,
all charges apparently must raise issues of sex dis-
crimination so long as the charging party is of one sex
or another. The logical extension of this ruling is that all
charges also raise issues of race discrimination, since all
charging parties belong to one race or another. To put it
even more simply, the charge to the EEOC is
meaningless—a piece of paper. Once the charging party
has signed his name to the charge, even if he does
nothing else, he has standing to file suit in court after
180 days, regardless of what the EEOC does, and raise
any and all conceivable issues of race and sex dis-
crimination.

II.

THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT HAS RENDERED A DECI-
SION IN CONFLICT WITH THE DECISIONS OF
R. OF APPEAL ON THE SAME

The decision of the Seventh Circuit conflicts with the
very decision it purported to follow as well as other cir-
cuit court decisions on the same point.

In Danner v. Phillips Petroleum, Inc., 447 F.2d 159
(5th Cir. 1971), the plaintiff's charge fairly described sex
discrimination. In Danner, the charge stated:

“They took a young roustabout and gave him my job
and laid me off. Therefore due to the fact that my
position was not eliminated, just taken from me and
given to a man, I feel that I have been mistreated
and damaged.” Id. at 161.

=

When the charging party sued in court, she sued on the
basis of sex discrimination, which had been fully in-
vestigated, and her judicial complaint, which was an in-
dividual one, not a class action, was directed at the
specific wrong which affected her.

The Seventh Circuit relies on that decision to:

(1) Disregard entirely the policy of Title VII favor-
ing conciliation and voluntary compliance;

(2) Repudiate any requirement of a nexus between
the charge and the complaint.

The Seventh Circuit decision in this case abolishes the
“like and related” test as stated in Danner. As the dis-
senters in the present case so accurately concluded:

“If the relatedness or growing-out-of requirement is
to be abolished, I would have no objection. I cannot
agree, however, that if there is such a requirement
it has been satisfied with respect to the pattern and
practice charges described above.”

it is no exaggeration to say that the Seventh Circuit’s
decision in this case conflicts with all decisions in which
the “like and related” test has been applied.

The Seventh Circuit decision also conflicts squarely
with the policy stated in Sanchez in that the Seventh
Circuit’s application of the “like and related” test
abrogates entirely the Sanchez requirement that the
“like and related” issues first be the subject of an EEOC
investigation and efforts at compliance prior to the fil-
ing of a lawsuit.

The Seventh Circuit decision even conflicts with its
own holding in Bowes v. Colgate-Palmolive Co., 416 F.2d
at 720:

“The purpose of the section [42 USC § 2000e-5(e)]
(as observed above in discussing the Union) is to

provide for notice to the charged party and to bring
to bear the voluntary compliance and conciliation

3

functions of the EEOC. Also, as noted by this court
in Choate v. Caterpillar Tractor Corp., 402 F. 2d
357, 360 (7th Cir. 1968), and in Cox v. United States
Gypsum Co., 409 F.2d 289, 291 (7th Cir. 1969),
another important function of filing the charge is to
permit the EEOC to determine whether the charge
is adequate. Finally, the charge determines the
scope of the alleged violation and thereby serves to
narrow the issues for prompt adjudication and deci-
sion. Cf. Edwards v. North Amer. Rockwell Corp.,
291 F. Supp. 199 (C. D. Calif. 1968).”

The Seventh Circuit’s decision in this case ignores en-
tirely the notice-giving function of the charge and opens
the door to, even invites, litigation which expands the
scope of alleged violations beyond any recognition and
which nullifies the voluntary compliance and concilia-
tion functions.

Finally, the Seventh Circuit’s decision conflicts with
the recent decision in EEOC v. General Elec. Co., supra.
The G.E. court held:

. . . the original charge is sufficient to support ac-
tion by the EEOC as well as a civil suit under the
act for any discrimination stated in the charge itself
or developed in the course of a reasonable investiga-
tion of that charge, provided such discrimination
was included in the reasonable cause determination
of the EEOC and was followed by compliance with
the conciliation procedures fixed in the Act.”
(Court’s emphasis.) 532 F.2d at 566.

By contrast, the Seventh Circuit has permitted Plaintiff
to raise issues (1) not stated in her charge, (2) not
developed in the course of a reasonable in-
vestigation, (3) not ineluded in a reasonable cause
determination, and (4) not subject to conciliation
procedures prior to the filing of the lawsuit.

— 1

III.
CONCLUSION

For the reasons stated herein and those expressed by
Judges Tone, Pell and Bauer in their dissenting opinion,
Petitioners respectfully request that a Writ of Certiorari
issue to review the judgment and opinion of the Seventh
Circuit.

The question of the proper scope of a Title VII lawsuit
cries out for the attention of the Supreme Court. Until it
has been settled there is no due process under Title VII
and until it has been settled the conciliation machinery
of Title VII and the policy favoring voluntary com-
pliance remain regrettably compromised.

Respectfully submitted,

WILLIAM E. ROBERTS

D. REED SCISM
Suite 2020
One Indiana Square
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204

Counsel for Petitioners

—la—

APPENDIX

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION

No. IP 72-C-398
BEVERLY JEAN JENKINS,
V.
BLUE Cross MUTUAL HOSPITAL INSURANCE, INC.

ORDER

This cause is before the Court upon the plaintiff's mo-
tion, pursuant to Rule 56, for partial summary judgment
and/or a preliminary injunction.

Whereupon the Court, having considered the motion
and the briefs in support and opposition thereto, the af-
fidavits and evidence presented, and now being duly ad-
vised in the premises, hereby finds that there are
material issues of fact to be litigated between the parties
and summary judgment would be inappropriate. Plain-
tiff's motion is, therefore, DENIED.

IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated this 21st day of January, 1975.

/s/ James E. Noland
U. S. District Judge

—2a—

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION

Cause No. IP 72-C-398
BEVERLY J. JENKINS,
Vv.

BLUE CROSS MUTUAL HOSPITAL INSURANCE, Inc.,
et al.

ORDER

This cause is before the Court on motions of both par-
ties, pursuant to Rule 23 (c\1), Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure, regarding certification of this action as a
class action under Rule 23 (b\2) and upon a petition by
three non-party persons to join this action as plaintiffs.

Whereupon the Court, having considered the briefs of
the parties filed in support and opposition to the
motions, the exhibits and affidavits, and having heard
counsels’ argument on those issues, and now being duly
advised in the premises, hereby

ORDERS:

(1) That this action not be maintained as a class ac-
tion for the reason that the alleged class is not so
numerous that joinder would be impracticable and, for
the reason that there has been no showing that the
defendant has acted or refused to act on grounds
applicable to a class as a whole.

(2) The motion to intervene filed herein by the three
non-party persons is DENIED.

(3) Defendant shall have ten (10) days from the date
of this order to respond to plaintiff's motion for sum-

*

mary judgment and to answer or object to plaintiff's se-
cond supplemental inspection notice.

Dated this 17th day of July, 1974.

/s/ James E. Noland
U. S. District Judge

MEMORANDUM ENTRY

This action has been brought by the plaintiff pursuant
to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C.
§ 2000e et seg., and under 42 U.S.C. § 1981. Jurisdiction
is founded on 28 U.S.C. 5 1343(4). She seeks a
declaratory judgment, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2201-02,
that her civil rights under Title VII have been violated,
and she purports to bring this action as a class action
under Rule 23 (b\(2), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Plaintiff is a black female person who originally
entered the defendant’s employ in May 1968. Her com-
plaint alleges that she seeks a permanent injunction
against the defendant’s policy, practice, custom or usage
of discriminating against her and other black and
female persons because of race and/or sex. She alleges
such discrimination has occurred with respect to terms
and conditions of employment, compensation, and
privileges of employment in such a way as to deny equal
employment opportunity because of race and/or sex.

Plaintiff further alleges that she performed her job
with the defendant satisfactorily until April 1971, when
she was forced to take vacation, and then a ninety (90)
day leave of absence, because of her race, sex, hair, and
dress style. She asserts that she returned to work for
defendant on September 19, 1971, and continued to work

—4a—

until May 26, 1972, when she was forced to resign
because of her race and sex. She asserts that she was
denied promotion because of her race, sex, hair and
dress style. She then proceeds to allege civil rights
denials in defendant’s hiring, testing, promoting, and
pay practices. She also seeks money damages as well as
injunctive relief.

Both parties have filed motions regarding the
maintenance of this suit as a Rule 23 (b)2) class action;
plaintiff requesting it to be certified and defendant re-
questing that it not be certified. In addition, counsel for
plaintiff has filed a motion on behalf of three other per-
sons to intervene as plaintiffs herein. The Court will con-
sider these motions seriatim.

I. CLASS ACTION

Rule 23 sets out the requirements which must be met
by the plaintiff to maintain a class action. Rule 23(a) has
four such requirements, all of which must be met, and
plaintiff must also establish one of the three re-
quirements of Rule 23(b). Plaintiff herein has alleged
this to be a (b)(2) action.

The first step, of course, is to look to the allegations of
the plaintiff's complaint to see if the prerequisites for a
class action have been alleged. However, in the instant
case, the Court must take an additional step in
relationship to the complaint.

It is clear that a Title VII complaint must be viewed
in relationship to the charges filed by the plaintiff
against the defendant before the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission [EEOC]. This must be done
because it is generally recognized, both by the Circuit
Courts and the District Courts, that the scope of plain-
tiffs complaint, and thus the scope of any class action

28

founded thereon, is necessarily limited to the scope of
the plaintiff's charges filed with the EEOC and any dis-
crimination like or reasonably related to those charges.
Oubichow v. North American Rockwell Corp., 482 F. 2d
569 (9th Cir. 1973); Macklin v. Spector Freight Systems,
Inc., 478 F. 2d 979 (D.C. Cir. 1973); Tipler v. E.I. duPont
deNemours & Co., 443 F.2d 125 (6th Cir. 1971); Sanchez
v, Standard Brands, Inc., 431 F.2d 455 (5th Cir. 1970);
Bowe v. Colgate-Palmolive Co., 416 F.2d 711 (7th Cir.
1969); EEOC v. Mobil Oil Corp., 362 F. Supp. 783 (W.D.
Mo. 1973); Latins v. Rainbo Bakers, Inc., 358 F. Supp.
870 (D. Colo. 1973); Phillips v. Columbia Gas of West
Virginia, 347 F. Supp. 533 (S.D. W.Va. 1972); Hd., 474
F.2d 1342 (4th Cir. 1973); Hecht v. CARE, Inc., 351 F.
Supp. 305 (S.D. N.Y. 1972); Beckum v. Tennessee Hotel,
341 F. Supp. 991 (W. D. Tenn. 1971); Sciaraffa v. Oxford
Paper Co., 310 F. Supp. 891 (D. Me. 1970); Burney v.
North American Rockwell Corp., 302 F. Supp. 86 (C. D.
Calif. 1969); King v. Georgia Power Co., 295 F. Supp.
943 (N. D. Ga. 1968); Reyes v. Missouri-Kansas-Texas
R. R. Co., 53 F. R. D. 293 (D. Kan. 1971); Smith v. North
American Rockwell Corp.-Tulsa Division, 50 F. R. D. 515
(N.D. Okl. 1970). Such is necessary not only to provide
for possible conciliatory action by the EEOC, but also to
“narrow the issues for prompt adjudication and deci-
sion.” Bowe v. Colgate-Palmolive Co., 416 F.2d 711, 720
(7th Cir. 1969).

Plaintiff filed her charges with the EEOC alleging
that she felt she had been discriminated against because
of race. Specifically, she asserted that she was denied
promotion because her supervisor told her she could not
represent the defendant with her Afro hair style. She
also alleged that her supervisor accused her of being the
leader of the girls on the floor. Finally, she stated that
she was required to take a vacation before the defendant

—ba—

gave her a leave of absence. These charges were filed
June 14, 1971, under the EEOC’s case number TINI-
0339. Thereafter, plaintiff filed this suit in August 1972.
The Court stayed the case pending conciliation discus-
sion on her EEOC charges. Plaintiff had received her
right to sue letter in August 1972.

Clearly plaintiff's complaint raises many issues and
makes many allegations neither like nor reasonably
related to her EEOC charge against this defendant. It is
clear that she did not raise sex before the EEOC, nor
can the Court see any reasonable relationship between
hiring, testing or many of the other allegations of the
complaint, as compared to her EEOC allegation that she
was not promoted because she had an Afro hair style.
While there is an arguable connection to race by the
allegation of hair style discrimination, such is not suf-
ficient to raise the panorama of alleged evils plaintiff
seeks to adjudicate in her complaint. Her class could,
therefore, only be composed of those persons denied
promotion or not hired for wearing an Afro hair style.
Therefore, the next question is whether such a group of
persons is so numerous as to require a class action.

No proof has been presented to the Court to show that
this group of people would be so large that joinder of
them in this action would be impracticable. Further,
there has been no allegation or proof that any other per-
sons have undergone plaintiffs alleged deprivation as
would be necessary to maintain the class under Rule 23
(b 2). Consequently, the Court must conclude that this
action would not be appropriate for class treatment and
the motion to certify the class must be DENIED.

—Ta—

II. INTERVENTION

Three persons have moved, pursuant to Rule 24(b),
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, to intervene in this ac-
tion as plaintiffs. None of the three have filed charges
with the EEOC relating to the allegations they raise in
their motion. Further, none of the three have asserted
that they were fired, not hired or not promoted because
of their hair style. Two of them no longer work for the
defendant and allege racial discrimination in hiring and
promotion. The third is a female who still is employed
by the defendant. She seeks to join the sex discrimina-
tion portion of the plaintiff's complaint.

The Court must refuse permissive intervention in this
instance because the applicants claims do not have com-
mon questions of law and fact with the main action.
Further, as this is not a class action, the failure of these
plaintiffs to file charges with the EEOC prevents them
from raising these claims at this time. Local 179, United
Textile Workers of America, AFL-CIO v. Federal Paper
Stock Co., 461 F.2d 849 (8th Cir. 1972).

In the
United States Court of Appeals

For the Seventh Circuit

No. 75-1231

BEVERLY JEANNE JENKINS,
Plainti ff-A ppellant,
v.
Buus Cross Mutua. Hosrrral. Insurance, Ixc.,
BLux SID Morvat Mepica, Insurance, Ino.,
N Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States Distriet Court for the
Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division
No. IP 72-C-398
James E. Nolan, Judge.

Arcuep May 28, 1975 — Decipep Serremsrr 8, 1975

Before Torri,“ Tone and Bauer, Circuit Judges.

Turtie, Circwt Judge. The plaintiff Beverly Jeanne
Jenkins brought this action on her own behalf and for a
class she purported to represent, charging the defendants,
Blue Cross Mutual Hospital Insurance, Inc., Blue Cross
Medical Insurance, Inc. (Blue Cross-Blue Shield), her
former employer, with racial and sex discrimination in
violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42
U.S.C. § 2000e et seg. and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. The district
court determined that the action could not as a
class action; thereafter the court denied the plaintiff’s mo-
tion for a preliminary injunction to enjoin the defendants’
promotion and employee evaluation practices, which were
alleged to have discriminatory effect.

Hon. Elbert P. United States Circuit Fifth
x Tuttle, Judge, Ctreuit,

2 *

The plaintiff appeals the denial of her requested i-
minary’ injunction, pursuant to 28 USC. § 1292 (1).
The — 12 ion which was requested would
have enjoined endants’ current employee evalua-
tion promotion practices. As the ntiff was no

Se eta co hes
cou ege irreparable inj
herself resulting from the continued use of these — 25
Rather, as the plaintiff candidly admits, it is the harm
all vy suffered by the class of present employees
which the plaintiff argues justifies enjoining the defen-

dants’ supervisory performance rating system.

Thus, the real issue which the plaintiff seeks to ap-
peal is whether she should be permitted to maintain
her suit as a class action; only if the district court erred
in denying the plaintiff the right to proceed as a repre-
sentative of a class of all past and present employees
could its subsequent refusal to grant a preliminary in-
junction be seriously challenged.

I. APPEALABILITY.

Generally a trial court’s decision that a suit is in-
appropriate to proceed as a class action is not a “final
decision” and thus cannot be appealed under 28 U.S.C.
§ 1291, 3B Moore’s Federal ice, 923.97 at 23—

1951-52. While certain limited exceptions to 28 U.S.C.
§ 1291’s uirement of a final order of the district
court have — permitting interlocutory appellate

i action determinations where those
decisions have in some sense a final effect on the action,’
these exceptions have been rejected in this circuit as a
basis for permitting an appeal from an order refusing

*

class status,“ and the plaintiff does not attempt to invoke
them. Rather, the plaintiff seeks to review the district
court’s class action determination the limited inter-
locutory appeal permitted by 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1) which
provides:

“The courts of appeals shall have jurisdiction of
appeals from: (1) interlocutory orders of the dis-
trict courts . .. granting, continuing, modifying, re-
fusing or dissolving injunctions, or refusing to dis-
solve or modify injunctions, except where a direct
review may be had in the Supreme Court

While the plaintiff cites no authority for this approach,
a substantial body of case law has in fact developed
for the view that

“when injunctive relief is sought and the denial
of class action treatment has the effect of denying the
broad injunctive relief requested in the complaint,
the order is appealable under 28 U.S.C. § 1292 fa) (1)
as an order denying an injunction.”

3B Moore’s Federal Practice, {| 23.97 (1973 Supp.) at 130.
See Price v. Lucky Stores, Inc., 501 F.2d 1177 (9th Cir.
1974); Hackett v. General Host Corp. 455 F.2d 618, 622
(3rd Cir. 1972); Yaffee v. Powers, 454 F.2d 1362 (Ist Cir.
1972); Spangler v. United States, 415 F.2d 1242 (9th Cir.
1969); Oatis v. Crown Zellerbach Corp., 398 F.2d 496
(5th Cir. 1968); Shapiro v. Burnstein & Co., 386 F.2d 426
(2d Cir. 1967); Brunson v. Board of Trustees, 311 F.2d
107 (4th Cir. 1962), cert. denied, 373 U.S. 933 (1963).*

We find these authorities convincing. Certainly in
this case there is an order denying a preliminary injunc-
tion, which would permit review under the terms of
§ 1292(a)(1). Further, there can be no doubt that the
district court’s earlier refusal to certify the suit as a
class action directly controlled its subsequent decision on
the requested preliminary injunction.‘

Because the class action determination of the district
court directly controlled the subsequent disposition of

~ Kansas City Southern Industries, Inc., 479 F.2d 1259 (7th

Cir. 1973).
*See generally Note, Interlocutory from Order Striking Class
Action Allegations, 70 Colum_L.Rev. (1970).

he district court summarily denied the plaintiffs motion for
8 ry injunction without assigning any reasons for its decision.
e believe the reason the court dealt with the motion in the manner

—lla—

the request for a preliminary injunction, we believe it,
too, 22 under 28 8.0 292(a) (1). By re
fusing to certify the action as a class action, the dis-
trict court effectively precluded a grant of prelimina
injunction relief; as the plaintiff was no longer emplo

by the defendants, Blue Cross-Blue Shield, she clearly
suffered no continuing harm from the challenged pro-
motional and employee evaluation practices. r
in our view, the refusal to certify the suit as a
action limited the potential injunctive relief which the
ay obtain, and accordingly can be appealed
at this time.

Pipe & Ceramics Corp., 410 F.2d 295 (2d Cir. 1969);
Trustees, 311 F.2d 107 (4th Cir.
1962}, cert. denied, U.S. 933 (1963). We note, how-

—12a—

II. CLASS ACTION.

The —— attempted to bring this action on behalf
of a class composed of “all black and female persons
who are employed, or might be employed, by Blue Cross-
Blue Shield, Inc.,” alleging discriminatory patterns and
practices in employee 8 and job evalua-
tion. The plaintiff's Title claim asserted both racial
and sex discrimination, while her § 1981 claim asserted
racial discrimination. The district court refused to cer-
tify the action as a class action because it found that
the plaintiff’s original complaint to the EEOC was too
narrow to permit the type of broad claims of racial
and sex discrimination presented in the complaint, and
accordingly held that the plaintiff was limited by the
terms of her prior EEOC charge.’

The district court noted that nowhere in the EEOC
charge did the plaintiff specifically raise the question
of sex discrimination; the court noted that the plaintiff
in her EEOC charge did not challenge the hiring and
testing practices of Blue Cross-Blue Shield, and while
her charge that she was denied a _— because of
her Afro hairstyle had an “arguable connection to race
by allegation of hairstyle discrimination, such is not suffi-
cient to raise the panorama of alleged evils the plain-
tiff seeks to adjudicate.”

The district court determined that any class which
the plaintiff could represent must be limited by the terms
of her EEOC charge, that is, to a class of persons
denied promotion due to wearing a natural Afro hair-
style. Accordingly, the district court held that because
there was no allegation of numerosity of class members
or commonality of legal claims of a class so defined,
the plaintiff failed to allege a class which could be main-
— under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Proce-

ure.

The district court appears not to have considered what
effect the plaintiff’s second claim based on 42 U.S.C.
§ 1981 should have on its class action determination.

In her charge to the EEOC the plaintiff all in part that
“I feel that I am being discriminated in terms and conditions

of m eupieyment botause of my san, Doge. 5 Deve wormed
for Blue Cross

42

8

In our view, the plaintiff was entitled to make the
broad allegations of racial discrimination she did, under
§ 1981. In our view this action provides a sufficient basis
for adjudicating the claims 1 in the plaintiff’s
complaint. We agree with the district court, however,
that the failure of the plaintiff to allege sex discrimina-
tion in her charge before the EEOC precludes her from
raising the issue in this proceeding.

A. 42 U.S.C. § 1981.
42 U.S.C. § 1981 provides that:

“All persons within the jurisdiction of the United
States shall have the same right in every state...
pA make and enforce contracts . . enjoyed by white
citizens

This provision has been uniformly construed to prohibit
private discrimination in ore ent. Waters v. Wtscon-
sin Steel Works, 427 F.2d 376 (7th Cir. 1970), cert. denied,
400 U.S. 911 (1970); Sanders v. Dobbs House, Inc., 431
F.2d 1097 (5th Cir. 1970), cert. denied, 401 U.S. 948
(1971); Macklin v. Spector Freight Systems, Inc., 478
F. 2d 979 (D.C. Cir. 1973). See generally Comment, Racial
Discrimination and Employment Under the Civil ts
Act of 1866, 36 U. Chi. L. Rev. 615 (1969). This court has
held that the passage of Title VII in no way impliedly
repealed § 1981, Waters v. Wisconsin Steel Works, a,
427 F. ad at 485, noting that “the legislative history of Title
VII strongly demonstrates an intent to preserve pre-
viously existing causes of action.” Id. See also Alexander
v. Gardner-Denver Co., 415 U.S. 36, 48 (1974). Indeed,
in this court’s second Wisconsin Steel Works decision,
502 F.2d 1309, 1315 (7th Cir. 1974), this court concurred
in the views of the five other cirenits which have con-
sidered the question in holding that § 1981 is available
even to those plaintiffs who have failed to pursue their
Title VII administrative remedies. See Long v. Ford
Motor Co., 496 F. 2d 500 (6th Cir. 1974); Young v. In-
ternational Telephone & Telegraph Co., 438 F.2d 757
(3rd Cir. 1971); Caldwell v. National ing Co., 443
F.2d 1044 (5th Cir. 1971); Brady v. Bristol-Myers Co.,

—l4a—

459 F.2d 621 (8th Cir. 1972); Macklin v. ae Freight
Systems, Inc., 478 F.2d 979 (D.C. Cir. 1973).

Thus, in our view, the plaintiff’s claim based upon
42 U.S.C. § 1981 alleging racial discrimination would prop-
erly state a class claim even if her other claim based
upon Title VII is impermissibly broad in light of her
EEOC charge.“ “§ 1981 is available to plaintiff without
regard to Title VII limitations.” Alpha Portland Cement
Co. v. Reese, 507 F.2d 607, 610 (5th Cir. 1975).

On the limited record before us on this appeal there
appear to be unresolved factual questions as to whether
the action can proceed as a class action. These questions
were not considered by the district court in its earlier
order denying class action treatment, based upon the
EEOC charge. Two questions appear to us to have im-
portance in determining whether plaintiff can serve as a
representative for those black employees who allegedly
have been injured by the defendants’ discriminatory em-
ployee evaluation and promotion practices, First, the
plaintiff resigned her employment—but alleges that she
did so due to some form of coercion; secondly, it ap-
pears that many of the evaluation and promotion prac-
tics complained of in the complaint were instituted after
the plaintiff left the defendants’ employ.

The plaintiff must be a member of the class which
she seeks to represent, with sufficient interest in the out-
come to assure that she will adequately and fairly repre-
sent the class. Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a). e plaintiff cannot
meet these standards if she in fact voluntarily resigned her
employment for reasons unrelated to the employee evalua-
tion and promotion practices of which she now com-
plains. On remand the district court should consider these

500, 503 (6th Cir. 1974); A „ 487 216, 217 (9th
Ss. OD. ont, Gee SS a oS Se
chester Terminal Corp., 498 F.2d G41 ( . 1974).

=

8 in determining whether the requirements of
ule 23 are met.

B. Title VII.

This litigation began when the E Beverly Jeanne
Jenkins, completed an EEOC charge form on June 8,
1971 naming her former employer, Blue Cross-Blue Shield,
as the party which had discriminated against her. She
checked the box marked Race or Color“ and made the
following statement to explain what in her view con-
stituted the “unfair thing“ which had been done to her.

“I feel that I am being discriminated in the terms
and conditions of my employment because of my race,
Negro. I have worked for Blue Cross and Blue
Shield approx. three years during which time I
no problem until May, 1971 when I got my natural
hairstyle. Later when I came up for promotion
it was denied because my supervisor, Al Frymier, said
I could never represent Blue Cross with my Afro.
He also accused me of being a leader of the girls
on the floor. The pressure I was working under Kept
me upset, therefore, I asked for a leave of absence.
I was told I had to take a vacation before I could
be granted a leave of absence. I was granted a
week vacation and on my return I was asked to
take a 90-day leave, quit, or be fired, time they said
to get myself together; at the end of this time they
would be able to place me on another job. A White

employee who associated with me might have been
denied her promotion because of her association with
me.

The plaintiff received her statutory notice of her right
to sue from the EEOC on August 4, 1972.

Plaintiff filed this suit on August 28, 1972 alleging
a broad-based pattern and practice of racial and sex
discrimination against her and the class she purported
to represent in hiring, assignment, pay and promotion.“

rr

—16a—

The district court found that because the plaintiff’s
EEOC charge limited the scope of the complaint she
could subsequently file in federal court under Title VU,

any — Title VII action in federal court must be

limited to the specific issue of denial of promotion oppor-
tunities due to wearing an Afro hairstyle. On that basis,
the district court found that the plaintiff had failed to
allege that others were injured due to the same discri-
minatory practice, and accordingly the suit could not be
maintained as a class action.

Although this court has not previously enunciated a
precise rule for purposes of determining what is the
proper scope of the allegations in a complaint when com-
pared against the original charge filed with the EEOC,
we are in agreement that the rule as stated in the case of
Danner v. Phillips Petroleum Co., 447 F.2d 159 (5th
Cir. 1971), should be followed. The court in that case said:

“the correct rule to follow in construing EEOC
charges for purposes of delineating the proper scope
of a subsequent judicial inquiry is that ‘the complaint
in the civil action . . may properly encompass any
. . . discrimination like or — related to the

—17a—

allegations of the charge and growing out of such
allegations.”

Danner v. Phillips Petroleum Co., supra, 447 F.2d at 162.

Upon careful examination of the complaint and the
charge, Judges Bauer and Tone agree that the trial court
properly construed the particular charge here in light of
the general principles, and that the charge does not form
a proper basis for the complaint that the defendant pur-
sued a practice and pattern of discrimination in the man-
ner alleged in the complaint. Judge Tuttle would hold
that the charge was sufficient under the announced stan-
dard to support the allegations of the complaint.

The Court is unanimously of the view that the charge
does not form a proper basis under Title VII for any
complaint of discrimination on the basis of sex.

III. CONCLUSION.

In light of the fact that the trial court dismissed the
complaint hecause of the failure of the named plaintiff
to qualify as representative of her class under Title VII,
without giving consideration to the claim based on § 1981,
and since we conclude that the relief claimed under § 1981
need not be based on any form of claim filed with the
EEOC, we hold that the judgment of the trial court must
be reversed for further consideration of the questions
raised under Section II, A of this opinion—that is, whether
the named plaintiff terminated her employment volun-
tarily, and if she did not, whether she can qualify as a
representative of the class under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a).
The court, under such circumstances, will then give
consideration to what equitable relief the plaintiff may
be entitled to.

The judgment is reversed and the case is remanded
for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
A true Copy:

Teste:
iert of the United States Court of
Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

In the
United States Court of Appeals

For the Seventh Circuit

No. 75-1231
BEVERLY JEANNE JENKINS,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

V.

Bive Cross Mutrvat Hosrrral Insurance, Inc.,
Bive Sm Mutrvat Mepicat Insurance, Ixc.,

Defendants-A ppellees.

Ap from the United States District Court for the
Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division —
No. IP 72-C-398
James E. Noianp, Judge.

Renearp In Banc Janvary 26, 1976
Deciwwep Jury 21, 1976

Before Faircuitp, Chief Judge, Swycert, CuMMINGs,
Pett, Sprecner, Tone and Baver, Circuit Judges.

SprecHer, Circuit Judge. This appeal reheard in banc
concentrates on whether the alle victim of racial and
sex discrimination made sufficiently like or reasonably
related allegations in her charges to the Equal Employ-
ment Opportunity Commission to support, and out of
which could grow or reasonably be expected to , the
racial and sex allegations in her judicial complaint.

—19a—

I

The plaintiff brought this action on her own behalf
behalf of other —— similarly situated as a class

ing the — her former ——

with denying her promotions better assignments,

i terminating her employment because of
her “ sex, black styles of hair dress,” in viola-
tion of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42
U.S.C. § 2000e et seg. and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. The plaintiff
sought declaratory and injunctive relief, reinstatement
with backpay and other money damages.

On July 17, 1974, the district court denied the plain-
tiff's motion seeking an order pursuant to F. R. Civ. P.
23(c) (1) de i that the action be maintainable
as a class action.“ The court stated that “a Title VII

int must be viewed in relationship to the charges
DIT.
Imploymen i mmission. e court’s
reasoning in denying certification of a class action was
that: (1) (lit is clear that she did not raise sex be-
fore the EEOC .. .”; 2?) “(while there is an —>
e allegation of hair style discri

prelimi
notice of appeal was from both the July 17, 1974 and
January 21, 1975 orders.

—20a—

Upon this appeal a panel of this court reversed the
district court’s judgment “[iJn light of the fact that
the trial court dismi the complaint because of the
failure of the named plaintiff to qualify as representa-
tive of her class under Title VII, without giving considera-
tion to the claim based on § 1981, and since we conclude
that the relief claimed under § 1981 need not be based
on any form of claim filed with the EEOC . . .” Jenkins
v. Blue Cross Mutual Hospital Insurance, Inc., 522 F. 2d
1235, 1241 (7th Cir. 1975). The case was remanded for
the district court to give consideration to whether the
plaintiff could qualify as a representative of the class
upon her § 1981 claim, which alleged only racial discri-
mination, and thereafter to consider “what equitable re-
lief the plaintiff may be entitled to.” Jd. at 1242.

II.
A petition for rehearing in banc was granted. Every

At least seven circuits, including this one, have held
that § 1981 is independent of Title VII, that Title VII
creates no procedural barriers to § 1981 actions, and that
§ 1981 is available regardless of whether one has pursued
his Title VII administrative remedies. Macklin v. Spec-
tor Fretght Systems, Inc., 478 F.2d 979, 996 (D.C. Cir.

het Or deus sete fee eS n the
s as [here
moved for a — 2 —

1
12 ; the plaintiff's A from that
whether an appeal may lie from the certify a as a class

i

—2la—

1973); Gersham v. Chambers, 501 F.2d 687, 691 (2d Cir.
0., . : Portland

Cement Co. v. Reese, 507 F.2d 607, 610 ro 1975) ;

(Sth Cir. 1974); Hill v. Americon Airli Inc., 479 F. ad
a
be b » cert
405 U.S. 916 2); Long v. Ford Motor Co., 496 F.2d

equitable relief should depend at the minimum upon
resolution of the § 1981 question. *

and remanded not only because of the § 1981 claim but
also because the plaintiff's EEOC adequately
support her judicial complaints of and sex dis-
nati
The plaintiff's charge form, filed on June 8, 1971 with
the showed a check mark in the box on the form
to indicate that the discrimination was because of “Race

1
3

or Color” but no check mark appeared in the
ceded by the word “Sex.” The explanation the
gave on the form for the discrimination was:
I feel that I am being discriminated in the terms
and conditions of my employment because of my
race, Negro. I have worked for Blue Cross and Blue

E

was denied because my rvisor, Al ier, said

I could never represent Blue Cross with my Afro.

He also accused’ mé of being the leader of the girls

the floor. The pressures I was working under

kept me upset, therefore, I asked for a leave of ab-

Nee
ve o

— 45 who associated with me might have been
denied her promotion because of her association with
me.

The plaintiff received her statutory notice of her right
to sue from the EEOC on August 4, 1972 and filed her
complaint in the district court on August 28, 1972.

The entire court accepts the standard referred to in
the panel decision as the guiding principle in its deter-
mination, namely that set forth in Danner v. Phillips
Petroleum Co., 447 F.2d 159, 162 (5th Cir. 1971):

The 2 rule to Py = wd in 1 EEOC
charges for purposes o elineating the proper scope
of a subsequent judicial inquiry is that “the com-

—23a—

plaint in the civil action . . . may properly encom-
„ discrimination like re.

[ated ‘to de allegations of the charge and growing

The majority parts with the panel in its application

of the standard. a
i | 7 S. 519, 520 (1972), the

In Haines v. Kerner, 404 U = (19 oot “ee

eas ease also unanimously decided a few
Save inter, Love v. Pullman Co., 404 US. 522, 527 (1972),
involving EEOC procedure, the Court said that “techni-

held that Title VII is to “be construed and
pled broadly „Motorola, Inc. v. McLain, 484 F.2d 1339
7th Cir. 1973), and in doing so, we have recognized

unt OC

chase are in leymen) Bee
United States Gypsum Co., 409 F.2d 289, 1 (7th —

or unable to thoroughly describe the discriminatory
FP me
The EEOC charges simply stated in laymen’s la
fuage the “unfair thing that ened” to the plain-
tiff, that is, the discriminatory sews
This policy of being “solicitous of the Title VII plain-
tiff” hep bout expressed by many courts. Gamble v. Bir-

—24a—

mingham Southern R.R., 514 F.2d 678, 687-689 (5th Cir.

1975); Danmer v. Phillips Petroleum Co., supra, at 161-2;

2 v. Standard Brands, Inc., 431 F. 2d 455, 463 (Sth
ir. 1970).

In the present case the plaintiff checked the EEOC
form box stating that the «diseriminati imination [was] because
of . . . Race or Color.” She describing the “unfair
thing done” to her by saying that “I feel that I am be-
ing discriminated in the terms and conditions of my
employment because of my race, Negro.” She said that
ber supervisor denied her a promotion because she “could
never represent Blue Cross with my Afro.” A layperson’s
description of racial discrimination could hardly be more
explicit. The reference to the Afro hairstyle was merely
the method by which the plaintiff’s supervisor allegedly
expressed the employer’s racial discrimination. The plain-
tiff stated that for three years prior to wearing her
Afro hairstyle, she had no problem. As we have said,
„a] single charge may ‘launch a full scale inquiry’” in-
to racial discrimination. Motorola, Inc. v. McLain, supra,
at 1346.

The majority agrees with Judge Tuttle’s minority posi-
tion in the panel decision that the EEOC charge was
sufficient to support the racial discrimination allegations
of the complaint. 522 F.2d at 1241. Judge Tuttle reached
the same conclusion speaking for the Fifth Circuit in
Smith v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 486 F.2d 512 (5th Cir.
1973), where the court held that a charge alleging dis-
-rimination stemming from grooming requirements which
applied particularly to black persons constituted a suf-
ficient charge of racial discrimination when accompanied
by substantially the same general allegation of racial dis-
crimination as here.

In regard to sex discrimination, it is true that the
— 4 did not check the sex discrimination hex on the

KOC form. In Sanchez v. Standard Brands, Inc., supra,
at 462-464, the reverse situation had occurred. The plain-
tiff had checked only the box labeled “sex” and in her
judicial complaint alleged discrimination beeanse of her
“national origin.” The Fifth Cireuit said:

15
b
i
125
5
0

SR
7
8
2
2

=
.
—
ö
‘
:
f
Aap

5
8 F
25
iF
“ef
;

criminated t both black persons and females since
it could not be made to either a white person or a male.
Id., at 1089.

In Danner v. Phillips Petroleum Co., supra, at 161-163
the case relied upon the panel here in its original
decision, the court that the alleged victim of sex
discrimination adequately it to the EEOC where
= oe See Se Set ee Su te oe fact
that ition was not eliminated, jus en from me
and given to ¢ man, I fee that f have been mistreated
and -

—26a—

class composed of “all black and female persons who are
employed, or might be employed, by Blue Cross-Blue
Shield, Inc.” The panel referred to the fact that the plain-
tiff was no longer employed by the defendants at the
time the suit was filed and then’ alluded to the fact that
upon remand the district court could consider “whether

e named plaintiff terminated her employment volun-
tarily, and if she did not, whether she can qualify as a

representative of the class. Upon remand these
uestions should be considered by the district court in
e light of Franks v. Bowman Transportation Co., 44

U.S.L.W. 4356, 4357-4358 (March 24, 1976).

The judgment is reversed and the case is remanded for
further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

Tone, Circuit Judge, with whom Pl. and Bauxn, Cir-
cuit Judges, join, dissenting. I agree with the majority’s
statement of the governing legal principles. My only dis-
agreement is in the reading of plaintiff’s charge filed
with the KEOC, which is quoted in full in the majority
opinion. The reader of these opinions can judge for him-
self whether the present challenges to defendant’s re-
cruitment and promotion practices, including testing, pay-
scale, and job-qualification standards (see 522 F.2d at
1240 n. 9), are “like or reasonably related to the allega-
tions of the [EHEOOC] charge and growing out of such
allegations.”* See Danner v. Phillips Petroleum Co., 447
F. 2d 159, 162 (5th Cir. 1971). It a rs to me that plain-
tiff made it clear she was not complaining about such prac-
tices when she said in her EEOC charge:

“IT have worked for Blue Cross and Blue Shield ap-
proximately 3 years during which time I [had] no
— until May 1970 when I got my natural hair
style.”

I can find nothing elsewhere in the charge that contradicts
or qualifies this statement and nothing that suggests a

*I do not include among the allegations which are not supported by

rr
observe white hair styles and dress styles (item b in footnote 9, 522 F.2d

5
:
E
1
5
e
|
i

—274a—

ttern and practice charge based on race or sex. (I at.
toh oe ignificance to the failure to check the box marked
Sex.“) e seems to me to be sa that after three
years of employment about which she has no complaints
she had ae Se Ir fashi — gta thn
fairly treated because of that. e ess -
ing out-of requirement is to be abolished, I would have
no objection. I cannot however, that if there is
to be such a requirement it has been satisfied with respect
to the pattern and practice charges described above.

—28a—

Statutory Provisions
Title VII, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 706(b), 42

U.S.C. Section 2000(e)-5(b):

(b) Whenever a charge is filed by or on behalf of
a person claiming to be aggrieved, or by a member
of the Commission, alleging that an employer,
employment agency, labor organization, or joint
labor-management committee controlling appren-
ticeship or other training or retraining, including
on-the-job training programs, has engaged in an un-
lawful employment practice, the Commission shall
serve a notice of the charge (including the date,
place and circumstances of the alleged unlawful
employment practice) on such employer, employ-
ment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-
management committee (hereinafter referred to as
the “respondent”) within ten days, and shall make
an investigation thereof. Charges shall be in writing
under oath or affirmation and shall contain such in-
formation and be in such form as the Commission
requires. Charges shall not be made public by the
Commission. If the Commission determines after
such investigation that there is not reasonable cause
to believe that the charge is true, it shall dismiss
the charge and promptly notify the person claiming
to be aggrieved and the respondent of its action. In
determining whether reasonable cause exists, the
Commission shall accord substantial weight to final
findings and orders made by State or local
authorities in proceedings commenced under State
or local law pursuant to the requirements of subsec-
tions (c) and (d). If the Commission determines after
such investigation that there is reasonable cause to
believe that the charge is true, the Commission
shall endeavor to eliminate any such alleged unlaw-
ful employment practice by informal methods of
conference, conciliation, and persuasion. Nothing
said or done during and as a part of such informal
endeavors may be made public by the Commission,
its officers or employees, or used as evidence in a
subsequent proceeding without the written consent

—29a—

of the persons concerned. Any person who makes
public information in violation of this subsection
shall be fined not more than $1,000 or im risoned
for not more than one year, or both. The mis-
sion shall make its determination on reasonable
cause as promptly as possible and, so far as prac-
ticable, not later than one hundred and twenty days
from the filing of the charge or, where applicable

under subsection (e) or (d), from the date upon

which the Commission is authorized to take action
with respect to the charge.

Title VII, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 706 (f)(I),
42 U.S.C. Section 2000(e)-5(f (1).

((i) If within thirty days after a charge is filed
with the Commission or within thirty days after ex-
piration of any period of reference under subsection
(e) or (d), the Commission has been unable to secure
from the respondent a coneiliation agreement
acceptable to the Commission, the Commission may
bring a civil action against any respondent not a
government, governmental agency, or political sub-
division named in the charge. In the case of a
respondent which is a government, governmental
agency, or political subdivision, if the Commission
has been unable to secure from the respondent a
conciliation agreement acceptable to the Commis-
sion, the Commission shall take no further action
and shall refer the case to the Attorney General
who may bring a civil action against such respon-
dent in the appropriate United States district court.
The person or persons aggrieved shall have the
right to intervene in a civil action brought by the
Commission or the Attorney General in a case in-
volving a government, governmental agency, or
political subdivision. If a charge filed with the Com-
mission pursuant to subsection (b) is dismissed by
the Commission, or if within one hundred and
eighty days from the filing of such charge or the ex-
piration of any period of reference under.subsection

—30a—

(c) or (d), whichever is later, the Commission has
not filed a civil action under this section or the At-
torney General has not filed a civil action in a case
involving a government, governmental agency, or
political subdivision, or the Commission has not
entered into a conciliation agreement to which the
person aggrieved is a party, the Commission, or the
Attorney General in a case involving a government,
governmental agency, or political subdivision, shall
so notify the person aggrieved and within ninety
days after the giving of such notice a civil action
may be brought against the respondent named in
the charge (A) by the person claiming to be
aggrieved or (B) if such charge was filed by a
member of the Commission, by any person whom
the charge alleges was aggrieved by the alleged un-
lawful employment practice. Upon application by
the complainant and in such circumstances as the
court may deem just, the court may appoint an at-
torney for such complainant and may authorize the
commencement of the action without the payment
of fees, costs, or security. Upon timely application,
the court may, in its discretion, permit the Commis-
sion, or the Attorney General in a case involving a
government, governmental agency, or political sub-
division, to intervene in such civil action upon cer-
tification that the case is of general public impor-
tance. Upon request, the court may, in its discre-
tion, stay further proceedings for not more than six-
ty days pending the termination of State or local
proceedings described in subsections (c) or (d) of
this section or further efforts of the Commission to
obtain voluntary compliance.

—3la—
28 U.S.C. § 1292:
(a) The courts of appeals shall have jurisdiction of
appeals from:

(1) Interlocutory orders of the district courts of the
United States, the United States District Court for the
District of the Cane! Zune, the District Court of Guam,
and the District Court of the Virgin Islands, or of the
judges thereof, granting, continuing, modifying, refus-
ing or dissolving injunctions, or refusing to dissolve or
modify injunctions, except where a direct review may be
had in the Supreme Court;

Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure

Rule 4:

(a) APPEALS IN CIVIL CASES. In a civil case (including
a civil action which involves an admiralty or maritime
claim and a proceeding in bankruptcy or a controversy
arising therein) in which an appeal is permitted by law
as of right from a district court to a court of appeals the
notice of appeal required by Rule 3 shall be filed with
the clerk of the district court within 30 days of the date
of the entry of the judgment or order appealed from; but
if the United States or an officer or agency thereof is a
party, the notice of appeal may be filed by any party
within 60 days of such entry. If a timely notice of appeal
is filed by a party, any other party may file a notice of
appeal within 14 days of the date on which the first
notice of appeal was filed, or within the time otherwise
prescribed by this subdivision, whichever period last ex-
pires.

ss „ „ *

---

Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/brief%3Amicro_IA40385004_0672%3A1. Public record. Not legal advice.
