Opposition Brief — Griffin v. Dugger
Supreme Court brief1988
Ask Donna
What actually matters in this document.
Text
seo
ny Suorene Court, U.S,
riILBD
No. 87-1281 APR {5 1988
JOSEP SPANIOL, UR.
In The Due Rh
Supreme Court of the United States
October Term, 1987
Ly
Vv
PENERS L. GRIFFIN, e¢ al.,
Petitioners,
RICHARD L. DUGGER, et al.,
Respondents.
tf.
Vv
BRIEF IN OPPOSITION TO PETITION
FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI
ray
Vv
Bruce ALEXANDER MINNICK
Counsel of Record
Doveuas A. Mane
CxHar.es T. CoLLeTTE
Mane, Rerr & Couette, P.A.
Post Office Box 11127
Tallahassee, Florida 32302
(904) 222-7710
Rosert A. BuTTERWORTH
Attorney General of Florida
Harry F. Cures
Assistant Attorney General
DEPARTMENT OF LEGAL ArFrarrs
Room 1501, The Capitol
Tallahassee, Florida 32301
(904) 488-1573
Attorneys for Respondents
COCKLE LAW BRIEF PRINTING CO., (800) 225-6964
or call collect (402) 342-2831
QUESTIONS PRESENTED FOR REVIEW
Respondents pereeive no need to restate the four
“Questions Presented” by petitioners. llowever, respon-
dents will only respond to the three points presented in the
petition.
PARTIES TO THE PROCEEDING
The parties to this ongoing proceeding below are plain-
tiffs Peners L. Griffin and Henry L. Dejerinett; interven-
ors Alvin Smith and John D. Butler; defendants below are
Richard L. Dugger, in his official capacity as Secretary,
Florida Department of Correetions; The Florida Depart-
ment of Corrections; Louie L. Waimwright, imdividually ;
and Raymond W. Gearey, individually.
However, the only parties properly before this Court
are petitioners Griffin and Dejerinett; intervenor Smith;
and the respondents Dugger and the Florida Departmen:
of Corrections.
il
TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUESTIONS PRESENTED FOR REVIEW
PARTIES TO THE PROCEEDING
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES =
PREFACE REGARDING PARTY &
OPINIONS BELOW
JURISDICTION
STATUTES INVOLVE)
STATEMENT OF ‘ie [hk CASK
STATEMENT OF THE FACTS
REASONS FOR DENYING THE WRIT
I. Question 1
If. Question 2
Til. Question 5
CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
Iv
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
(‘\SEs:
Allee rn Uy drano, 416 U.S. S02 (1974) . ais Ao
Alvarez v. Pan American Life Insurance Co.,
379 F.2d 992 (5th Cir. 1 Lerten ten Mee, Nite Birr. 13
Amerwan Pine & Construction Co. +. Utah. 414
U.S. 588 (1974) Re 18, 19, 21
Belcher r+. Stengel, 429 US. B28 (1976) 2...
Blum v. Bacon, 457 U.S. 132 (1982) ... ean POLS, | iZ
Blain ve. Yare tsky, 457 U.S. 991 SS) en
Rrowi v. Sohli #4, B6OO Fi2d 160 (oth Cir. 1981) roots ‘3. 18, 19
Crown, Cork & Seal Co., Inc. +. Parker. 46° U.S.
345 (1983) : ee musceciNly Le OO Oh
Dalton +. Employment Security Commission of
North Carolina, 67] Pea 835 (4th Cir. Be ba ie
cert. denied, 459 U.S. S62 (1982) i)
Dayton Board of Kducation v. Brinkham. 433 U.S.
405 (1977) carrer
EEOC v. Aississ/ppi College, 626 F.2d 477 (oth
Cir. 1980) . eee eae — on |
Fast Texas Motor Preiaht +, Rodriques, 431 US
295 (1977) oo : . _ 13
Lrans v. US, Pipe d Foundry Co.. 696 F.2d 925
(11th Cir. 1983) ru eet as epee 18
Ezell v. Mobile Housing Bd., 709 F.2d 1376 (11th
Cir. 1983) ew Sone . 16
Falcon +. General Pelephone Co., 815 F.2d 317
(oth Cir, 1987) 19
General Velephoune Co. . Falcon, 457 U.S. 147
(1982) ; eee PASSTi
Hil] ? ihe Sli ri li chric Raa. Ine... DOH Pd 99 (4th
Cir. 1979) 13
Jackson vr. Si adhoard Coast Line RR. G7s Pd 99v
(lith Cir, 1982) pd
Vv
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES—Continued
Page
Oatis v. Crown Zellerbach Corp., 398 F.2d 496
S35 oy, at |: .) [pene RAE SBN LAP A A wal tay 11, 15
O’Shea v. Littleton, 414 U.S. 488 (1974) ow. 18
Payne v. Travenol Laboratories, Inc., 565 F.2d
895 (Sth Cir. 1977) cert. denied, 439 U.S. 835
(19iG) oe Lae me Nee ee MM SERS ILO mt AD tet id 13
Snell v. Suffolk County, 782 F.2d 1094 (2d Cir.
BOGS sles eae Ge 15
Snyder v. Harris, 394 US. S32 (1969) 2.2 18
Steward v. Hannon, 675 F.2d 846 (7th Cir. 1982)... 13
Thurston v. Dekle, 531 F.2d 1264 (Sth Cir. 1976)
vacated on other grounds, 438 U.S. 901 (1978) 1°
Trafficante v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 409
US, ee (20a ee 14
United Airlines v. McDonald, 482 U.S. 3885 (1977) 14, 19
Vuyanich ve Republic National Bank of Dallas,
728 F.2d 1195 (Sth Cir. 1984) cert. denied, 469
U.S. 1073 (1984) eee sseeseee13, 15, 16, 18, 20
Wakeen v. Hoffman House, Inc.. 724 F.2d 1238
(7th Ot: 16. eee ee nee ae
Warth «. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490 (1975) BNR Ton ot is
Zipes tv. Trans World Atrlines, Ine., 455 U.S. 385
(1982) 22
STATUTES:
YS U.S.C. 612541) 3
28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) 2,8
42 U.S.C. © 1981 3
42 U.S.C. § 20000 ef seq. ae a SS
Tithe VIL of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passin
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS:
Constitution of the United States, Article ITI passin
vi
PREFACE REGARDING PARTY AND
RECORD REFERENCES
Plaintiffs Griffin and Dejerinett wil! be referred to
as “plaintiffs” or “petitioners,” or by name as necessary.
Intervenor Smith will be referred to as “intervenor,” or
by name. Defendants Dugger and the Florida Department
of Corrections will be referred to as “defendants” or “re-
spondents”.
Respondents will cite to petitioner’s appendix as
“PA-" followed by the page number (e.g., “PA-S2a”).
Citations to respondents’ appendix will appear as “RA-”
followed by the page number (e.g., “RA-65").
Citations to the opinion below will be to the volume
and page number where reported (¢.g., 823 F.2d 1476).
Citations to the reeord below will follow the Eleventh
Cireuit’s format (e.¢., “R4-150-5"), where “R” means ree-
ord,” “4° is the volume, "150" is the document number,
and “9” is the page number of the document.
No. 87-1281
In The
Supreme Court of the United States
October Term, 1987
PENERS L. GRIFFIN, et al.,
Petitioners,
RICHARD L. DUGGER, ef al.,
Pe sponde nts.
0 — —
BRIEF IN OPPOSITION TO PETITION
FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI
————_————_— — -0Q-- — — =
Respondents Richard L. Dugger and Florida Depart-
ment of Correetions respectfully request this Court to deny
the petition for writ of certiorari seeking review of the
Kleventh Cireuit’s decisions in this case.
OPINIONS BELOW
The opinion of the Eleventh Cireuit Court of Appeals
Is reported at S23 F.zd 1476 (August 7, 1987, as amended
September 25, LYST). The order denving plaintiffs’ peti-
tion for rehearing and suevestion for rehearing im ban
is printed at RA-57 (Oetober 30, 1US7).
»)
Petitioners have reproduced the opinion of the Elev-
enth Circuit in their appendix at PA-la to S5a;' the orig-
inal order of the district court certifying the class (entered
March 12, 1981), is reproduced at PA-S6a to 94a; the dis-
trict court’s order allowing the intervention of Alvin
Smith (entered July 30, 1982) is reproduced at PA-95a to
110a; and the district court’s memorandum opinion grant-
ing judgement for defendants on all claims heard exeepi
the testing claim (entered August 25, 1983) is reproduced
at PA-l1]la to 188a.
Respondents have reproduced several additional docu
ments pertinent to these review proceedings in their appen-
dix. The district court's order directing judgment for de-
fondants op all claims heard below (entered August 25,
1983) is reproduced at RA-1 to 3; plaintiffs’ motion to alter
or amend judgment (still pending) is reproduced at RA-
4 to 7; the order appealed from, containing the required
certificate allowing interlocutory appeal pursuant to 28
[US.C. © 1292(b) ts reproduced at RA-S to 14; the decision
of the Eleventh Cireuit is reproduced at RA-15 to 56; the
order denying rehearing is reproduced at RA-57 to 58;
plaintiffs’ post-appeal motion for leave to amend com-
plaint (filed February 10, 1988) is reproduced at RA-59 to
O1: plaintiffs’ post-appeal motion for leave to amend inter-
venor Smith's complaint is reproduced at RA-62 to 63;
plaintiffs’ post-appeal motion to intervene new parties is
reproduced at RA-64 to 66; and plaintiffs’ post-appeal mo-
tion to recertify class and request for evidentiary hearing
is reproduced at RA-67 to 70 (all filed February 10, 198s).
| Petitioners’ apnendix contains many typographical errors
made in their reproduction process. Therefore, respondents
have also reproduced the Eleventh Circuit's decision in their
appendix, at RA-15 to 36
--
—
JURISDICTION
Jurisdiction of this Court has been invoked pursuant
to 28 U.S.C. §1254(1).
STATUTES INVOLVED
This is a Title VII ease. The federal statute involved
ix Title VIL of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended,
applicable to the states on March 28, 1972, presently codi-
ried at 42 U.S.C. § 2000e ef seq.
O
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
This ‘‘across-the-board’’ class action was filed on
October 15, 1979, by Peners L. Griffin on his own behalf
and ‘fon behalf of all past, present and potential black
American citizens and residents who have been or may be
employees of the defendants or applicants for employ-
mont.” R1-1-2. Griffin sued Louie L. Wainwright im his
official eapacity, and the State of Florida, Department of
Corrections, alleging race discrimination in employment
under 42 U.S.C. © 1981 and Tithe VIL of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e ef seg. R1-1-1. Griffin
mainly complained of defendants’ failure to promote him,
and for twiee terminating him because of his race; he also
claimed of harassment and retaliation from defendants.
R1-1 through 4. Griffin did not advance any individual
claim of discrimination in lilting.
4
|
|
i¢
However, in his ‘‘across-the-board’’ elass claims, Grif
lin Hlachks
fin alleged that defendants discriminated
aga
In all aspects of employment, including reeruiting, hiring,
assignments, promotions, discipline and harassment, fail
Ing to advertise vacancies, maintaining a racially biased
working environment, and ‘tutilizing written entry level
examinations and other qualifications and selection stan
dards ... Which have a detrimental impact upon the plain
tiff and his elass.’’ R-1-3, 4.
Defendants immediately and repeat objected to
Griffins at emp to represent ay phicants or brine clas
hiring claims, since he was an 1 mbent correctional ot
fieer employer and had no standin:
issues. HI-5; B1-17; Ri-21; Ki1-22: 21-30: Ri-43: R1-49.
Despite defendants’ repeated objections, Gritfin was al
lowed to amend his complaint twice, and to intervene plain
tiff Harry L. Dejerinett as a named plaintiff and new
Class representative, to represent a hiring subclass ot
clerical job applicants. R1I-25; R1-55. Phe district court
ruled that Dejerinett’s clerical failure-to-hire claim was
encompassed by Griffin's general class hiring claim undet
the “across-the-board” theory. R1-53.
Griffin filed his Second Amended Complaint on De
eember 15, 1980, adding Henry L. Dejerinett as a named
plaintiff and as a class representative, R1-54-1. The See
ond Amended Complaint vlleved ai ditt rent class ‘‘of all
past, present and potential black emp LWeeu of the State
of Fiorida Department of Correetions.’? R1-54-2 No
mention was made of any applicant subclass. However, de
fendants filed their Amended Answer on Jannary 19, 198!
preserving their objections to all correctional officer hir
Ing claims. Rv-66.
5)
Based upon a stipulation between the parties, on
March 10, 1981, the district court entered an order pre-
liminarily certifying a class of ‘tall past, present, and
potential black employees of the State of Florida Depart-
ment of Corrections.’’ PA-S6a to 88a. The stipulation
Was incorporated into the order, and was attached to the
order as a part thereof. PA-S6e. The stipulation pro-
vides, inter alia, that (1) the class certification was pre-
liminary, and (2) was based upon plaintiffs” and the dis-
trict court’s perception of the law in the Fifth Cireuit as
then allowing such “across-the-board” class actions to pio-
eeed. Under the terms of the stipulation the defendants
specifically preserved their rights to litigate and fo ap-
peal the disputed issues of standing aid Rule 25 require-
ments, and other areas of disagreement. PA-S9a to D4a.
On May 18, 1982, Griffin and Dejerinett filed their
motion for partial summary judgment, attacking (omoug
other thines) the defendants’ use of a written examination
developed by the Florida Department of Administration
(FDOA), and required by FDOA for use in hiring entry
level correctional officers. R2-108-21 through 28. Defen-
dants had repeatedly objected lo litigating this issue and
all other correctional officer hiring issues, because Griffin
Was an incumbent employee who had passed the fest, and
because Dejerimett was a clerical applicant and never had
to take it?
General Telephone C0. ?. Faleon, 457 U 147 Was
decided by this Court on June 14, 1982. Idleven days later,
2 The FDOA has never been a party to these proceedings, and
no one has ever filed a timely EEOC charge about FDOA’s
test, or about FDOC’s use of it.
—
phe La pahaaring es
UN dee ie ae a
6
on June 25, 1982, defendants noticed their reliance upen
Faleon, and moved to vacate the order certifying the class
())) July ss. 1082. R4 143.
\leantime, plaintiffs tried to avoid the toree of Faleou
hy moving to intervene Alvin Smith, a correctional offieer
applicant who had failed the test in July 1st. Tlowever,
Smith never filed a timely charge of discrimination with
the EROC. ses F.2d 1481, note 8. Defendants objected
accordingly. R4-14.
Qi) July MS JOS, the district court took uy) the two
motions, and entered its order (1) denvine the defendants’
motion to vacate class certification and (2) granting
Smith's motion to intervene, R4-150. Smith was allowed
to intervene ‘tas a matter of right’? on his ewn behalf,
and as ‘ta proper representative for potential blaek em-
plov es, v4 10 at The district court's order allowed the
action to continue as an “across-the-board” class action
with Griffin, Dejerinett and Smith collectively, as named
plaimtiffs representing the entire class of “all past, present,
and potential black employees of the State of Florida Dp.
partment of Corrections.” R-4-150-6.. Then two days later,
on July 30, 1982, the district court ruled on Griffin's and
Dejerinett’s motion for partial summary judgment, with
out any hearing. The district court’s order granted de
claratory relief only on the correctional officer written
examination issue. The district court: found “that the
correctional officer written examination utilized by de
fendants in screening applicants for correctional officer
positions has a disparate impact upon class members which
has not been justified by business necessity.’’ R4-157-52
Trial was held over the five-week period beginning
August 17, and ending September 17, 1982. R5-196.) The
parties submitted extensive post-trial motions and mem-
oranda. R5-195; R5-197: R6-21I0O; R6-2li; R7-21l2; Rvi-
215; R7-214; R7-215.
On August 25, 1983, the district court filed its Mem-
orandum Opinion. PA-llla to 188a. Judgment was en-
tered for defendants on all issues presented at trial.
RA-1 to 3. The distriet court also brought forward its
earlier summary judgment (R4-157, July 30, 1982) and
entered judgment for plaintiffs on the single issue of the
correctional officer written examination, and left several
issues including relief pending? RA-2 to 35.
Plaintiffs moved to alter or amend the judgment on
September $, 1988. RA-4 to 7. Defendants responded on
September 16, 1983. R7-225. The motion is still pending
in the district court.
Plaintiffs moved to commence stage Il (relief on the
)
testing issue), R7-283, and defendants again objected, and
filed additional supporting documents. R7-254, R8-259,
} The EEOC has never seen the test, nor had the district court
seen it prior to the ruling. Plaintiffs ‘“won’’ on statistics
alone, and defendants never had an opportunity to show job
relatedness, business necessity or argue the merits of the test.
)
The test was ebolished in 1983.
4 All matters are still pending in the district court.
.
R8-240. Plaintiffs responded. Rs-242. The parties were
unable to agree, and asked for permission to appeal,
The issue of relief to the class of black persons who
took and failed the correctional officer written examina-
tion was left pending, while the parties agrecd to seek in-
terlocutory appeal of the controlling issues of law regard-
ing jurisdiction, and Rule 25. The distriet court adopted
the plaintiffs’ position on notice relief in its order dated
October 8, 1985, and included the required certificate tor
purposes of the appeal. RA-S to 9. The Eleventh Cireuit
granted the interlocutory appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§ 1292(b), and vaeated the district court’s orders. Plain-
tiffs now seek review of the Eleventh Circuit's decisions.
STATEMENT OF THE FACTS
Respondents adopt the findings of fact set forth in
the district court’s Memorandum Opinion entered August
25, 1983, (PA-116 to 188a), and the findings of the Elev-
enth Circuit Court of Appeals (825° F.2d 1476-1494), as
their Statement of the Case.
Accordingly, respondents find it necessary to correct
or clarify some of the statements made by petitioners in
their Statement of the Case.
Peners L. Griffin was an entry level correctional offi-
eer (CO I) seeking promotions at FDOC. He was never
promoted, and claimed race diserimination as the reason.
Griffin was also disciplined many times, even fired twice,
giving rise to his other individual claims, arising in 1974.
823 F.2d 1479.
Griffin filed an EEOC charge in February 1975, claim-
ing individual race discrimination in promotions, discipline
and terminations. R4-148. Ile also mentioned the word
‘hiring’’. There is no evidence that his charge was ever
fully investigated by the HOC, nor is there any evidence
as to the scope of the EEOC’s investigation, if there was
one. Griffin himself said there was not. RI-21; Ri-22;
R1-28; R1-24. Moreover, it is undisputed that the EEOC
has never seen the Correctional Officer | test, and undis-
puted that the district court never saw the test prior to
ruling that it had a disparate impact on blacks. Respon-
dents have thus been denied their rights to conciliation
under Title VII, as well as denied a fair opportunity to
litigate the merits of the test below.
Therefore, contrary to-petitioner’s statement on page
9 of the petition, the district court’s ‘tsubstantive deter-
mination’? on the test is in issue; in fact, that ruling has
also been vacated by the Eleventh Circuit’s decision, by
operation of law. Plaintiffs have lacked standing to raise
that issue from the beginning, as the Eleventh Cireuit
has found.
Plaintiffs moved for summary judgment without
standing, on the issue of disparate impact of the CO I
test on May 18, 1982, some two months before Smith inter-
vened. Defendants responded, preserving their continual
objections. R3-120. Falcon was decided June 14, 1982.
Defendants immediately noticed their reliance on Falcon,
again objecting to plaintitf’s lack of standing and failure
to meet Rule 23 requirements, on June 20, 1982. Hearing
10
nothing from plaintiffs or the district court, defendants
moved to vacate the order certifying class, on July S, Tos2.
823 F.2d 1480; R4-143.
Plaintiffs moved to intervene Smith, to save the ob-
jective testing claim. R414]. The district court recoe-
nized that defendants had been rieht all along. PA-10Ra,
108a and 107a. However, instead of vacating the imprep-
erly certified class, the district court allowed Smith to in-
tervene on the eve of summary judgment, solely to save
the objective class hiring claim which plaintiffs never had
standing to raise in the first place. Smith’s objective
claim was then adjudicated on plaimtiff’s carlier motion
for summary judgment, two days later, on July 30, 1982.
$93 F.2d 1481. The Bleventh Cirenit Court of Appeals has
reviewed all these facts and has vacated the district court's
orders, S98 F.2d 1484 and 1495.
All of Griffin’s individual Tithe VIE claims of sub-
jective discrimination in) promotions, discipline, retalia-
tory discipline, and terminations were resolved against him
at trial. RA-1. Likewise, all of Dejerinett’s individual
subjective hiring elaims were resolved against him at trial.
Id. Finally, Griffin and Dejerinett together lost all their
subjective class claims of race discrimination, ineluding
hiring, at trial, RA-1.) The single issue won by plaintiffs
below was the objective testing claim regarding the dis-
parate Impact of the correctional officer test advanced by
intervenor Alvin Smith. S23 F.2d 1481,
Alvin Smith took and failed the CO | test in July 1981,
over six years after Griffin’s claims arose. S23) F.2d
1480, 1481.) However, Smith never filed a timely HRC
charge about the test, and consequently never exhausted
administrative remedies either. The EMOC has never in
12
REASONS FOR DENYING THE WRIT
Introduction
The court of appeals’ decision below was rendered in
the alternative. First, Griffin was found to lack Article
II] standing to assert the objective testing claim in the
federal courts. Thus, the Eleventh Cireuit held that ‘*the
district court erred when it permitted Griffin to raise the
testing claim on behalf of himself and on behalf of others.”
893 F.2d 1454.
Alternatively, the court of appeals held that, “even if
Griffin somehow had constitutional standing to assert the
testing claim, he did not, in light of General Tel. Co. v.
Falcon . . . (citations omitted) have representative ca-
pacity to assert the testing claim on behalf of those who
took the FDOC’s written entry-level examination, failed it,
and were not bired.” 825 F.2d 1484, and n.17.
Petitioners here focus only on the first of the two
alternative holdings below. Petitioners do not seek review
of the court’s decision finding Griffin to be an inadequate
class representative and holding that Rule 23 requirements
were not met. In faet, petitioners concede that issue, on
page 352 of their petition.
Accordingly, this Court should deny the writ) since
the court of appeals’ decision would be affirmed on the
alternative grounds. Belcher vr. Stengel, 429 U.S. 118
(1976); Dayton Board of Education +. Brintham, 433 U.S.
406, 419 (1977); Blum +. Bacon, 457 UWS. 132, 137 (1982).
I. Question 1.
The court of appeals correctly held that plaintiffs
lacked Article Il] standing to assert the testing claim in
the federal courts. The petitioners erroncously assert that
be court ol] appeals has thus imposed a new requirement
! es ; 4 } }
Ol) yl ] sto bave Cols ULLO i 11)1e THe a ehbare
Ol duserimimation ith the EE Phat is rrect
| yf ] { } ! ? ]
Ii¢ COU! QO appre is (1CC] () Ss €0rreet a i Ss 1)
ledrano, 416 U.S. SOP. S29 (1974): Brow Sibleu. GOO
| cl (O00 iil (tl (1) LOS] ) Pail Tra te] Lab Be
rues. |i Od F.Pd S95 (Sth Cir. 1977), cert. dented, 439
U.S. S835 (1978): Thurston 1) f Dol K.Bd 164 thi
Cir. 1976). racah ) her ground P58 U.S (1 vid
Voayanich Repub Vat'l Bank, 725 F.2d 1196 (oth Ch
1OS4), cert. dented, 469 ULS. 1075 (1984): Blan bare!
yp. 457 U.S. 991, 999 (1983): Bast Tearas Motor Freight
( if ye | 99 (4th Ch 179): Savi ye 3 llarr .
it US ayy 1069 ) | re Pan A ) anu Lite lis
nee f ob 2d 992 (oth Cir, 1967)
Petit MeVn ClTte no ithor! Suppo ne then 1ey
y} } | ‘ , } ‘ ] . . ;
| ( Hrow il rye ~()] Clailnihne it) ‘ avy ( ((] {)
" yy
acharve with the Wind ) take precedence over or ex
} }
} ind the coustitutional requirement of nade” appeal
t 1} t ] 1) 7°17 1) | | t)t) neo? or) that
oO itl Lede) CO - il) . petitioners eveb argue that
Steward vv. llannon, 675 F.2d S46 (7th Cir. 1982) held that
, 14) ' ‘
congress intended to define Tithe VIP standing ti as
’ ’ . 1 9
POUL" s the Constitution permitted. Pet a / pp. 1S
2 | 1 .
Phat is the result reached the Elev Wan Nn this
' ] 4 é . ] ri — . | .
Cis Phe Other ¢ ~ ead a Co) ( U (la ho CoO
T @P1THe? 1 hie \ h slime Hine
public National Bank of Dallas. 722 F2d 1195. 1°01
The court of appeals’ decision is not in contliet with
the decisions of this Court, nor in conflict with anv other
eases relied upon by petitioners, This Court should deny
the writ.
II. Question 2.
Petitioners now admit that in light of Fa vw, Griffin
}
could net represent the class of persons who failed t
correctional officer written examination. Prelition. }). ae
Respondents have known and argued that fact sinee 1079,
When Griffin filed this suit. Accordingly, the parties now
are in agreement that the testing subelass was improperly
plead by Griffin, improperly certified, and imprepert!
recertifped » the district eourt Giritiin ilw; - Wa il j
still is an inadequate class representative. Therefore. the
}
lKleventh (irenit’s order Vaecenuting th proper! (*t riitied
class is cao? rect, ; rie retiliomers should hy: tier cptisarre |
; :
that order, under J’alcow.
llowever, to avoid the effect of the Eleventh Cirenit’s
mandate, and in order to. side-stern this Court's clear
holding in Faleon, petitioner are now attempting to
replead Griffin's ease below under a new across-the-board
thi ory, hoping to create Article II] standing whi re nhotre
Was found to exist see plaintiffs* motion for lea
amend complaint, RA ibs roleniist ft" mot oie ir @ te
+
amend intervenor Smith’s complaint. RA-G2. olaintifts’
1S
Court should reject) petitioners’
deny the writ,
III. Question 3.
Petitioners’ last pol t regarding to
sented to the district C()]
hig th
Smith had not exhausted, but erroneo
to intervene anvwa relvine’ upon Gi
sy? 4 *s ] ‘
charge to exeuse Smith’s laek of «
4 z - 1 41 .
Istratliy remedies uhaer the sitet
1OY9a. Co
tly no
if how capable OT NXT
Isequel
1
no plaimtit
The leventh Cireuit correctly hi
court abused its discretion by allown
tion solely to save the testiie claim C4
standing to brine it in the Meo wy uy ‘
accord Woaheen Uv. floft li fhou In
Vuyanich ov.
ize FZ
Co., 696 F.2d 925, at
SUpra,
. . ] 4
at ¥Z5-9ZY, and note
] .- 1.” j -
SULEI, Hpra, O.)0) teva cil
re 5 .
Brown i.
tolling’ arguments anea
Suppor QO]
rehe
unsupported
Sh) allowed
view and
iS Hever pre
that
iP
KneW
Smith
iffin’s 1975 EEO
haustion of admin
ne rul PA-10Sa,
lls | viel there 1s
}
emedies on the test.
i that the district
Smit] Interyvé
ise Grilfin had no
Zo £2 19?) 14935
ra, (24 | AG |
l> alid
cs &c Ff wdvay
(} lith Cin 1OS23 )
|
ithorities lvanced
levi till and th
ee ms for re
hearing im bane, denied on October BO, 1987 RA-97
The decision of the Kleventh Cireuit does no conthet with
this (‘ourt’s eCISIONS 1)) hie) dit f pe & Couslric frp
Co. vu. Utah, 414 U.S. 538 (1974 ov United Airline
Me Donald, LSo2 [ Ri 5 SW) (1904 oo OE ‘Pe
Co., Ine. v. Parker, 462 U.S. 345 (198
Phe holdings in these cases p)
allegation
: a “7
Soin a COMptalnt Lec
1
are legitimate class allegations brought by someone who
has Article [li standing himself. ‘‘Standine cannot be
acquired through the back door of a class action.’? .Lllee
rn. Medrano, supra, 416 U.S. at 829 (1974) (BI
concurring); Brown v. Sthley, supra, 60 F.2d at 771.
However, in this case Griffin never had standing to
raise the objective testing claim, and neither did Dejeri
nett. Accordingly, since there has never been a proper
class pled or certified here, the Hleventh Cireuit properly
racated the district court’s orders, which are thus void
ab inttio. See Faleon +. General Pele phow C'o., S15 F.2d
317 at 820 (doth Cir. 1987). There never was a class, as a
niatter of law.
The rules announced tin american Pipe and Crown,
C‘ork a Seal presume a valid Class action, ana heretore
properly allow similarly situated persons and proper puta
tive class members to intervene or bring individual actions
upon a subsequent denial of class certification In such
proper cases, this Court has held that the statutes of limi-
tations appleable to actions brought in the federal courts
may be tolled for proper class members during the pen
dency of the class certification proceedings, Likewise, in
United Awlines this Coart has allowed proper putative
Class members to await entry of final judgment before
intervening tor purposes of appealing the demial of class
eertifieation. This case does not disturb those rules of
equity.
[In this case, Smith was allowed to intervene solely to
‘reate subject-matter jurisdiction over the objective tes
ing claim, where none existed before Phere never was
a Valid e¢lass action alleged or certified here. Therefore,
unlike American Pipe and the other eases, intervenor
20
Smith had no valid class action into which to intervene.
Petitioners cite no authority allowing federal courts to
ereate or enlarge their jurisdiction by allowing interven-
tion of non-putative class members, at any stage of the
proceedings. See Vuyanich v. Republic Nat'l Bank, supra,
723 F.2d at 1201.
More importantly, in Crown, Cork & Seal the inter-
venor Parker was clearly a member of the putative class,
and was independently able to sue on the same issues
raised by the plaintiffs in their class action. Parker had
already filed a timely EEOC charge and had fully ex-
hausted his administrative remedies; he was awaiting his
notice of right to sue before the class action was filed. 462
U.S. at 847. Therefore, when class certification was de-
nied, Parker still had his statutery 90 days in which to
intervene in the action, or file his own individual action.
462 U.S. at 554.
By comparison, applicant Smith was clearly not a
member of Griffin’s incumbent correctional officer class,
nor was he a member of Dejerinett’s clerieal elass. And
unlike Parker, Smith had never filed a timely HEOC
charge nor exhausted his Tithe VIL administrative reme-
dies, and could not have filed his own lawsuit. Thus Smith
was neither a proper class member nor a proper inter-
venor, and the tolling rules do not apply to im.
There are other reasons why the tolling rules do not
apply to Smith. Griffin’s subjective claims arose in 1974,
and he filed his class action in 1979. Smith’s objective
testing claim did not even arise until he took and failed
the test, in July Isl, secen years atier Griftin’s claims
arose, Smith then slept on his rights another year, until
21
July 1982, when he attempted to file an EEOC charge
and intervened to save the testing claim. However, since
Smith had waited a year to file his charge, the EOC
dismissed it for lack of jurisdiction. Therefore, Smith
was out of time at the EEOC before he intervened, and
there is no time left to toll.
Petitioners seem to believe that Crown, Cork & Seal
excuses Smith’s failure to exhaust administrative reme-
dies, or somehow tolls the time in which Smith may file
an EKOC charge. That view is incorrect. The tolling
rules apply to time limits for secking federal court inter-
ventions, or for filing new federal court actions, or for
taking federal court appeals, not to the HMOC’s admin-
istrative ISO day filing period. In effect, petitioners have
asked this Court to overrule the EEOC’s 1982 determina-
tion that Smith’s charze was untimely filed. Petitioners
cite no authority for their novel request.
Petitioners’ expansive view of the tolling rules would
encourage anyone to file a spurious class action, and there-
by toll the time or excuse the need for filing EOC charges
altogether, for all asserted members of the spurious class
for years, even decades. (Griffin’s claims arose fourtecu
years ago.) Petitioners cite no authority to support their
novel theory of open-ended Title VII class action litiga-
tion, because there is none.
Several members of this Court have warned against
this kind of abuse of the tolling rules. See concurring
opinion of Justice BLACKMUN, in American Pipe & Con-
struction Co. v. Utah, supra, 414 U.S. at 561; also see,
concurring opinion of Justice POWELL, with whom Jus-
tice REHNQUIST and Justice O’CONNOR joined, in
Crown, Cork & Seal v. Parker, supra, 462 U.S. at 354, 350.
Finally, the holding of this Court in Zipes v. Trans
World Airlines, Inc., 455 U.S. 385 (1982), which basically
sanctioned the single filing rule, is not in conflict either.
In Zipes, the issue was whether all putative class mem-
bers had to file timely HEOC charges in order to share in
the relief already obtained by the 30 women who appar-
ently had filed timely charges. In this case administra-
tive remedies have never been exhausted on the testing
issue by anyone. Petitioners cite no authority holding
that Tithe VIL class Hability can be established, or that
class relief can be given in the absence of a proper class
representative who has standing and has exhausted reme-
dies on the underlying class claim.
Respondents have always denied all allegations of ex-
haustion of administrative remedies, and have repeatedly
objected to plaintiffs’ lack of Article III] standing to liti-
gate the testing claim, from the beginning. Had they
listened, petitioners might have found someone with stand-
ing, and then could have exhausted administrative reme-
dies; but they did not do so. Instead, plaintiffs and inter-
venor Smith have intentionally avoided their requirement
to exhaust Title VII administrative remedies for years,
and cannot do so now.
Therefore, it is far too late in this litigation for peti-
tioners to demand equitable waiver of the necessary con-
dition precedent which they intentionally ignored for years,
to their own detriment. Smith has not and cannot allege
that ‘‘all conditions precedent have been fulfilled’’, as
required, 823 F.2d at 1482, n.12, and 823 F.2d 1492; Jack-
son v. Seaboard Coast Line RR, 678 F.2d 992, 1010, 1011
(11th Cir. 1982). There is no conflict with Zipes.
23
The Eleventh Circuit has reviewed all the facts, con-
sidered all the authorities and all of petitioners’ argu-
ments, and has properly vacated the district court’s orders
below. Therefore, this Court should deny the writ.
a oO ——
CONCLUSION
Because the questions raised by petitioners present
no conthiet with decisions of other federal courts of appeals
on the same subject matter, no conflict with applicable
decisions of this Court, and no important questions of
federal law which have not been but should be settled by
this Court, respondents respectfully request that plain-
tiffs’ petition for writ of certiorari be denied.
Respectfully submitted,
Bruce ALEXANDER MINNICK
Counsel of Reeord
DovcGuas A. Mano
CnHarues T. CoLLETre
Mane, Retr & Couette, P.A.
Post Office Box 11127
Tallahassee, Florida 32302
(904) 222-7710
Ropert A. BuTrerwortH
Attorney General of Florida
Harry F. Cites
Assistant Attorney General
DEPARTMENT OF Lecat Arras
Room 1501, The Capitol
Tallahassee, Florida 32301
(904) 488-1573
Attorneys for Respondents
April 1988
a — poremyreenrays EP REPO a APONTE eee vert aes ao es ea oa IO al
APPENDIX
TABLE OF CONTENTS
App.
Order of the Distriet Court directing entry
of judgment, entered August 25, 1983
Plaintiffs’ Motion to Alter or Amend the
Judgment, filed September S, 1985
Order of the District Court directing notice to
the subelass and certifying interlocutory appeal,
entered October 3, 1985
Decision of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
(as amended), entered August 7, 1987
Order of the Bleventh Cireuit Court of App als
denying petition(s) for rehearing and suggestion (s)
for rehearing in bane, entered October 50, LOST
Plaintiffs’ motion for leave to amend complaint,
filed February 10, 1988
Piaintiffs’ motion for leave to amend
intervenor Smith’s complaint,
filed February 10, 1988
Plaintiffs’ motion to intervene new parties and
class representatives filed February 10, 195s
Plaintiffs’ motion to recertify class and
request for evidentiary hearing
filed February 10, 1988
67
App. 1
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION
PENERS L. GRIFFIN and TCA 79-1016-WS
HENRY L. DEJERINETT,
ORDER
Plaintiffs, -
(Filed Aug.
and 25, 1983)
ALVIN SMITH,
Intervenor,
all individually and on behalf of all
others similarly situated,
Vv.
LOUIS L. WAINWRIGHT, individ-
ually and in his official capacity as
Secretary of the Department of Cor-
rections of Florida; THE STATE
OF FLORIDA; THE DEPART-
MENT OF CORRECTIONS, and any
predecessor or successor ageney; and
RAYMOND W. GEARY, individually
and in his official capacity as attor-
ney for the Department of Correc-
tions of Florida,
Defendants.
In accord with a Memorandum Opinion of this date,
it is ORDERED:
1. This action is hereby finally certified as a class
action with Peners L. Griffin, Henry L. Dejerinett, and
~ e™
App. 2
Alvin Smith as named plaintiffs and intervenor represent-
ing a class of all past, present, and potential black em-
plovees of the Florida Department of (‘orrections. The
only emplovees barred from the class are those who left
th CMploVv of the Florida Department of Corrections more
than 300 days before the filing of Griffin’s 1975 charge.
2. Judement is for the defendants on the class claim
that since March 24, 1972, the Florida Department of Cor
rections has discriminated and continues to diseriminate
in its policies and practices against past, present, and po
tential black employees,
o. Jdudement is for the defendants on plaintiff Peners
L. Griffin’s individual claim of racially discriminators
CMmiplovinent practices,
t+. Judgment is for the defendants on plaintiff Henry
L. Dejerinett’s individual claim of racially discriminatory
hint iy pract ices,
o» Judgement is for the plaintiffs on the issue that
the correctional officer written examination previously
uiilized by defendants has an adverse impact on class
members and is not justified by business necessity.
6. ‘The parties shall meet in a good faith effort to
<ettle the form of veliel for the court’s finding of liability
regarding the correctional officer written examination.
The parties shall report to the court no later than thirty
working days trom the date of this order whether they
were able to settle this issue or uf not, their sugevestion as
tothe best way to pre eed on this
isstle,
i. The parties shall file a status report no later than
thirty working davs hence informing the court when
(ornits 1 | anid ian Will be ready fon trial
‘
~ } } : 11 it}
i ‘ i
' } }
a ; ‘ '
, davs of tl er whether tl have been
i . ; ?
) ( 0) rif ? ) j qr? — l PS
; vv? nt apenr
I! aCCul
DONE AND ORDERED this 25th day of August,
s William Stafford
WILLIAM STAFFORD
CHIEF JUDGE
App. 4
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION
PENERS L. GRIFFIN, et al., ete.,
Plaintiffs, Case No.
TC A-79-1016
¥s,
LOUIE L. WAINWRIGHT, ete,
et al.,
)
)
)
)
) (Filed Sept.
) 8, 1983)
)
)
Defendants.
MOTION TO ALTER OR AMEND THE JUDGMENT
Plaintiffs move the Conrt for an order altering or
amending the judgement in this case in the following re-
spects, and state:
1. The judgement entered by the Court in this case
should be vaeated, since Rule 54 precludes the entry of
judgment as to fewer than all of the claims and all of the
parties, unless the Court has made an express determina-
tion there is no just reason for delay. The Court has not
made such an express determination, and it would be an
extraordinary burden upon all of the parties to have this
case piecemeal among the district and appellate courts.
Moreover, unless the judgment is vacated these proceed-
ings may become further complicated by the necessity for
prudent counsel to file a purely protective appeal.
2. The Court has completely overlooked Plaintiff
Butler in its opinion, order, and judgment. Mr. Butler’s
claims were largely uncontested by the Defendants.
3. Plaintiff Griffin presented a number of distinetly
different claims to the Court tor adjudication. The
ee
ADPp. ov
C‘ourt’s opinion does not address most of these. These
claims are outlined in Plaintiffs’ proposed findings of facet
and conelusions of law.
4. The Court is bound by decisions of the United
States Supreme Court. Moreover, this cireuit operates un-
der the rule of binding precedent. Some of the Court’s
statistical analyses violate rules of the United States Su-
preme Court and binding precedent of the Eleventh Cir-
cuit Court of Appeals. In International Brotherhood of
Teamste 7s Vv. United States, 431 U.S. 324 (1977), the Su-
preme Court held a plaintiff may prove a prima facie ease
of discrimination by comparing incumbent employees with
the reasonably available labor pool. The burden then
shifts to the Defendant to rebut the showing by demon
strating Plaintiff’s proof is either insignificant, or the
Defendants’ hiring practices have been racially neutral
during the liability period. In this ease, utilizing Dr. Ha-
worth’s availability pool of 15 to 16 percent, liability is
demonstrated through fiseal 1977-78. If one compares the
incumbent workforce in June of 1977 (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit
A-5) with the percentage of blacks Dr. Jlaworth believed
to be in the reasonable labor pool, statistically significant
disparities are shown:
No. of Standard
Total Black Benchmark Deviations
CO ] 2518 336 103 2.4%
As a benchmark, I’ve used 15.3 percent, the percentage
of blacks in Florida’s population, from the 1970 census.
Kither 15% or 16% produces similar results. Under Team-
sters the burdeu of showing racially neutral hiring during
the liability period was the Defendants. They did not meet
this burden.
App. 6
Results are the same for earlier periods. Plaintiffs’
Exhibits A-3 and A-4 ceive the following results:
No. of Standard
Total Black Benchmark Deviations
1972 1066 5D 153 9.20
iseal Yr
1974-75 1648 9()2 153 3.43
The Court also rejected gross hiring data produced
by Plaintiffs. This rejection by the Court violates bind-
ing precedent of this cireuit. The Defendants were under
a statutory duty to maintain accurate hiring data. Their
failure to do so should not bring disrepute upon the Plain-
tiffs’ case. In Fisher v. Proctor and Gamble Manufac-
turing Co., 615 F.2d 527 (Sth Cir, 1980), the Defendant at-
tempted to defeat statistical data by arguing it was Plain-
tiffs’ responsibility to prove the percentage of blacks with
the necessary skills and qualifications among applicants.
The Court held:
Mindful of Hazelwood we nevertheless find that the
Plaintiffs’ statistics are adequate to establish a prima
facie case. First, a prima facie case may be shown
without evidence of qualifications where the inference
of discrimination is supported by a compelling level of
racial underrepresentation in a sizeable work force.
(citations omitted).
Fisher at p. 5444.
The incumbent data, even using Defendants’ expert esti-
mate of the available labor pool, shows a compelling level
of discrimination in a sizeable workforce. Although the
Defendants failed to meet their statutory duty to preserve
hiring data, the data they did maintain shows a compelling
App. @
level of racial underrepresentation in a sizeable workforce.
To hold otherwise is contrary to binding precedent of this
circuit.
SUPPORTING MEMORANDUM
The foregoing discussion adequately meets the local
rule requirement for a supporting memorandum. How-
ever, these issues have been briefed in Piaintiffs’ proposed
findings of fact and conclusions of law, and in the Plain-
tiffs’ most recent motion for partial summary judgment,
filed at the conclusion of the statistical stage, tiled Sep-
tember 7, 1982.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Jerry G. Traynham
Jerry G. Traynham
PATTERSON & TRAYNHAM
Attorneys at Law
1215 Thomasville Road
P.O. Box 4289
Tallahassee, Florida 32315
(904) 224-9181
Attorney for Plaintiffs
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
~
I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy
of the foregoing was furnished, by prepaid U.S. Mail to
Bruce A. Minnick, Esq., Assistant Attorney General, De-
partment of Legal Affairs, The Capitol, Suite 1501, Talla-
hassee, Florida 32301, this 6th day of September, 1983.
s/ Jerry G. Traynham
Jerry G. Traynham
App. 8
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION
PENERS L. GRIFFIN, )
et al., ete., )
)
Plaintiffs, )
)
vs. )
) Case No. TCA
LOUIE L. WAINWRIGHT, ) 79-1016
ete., et al., )
)
Defendants. )
)
is )
ORDER
(Filed Oct. 3, 1985)
In its Order entered August 25, 1983, this Court re-
affirmed its earlier ruling of July 30, 1982, regarding the
illegality of the use by the Defendants of the Correctional
Officer | written examination and directed the parties to
meet in a good faith effort to settle the form of the relief.
In status conferences held November 8, 1983, and Sep-
tember 11, 1985, the Court inquired as to the initial steps
recommended by the parties for Stage Il individual relief
procedures. The Court is now satisfied that the following
procedures are appropriate.
IT IS NOW ORDERED:
1. The present subclass for purpose of determina-
tion of individual relief from the effects of the adverse
impact of the Correctional Officer | examination consists
of all black persons who, between March 24, 1972 and the
App. 9
present, took and failed the Correctional Officer I written
examination. The Defendants have contended that there
is no subclass because there is no subclass representative
who properly can prosecute this adverse impact claim. A\|-
though the Court has ruled othewise, it is of the opinion
that this determination involves a controlling question of
law as to which there is substantial ground for difference
of opinion and that an immediate appeal from this order
may materially advance the ultimate termination of this
litigation. ‘The parties have agreed, and the Court deter-
mines, that the process of giving notice to the subclass
and filing individual claims shall go forward even if an
appeal is taken, on the basis of this court’s certificate,
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 1292(b). However, unless
otherwise ordered by this Court or by the Court of Ap-
peals, no determination of individual claims shall be made
during the pendency of the appeal.
2. The procedure for determination of individual re-
lief may include class-wide mathematical models or for-
mulas, individual hearings or a combination of these and
other procedures. A decision as to the most appropriate
procedure to implement in this litigation shall be deferred
until the number of individual claims and their distribu-
tion by time and by geography are known. It is now ap-
propriate to give notice to the subclass and to permit in-
dividual claims to be filed. At the conclusion of the period
established for filing individual claims, counsel for the
parties are directed to report to the Court concerning
recommendations for additional procedures to be followed.
3. Notice shall be given by mail, by posting, and by
publication.
App. 10
4. Notice by mail shall be given to all subclass mem-
bers whose names and last known addresses can be deter-
mined from records of the Defendants and from the avail-
able records of any other agency of the State of Florida
or of the United States. The parties and their counsel are
directed to cooperate in the effort to identify subclass
members from these records. The Defendants and their
counsel are directed to use their good offices to insure that
all such reeords are reasonably accessible to counsel for
Plaintiffs, with the intent to minimize or ehminate the
need for formal discovery in this process. The Defendants
shall be responsible for compiling and maintaining a mas-
ter list of all subclass members whose names and last
known addresses are determined by the means described
in this paragraph. In addition, the Defendants shall com-
pile and maintain a ‘‘race unknown’? list of all persons
who, by the means described in this paragraph, can be
determined in to have taken and failed the Correctional
Officer | written examination, and whose names and ad-
dresses can so be determined, but whose race is unknown.
Notice by regular mail, with a copy of the claim form, shall
be provided to all persons named on the master list and
on the ‘trace unknown”? list.
5. In the event any notice sent by mail is returned
undelivered by the United States Postal Service, an at-
tempt shall be made to determine a more recent or addi-
tional address or addresses for the person to whom such
notice is directed, using those records described in para-
graph ‘4’? and, where appropriate, telephone, city, and
other available directories. ‘To the extent such additional
addresses are determined, additional notices and claim
forms shall be mailed.
App. 11
6. A form of the notice by mail and of the claim form
are attached to this order.
7. The Defendants shall compile a list of all news-
papers, periodicals, and other publications used by them
in the reeruitment of applicants for employment. Plain-
tiffs may add to this list the names of other publications.
Any disagreement as to publications to be listed shall be
presented to the Court for resolution.
8. A copy of the notice by publication is attached
to this stipulation. This notice shall be placed as an ad-
vertisement in the regular news section of each listed pub-
hieation. In daily newspapers, the advertisement shall be
run no fewer than four times, including two Mondays and
two Thursdays. In weekly publications, the advertisement
shall be run no fewer than two times. In monthly publi-
cations, the advertisement shall be run at least once. The
size of the advertisement in full-sized newspapers shall be
no less than one-quarter of a page. In publications of
tabloid or other size, the advertisement shall be not less
than one-half page in size. A copy of the advertisement
shall also be given to each employee of the Department of
Corrections, which may be aecomplished by publication,
full page, on the outside of either the front or the back
eover of the Correctional Compass.
9. The Defendants shall compile a list of all public
or private agencies, organizations, and associations to
whom notice of Department of Corrections job vacancies
are sent or which are otherwise used by the Department in
the employee recruitment process. Plaintiffs may add the
names of other agencies, organizations, or associations to
this list. Any disagreement as to inclusion on this list
App. 12
shall be presented to the Court for resolution. Copies of
the notice by publication, suitable for posting, and of claim
forms, shall be sent by the Defendants to each such organi-
zation listed with a request that the notices be posted or
otherwise made public and that claim forms be given to
persons requesting them. Copies of the notice shall also
be posted on every bulletin board or other posting place
used by the Department of Corrections to disseminate in-
formation to employees and/or to applicants for employ-
ment. Copies of the claim form shall be placed in all per-
sonnel offices of the Department of Corrections.
10. Plaintiffs may prepare a press release concern-
ing the claims procedure and may distribute it to the press.
Prior to release, the contents shall be reviewed by the De-
fendants.
11. The schedule for the giving of notice and filing
of claims is:
a. The Defendant shall prepare, serve and file with
the Court (i) the initial master list of subclass members
and list of examination failees whose race is unknown,
compiled in the manner described in paragraph ‘‘4’’, (ii)
the list of newspapers, periodicals, and other publications,
described in paragraph ‘‘7’’, and (iii) the list of agencies,
organizations, and associations, described in paragraph
“9°? no later than December 6, 1985. Plaintiffs may serve
and file lists of additions te the Defendants’ respective
lists no later than January 10, 1986. If the Defendants
object to any of Plaintiffs’ additions to items ‘‘ii’’ and
‘iii’’, they shall serve and file their objections no later
than January 24, 1986.
App. 138
b. Notices shall be mailed to all persons on the
amended master list and ‘trace unknown’’ list no later
than February 14, 1986.
ce. Publication of the notice, as deseribed in para-
graphs ‘‘7’? and ‘‘8’’, and delivery of notices and forms,
as described in paragraph ‘‘9’’, shall occur during the
months of February and March, 1986. However, notices
and forms shall be distributed to all personnel offices of
the Department of Corrections no later than January 31,
1986.
d. The process of attempting to locate additional ad-
dresses with respect to those subclass members whose no-
tices are returned undelivered by the U.S. Postal Service,
described in paragraph ‘‘5’’, shall be a continuing one.
Defendants are directed to make available sufficient para-
legal and clerical staff to perform these tasks during the
entire notice period.
e. The last day upon which a claimant may file a
claim shall be June 2, 1986. Incomplete claim forms filed
on or before that date shall be treated as though they were
complete, for the purpose of determining whether the filing
deadline has been met, if they provide enough information
so that the identity of the claimant may be determined.
f. Upon showing cause. any party may apply to the
Court for an extension or modification of this schedule.
12. The cost of giving notice shall be borne by the
Defendants.
App. 14
DONE and ORDERED this 2nd day of October, 1985,
at Tallahassee, Florida.
/s/ William Stafford
WILLIAM STAFFORD
Chief Judge
App. 10
Peners L. GRIFFIN and Henry L.
Dejerinett, Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
Richard L. DUGGER, ete., et al.,
Defendants-Appellants.
No. 85-3831.
United States Court of Appeals,
Eleventh Cireuit.
Aug. 7, 1987.
As Amended Sept. 23, 1987.
Action was brought charging Florida Department of
Corrections with discrimination on behalf of class and
motion was brought to decertify class. The United States
District Court for the Northern District of Florida, No.
79-1016, William Stafford, Chief Judge, denied motion to
decertify class and allowed intervention of applicant for
employment and appeal was taken. The Court of Appeals,
Tjoflat, Cireuit Judge, held that: (1) incumbent employee
could not represent, in civil rights action, class that in-
cluded applicants, and (2) plaintiff who filed charge with
EEOC and non-filing plaintiff were not sufficiently sim-
ilarly situated to allow intervention under single filing
rule.
Vacated.
Hatchett, Circuit Judge, dissented.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., Bruce Alexander Minnick, Asst.
Attys. Gen., Mitchell D. Franks, Tallahassee, la., for de-
fendants-appellants.
App. 16
Harry L. Witte, Jerry G. Traynham, Tallahassee, Fla.,
for plaintiffs-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the
Northern District of Florida.
Before TJOFLAT and HATCHETT, Cireuit Judges,
and KATON*, Senior District Judge.
TJOFLAT, Cireuit Judge:
Me
In April 1971, Peners L. Griffin became the first black
Road Prison Officer at the Tallahassee Road Prison,
operated by the Florida Department of Corrections
(FE DOC or Department). Beginning in 1973, Griffin fre-
quently sought promotion to higher-grade correctional of-
ficer positions, as well as various other positions. On each
occasion, the FDOC turned him down.
In December 1974, Griffin’s supervisor fired him for
disciplinary reasons. The next day, the Regional Super-
intendent reinstated Griffin because the supervisor had
not followed proper termination procedures. In early
1975, the FDOC again terminated Griffin’s employment,
without notice, for disciplinary reasons. He appealed the
termination to the State of Florida Career Service Com-
mission. The Commission found no just cause for Grif-
fin’s discharge and ordered the FDOC to reinstate him
with back pay. The Florida District Court of Appeal af-
firmed the Commission’s decision, and the FDOC rein-
stated Griffin to his position.
* Honorable Joe Eaton, Senior U.S. District Judge for the South-
ern District of Florida, sitting by designation.
EE ——————
App. li
Soon after his reinstatement, Griffin filed a com-
plaint with the FDOC’s Equal Employment Opportunity
Program Office, charging that his two dismissals were
racially discriminatory. An investigator in that office
wrote Griffin a month later and informed him of his con-
clusion that racial discrimination had not been a factor
in the dismissals. Within a day or two of having received
that letter, Griffin filed a complaint with the Equal Em-
ployment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), detailing the
events leading up to his allegedly discriminatory dis
charges. A notation at the beginning of Griffin’s com-
plaint, probably made by an EEOC counselor, describes
Griffin’s allegations of racial discrimination as also en-
compassing ‘‘[s]incerity of recruiting, hiring, and _ pro-
moting of minority groups within the Florida’s Division
of Adult Corrections. Specific attention within the Com-
munity Service Program.’’
Griffin asked the EEOC for a right-to-sue letter and
received one in July 1979. On October 15, 1979, Griffin
brought this action in the district court against Louis L.
Wainwright, as Secretary of the FDOC, the FDOC, and
the State of Florida. Griffin alleged that the FDOC had
denied him several promotions because of his race. He
also alleged that the FDOC impermissibly considered race
in all of its promotion decisions, as well as in its hiring
and job assignment decisons. In hring correctional of-
ficers, according to Griffin, the Department used written
entry-level examinations having a detrimental impact upon
blacks.!
1. The district court found the following facts concerning the
FDOC's written entry-level examination: ‘Every person seek-
(Continued on following page)
App. Is
Griffin sued ‘‘individually and on behalf of all others
similarly situated,’’ pursuant to Rule 23(b)(2) of the Fed
eral Rules of Civil Procedure, seeking declaratory and
injunctive relief and money damages under Title VIL of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 27)We to 2OUOUe-17
(1976) (eurrent version at 42 U.S.C. 6§ 2000e to 200V0e-17
(1982)), 42 U.S.C. £1981 (1976), and 42 U.S.C. § 1983
(1976) The elass identified in his complaint was com
Continued from previous page)
ing a position as a correctional officer is required to take a
written examination. The Department of Administration de-
veloped the Correctional Officer | entry level test which con-
sists of seventy-five questions. An applicant must receive
a score of at least thirty-eight for employment consideration.
2. § 1981. Equal rights under the law
All persons within the jurisdiction of the United States
shall have the same right in every State and Territory to make
and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and
to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings tor
the security of persons and property as is enjoyed by white
citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment, pains, pen-
alties, taxes, licenses, and exactions of every kind, and to no
other.
3. § 1983. Civil action for deprivation of rights
Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance,
regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the
District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any
citizen of the United States or other person within the juris
diction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or
immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be
liable to the party injured in an action at law, sued in equity,
or other proper proceeding for redress. For the purposes of
this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the
District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of
the District of Columbia
Griffin's complaint stated that his action was brought
“nursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, to redress the deprivation of
Continued on following page)
App. LY
posed ‘‘of all past, present and potential black American
citizens and residents who have been, are or may be em-
ployees of the Defendants or applicants for employiment.’”
On June 17, 1980, Griffin obtained leave of court to
amend his complaint to add Henry L. Dejerinett as a
party-plaintiff and class representative. Dejerinett, who
is black, had applied for an FDOC clerical position but
was not hired” On March 10, 1981, based on a stipulation
hetween the parties® and without a hearing, the district
(Continued from previous page)
the Plaintiff GRIFFIN’s property interests in his employment,
without due process of law.’ We assume that Gritlin’s section
1983 claim also encompassed the theory that the FDOC’s
conduct amounted to invidious discrimination in violation
of the fourteenth amendment’s equal protection clause.
4. The claims described in the text were presented in count |
of Griffin's complaint, which contained two counts. Count
Il, which is not pertinent to this appeal, alleged that Griffin
was denied due process and equal protection of the law when
the FDOC terminated his employment in 1975; Griffin al-
leged that the FDOC (a) failed to give him notice of the
reason for his discharge and an opportunity to be heard be-
fore terminating his employment and (2) discharged him be-
cause of his race. Count Il further alleged that because Chap-
ter 110 of the Florida Statutes, which governs state employ-
ment did not require the Department to give him notice, a
hearing, or back pay, Chapter 110 was unconstitutional.
Dejerinett subsequently filed a timely charge of racial dis-
crimination against the FDOC with the Florida Commission
on Human Relations, a deferral agency for the EEOC. He
requested and received a right-to-sue letter from the EEOC
in April 1980.
~
6. The parties stipulated, among other things, that
(tlhe allegations of race discrimination in the ... Com-
plaint involve questions of law and tact which, under cur-
rent law in the United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Cir
cuit, are common to the class, including Statistical evi-
(Continued on following page)
App. 20
court preliminarily certified the case as a class action with
Griffin and Dejerinett representing the class of ‘‘all past,
present, and potential black employees of the State of
Mlorida Department of Corrections.’’
On June 25, 1982, the defendants filed a ‘‘Notice Re-
garding the Adequacy of the Preliminary Class Certified,’”’
which called to the court’s attention a Supreme Court de-
cision rendered eleven days previously. That decision,
General Tel. Co. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 102 S.Ct. 2564,
72 L.kd.2d 740 (1982), announeed the appropriate stan-
dards courts should apply when determining class action
certifications in the context of a Title VII suit, reversing
a former -lifth Cireuit decision permitting ‘‘across-the-
hoard’’ class actions that had been binding precedent in
the new Eleventh Cireuit.?, On July 8, 1982, the defendants
moved the court, in light of Falcon, to vacate its order
certifying the class.
To avoid the risk that the district court might vacate
its order certifying the class, Griffin and Dejerinett took
steps to obtain an additional named plaintiff to represent
those in the class who had applied for the position of cor
(Continued from previous page)
dence, evidence concerning the employment system of
the State of Florida Department of Corrections, and the
common legal principles appiied to claims of race dis-
crimination. The parties maintain their right to brief these
issues On appeal, if any.
The parties also ‘‘reserve[d] the right to move to decertify
or limit the class, or to establish subclasses, at any time dusing
the pendency of this litigation.”
7. In Bonner v. City of Prichard, 661 F.2d 1206, 1209 (11th Cir.
1981) (en banc), this court adopted as binding precedent
all decisions of the former Fifth Circuit handed down prior to
October 1, 1981
App. 21
rectional officer, failed the written entry-level examina-
tion, and not been hired. Accordingly, on July 8, 1982,
Alvin Smith, joined by Griffin and Dejerinett, moved the
court to intervene as an additional named plaintiff and
class representative. In 1980 and 1981, Smith, who is
black, applied for the same entry-level position that Grif
fin held. The FDOC did not hire Smith, because he did
not have a high school diploma or a general equivalency
diploma (GED), a prerequisite for employment as a cor-
rectional officer. Smith later obtained a GED, but when
he reapplied with the FDOC in July 1981, he failed the
written entry-level correctional officer examination and
was again denied the job.’
On July 28, 1982, the district court denied the defend-
ants’ motion to decertify the class and permitted Smith to
intervene? because
Smith, [as] an unsuccessful applicant, certainly has
an interest in this suit which seeks to challenge de-
fendants’ employment practices, ineluding hiring.
Unless he is permitted to intervene, his interest may
not be adequately represented by the named parties.
Mr. Smith eases this ecourt’s concern that the class
claim against the [FF DOC]’s objective criteria was not
8. Smith never filed a timely charge of racial discrimination
with the EEOC.
9. In its dispositive order, the district court did not address the
intervenor’s complaint, which was filed with Griffin, Dejeri-
nett, and Smith’s joint motion for leave to allow Smith to
intervene. Apparently, the court treated the intervenor’s com-
plaint as an amendment to Griffin and Dejerinett’s complaint
because it ordered that the “action shall continue to be cer-
tified as a class with PENERS L. GRIFFIN, HENRY L. DEJERI-
NETT, and ALVIN SMITH as named plaintiffs representing a
class of all past, present, and potential black employees of
the State of Florida Department of Corrections.”
App. 22
fairly and adequately protected by the named plain-
tiffs. Alvin Smith is a proper representative for po-
tential black employees.
As to the defendants’ contention that Smith could not be
a class representative because he had not timely filed an
EEOC complaint, the district court found that the charges
of discrimination Griffin had filed with the EEOC included
“the hiring claim in addition to promotion, job classifiea-
tion, diseipline, and termination claims.” The court thus
reasoned that the Fifth Circuit's single-filing rule excused
Smith from having failed to exhaust his administrative
remedies. See Oatis v. Crown Zellerbach Corp., 398 F.2d
496 (5th Cir.1968) (**[O}nee an aggrieved person raises
a particular issue with the EEOC which he has standing
to raise, he may bring an action for himself and the class
of persons similarly situated....”).
On July 30, 1982, the district court entered partial
summary judgment for the plaintiffs, including Griffin
and Dejerinett on the liability issue as to the written entry-
level examination.’ The court found that the FDOC
examination ‘‘has a disparate impact upon class members
which has not been justified by business necessity.” The
plaintiffs had sought summary judgment on two other is-
sues—the class hiring and promotion claims—but the court
denicd summary judgment on those issues because they
presented material issues of fact.
A trial was held over the five-week period beginning
August 17 and ending September 17, 1982. The court
entered judgment on August 25, 1983, disposing of the fol-
lowing issues in favor of the defendants: whether the
10. The district court said it would consider the issue of relief
at trial.
App. 23
FDOC’s policies and practices discriminated against past,
present, and potential black employees; whether the
I’ DOC’s employment practices as to Peners L. Griffin
were racially discriminatory; and whether the /DOC’s
hiring practices as to Henry L. Dejerinett were racially
discriminatory. The court entered judgment for the plain-
tiffs on the liability issue concerning the correctional of-
ficer examination, on which it had previously granted sum-
mary judgment for the plaintiffs.'' The issue of relief
for the class of black persons who took and failed the cor-
rectional officer written examination is still pending. The
parties agreed that notice should be given to the affected
members of the class and to seek interlocutory appeal of
the district court’s decision permitting Griffin, Dejerinett,
and Smith to serve as named plaintiffs for a class that in-
cluded applicants with testing claims. We granted this
appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1292(b) (1982 & Supp. Ll
1985). Because we conclude that the district court incor-
rectly applied the dictates of Falcon, we vacate the district -
court’s order certifying the class.
I.
As with any private class action, the legitimacy of a
private Title VIL suit brought on behalf of a class depends
upon the satisfaction of two distinct prerequisites. First,
there must be an individual plaintiff with a cognizable
claim, that is, an individual who has constitutional stand-
11. The district court did not render judgment on Griffin's
federal due process and equal protection claims or on his
pendent state law claim for malicious prosecution (which
was first raised in count Ill of Griffin’s first amended com-
plaint). Those claims are still pending in the district court.
App. 24
ine to raise the claim (or claims) and who has satisfied the
procedural requirements of Title VII. Second, the re-
quirements of Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Proce-
dure must be fulfilled; in other words, the individual plain-
tiff must be qualified to represent the members of the class
in accordance with the four prerequisites of Rule 23(a),”
and the action must be one of the three types Rule 25(b)
identifies.'* We emphasize that any analysis of class cer-
12. This circuit has held that the conditions precedent to fil-
ing a Title VII suit are not jurisdictional, but rather are akin
to a statute of limitations. A plaintiff’s failure to satisfy the
conditions precedent does not, standing alone, deprive fed-
eral district courts of subject matter jurisdiction. Jackson v.
Seaboard Coast Line R.R., 678 F.2d 992 (11th Cir.1982). Nev-
ertheless, ‘a plaintiff must generally allege in his complaint
that ‘all conditions precedent to the institution of the law-
suit have been fulfilled.’ /d. at 1010 (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P.
9(c)).
13. Rule 23(a) provides as follows:
(a) Prerequisites to a Class Action. One or more mem-
bers of a class may sue or be sued as representative parties
on behalf of all only if (1) the class is so numerous that
joinder of all members is impracticable, (2) there are ques-
tions of law or fact common to the class, (3) the claims or
defenses of the representative parties are typical of the
claims or defenses of the class, and (4) the representative
rab will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the
class.
14. Rule 23(b) provides as follows:
(b) Class Actions Maintainable. An action may be
maintained as a class action if the prerequisites of subdi-
vision (a) are satisfied, and in addition:
(1) the prosecution of separate actions by or against
individual members of the class would create a risk of
(A) inconsistent or varying adjudications with respect
to individual members of the class which would establish
incompatible standards of conduct for the party opposing
the class, or
(Continued on following page)
App. 25
tification must begin with the issue of standing and the
procedural requirements of Title VII. Thus, the threshold
question is whetber the named plaintiffs have individual
standing, in the constitutional sense, to raise certain issues.
See Brown v. Sibley, 650 F.2d 760, 771 (Sth Cir. Unit A
July 1981) (‘*‘This constitutional threshold must be met
before any consideration of the typicality or claims or com-
monality of issues required for procedural reasons by Fed.
R.Civ.P. 23.’’). Only after the court determines the issues
for which the named plaintiffs have standing should it ad-
dress the question whether the named plaintiffs have rep-
resentative capacity, as defined by Rule 23(a), to assert
the rights of others. See generally 2 A. Larson & L. Lar-
son, Employment Discrimination §& 49.50-.51 (1986 & Supp.
Nov. 1986).
(Continued from previous page)
(B) adjudications with respect to individual members
of the class which would as a practical matter be disposi-
tive of the interests of the other members not parties to
the adjudications or substantially impair or impede their
ability to protect their interests; or
(2) the party opposing the class has acted or refused
to act on grounds generally applicable to the class, thereby
making appropriate final injunctive relief or corresponding
declaratory relief with respect to the class as a whole; or
(3) the court finds that the questions of law or fact
common to the members of the class predominate over
any questions affecting only individual members, and that
a class action is superior to other available methods to:
the fair and efficient adjudication of the controversy. The
matters pertinent to the findings include: (A) the interest
of members of the class in individually controlling the
prosecution or defense of separate actions; (B) the extent
and nature of any litigation concerning the controversy al-
ready commenced by or against members of the class; (C)
the desirability or undesirability of concentrating the liti-
gation of the claims in the particular forum; (D) the diffi-
culties likely to be encountered in the management of a
class action.
App. 26
A.
Under elementary principles of standing, a plaintiff
must allege and show that he personally suffered injury.
See Payne v. Travenol Laboratories, Inc., 565 F.2d 895,
898 (Sth Cir.) (**To meet the requirement for standing un-
der Article III, a plaintiff must establish either that the
asserted injury was in faet the consequence of the defen-
dant’s action or that the prospective relief will remove the
harm.**) (citation omitted), cert. denied, 489 U.S. 835, 99
S.Ct. 118, 58 L.Ed.2d 131 (1978); Thurston v. Dekle, 531
F.2d 1264, 1269 (Sth Cir.1976) (‘The thresheld case-or-
controversy inquiry is whether there existed a named plain-
tiff with standing to raise the issue before the court.’’),
vacated on other grounds, 438 U.S. 901, 98 S.Ct. 3118, 57
L.Ed.2d 1144 (1978). If he cannot show personal injury,
then no article III] case or controversy exists, and a fed-
eral court is powerless to hear his grievance. This indi-
vidual injury requirement is not met by alleging ‘‘that in-
jury has been suffered by other, unidentified members of
the class to which [the plaintiff] belong|s] and which [he]
purport[s] to represent.’’ Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490,
502, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 2207, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975); see also
Minority Police Officers Ass'n v. City of South Bend, 721
F.2d 197, 202 (7th Cir. 1983) (‘‘ Feelings of solidarity do
not confer standing to sue.’’). Thus, a plaintiff cannot in-
clude class action allegations in a complaint and expect to
be relieved of personally meeting the requiremenis of con-
stitutional standing, ‘‘even if the persons described in the
class definition would have standing themselves to sue.’’
Brown v. Sibley, 650 F.2d 760, 771 (Sth Cir. Unit A July
1981) ; see also Vuyanich v. Republic Nat’l Bank, 723 F.2d
1195, 1200 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1073, 105 S.Ct.
App. 27
067, 83 L.ld.2d 507 (1984). A named plaintiff in a elass
action who eannot establish the requisite ease or contro-
versy between himself and the defendants simply cannot
seek relief for anyone—not for himself, and not for any
other member of the class. O’Shea v. Littleton, 414 U.S.
488, 494, 94 S.Ct. 669, 675, 38 L.Ed.2d 674 (1974). More-
over, it is not enough that a named plaintiff can establish
a case or controversy between himself and the defendant
hy virtue of having standing as to just one of many claims
he wishes to assert. Rather, each claim must be analyzed
separately, and a claim cannot be asserted on behalf of a
class unless at least one named plaintiff has suffered the
injury that gives rise to that claim. This relationship be-
tween standing and the class action has been discussed in
some detail by the Supreme Court:
It is not enough that the conduct of which the plaintiff
complains will injure someone. The complaining party
must also show that he is within the class of persons
who will be concretely affected. Nor does a plaintiff
who has been subject to injurious conduct of one kind
possess by virtue of that injury the necessary stake in
litigating conduct of another kind, although similar, to
which he has not been subject.
Blum v. Yaretsky, 457 U.S. 991, 999, 102 S.Ct. 2777, 2783,
73 L.Ed.2d 534 (1982) (citing Moose Lodge No. 107 v.
Irvis, 407 U.S. 163, 166-67, 92 S.Ct. 1965, 1968-69, 32 L.Ed.
2d 627 (1972)).
In the ease before us, the named plaintiff who initi-
ated the action, Peners L. Griffin, could, and did, allege
15. Our analysis of the standing and Rule 23 issues presented
by this case focuses first on Peners L. Griffin as a sole named
plaintiff. We then examine whether the addition of Henry
L. Dejerinett and Alvin Smith as named plaintiffs affected
the class certification.
App. 28
injury as a result of the FDOC’s discipline and promotion
practices: he claimed that on specific occasions the FDOC
illegally diseiplined him and did- not promote him, because
of his race.'© Griffin had standing to assert discipline and
promotion claims. Beeause he had already met the edu-
cational and testing requirements of a road prison correc-
tional officer and had been hired for that position, how-
ever, he suffered no injury as a result of the FDOC’s use
of the written entry-level examination. See Payne v. Trav-
enol Laboratories, Inc., 565 F.2d 895, 898 (Sth Cir.)
(‘‘{Named pl]laintiffs . . . possessed tenth grade educa-
tions and therefore lacked [constitutional] standing’’ to
challenge tenth grade education requirement), cert. denied,
439 U.S. $35, 99 S.Ct. 118, 58 L.Ed.2d 131 (1978). Griffin
thus lacked constitutional standing to assert a testing
elaim.!”
16. Griffin satisfied the procedural requirements of Title VII,
such as filing an EEOC complaint against his employer within
180 days of the alleged discrimination, see 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-
5(e) (1976), and receiving statutory notice of the right to sue
his employer, see 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(1). See generally 42
U.S.C. § 2000e-5 (detailing conditions precedent to a Title
VII action).
17. Griffin’s complaint alleged that the FDOC had implemented
policies and practices of discrimination, including “maintain-
ing a racially biased working environment” and “‘failing or re-
fusing to recruit, hire, and assign blacks on the same basis
as whites.’” Nothing in the complaint, in the district court's
certification orders, or in the record on appeal alleged or
established a causa! link between the FDOC’s allegedly dis-
criminatory testing policy and its allegedly discriminatory
work environment or its allegedly discriminatory promotion
and discipline practices. Nor is there an allegation or show-
ing in the record that Griffin (or Dejerinett, who had been
denied employment by the FDOC) suffered any specific harm
(Continued on following page)
App. 29
Accordingly, we hold that the district court erred
when it permitted Griffin to raise the testing claim on be-
half of himself and on behalf of others. We hold in the
alternative that even if Griffin somehow had constitutional
standing to assert the testing claim, he did not, in light of
General Tel. Co. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 102 S.Ct. 2364,
72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982), have representative capacity to
assert the testine claim on behalf of those who took the
IF DOC’s written entry-level examination, failed it, and
(Continued from previous page)
resulting from the allegedly discriminatory work environment.
Thus, Griffin (and Dejerinett) did not establish standing to
challenge the FDOC’s testing practices. Cf. Gray v. Grey-
hound Lines, 545 F.2d 169, 173-75 (D.C. Cir. 1976), cited with
approval in Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57, —,
106 S.Ct. 2399, 2405, 91 L.Ed.2d 49 (1986).
Assuming for the sake of argument, that Griffin (or De-
jerinett) had established standing to assert a testing claim,
we nevertheless believe that under General Tel. Co. v. Fal-
con, 457 U.S. 147, 102 S.Ct. 2364, 72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982), the
court should not have presumptively held that Griffin satis-
fied the requirements of Rule 23(a) so as to allow him to rep-
resent a class of applicants with testing claims. Griffin’s com-
plaint provided ‘‘an insufficient basis for concluding that the
adjudication of his claim of [a racially discriminatory environ-
ment] would require the decision of any common question
concerning the failure of [the FDOC] to hire more [black
correctional officers].’’ See Falcon, 457 U.S. at 158, 102 S.Ct.
at 2371. The record does not identify any questions of law
or fact that were common to Griffin’s claim of a racially
biased working environment and the claims of those who
failed the written entry-level correctional officer examination
and were not hired. Thus, even if Griffin had standing to
litigate his right to a work environment untainted by racial
discrimination, he could not, on that basis, represent those
with testing claims, because he did not satisfy the require-
ments of Rule 23(a). .
App. 30
were not hired.’® In other words, Griffin did not meet the
prerequisites of Rule 23(a). We now turn to a discussion
of Rule 23(a) and the Supreme Court’s interpretation of
it in Falcon.
B.
In 1969, the former Fifth Cireuit decided Johnson v.
Georgia Highway Express, Inc., 417 F.2d 1122 (Sth Cir.
1969), the first case to sanction a theory that became known
as the ‘across-the-board’? approach to Title VII class ae-
tions. In that case, a terminated black employee sought to
represent a class of black workers and applicants who had
hiring, firing, promotion, and working condition claims.
The district court restricted the class to include only those
black workers who, like the named plaintiff, had been fired.
The Fifth Cireuit reversed the district court’s certifica-
tion order and announced that broad class treatment was
appropriate where the ‘‘Damoclean threat of a racially
discriminatory policy hangs over the racial class [and]
is a question of fact common to all members of the class.’’
Johnson, 417 F.2d at 1124 (citation omitted). The court
said it ‘is clear from the pleadings that the scope of ap-
pellant’s suit is an ‘across the board’ attack on unequal
employment practices alleged to have been committed by
the appellee pursuant to its policy of racial discrimina-
tion.’’ Id.
18. In Falcon, the Supreme Court granted certiorari for the
express purpose of discussing the contours of Rule 23(a).
Falcon, 457 U.S. at 155, 102 S.Ct. at 2369. The Court did not
question, in its opinion, whether the named plaintiff had
constitutional standing.
[ia eee,
App. 31
Under the across-the-board theory, many courts liber-
ally read the requirements of Rule 23(a), permitting named
pleintiffs to raise claims on behalf of the class that were
of a different type than the named plaintiffs’ individual
claims. These courts reasoned that the employer allegedly
discriminated on the basis of a class characteristic, such
as race, and that the discrimination allegedly pervaded,
in an across-the-board fashion, all of the employer's per-
sonnel policies and practices. See, €.9., Gibson v. Local
40, Int'l Longshoremen’s & Warehousemen’s Union, 543
F.2d 1259 (9th Cir. 1976); Senter v. Gencral Motors Corp.,
002 F.2d 511 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 870, 97 S.Ct.
182, 50 L.Ed.2d 150 (1976); Rich v. Martin Marietta Corp.,
022 F.2d 333 (10th Cir.1975); Barnett v. W.T. Grant Co.,
O18 F.2d 545 (4th Cir.1975); Reed v. Arlington Hotel Co.,
476 F.2d 721 (Sth Cir.), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 854, 94 S.Ct.
153, 38 L.Ed.2d 103 (1973).'9
19. Although widely accepted, the across-the-board theory was
not universally endorsed. See, e.g., Taylor v. Safeway Stores,
Inc., 524 F.2d 263, 270-71 (10th Cir.1975); Kinsey v. Legg,
Mason & Co., 60 F.R.D. 91 (D.D.C.1973), rev'd on other
grounds sub nom, Kinsey v. First Regional Sec., Inc., 557 F.2d
830 (D.C.Cir. 1977); White v. Gates Rubber Co., 53 F.R.D. 412
(D.Colo.1971); Gresham v. Ford Motor Co., 53 F.R.D. 105
(N.D.Ga.1970); Hyatt v. United Aircraft Corp., 50 F.R.D. 242
(D.Conn.1970). Moreover, one of the members of the Fifth
Circuit panel that first announced the across-the-board ap-
proach, Judge Godbold, cautioned in a specially concurring
opinion that the approach announced in the majority’s opin-
ion was not a replacement for precise pleadings that allow
district courts to determine whether the requirements of Rule
23(a) have been satisfied. See Johnson v. Georgia Highway
Express, Inc., 417 F.2d 1122, 1125-27 (5th Cir.1969) (Godbold,
|., specially concurring). Judge Godbo!ld also observed that
“an over-broad framing of the class’ may be unfair and harm-
(Continued on following page)
EE
App. 32
The Supreme Court repudiated that liberal reading
of the class action, and the reasoning underlying it, in
General Tel. Co. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 102 S.Ct. 2364,
72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982).° In ailegations quite similar to
those made in Griffin’s initial complaint, the named plain-
tiff in Falcon claimed that his employer had denied him
promotions because he was a Mexican-American. [le also
alleged class claims on behalf of all Mexican-American em-
plovees of the company who had not been promoted, and
all Mexican-American applicants who had not been hired.
Without holding an evidentiary hearing, the district court
certified a class consisting of those employees and ap-
(Continued from previous page)
ful to the absent class members: “what of the catastrophic
consequences if the plaintiff loses and carries the [over-broad]
class down with him, or proves only such limited facts that
no practice or policy can be found, leaving him afloat but
sinking the class?’ Id. at 1126. Thirteen years later, the Su-
preme Court favorably discussed Judge Godbold’s opinion
when it rejected the across-the-board approach. See General
Tel. Co. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 160-61, 102 S.Ct. 2364, 2372,
72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982).
20. Even before Falcon, the across-the-board approach was
placed in doubt by the Supreme Court. In Fast Texas Motor
Freight Sys. Inc. v. Rodriguez, 431 U.S. 395, 405-06, 97 S.Ct.
1891, 1898, 52 L.Ed.2d 453 (1977), the Court reversed a broad
class certification:
We are not unaware that suits alleging racial or ethnic dis-
crimination are often by their very nature class suits, in-
volving classwide wrongs. Common questions of law or fact
are typically present. But careful attention to the require-
ments of Fed. Rule Civ.Proc. 23 remains nonetheless indis-
pensable. The mere fact that a complaint alleges racial
or ethnic discrimination does not in itself ensure that the
party who has brought the lawsuit will be an adequate
representative of those who may have been the real vic-
tims of that discrimination.
Wiccan ieee
plicants at one of the company’s facilities. After a trial,
the district court found that the employer had not discrim-
inated against the named plaintiff in hiring, but did dis-
criminate against him in its promotion practices. As to
the class claims, the court reached the converse conclusion,
finding no discrimination in promotion practices, but find-
ing the hiring practices unlawfully discriminatory. On
appeal, the Fifth Cireuit, using the across-the-board ap-
proach, upheld the class certification :
{The across-the-board rule! permits an employee com-
plaining of one employment practice to represent an-
other complaining of another practice, if the plaintiff
and the members of the class suffer from essentially
the same injury. In this case, all of the claims are
based on discrimination because of national origin.
Falcon v. General Tel. Co., 626 F.2d 369, 375 (5th Cir.
1980).
‘The Supreme Court, on certiorari, began its analysis
of the case by reiterating that Title VII does not relieve
a private party plaintiff seeking to represent others from
mecting the requirements of the class action rule?!: ‘* An
individual litigant seeking to maintain a class action under
Title VII must meet ‘the prerequisites of numerosity,
commonality, typicality, and adequacy of representation’
specified in Rule 23(a). These requirements effectively
‘limit the class claims to those fairly encompassed by the
named plaintiff’s claims.’ ’’ General Tel. Co. v. Falcon,
457 U.S. 147, 156, 102 S.Ct. 2864, 2369-70, 72 L.id.2d 740
21. In contrast, under Title VII, the EEOC may seek relief for
groups of employees or applicants without having to comply
with the requirements of Rule 23. General Tel. Co. v. EEOC
46 U.S. 318, 100 S.Ct. 1698, 64 L.Ed.2d 319 (1980).
App. 34
(1982) (citations omitted). Although the Court recog-
nized ‘‘that racial discrimination is by definition class dis-
,
erimination,’’ it said that the mere allegation of racial dis-
crimination cannot answer the questions posed by Rule
23(a) or define the class that may be certified:
Conceptually, there is a wide gap between (a) an in-
dividual’s claim that he has been denied a promotion
on discriminatory grounds, and his otherwise unsup-
ported allegation that the company has a policy of dis-
crimination, and (b) the existence of a class of per-
sons who have suffered the same injury as that indi-
vidual, such that the individual’s claim and the class
claims will share common questions of law or fact and
that the individual’s elaim will be typical of the class
claims.
Falcon, 457 U.S. at 157, 102 S.Ct. at 2370 (footnote omit-
ted). Thus, evidence that an employee was denied a pro-
motion because of illegal considerations of race will not
necessarily justify the additional inference, for example,
that the employer has adopted a general policy of racial
discrimination that is reflected in the employer’s other
employment practices, such as hiring and testing. See
Falcon, 457 U.S. at 158, 192 S.Ct. at 2371. The presump-
tion that general class claims are fairly encompassed with-
in the personal claims of a named plaintiff can, at best,
be characterized as tenuous. /d. The Faleon Court held
that ‘‘aetual, not presumed, conformance with Rule 23(a)
fis] indispensable.’’ Falcon, 457 U.S. at 160, 102 S.Ct. at
2372. This means that a private Title VII class action
‘may only be certified if the trial court is satisfied, after
a rigorous analysis, that the prerequisites of Rule 23(a)
have been satisfied.’’ Falcon, 457 U.S. at 161, 102 S.Ct. at
- eeieiaeaeaeae intimin
)
App. 39
The district court’s error in Falcon can be traced to
the named plaintiff’s complaint, which ** provided an in-
sufficient basis for concluding that the adjudication of
his claim of discrimination in promotion would require the
decision of any common question concerning the failure
of petitioner to hire more Mexican-Americans.’’ Jd. at
158, 102 S.Ct. at 2871. Without the benefit of sufficiently
specifie pleadings or of a hearing that probed beyond the
pleadings to answer the required certification questions,
see vd. at 160, 102 S.Ct. at 2372, the district court could do
nothing but presume that the named plaintiff’s individual
promotion claim was typical of other claims that Mexican-
American employees and applicants might raise. Jd. at
158-59, 102 S.Ct. at 2371. In short, a district court must
have some way of identifying the questions of law or fact
that are common to claims of the named plaintiff and of
the class members he seeks to represent. Jd.
The Supreme Court has thus repudiated the across-
the-board theory of ‘Title VII class actions.**7 No longer
will one allegation of specific discriminatory treatment be
sufficient to sustain a company-wide class action. No
22. “Although Falcon does not eliminate broad-based class
actions per se, it will be a rare situation indeed that will per-
mit the combining of hiring, promotion, and discharge claims
in the same class.” 2 A. Larson & L. Larson, Employment Dis-
crimination § 49.52(c)(2) (1986).
23. In Falcon, 457 U.S. at 159, 102 S.Ct. 2371 (footnote omit-
ted, the Court stated as follows: “If one allegation of specific
discriminatory treatment were sufficient to support an across-
the-board attack, every Title VII case would be a potential
companywide class action. We find nothing in the statute
to indicate that Congress intended to authorize such a whole-
sale expansion of class-action litigation.”
App. 36
longer will an employee complaining of racial diserimina-
tion, for example, in one employment practice necessarily
be permitted to represent other employees complaining of
racial discrimination in other practices. District courts
must not presume that a named plaintiff has satisfied the
typicality and commonality requirements of Rule 23(a).
In practical terms, this means that, as a general rule, in-
cumbent employees cannot represent a class that includes
applicants and that even a general policy of discrimina-
tion will not justify a class of both applicants and em-
ployvees. See Falcon, 457 U.S. at 158-59 & n. 15, 102 S.Ct.
at 2371 & n. 15,
In footnote fifteen of Falcon, the Supreme Court
identified exceptions to that general rule. For example,
an employee who alleges that he was a victim of a specific
discriminatory employment practice may properly rep-
resent applicants when the employer used a biased testing
procedure to evaluate both applicants and incumbent em-
ployees: ‘ta class action on behalf of every applicant or
employee who might have been prejudiced by the test
clearly would satisfy the commonality and typicality re-
quirements of Rule 23(a).’? Falcon, 457 U.S. at 159 n. 15,
102 8.Ct. at 2871 n. 15. In addition, a general policy of
discrimination could justify a class of both applicants and
employees ‘‘if the discrimination manifested itself in hir-
ing and promotion practices in the same general fashion,
such as through entirely subjective decisionmaking proc-
esses.’’ Id.
The situations the Supreme Court identified in foot-
note fifteen can be thought of as exceptions to the general
rule that applicants and incumbent employees cannot share
the same class. We emphasize, however, that those situa-
App. 37
tions are exceptions not because racial discrimination is
by definition class discrimination, a necessarily valid prop-
osition underlying the across-the-board rule, Falcon, 457
U.S. at 167, 102 S.Ct. at 2870, but because the commonality
and typicality requirements of Rule 23(a) can be satis-
fied.“ Lf, after a rigorous analysis, a district court is sat-
isfied that in a case similar to those situations described
in footnote fifteen the Rule 23(a) requirements have been
met, then it should not hesitate to certify the class. We
caution, however, that although district court should give
real meaning to Falcon’s footnote fifteen, that footnote
should not be used to defeat the general dictates of Falcon.
The footnote was not meant to sanction broad class ae-
tions that otherwise do not conform to Rule 23(a).
C.
We begin our analysis of whether the requirements ot
Kinle 23(a) have been fulfilled in the case before us by
examining Griffin’s complaint.2> The complaint, which
24. See 1H. Newberg, Newberg on Class Actions § 3.17 (2d
ed. 1985):
In the final analysis, through its rulings and examples,
Falcon instructs that the Rule 23(a) typicality requirement
can be satistied only by a showing of a sufficient inter-
relationship between the claims of the representative and
those of the class, so that an adjudication of the individual
claims will necessarily involve the decision of common
questions affecting the class.
25. Our analysis takes into account that the district court had
considerable discretion in deciding to certify the class. See,
e.g., Walker v. Jim Dandy Co., 747 F.2d 1360, 1363 (11th
Cir.1984); Freeman v. Motor Convoy, .nc., 700 F.2d 1339,
13.47 (11th Cir.1983).
App. 38
was filed in October 1979, almost three years before Falcon
was decided, included ailegations that the defendants dis-
criminated on the basis of race with their written entry-
level examinations and in their hiring, assignment, disci-
pline, and promotion decisions. Griffin’s action was
brought *‘on behalf of all past, present and potential black
American citizens and residents who have been, are or
may be employees of the Defendants or applicants for em-
ployment.”’ As to Rule 23(a)’s numerosity requirement,
the complaint contains the allegation that the persons in
the class ‘tare too nuinerous to join in this action.’ The
only reference to Griffin’s ability to represent that class
was this statement: ‘‘The Plaintiff can fairly and ade-
quately represent the class.’ The complaint’s only ref-
erence to Rule 23(a)’s commonality requirement was this
statement: ‘* The conclusory questions of whether there is
a general pattern and practice of discrimination by Defei-
dants and the question of whether certain practices consti-
tute illegal job discrimination are common mixed questions
of fact and law to the class as a whole.’? The complaint
made no allegation whatsoever that Griffin could meet
Rule 25(a)’s additional requirement of typiecality.?7
26. In his second amended complaint, Griffin made the fol-
lowing numerosity allegation:
The precise total number of persons in the class is un-
known to the Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs allege, on information
and belief, that there are more than 1,000 persons in this
class. There are many other unknown class members.
They are too numerous to join as named Plaintiffs and
such joinder is impractical.
27. The first reference to Rule 23(a)’s typicality requirement
was in Griffin’s second amended complaint, in which he al-
leged that ‘‘the claims of the Plaintiffs are typical of the
claims of all other class members.”
App. 39
Without an evidentiary hearing, the district court
preliminarily certified the ‘‘class of all past, present, and
potential black employees’’ of the DOC, finding that the
requirements of Rule 23(a) had been met. The court’s
certification ruling was based solely on a stipulation of
the parties that under the law of the Fifth Cireuit, the
named plaintiffs met the commonality requirement of Rule
25(a).8 The parties further stipulated that ‘‘[t]he claims
of the named plaintiffs are, under current law in the
United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Cireuit, similar to
those of other members of the proposed class.’’? The
parties made no relevant factual stipulations.
Soon after the Supreme Court decided Falcon, the de-
fendants moved the district court to vacate the order certi-
fying the class. The parties filed memoranda of law,
arguing the applicability of Falcon. On the basis of the
memoranda, and with no hearing, the district court issued
an order denying the defendants’ motion. The court’s
analysis began with the recognition that ‘‘[t]he Lalcon
decision mandates that this court carefully examine the
requirements of Rule 23(a).’°° As to the commonality
requirement, the district court found the following:
28. See supra note 6.
29. The defendants reserved the right to move the district
court to decartify the class. See supra note 6.
30. As to the first requirement of Rule 23(a)—‘‘the class is so
numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable’-—
the district court found that “[t}he number of black persons
employed by the |[FDOC] in February 1981 was 1,346. .
This number alone, without inquiry as to the number of past
and potential black employees, clearly indicates that the class
members are too numerous to join.”
ae
App. 40
Plaintiffs have alleged a common practice and pattern
of racial discrimination which affects defendants’ hir-
ing, promotion, job classification, disciplinary, and ter-
mination decisions. This general discriminatory pol-
icy commonly injures all members of the class of past,
present, and potential black eniplovees of the Depart-
ment. Plaintiffs maintain that they will utilize simi-
lar statistical data, similar historical background, and
the same or similar witnesses to support their allega-
tions of class-wide discrimination. This court is sat-
isfied that the commonaliiy requirement of Rule 23
Is mict.
The distriet court found the typiecality prerequisite
satisfied, but only because Henry L. Dejerinett, a black
male who was not hired for a clerical position, had been
added as a party-plaintiff and as a class representative.
Even so, the court was concerned that Griffin and Dejer-
inett could not adequately represent those with objective
testing claims:
Plaintiff Griffin certainly can adequately protect the
interests of black emplovees who have claims of dis-
crimination in promotions, job classification, disci-
cipline, and terminations. Plaintiff Dejerinett’s claim
is somewhat interrelated with the class clauns of a
discriminatory hiring policy. Plaintiffs allege that
blacks are not hired in sufficient number because of
facially neutral objective criteria, Le. a high school
education requirement and the |F DOC] test, which
have a disparate impact on black applicants and of a
subjective barrier which causes the almost exclusively
white decisionmakers to discriminate against black
applicants. The class claim against discriminatory
subjective hiring decisions is fairly encompassed in
Dejerinett’s claim. This court, however, is concerned
that the class claim against the Department's objective
screening criteria which have a disparate impact upon
class members, especially the [IF DOC] test, is not
App. 41
fairly and adequately protected by any of the nanied
plaintiffs.
In that same order, the district court permitted Alvin
Smith to intervene as a party plaintiff. Smith was an
unsuccesstul black applicant for a correctional officer
position who had tailed the written entry-level correctional
vificer examination. The court wrote the following in its
order: ‘*Mr. Smith eases this court’s concern that the
class claim against the Department’s objective criteria
Was not fairly and adequately protected by the named
plainuffts. Alvin Sinith is a proper representative for po-
tential black employees.”
As to Griffin’s capacity to represent the “class of all
past, present, and potential black employees’’ of the
I DOC, we hold that, in light of Falcon, Griffin’s complaint
provided an insufficient basis by which the district court
could have concluded that Griffin's “claim[s] of discrimi-
nation in promotion [and discipline] would require the
decision of any common question concerning the failure of
{the defendants] to hire more [blacks |.*? Falcon, 497 U.S.
at 158, 102 S.Ct. at 2371. In our view, Griffin satisfied
neither the commonality nor the typicality requirements
of Rule 23(a).*!
31. As the Supreme Court noted in Falcon, 457 U.S. at 157
n. 13, 102 S.Ct. at 2370 n. 13.
[the commonality and typicality requirements of Rule 23(a)
tend to merge. Both serve as guideposts for determining
whether under the particular circumstances maintenance
of a class action is economical and whether the named
plaintiff's claim and the class claims are so interrelated
that the interests of the class members will be fairly and
adequately protected in their absence.
App. 42
The district court found the commonality require-
ment satisfied because the “general discriminatory pol-
icy’? Griffin alleged ‘‘commonly injures all members of
the class” and that in order “to support their allegations
of class-wide discrimination,’’ Griffin would utilze ‘‘sim-
ilar statistical data, similar historical background, and
the same or similar witnesses.’’ As to the typicality re-
quirement, the district court found it satisfied because
‘‘(pjlaintiffs allege that blacks are not hired in sufficient
number because of facially neutral objective criteria, 1.e.,
a high school education requirement and the [I/DOC] test,
which have a disparate impact on black applicants and of
a subjective barrier which causes the almost exclusively
white decisionmakers to discriminate against black appli-
eants.’’
To us, the district court failed to appreciate the sig-
nificance of Falcon. he distriet court did not engage in
the kind of ‘‘rigorous analysis’’ that we believe the Falcon
eourt contemplated. See Falcon, 457 U.S. at 161, 102
S.Ct at 2372.
Griffin’s initial complaint, relying on the then-valid
across-the-board rule, made no factual showing to satisfy
the Rule 23(a) requirements. Additionally, the two
amended complaints, which included Dejerinett and Smith
as named plaintiffs, offered no facts to satisfy the Rule
23(a) requirements. Moreover, the named _ plaintiffs’
‘*Memorandum in Opposition to Motion to Vacate Order
Certifying Class’’ offered little more than conclusory
statements that the named plaintiffs satisfied the Rule
23(a) eriteria. See Nelson v. United States Steel Corp.,
709 F.2d 675, 680 (11th Cir. 1983) (**[Named plaintiff]
was... obligated to show, in at least a preliminary fashion,
App. 48
the required commonality between her claims and those of
the putative class.’’) (citations omitted). Although the
plaintiffs asserted that ‘‘[wJhether a person impacted by
one employment practice may represent other persons im-
pacted ‘in the same manner’ by another practice need not
be reached in this case,’’ they nonetheless tried to take
refuge in Falcon’s footnote fifteen, which states that a
class of both applicants and employees could be justified
‘if the discrimination manifested itself in hiring and pro-
motion practices in the same general fashion.’’ Falcon,
457 U.S. at 159 n. 15, 102 S.Ct. at 2371 n. 15. This is the
closest the named plaintiffs came to helping the district
court conduct a rigorous Rule 23 inquiry. In fact, the
plaintiffs, although aware of Falcon, continued to rely on
ihe defunct across-the-board rule by citing a former Fifth
Cireuit case that, in light of Falcon, was no longer good
law.
32. In support of its typically argument, the plaintiffs’ memo-
randum of law cited Hebert v. Monsanto Co., 576 F.2d 77, 838
(5th Cir.), vacated and dismissed for want of jurisdiction, 580
F.2d 178 (5th Cir.1978) (per curiam):
Appellee contends that because appeliant’s claim concerns
only the trucking activities of the company and other claim-
ants are from different departments, appellant’s claim is
neither factually nor legally typical. We recognize, how-
ever, that the typicality requirement is not so rigid as to
comprehend only similar fact situations. If class actions
were limited to factual typicality, class actions under Title
Vil would be impossible because, except in rare cases, the
facts would not be identical. It would be a better test for
typicality to consider whether the types of facts or evidence
were typical of the class. For example, if all claims, al-
though of different job classifications, depended upon sta-
tistical evidence, and the statistics evidenced a policy of dis-
crimination, typically would be satisfied.
(Continued on following page)
\pp. 44
The district court’s commonality analysis amounts to
nothing iasore than a presumption that racial diserimina
tion as manifested in various employiment practices raises
a common question of law or faet. See Wheeler +. City of
O35 F.2d 8535, 855 (Sth Cir. 1OS3) Coe, curiam)
Columbus, 7
(**Disernnination in its broadest sense is the only question
alleged that is common to ithe named plaintiff and the
Class she sought to create and represent, lnder falcon
this is not enough.’’). The district court’s Vpicalits
analysis, which presumably is based on /alcon’s footnote
fifteen, is flawed. As we have already discussed, in that
footnote the Falcon Court identified exceptions to t!
veneral rule that emnplovees cannot represent a class that
includes applicants, even though the emplover’s diserimi
nation is manifested in various emplovment practices. One
situation that may justify a class of both applicants an:
ell plovees is when the discrimination that is manifested
In Various practices is effected ‘in the same general fas
hion, such a through ent rely ~ ibjee IVE dk CESbOUD aH De
processes.”" Falcon, 457 U.S. at 159 mn. 15, 102 S.Ct. a
Joel in. lo. The named plaintiffs’ assertions notwithstand
ing, the pleadings demonstrated that any general policy
of discrimination that the DOC may have had di! not
manifest itself in the same veneral fashion.
When the Supreme Court used the term *‘same cen
eral fashion,’’ it gave an example: ‘‘entirely subjective
Continued trom previous page
In light oi Falcon, “general statistical evidence of underrepre-
sentation in the workforce will undoubtedly not suffice to jus
tify a single class covering ditferent types of discrimination
such as in hiring promotion, and discharge.” 2 A. Larson & |
Larson, Employment Discrimination § 49.52(c)(2) (1986) (inter-
preting tootnote 15 of Falcon, 457 U.S. at 159, 102 S.Ct. at
2371
ee
App. 45
decisionmaking processes.’’ Significant proof that an em-
ployer makes both discriminatory hiring and promotion
decisions using an entirely subjective decisionmaking proc-
ess for each employment practice is a manifestation of a
veneral policy of discrimination operating in ‘‘the same
general fashion.’’ By qualifying ‘‘subjective decision-
making processes’’ with ‘‘entirely,’* the Court implied that
an enployver’s general policy of discrimination manifested,
for exainple, by an objective hiring practice and by a sub-
jective promotion practice would not be discrimination
operating in ‘‘the same general fashion’’ sufficient to
justify a class of both applicants and employees.
The FDOC’s decisionmaking process for hiring cor-
rectional officers is objective: applicants must hold a
high school diploma or a general equivalency diploma and
must pass the written correctional officer examination. In
contrast, the FDOC’s decisionmaking process for promot-
ing eorrectional officers, and other employees, is subjec
tive: applicants for promotion need not hold advanced de-
erees or pass any a iditional examinations; correctional
officers are promoted on the basis of their performance as
viewed by their superiors. The case before us is not one
that implicates Falcons footnot« fifteen.
We therefore hold that Griffin, an inewmbent correc-
tional officer Complaining of a subjective decisionmaking
process, could not represent a class that included those
who may have been victims of a discriminatory objective
decisionmaking process, such as applicants for the position
of correctional officer who took the written entry-level
examination and failed it. See, e.g., Walker v. Jim Dandy
Co.. TAT F.2d 1360, 1365 (11th Cir.1984) (?’Foliowing F'a/-
con... we hold that [ plaintiffs”! complaint provided an
App. 46
insufficient basis for concluding that the adjudication of
{their} claim of discrimination in hirimg supervisory em-
ployces would require the resolution of common questions
of law and fact concerning [the emplover’s) diserimina-
tory practices in recruitment, job assignment, transfer,
and promotion.”’); Redditt v. Mississippi Extended Care
Centers, Inc., T18 F.2d 1381, 1387 (Sth Cir.1983) (** Under
Falcon, plaintiff cannot serve as class representative with
respect to hiring, promotion, or any other employment
practices excepting discriminatory discharge because she
does not possess the same interest and did not suffer the
same injury as the other members of the class.’*’); Taylor
vr. Block, 35 Fed. R. Serv.2d (Callaghan) 546 (D.D.C. Oct.
15, 1982) (plaintiffs who alleged they suffered only pro-
motion discrimination could not represent across-the-board
class claiming hiring, assignment, and training diserimina-
tion). In other words, Griffn, who could assert discipline
and promotion claims under Title VII, did not have repre-
sentative capacity, within the meaning of Rule 23(a), to
assert testing claims on behalf of others? We now ex-
amine whether the addition of Henry L. Dejerinett and
Alvin Sinith as named plaintiffs affected the class certi-
fication question.
IL.
A.
Kight months after filing his complaint in district
court, Griffin sought leave to amend his complaint to add
33. Because Griffin satisfied neither the commonality nor the
typicality requirements of Rule 23/a), we need not address
whether he could have been an adequate representative oi the
class. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a)(4).
App. 47
Henry L. Dejerinett as a party-plaintiff and as a class
representative. In November 1978, Dejerinett applied for
an DOC clerical position, entitled ‘‘Property Manager
IIl.”’ Dejerinett-was not required, as part of the applica
tion process, to produce an educational degree or to take
the written entry-level examination required of corree-
tional officer applicants. He was required, however, to
have an interview. Dejerinett was not hired; instead, the
DOC hired a white male. A month later, Dejerinett filed
a charge of racial diserimination against the DOC with
the Florida Conmnission on Human Relations, a deferral
agency for the HEOC. Ie requested and received a right-
to-sue letter from the EEOC in April 1980. The district
court, with no written analysis of standing or Rule 23,
granted Griffin leave to amend his complaint and add De-
jerinett as a named plaintiff.
Dejerinett had standing to assert a subjective hiring
claim.* He applied for a clerical position, requiring no
correctional officer examination or educational degrees,
and was not uired. Because Dejerinett never took the cor-
rectional officer examination, and never applied for that
position, he suffered no injury as a result of that test. Ile
thus lacked constitutional standing to assert a testing or a
34. There is some indication in the record that the Florida De-
partment of Administration, on the basis of testing, training,
and experience, rated Dejerinett as well-qualified for the clerk
position. We cannot tel! from the record whether any testing
done by the Department of Administration measured health,
physical ability, or intelligence. In any event, because the rat-
ing took experience and training into account, there was a
substantial subjective component to the rating. We also note
that because Dejerinett received a well-qualified rating (which
presumably was a reason he was granted an interview), he did
not allege that the Department of Administration’s rating pro-
cess illegally discriminated against black applicants.
helt dl ¢
' ’ ]
elaim under Titl
a1 ult of tl
‘a 1 4]
Lidl uiled the \
correctional Olt te
dd
i representa
{ tin Claims oO}
' '
ect the ame
’
(*¢ | neo} fc ici ie
echnareve Of racial
eondition to a
1S? y 7)
{ } ) 1]
QO? JOLO-11
| |
UrLINermMOre i
el] () 1 The
hol that Tile (| -
}
{ C] ral a Cla
In Oat (
') ft} ( ’ LOGS
Tid) Pie i ? 14)
rirst
eChTLO
Aly
|
+,
(
al 4
, ’
LQ]
‘
he
’
, ;
+,
1]
‘
‘?
er ¢
;
hati
saa4
il
j
QV)
}
)
i
;*?
' i
‘*T cl
(
?
iValel
Late) (
COrTVTeCTLOI
} +
ic’] ct Lite
tepnciy {
at fal
mula and
Y) (
Tro} rea
~e ;
nde dl i i¢
) l there
()T ‘ +]
‘a th aid
++} ;
i Viti
‘< {+)
ee 7
j
f s j 7
) ™~
‘?
i }
i i
(
j {
(>? ( I*¢
iil ('
{
‘
,)
sail
cl f
‘? ‘
e)
(
not
}
(
Del
y>
fi
titi
res
’
oni:
?
?
?
Oo
(
ra
(
(
}
(
)
(
)
1+)
<i
{
i
App. 951
eriminatory treatment. Griffin alleged that the FDOC’s
subjective promotion and discipline practices were illegally
diseriminatory. Smith alleged that the FDOC’s objective
correctional officer examination illegally discriminated
against black applicants. The FDOC’s promotion and dis
cipline practices were not manifested in similar fashion
to its hiring and testing practices. See Hezell +. Mobile
Housimy Bd., 709 F.2d 1376, 1381 (11th Cir.1983) (non-
filing ineumbent plaintiff’s discriminatory examination
claim was not sufficiently similar to filing plaintiff’s dis
criminatory discharge and broad-based, ongoing campaign
of discrimination claims to invoke single-filing rule .o
excuse filing requirement): Dalton +. Emploument Sec.
Comm'n. 671 F.2d 835. 838 (4th Cir.). cert. dented, 459 US
S62, 103 S.Ct. 138, 74 L.eMdi2d 117 (1982) (beeause non-
charging plaintiff’s hiring claim was not ‘‘substantinlly
ilentical’’ to incumbent employee's claims of discrimatory
treatment, single-filing rule did not apply). Although both
employment practices could have been racially diseriniuna
tory, that alone is not enough to implicate the second re-
quirement of the single-filing rule. Otherwise, ‘‘inter
vention [eould| bootstrap the court’s jurisdiction to en-
compass claims regarding practices broader than the
claims properly assertable by the named _ plaintiffs.”’
Vnyanich v. Re publu Nat'l Bank, 723 F.2d 1195, 1201 (5th
Cir.) (former employees who sought to-mtervene in class
action but who did not file timely charges with EEOC
could only proceed within periphery of issues that named
aintiffs could assert), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1073, 100
S.Ct. 567. 83 L.Ed.2d 507 (1984); see also Wakeen v. Hoff-
House, Inc., 724 F.2d 1238, 1246 (7th Cir. 1985) (“[ A]
class member who does not meet the procedural prere-
isites for waging a Title VII suit may not use the guise
—————— eee
)
App. 02
of a motion to intervene to take over as the sole class
representative for someone who initiates but is not legit
mately able to continue a class action.”’).
We also note that merely because a notation at the be
ginning of Griffin’s EEOC complaint stated that Griffin's
charge also encompassed ‘*|s |incerity of recruiting, hiring,
and promoting of minority groups within the I lorida’s
Division of Adult Corrections,’’ Stmith’s status as a class
representative was not saved. As the pleadings make
clear, Griffin never had constiiutional standing ‘o raise
testing or a hiring elatin, a fundamental requirement
underlying the single-filing rule: ‘‘onee an aggrieved per
son raises a particular issue with the HEOC which he has
standing to raise, he may bring an acuion for himself and
the class of persons similariv situated.’’ Oatis, 598 b.2d
at 497.27) Smith cannot point to Griffin’s EMOC charge,
which arguably contained a testing claim brought on behalf
of others, to excuse his failure to have filed his own testing
charge with the HOC when Griffin did not have standing
to raise the testing issue, We cannot permit the sinele
7
filine rule to be used to cireumvent the constitutional re
quirement of standing.
37. By “standing” the Oatis court meant ‘‘the issues as to which
[the employee] is aggrieved,’”’ Oatis, 398 F.2d at 499, citing
Title VII's enforcement provision that requires the EEOC to in-
vestigate the charges of a person claiming to be aggrieved, 42
U.S.C. 2000e-5(a). By “standing,” the Oatis court also meant,
even if implicitly, personal injury, that is, constitutional stand-
ing. See id. at 498-99; see also Vuyanich v. Republic Nat'l
Bank, 723 F.2d 1195, 1200-01 (5th Cir.) (interpreting Oatis’
single-filing rule as implicating constitutional standing), cert
denied, 469 U.S. 1073, 105 S.Ct. 567, 83 L.Ed.2d 507 (1984).
IV.
In sum, based on standing principles and on the die-
tates of Falcon, we hold that the distriet court erred when
it certified the class with the named plaintiffs as represen
tatives. None of the named plaintiffs—Griffin, Dejerinett,
or Smith—should have been allowed to represent the elass
of black correctional officer applieants with testing claims.
The district ecourt’s order certifying the elass is therefore
VACATED.
HATCHETT, Cireuit Judge, dissenting:
[ dissent. The majority holds that Smith did not meet
the second element of the single-filing rule. That rule
states, ‘tthe individual claims of the filine and non-filing
plaintiffs must have arisen out of similar discriminatory
treatment in the same time frame.” Jackson, 678 F.2d at
1011-12 (emphasis added). One of Griffin’s claims in his
HEOC complaint was that the FDOC discriminated against
black job applicants. Non-filing intervenor Smith’s claim
arose ‘‘out of similar diseriminatory treatment,’’ because
he alleges that the F DOC diseriminated against him and
other applicants through administration of a test with a
discriminatory impact on blacks. The majority ignores
the fact that Griffin raised the claim of discrimination
against black applicants in his HOC complaint.
The majority erroneously assumes that if Griffin
lacks standing to raise the hiring claim in federal court,
then his raising of that claim before the EEOC is somehow
ineffective for purposes of the single filing rule. The ma-
jority’s reasoning is based upon its failure to differentiate
between the poliey underlying the standing requirement in
= —
App. 94
federal court and the policy underlying the single filing
rule in an EEOC action. The poliey underlying the stand-
ing requirement is to ensure that a party litigating an is-
sue has a conerete stake in the outcome of the case, and is
therefore motivated to vigorously litigate the issues. The
poliey underlyin the HEOC filing req iirement is to ensure
“that the settlement of grievances be first attempted
through the office of the EEOC. ...7’ Ezell v. Mobile
Hlousing Board, 709 F.2d 1376, 1381 (11th Cir.1983) ; Oatis
vr. Crown Zellerbach Corp., 398 F.2d 496, 498 (Sth Cir.
1968). The purpose underlying the EEOC filing require-
ment is therefore to promote the resolution of Title VII
elaims out of court. The [OC proceeding is not designed
as a way-station on the road to the federal courthouse.
By asserting a hiring grievance in his KEOC com-
plaint, Griffin eusured **that the settlement of [hiring]
grievances [would] be first attempted through the office
of the EEOC." Ezell, 709 F.2d at 1381. The faet that
Griffin may not have had standing in federal distriet court
to raise the hiring issue is irrelevant to the fact that his
EKOC complaint gave the EEOC an opportunity to settle
the hiring grievance before that grievance was sned upon
in federal district court. Since Smith’s claim in federal
district court of discriminatory hiring practices is identi-
cal to the claim of discriminatory hiring practices as-
serted in Griffin’s complaint before the HHOC, invoking
the single filing rule will not frustrate the purpose of the
EKOC filing requirement: to give the HHOC a chance to
resolve Title VII claims before they vo to court. The faet
that Griffin may not have had standing to raise the hiring
elaim in court is irrelevant to the issue of whether the
EEOC has had a chance to resolve that claim before it 1s
taken to court, whether by Griffin, Smith, or anyone else.
Ce
App. 59
In short, the majority has grafted the constitutional
standing requirement for parties litigating in federal dis-
trict court onto the filing requirements for persons alleg-
ing Title VIL claims before the HEOC. Such a require-
ment does not, and never has, existed. The majority, how-
ever, misinterprets Fifth Circuit dicta to reach just that
conclusion. That dicta savs, ‘‘Onee an aggrieved person
raises a particular issue with the HMOC which he has
standing to raise, ie may bring an action for himself and
the class of persons similarly situated.’’ Oatis, 398 F.2d
at 498. The majority fails to mention that the sole issue
in the Oatis case was whether a Title VII class action couid
include in the class persons who had not previously filed
charges with the EFOC. The court held that the class
could inelude such persons. The Oatis court gave its rea
soning for this holding in the sentence immediately preced-
ing the language relied upon by the majorify in this case.
That sentence states, ‘‘ If it is impossible to reach a settle-
ment with one discriminatee, what reason would there be
to assume the next one would be successful.’? Oatis, 59S
2d at 498. In short, the court in Oalis was not faced with
the question of whether an EEOC complainant could eftee-
tively file claims with the EOC even though the con
plainant would not have standing to assert the claim in
federal district court. The majority ’s application Ol Con
stitutional standing requirements to the HMOC complain
ant puts the HMOC in the nonsensical position of having
to anticipate how the federal district court will rule on th
complainant’s standing to litigate various claims if th
MEOC does not resolve them. Such a rule will result im
the EEOC narrowing its resolution of claims to those
which it anticipates the complainant will have standing to
sue upon in federal drict court, regardless of the ap
App. 06
parent existence of the alleged discrimination with respect
to other employees or job applicants. Such a situation
would hardly further the purpose of the EEOC filing re
quirement: to resolve Title VII claims out of court.
Title 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(b) says:
Whenever a charge is filed by or on behalf of a per
son claiming to be aggrieved, or by a member of the
Commission, alleging that an eplover ... has engaved
in an unlawful employment practice, the Commission
shall serve a notice of the charge... and shall make
an investigation thereof.
This provision requires the Comission to investigate all
charges which a person ‘‘claims’” to be aggrieved of. In
no way does the provision suggest that the Commission 1s
limited to the investigation of claims which the complain
ant will have standing to bring in a federal court. Any
sueveston in Oatis of such a requirement 1s dicta that is
1 conflict with the intent of the statute that the EHOC
resolve ‘“‘elaimed’’ diserimination out of court. Smith
should therefore be allowed to proceed in federal district
court as a class representative for the class of applicants
Wo failed the objective test.
App. 57
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
PENERS L. GRIFFIN and
HENRY L. DEJERINETT,
Plaintiffs-Appellees,
versus
RICHARD L. DUGGER., Secretary of the
Florida Department of Corrections, et al.,
Defendants-Appellants.
Appeal from the United States Distriet Court
for the Northern Distriet of Florida
ON PETITION(S) FOR REHEARING AND
SUGGESTION (S) OF REHEARING IN BANC
(Opinion 8/7/87, 11 Cir., 198—, —F.2d—).
(OCTOBER 30, 1987)
Before TJORLAT and HATCHETT, Cirenit Judges, an
MK ATON*, Senior District Judge.
PER CURLAM:
) The Petition(s) for Rehearing are DENTED and no
ember of this panel nor other Judge in regular active
ervice Ol) the (‘ourt having requested that the (‘ourt be
don rehearing in bane (Rule 35, Federal Rules of Ap
Procedure: Bleventh Cirenit Rule 35-5), the Sue-
yot Rehearing In Bane are DENIED.
The Petition(s) for Rehearing are DENTED and the
having been polled at the request of one of the mem-
Court and a majority of the Cireuit Judges
, —_
App. 08
who ire in reonular aetive SPrV1ce not h 17 voted 1! rayvol
ot 17 (Rule yy | (if ral RR esx ( \npel Lit }) mre iin
on(s) of Reheat
} A Irie mibe ! of the ( our iT AC e 4 :
the reconsideration of this caus in bane,
(ule aT «| al poll (oT)
active service not having
Bane is DENIED.
and a majority of the judges in
oted in tauvor ot it. Re hearn YU In
ENTERED FOR THE COURT:
Gerald B. Tiotlat
United States Cireuit
App. 59
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION
PENERS L. GRIFFIN, et al., ete..
Plaintiffs and Intervenors
vs. TCA 79-1016-WS
RICHARD L. DUGGER, ete.. et al..
Defendants.
MOTION FOR LEAVE TO AMEND COMPLAINT
Pursuant to Rnle 15. Federal Rules of Civil Proe
ire, and the Opinion of the United States Court of Ap
peals for the EKleventh Cirenit, Griffin +. Duqaer, 823 2d
1476 (11th Cir. 1987), Plaintiffs and Intervenors move for
leave to amend the Complaint. Pursuant to General Rule
f this Court, the amended complaint, captioned ** Third
\mended Complaint, Intervenor Smith’s Amended Con
The amended pleading responds to the teaching of
Griffin v. Di qqer, Supra, by:
l. Setting forth facets which estal <] Taintilf Grit
Article II] standing to file his 1975 Charge of Dts
crimination, which alleged hirine diserimination, and tl
complaint im thi ictio?
2 \s an vite l | TO } (7 () i | l “
it) rem | r rel te)
Smiuthos tilt
eerupt ot du
chtic Notre
a
| (
my ——
itl I
a |
,
\pp Ou)
of hi own Charee of Disertomonation
own Nottee of Rieht to Sur Sritthe?
were aot before thy (‘ourt earher be
’ mer orule cae the orders of thi
\ ertitieation, they were previou l\
retevarnt: one
l miterrni¢Uyve roils lo exbinu Lhon ol
No
{tin forth the tae
C‘hiaaree ob Daserimimationr ritiel
» ET bearntitt madd tntervenor Butler’
pact of subjective factors cisparate
rte the trend plesacine
t il ddueed at trial and to the
[lial @eVielenee, a pro
. ly
ly spect Vv Subreittes
hiddy
PATTERSON & TRAYNILAM
| ssee, Florida 382315
{ 4 QS]
LTTORNEYS FUR PLAINTIFFS
App. 61
CERTIFICATE OF
| WHEREBY CERTIFY that
Mas Nowy Drovicced Py | Ss
\
—
SERVICE
App. 62
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION
PENERS L. GRIFFIN, et al., ete.,
Piaintifts and Intervenors,
VS. TCA 79-1016-WS
RICHARD L. DUGGER, ete., et al.,
Defendants,
MOTION FOR LEAVE TO AMEND
INTERVENOR SMITIVS COMPLAINT
Pursuant to Rule 15, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,
and the Opinion of the United States Court of Appeals for
the Mleventh Cireuit, Griffin vo. Dugger, 825) F.2d 1476
(lith Cir. 1987), Plaintiffs and Intervenors move for leave
to amend Intervenor Smith’s Complaint. Pursuant to
General Rule 11 of this Court, Intervenor Smith’s amended
complaint, captioned Third Amended Complaint, Inter-
venor Smith's Amended Complaint, and Intervenors* Com
plait’, ais filed with this Motion,
As to Smith, the amended pleadine responds to. the
teaching ot Griffin «. Duaade r, supra, bv:
l. Setting forth facets which establish Plaintiff Grif-
fin’s Article TI] standing to file his 1975 Charge of Dis-
crimination, which alleged hiring discrimination, and the
complaint in this action; and
’) As an alternative route to exhaustion of adminis
trative remedies, by setting forth the faets rewarding
App. 63
Smith’s filing of his own Charge of Discrimination and re-
ceipt of his own Notice of Right to Sue. Smith’s Charge
and Notice were not before this Court earlier because, un-
der the single-filing rule and the orders of this Court re-
garding class certification, they were previously unneces-
sary and irrelevant.
Respectfully Submitted
s/ Harry L. Witte
Jerry G. Traynham
PATTERSON & TRAYNHAM
P.O. Box 4289
Tallahassee, Florida 32315
(904) 224-9181
ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFFS
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
l HEREBY CERTIFY that a true copy of the fore-
voing has been provided by U.S. Mail, postage prepaid, to
Harry F. Chiles, Assistant Attorney General, The Capitol
Suite 1501, Tallahassee, Florida, 32301, and to Bruee A.
Minnick, Msquire, Mang, Rett & Collette, P.A., Suite 740
Barnett Bank Bldg, P.O. Box 11127, Tallahassee, FLL.
wl,
Ono
82002-3127, this 10th day of February, 198s,
‘'s/ Harry L. Witte
App. 64
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTUERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION
PENERS L. GRIFFIN, et al., ete.,
Plaintiffs and Intervenors,
VS. TCA 79-1016-WS
RICHARD L. DUGGER, ete., et al.
Defendants,
MOTION TO INTERVENE
Pursnant to Rule 24, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,
and the Opinion of the United States Court of Appeals for
the Eleventh Circuit, Griffins. Dugger, 823 F.2d 1476
(11th Cir, 1987), Samnel Platt, David Baber, Romeo Co-
zart. Marvin Jones and Michael Ovefesobi move to inter-
vene in this action to protect their interests and the inter-
ests of the class of all black applicants for employment
with the Florida Department of Corrections and its pre-
decessor agencies who, since March 24, 1972, have been
denied employment or consideration for employment by
reason of their scores on the Correctional Offieer written
examination,
Intervenors are black persons who have been denied
Correctional Officer employment with the Florida Depart-
ment of Corrections and or its predecessor agencies he-
cuuse of race, on the basis of their scores on the Corree-
tional Officer written examination, They seek to inter-
vene in this action as a matter of right, pursuant to Para.
App. 65
eraph (a) of Rule 24, sinee Chey and the class claim an in-
terest in the Defendants’ illegal practice of using the Cor-
rectional Officer written examination as an emplovee selec-
tion procedure. This Court has ruled that the challenged
practice violates Tithe VII, since the examination has an
adverse impact on biack applicants and is not validated.
Under the decision in Griffin v. Dugger, supra, Interven-
ors and the elass are so situated that the disposition of
this action may as a practical matter impair or impede
their ability te proteet their interests.
Pursuant to Paragraph (c) of Rule 24, Intervenors’
complaint, captioned ** Third Amended Complaint, Inter-
venor Smith’s Amended Complaint, and Intervenors’ Com-
plaint,’* is filed with this Motion. That pleading sets forth
the claims regarding the Correction Officer written exam-
ination, for which intervention is sought.
Respectfully Submitted
/s’ Harry L. Witte
Jerry G. Traynham
PATTERSON & TRAYNHAM
P.O. Box 4289
Tallahassee, Florida 32315
(904) 224-9181
ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFFS
|
|
|
.
App. 66
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true copy of the fore-
going has been provided by U.S. Mail, postage prepaid, to
Harry F. Chiles, Assistant Attorney General, The Capitol
—Suite 1501, Tallahassee, Florida, 52501, and to Bruee A.
Minnick, Esquire, Mang, Rett & Collette, P.A., Suite 740
Jarnett Bank Bldg., P.O. Box 11127, Tallahassee, FL.
32302-3127, this 10th day of February, 1988.
/s/ Harry L. Witte
App. 67
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE DIVISION
PENERS L. GRIFFIN, et al., ete.,
Plaintiffs and Intervenors,
Vs. TCA 79-1016-WS
RICHARD L. DUGGER, ete., et al.,
Defendants,
/
MOTION TO RECERTIFY CLASS
AND
REQUEST FOR EVIDENTIARY HEARING
Pursuant to Rule 23, Federal Rules of Civil Proce-
dure, Plaintiffs and Intervenors move the Court to recer-
tify the class of all black applicants for employment with
the Florida Department of Corrections and its predecessor
agencies who, since March 24, 1972, have been denied em-
ployment or consideration for employment by reason of
their scores on the Correctional Officer written examina-
tion, with Intervenors Alvin Smith, Samuel Platt, David
Baber, Romeo Cozart, Marvin Jones and Michael Ovefe-
sobi as the representative parties.
All requirements of Rule 23 are satisfied:
1. This class is so numerous that joinder of all mem-
bers is impracticable. More than two thousand (2,000)
black applicants have been denied employment, or consid-
eration for employment, by reason of their scores on the
Correctional Officer written examination. More than four-
App. 6S
teen hundred (1400) persons have filed claims in this law-
cuit for relief from such discriminatory denial of employ-
ment.
2. There are questions of law or fact common to this
class. The common questions of law involve the appliea-
tion of the principles of disparate impact, enunciated in
Griggs v. Duke Power Co, and its progeny and in the Uni-
form Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures, to the
Correctional Officer written examination. The common
questions of fact include the disparate impact of the ex-
amination and whether its is a valid predictor of job per-
formance and justified by business necessity. These com-
mon questions of law and fact have been resolved in favor
of the class by the Court’s order eranting partial sum-
mary judgment (Doe. 157).
LD J
8 The claims of the representatives of this class are
typical of the claims of the class. Intervenors Smith,
Platt. Baber, Cozart, Jones and Oyefesobi all have been
denied employment because they failed the Correctional
Officer written examination. Intervenor Platt also was
denied employment becanse of a subsequent low score on
that examination. -
4. The representatives of this class will fairly and
adequately preteet the interests of the class. They have
done and continue to do everything possible, within the
dramatically changing contours of Title VII law, to pro-
tect the interests of this class. In 19s2, when Falcon v.
General Telephone Co, of the Southwest east doubt upon
the ability of the then class representatives to meet the
requirements of Rule 23, Intervenor Smith immediately
came forward to take up the banner on behalf of this class.
App. 69
Likewise, when the Court of Appeals vacated the 1982 or-
der certifying the class, Intervenors Platt, Baber, Cozart,
Jones and Ovefesobi immediately indicated their desire
and ability to assist as class representatives. The class is
represented by counsel who are experienced in complex
Title VII litigation, and who have made and continue to
make every effort in this litigation to weather the unpre-
dictable storms of Title VII law.
). This class seeks certification pursuant to Rule
25(b)(2) because the Defendants have denied employment
to all members of the class on grounds generally applicable
to the class, to-wit, the Correctional Officer written exam-
ination which has an adverse impact on black applicants,
thereby making injunctive relief appropriate.
Request for Evidentiary Hearing
Piaintifts and Intervenors request an evidentiary
hearing on this Motion, to supplement the existing record.
Respectfully Submitted
‘s/ Harry L. Witte
Jerry G. Traynham
PATTERSON & TRAYNHAM
P.O. Box 4289
Tallahassee, Florida 32315
(904) 224-9181
ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFFS
App. 70
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true copy of the fore-
rong has been provided by US. Mail, postage prepaid, to
Harry F. Chiles, Assistant Attorney General, The Capitol
Suite 1501, Tallahassee, Florida, 32301, and to Bruce A.
Minnick, Esquire, Mang, Rett & Collette, P.A.. Suite 740
Barnette Bank Bldg., P.O. Box 11127, Tallahassee, FL.
9930-2127, this 10th day of February, 1988.
s/ Harry L. Witte
This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.