Bradley v. Southern Pacific Company, Inc. Appellant's Appendix
Public Court Documents
December 15, 1971
Cite this item
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Brief Collection, LDF Court Filings. Bradley v. Southern Pacific Company, Inc. Appellant's Appendix, 1971. 2763b6ae-ca9a-ee11-be36-6045bdeb8873. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/25074cfb-0ee9-438e-84f7-15b88860faca/bradley-v-southern-pacific-company-inc-appellants-appendix. Accessed November 23, 2025.
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IN THE
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEQLS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
NO. 71-3521
HENRY BRADLEY,
Appellant,
v .
SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY, INC., and
BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY, AIRLINE and
STEAMSHIP CLERKS, FREIGHT HANDLERS,
EXPRESS and STATION EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 589,
Appellees.
Appeal From The United States District Court
For The Southern District of Texas Houston Division
APPELLANT'S APPENDIX
JACK GREENBERG
WILLIAM L. ROBINSON
10 Columbus Circle
New York, New York 10019
GABRIELLE K. MCDONALD MCDONALD & MCDONALD 1834 Southmore Blvd.
Houston, Texas 77004
Attorneys for Appellant
i
I N D E X
Page
Complaint.............................................. la
Defendant Southern Pacific Company's answer ............ 7a
Motions of defendant Brotherhood of Railway, Airline
and Steamship Clerks Local 589 to dismiss or for
summary judgment .................................... 19a
Supplement and amendment to motions of defendant Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship
Clerk Local 589 to dismiss or for summary
judgment............................................ 2 4a
Motion to remove motion from the court calendar . . . . . 26a
Motion to substitute counsel for plaintiff.............. 28a
Order allowing substitution of counsel for plaintiff . . 29a
Motion for leave to file amended complaint ............ 30a
Answer of Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and
Steamship Clerk Local 589 in opposition to
motion of plaintiff to file first amended
complaint............................................ 31a
Defendant Southern Pacific answer in opposition to
plaintiff's motion ........ 38a
Plaintiff's memorandum of l a w ...................... .. . 42a
Defendant's Southern Pacific response in opposition
to plaintiff's memorandum of l a w .................... 47a
Reply of defendant Brotherhood of Railway, Airline
and Steamship Clerk Local 589 to plaintiff's
contentions in support of motion to file amended
complaint............................................ 51a
Memorandum denying motion to file amended complaint . . . 55a
Notice of appeal........................................ 61a
Fifth Circuit's order dismissing appeal ................ 63a
Answer of defendant Local filed after obtaining
leave in open court to waive its motion to
dismiss.............................................. 64a
- i -
t
Page
Plaintiff's motion to join the Brotherhood of
Railway, Airline, Steamship Clerks as a
party defendant 69a
Answer of defendant Local 589 72a
Affidavit of James L. Highsaw, Jr., as attorney
for the Brotherhood 74a
Transcript Volume I 80a
Transcript Volume II 283a
Findings of fact and Conclusions of law 476a
Judgment 492a
Notice of appeal 494a
Docket entries 495a
Clerk's certificate 500a
- ii -
IN •; MX u n i t e d t e s d i s t r i c t c o u r t
F O R Til .! ' S O U T H E R N D IS T R IC T O F T EX A S
I! OUST OK D I VISION
H EN R Y B R A D L E V,
P l a i n t i f f .
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S O U T H E R N P A C I F IC C O M P A N Y , IN C . AND
B R O T H E R H O O D O F R A IL W A Y , A IR L IN E ,
AND S T E A M S H IP C L E R K S , F R E IG H T H A N D L E R S, D . ^
E X P R E S S AND S T A T IO N E M P L O Y E E S , )•) ^
L O C A L 689,
D e f e n d a n t s .
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C O M P L A IN T
I.
A. J u r i s d i c t i o n o l th i s C o u r t i s in v o k e d p u r s u a n t to
42 U . S . C , . , S e c t io n 2C00e-5(X}„ T h i s i s a s u i t in e q u i ty a u t h o r i z e d
and i n s t i t u t e d p u r s u a n t to T i t l e V II o l th e A c t of C o n g r e s s k n o w n a s
" T h e C iv i l R ig h t s A c t of 1 9 6 4 , " , 42 U . S . C . , S e c t io n s 2 0 0 0 e , e t s e q .
J u r i s d i c t i o n of t h i s C o u r t i s in v o k ed to s e c u r e th e p r o t e c t i o n of and
r e d r e s s th e d e p r i v a t i o n of r i g h t s s e c u r e d b y 42 U „ S , C „ , S e c t io n s
2 0 0 0 c , c t s e q . , p ro v i d in g f o r i n ju n c t iv e an d o th e r r e l i e f a g a i n s t
r a c i a l d i s c r i m i n a t i o n in e m p l o y m e n t .
B . On o r a b o u t M a rc h 27, A . D „ , 1967, P l a i n t i f f f i l e d a
c o m p l a i n t w ith th e E q u a l E m p l o y m e n t O p p o r tu n i ty C o m m i s s i o n a l l e g in g
denial , b y th e D e f e n d a n t s o f h i s r i g h t s u n d e r T i t l e V II of th e " C iv i l
R ig h t s A c t of 1 9 6 4 , " , 42 U . S . C . , S e c t i o n s 2 0 0 0 c , e t s e q . On o r
a b o u t A p r i l 2, A . D , , 1968, th e C o m m i s s i o n found r e a s o n a b l e c a u s e
to b e l i e v e t h a t a v io l a t i o n of t h e A c t a s a l l e g e d b y th e P l a i n t i f f h ad
o c c u r r e d b y t h e D e f e n d a n t s . T h e C o m m i s s i o n n o t i f i e d th e P l a i n t i f f
by l e t t e r s u n d e r th e d a t e o f D e c e m b e r 2, A. D. , 1968, t h a t th e C o m -
m i s s i o n h ad no t a c h ie v e d v o lu n t a r y c o m p l i a n c e by th e D e fe n d a n t
t h r o u g h c o n c i l i a t i o n a s p r o v i d e d by T i t l e VIT of th e " O wl! R ig h t s A rt
of 1961, and t h a t th e P l a i n t i f f w as e n t i t l e d to in i t i a t e a c iv i l
a c t i o n in th e U n i te d S t a t e s D i s t r i c t C o u r t a s p r o v i d e d by S e c t io n
2 0 0 0 c -5 ( f ) of th e " C i v i l R ig h t s A c t of 1964. ^ 3 i ) 3
C . N e i t h e r th e S la t e uf T e x a s n o r th e C i ty of H o u s to n
h a s a la w p r o h i b i t i n g th e u n law fu l e m p l o y m e n t p r a c t i c e s a l l e g e d
h e r e i n .
II.
T h i s i s a p r o c e e d i n g fo r a p r e l i m i n a r y and p e r m a n e n t
i n ju n c t io n r e s t r a i n i n g D e fe n d a n t s f r o m m a i n t a i n in g a p o l i c y , p r a c t i c e ,
c u s t o m o r u s a g e of
1. D i s c r i m i n a t i n g a g a i n s t P l a i n t i f f b e c a u s e of
r a c e w ith r e s p e c t to c o m p e n s a t i o n , t e r m s ,
c o n d i t io n s an d p r i v i l e g e s of e m p lo y m e n t ;
2. M a in ta in in g a C o l l e c t i v e B a r g a in i n g A g r e e m e n t
w h ic h f r e e z e s P l a i n t i f f in a d i s c r i m i n a t o r y
s e n i o r i t y p a t t e r n w h ic h r e s u l t e d f r o m p r i o r
d i s c r i m i n a t o r y e m p l o y m e n t p r a c t i c e s by
D e f e n d a n t s ,
3. l i m i t i n g , s e g r e g a t i n g and c l a s s i f y i n g i t s
e m p l o y e e s o r i t s m e m b e r s in w ay s w h ich
d e p r i v e P l a i n t i f f of e m p l o y m e n t o p p o r t u n i t i e s
an d o t h e r w i s e a d v e r s e l y a f f e c t h i s s t a t u s a s
a n e m p l o y e e b e c a u s e of h i s r a c e .
m.
T h i s i s a l s o a p r o c e e d i n g f o r a d e c l a r a t o r y j u d g m e n t
d e c l a r i n g th a t th e D e fe n d a n t s h a v e e n g a g e d in a c o u r s e of c o n d u c t
t h a t d e p r i v e s , o r t e n d s to d e p r i v e th e P l a i n t i f f of e q u a l e m p l o y m e n t
o p p o r t u n i t i e s an d o t h e r w i s e a d v e r s e l y a f f e c t s h i s e m p l o y e e s t a t u s
b e c a u s e of h i s r a c e .
IV.
In a l l of t h e s e C o l l e c t i v e B a r g a i n i n g A g r e e m e n t s w h ic h
h a v e r e g u l a t e d th e w a g e s and c o n d i t io n s o f t h e e m p l o y m e n t of th e
P l a i n t i f f h e r e i n up u n t i l t h i s d a t e and th e o n e w h ic h r e g u l a t e s th e
w a g e s an d c o n d i t io n s o f th e e m p l o y m e n t of P l a i n t i f f a t th e p r e s e n t
t i m e h a v e d i s c r i m i n a t e d a g a i n s t th e P l a i n t i f f h e r e i n b e c a u s e o f h i s
r a c e .
394
V
P la i n t i f f , H e n r y L>i n d io y , a n e g r o , i s a c i t i z e n of tho
U nite .! S t a t e s , r e s i d i n g in th e C i ty of H o u s to n and tho S ta t e o f T e x a s .
VI.
D e f e n d a n t , S o u th e r n P a c i f i c C o m p a n y , In c . i s i n c o r p o r a t e d
u n d e r th e l a w s of D e le w a r e . T h e S o u th e r n P a c i f i c C o m p a n y , T n c . .
i s d o in g b u s i n e s s in t h e S t a t e o f T e x a s , C i ty of H o u s to n w ith
H . T . S t c r c t t , 913 F r a n k l i n A-venuc, H o u s to n , T e x a s , 7 7 0 0 1 , a s
t h e i r d u ly a u t h o r i z e d a g e n t f o r tho s e r v i c e of p r o c e s s . T h e S o u th e r n
P a c i f i c C o m p a n y , I n c . , o p e r a t e s and m a i n t a i n s p a s s e n g e r an d f r e i g h t
r a i l l i n e s and t e r m i n a l s in th e S o u t h w e s t e r n and W e s t e r n U n i te d S t a t e s .
T h e S o u th e r n P a c i f i c C o m p a n y , I n c , , i s e n g a g e d in th e b u s i n e s s of
t r a n s p o r t i n g c o m m e r c i a l f r e i g h t s an d U n i te d S t a t e s m a i l i n t e r s t a t e
in th e S o u t h w e s t e r n and W e s t e r n U n i te d S t a t e s . T h e S o u th e r n P a c i f i c
C o m p a n y , I n c . , is a n e m p l o y e r w i th in th e m e a n i n g o f 42 U . S . C .
S e c t i o n 2 0 0 0 e (b). T h e B r o t h e r h o o d of R a i l w a y , A i r l i n e , and
S t e a m s h i p C le r i c s , F r e i g h t H a n d l e r s , E x p r e s s a n d S ta t io n E m p l o y e e s ,
L o c a l 589 i s a n u n i n c o r p o r a t e d l a b o r a s s o c i a t i o n o p e r a t i n g in th e
S t a t e o f T e x a s , C i ty of H o u s to n and i t s p r i n c i p a l r e p r e s e n t a t i v e and
P r e s i d e n t in T e x a s i s M r s . F l o r c n e G a r f i e l d , 201 M a in S t r e e t , R o o m
640, H o u s to n , T e x a s , 7 /0 0 2 . T h e B r o t h e r h o o d of R a i lw a y , A i r l i n e ,
and S t e a m s h i p C l e r k s , F r e i g h t H a n d l e r s , E x p r e s s and S ta t io n E m p l o y e e s ,
L o c a l 58 9 is a l a b o r u n ion w i th in th e m e a n i n g o f 42 U . S . C . S e c t i o n
2 0 0 0 o -2 ( e ) , T h o S o u t h e r n P a c i f i c C o m p a n y is e n g a g e d in a n i n d u s t r y
a f f e c t in g c o m m e r c e w i th in th e m e a n i n g o f 42 U . S . C , S e c t io n 2 0 0 0 c (h),
V If.
P la i n t i f f , H o m y B r a d l e y , w a s o r i g in a l ly h i r e d b y D e fe n d a n t ,
S o u t h e r n P a c i f i c C o m p a n y , I n c . , in 19<J5. In N o v e m b e r of 1934
P l a i n t i f f w as t r a n s f e r r e d to th e m a i l r o o m w ith th e c l a s s i f i c a t i o n
of " p o r t e r . " In 1944 , P l a i n t i f f b e c a m e th e h e a d of th e m a i l r o o m
an d h a s h o ld t i l l s p o s i t i o n up to th e p r e s e n t t i m e . P l a i n t i f f c o n te n d s
th a t d u r i n g t h i s w h o le p e r i o d of t i m e , s i n c e N o v e m b e r , A. D . , 1934
up to th e p r e s e n t d a t e , h e w as p e r f o r m i n g c l e r i c a l r a t h e r t h a n
m a n u a l d u t i e s a n d t h a t h e i s b e in g p a id l e s s t h a n a c l e r i c a l w ith
c o m p a r a b l e r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s , in v io l a t i o n o f th e C o l l e c t i v e B a r g a in i n g
A g r e e m e n t , b e c a u s e o f h i s r a c e . D u r in g a l l t h i s t i m e h e h a s b e e n
l i s t e d in S e n i o r i t y G r o u p T w o , w h ic h g e n e r a l l y c o v e r s e m p l o y e e s
p e r f o r m i n g m a n u a l l a b o r . T r a d i t i o n a l l y , C r o u p O ne e m p l o y e e s ,
p r i m a r i l y c l e r i c a l h a v e b e e n w h i te , w h e r e a s C r o u p T w o e m p l o y e e s ,
p r i m a r i l y m a n u a l , h a v e b e e n N e g r o . On J a n u a r y 1, A . D . , 1966,
G r o u p T w o e m p l o y e e s w e r e g iv e n G r o u p O ne s e n i o r i t y d a t e s of
J a n u a r y 1, A . D . , 1966 . P l a i n t i f f ' s G r o u p O ne s e n i o r i t y d a t e w as
d e t e r m i n e d to b o J a n u a r y 1, A, D . , 1966 , P l a i n t i f f c o n te n d s t h a t
h i s G r o u p O ne s e n i o r i t y d a t e sh o u ld b e N o v e m b e r J , A . D . , 1934.
T h e D e f e n d a n t s ' C o l l e c t i v e B a r g a in i n g A g r e e m e n t s h a v e r e s u l t e d
in f r e e z in g th e P l a i n t i f f in to a d i s c r i m i n a t o r y s e n i o r i t y p a t t e r n
w h ic h w a s a r e s u l t o f p r i o r d i s c r i m i n a t o r y e m p l o y m e n t p r a c t i c e s
on t h e p a r t o f th e S o u th e r n P a c i f i c C o m p a n y , I n c . , and t h e B r o t h e r
hood o f R a i l w a y , A i r l i n e , an d S t e a m s h i p C l e r k s , F r e i g h t H a n d l e r s ,
E: p r e s s r n d S ta t i o n E m p l o y e e s , B o c a l 589 .
A c c o r d in g l y , P l a i n t i f f d u ly t i l e d c h a r g e s with th e E q u a l
E m p l o y m e n t O p p o r tu n i ty C c-minis io n , a l l a s a l l e g e d in P a r a g r a p h
t -B , s u p r a .
3! *6
V Iff,
P l a i n t i f f h a s nu p l a i n , a d e q u a t e o r c o m p l e t e r e m e d y a t
la w to r e d r e s s th e w ro n g s a l l e g e d h e r e i n an d t h i s s u i t f o r a p r e
l i m i n a r y an d p e r m a n e n t in ju n c t io n is h i s on ly m e a n s o f s e c u r i n g
r e l i e f . P l a i n t i f f is now s u f f e r i n g an d w i l l c o n t in u e to s u f f e r
i r r e p a r a b l e i n j u r y f r o m th e D efen d an ts* p o l i c y , p r a c t i c e , c u s t o m and
u s a g e a s s o t f o r t h h e r e i n .
W H E R E F O R E , P l a i n t i f f r e s p e c t f u l l y p r a y s t h i s C o u r t
a d v a n c e t h i s c a s e on th e d o c k e t , o r d e r a s p e e d y h e a r i n g a t th e
e a r l i e s t p r a c t i c a b l e d a t e , c a u s e t h i s c a s e to bo in e v e r y w ay
e x p e d i t e d aiid upon h e a r i n g to:
1. G r a n t P l a i n t i f f a p r e l i m i n a r y an d p e r m a n e n t
in ju n c t io n en jo in in g th e D e f e n d a n t s , S o u th e r n
P a c i f i c C o m p a n y , I n c . , an d B r o t h e r h o o d of
R a i l w a y , A i r l i n e , an d S t e a m s h i p C l e r k s ,
F r e i g h t . H a n d l e r s , E x p r e s s an d S ta t io n
E m p l o y e e s , L o c a l 589, f r o m c o n t in u in g o r
m a i n t a i n in g th e p o l i c y , p r a c t i c e , c u s t o m
a n d u s a g e of d e n y in g , a b r i d g in g , w i th o ld in g ,
c o n d i t io n in g , l i m i t i n g o r o t h e r w i s e i n t e r f e r i n g
w ith th e r i g h t s o f th e P l a i n t i f f a3 p r o v i d e d
u n d e r T i t l e V II o f th e " C i v i l R ig h t s A c t of
1984 , 42 U, S , C . , 1 S e c t i o n s 2 0 0 0 c , c t s e q .
2 . G r a n t P l a i n t i f f a p r e l i m i n a r y and p e r m a n e n t
in d u c t io n en jo in in g th e D e f e n d a n t s , S o u th e r n
P a c i f i c C o m p a n y , I n c . , an d B r o t h e r h o o d of
R a i l w a y , A i r l i n e , an d S t e a m s h i p C l e r k s ,
F r e i g h t H a n d l e r s , E x p r e s s an d S ta t io n
E m p l o y e e s , L o c a l 589 , f r o m c o n t in u in g o r
m a i n t a i n in g th e p o l i c y , p r a c t i c e , c u s t o m
and u s a g e of d e n y in g , a b r i d g i n g , w i th o ld in g ,
c o n d i t io n in g , l i m i t i n g o r o t h e r w i s e i n t e r f e r i n g
w i th th e r i g h t s of th e P l a i n t i f f to e n jo y e q u a l
e m p l o y m e n t a d v a n c e m e n t s a n d / o r t r a i n i n g fo r
a d v a n c e m e n t a s s e c u r e d b y T i t l e V II of th e
" C iv i l R ig h t s A c t of 1964 , 42 U . S . C . , S e c t io n s
200Ce, e t s e q . in c lu d in g b u t n o t l i m i t e d to th e
e l i m i n a t i o n o f . d i s c r i m i n a t o r y s e n i o r i t y l i n e s
b a s e d on r a c e , c o l o r , o r n a t i o n a l o r i g i n .
397 .#>
3. G r a n t a d e c l a r a t o r y j u d g m e n t , d e c l a r i n g
t h a t t h e D e fe n d a n t s h e r e i n leave fo l lo w ed
a p r a c t i c e , c u s t o m an d u s a g e of d i s c r i m
in a t in g a g a i n s t th e P l a i n t i f f w ith r e s p e c t to
e q u a l e m p l o y m e n t o p p o r t u n i t i e s an d w ith
r e s p e c t to c o m p e n s a t i o n , t e r m s , c o n d i t io n s
a n d p r i v i l e g e s of e m p l o y m e n t a s a n e m p lo y e e
b e c a u s e of r a c e .
a . A l lo w P la i n t i f f h a c k p a y , h i s c o s t s h e r e i n ,
in c lu d in g r e a s o n a b l e a t t o r n e y ' s f e e s to b e
f ix ed b y t h i s C o u r t , t a x e d a s c o s t s and
c h a r g e d a g a i n s t th e D e f e n d a n t s h e r e i n a s
p r o v i d e d b y 42 U . S . C , , S e c t i o n 2000c~5
( p a r a g r a p h lc) and o th e r a d d i t i o n a l r e l i e f
a s m a y a p p e a r to t h i s C o u r t to b e e q u i t
a b l e an d j u s t .
V IN C E N T C p O 'B R IE N
A t t o r n e y F o r P l a i n t i f f
708 M a in S t r e e t
H o u s to n , T e x a s 77002
C A - 3 - 3 6 5 1
8
Ii'i TIIE UNITED STATE? DISTRICT COURT
•FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
HOUSTON DIVISION
HENRY BRADLEY,
Plaintiff,
V S.
CIVIL ACTION NO. 6&-H-107<SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY,
AND BROTHERHOOD OK RAILWAY, AIRLINE AND STEAMSHIP CLERKS,
FREIGHT KANDD3RS, EXPRESS
AND STATION EMPLOYEES,
LOCAL,UNION NO. 389,
Defendants.
A_ N S W E R
COMES NOW Southern Pacific Company, defendant,
an' files this its original Answer to plaintiff's
original Complaint arid for such Answer woul'1 show the
following::
a
I .
First Defense
The Complaint, fails to state a claim upon
which re l ief can be granted and/or the Court lac vs
,■Jurisdiction o rer the subject matter of the suit be
cause the sole basis of plaintiff's suit - the al
legation of a discriminatory seniority pattern contained
Lri Paragraph VII of the Complaint - was never asserted
It:, any charge before the Equal Employment Op
portunity Commission. Plaintiff's charge before the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the
Commission's decision, copies of which ore attached hereto
es Exhibits A a nr: 3, were expressly .limited to a claim
7<x~
402
Depu* jr
that plaintiff was Improperly class if led as a mail
room porter rather than a mail clerk. Having failed
to raise any issue before the Commission with respect
to any alleged discriminatory seniority pattern, the
plaintiff I.s not free to alter hie claim before this
Court to include allegations not previously asserted
before the Commission. Civil Rights Act of 19*54,
Section 706, 4? U.S.C. §o0C0e-5.
II.
lecond Defense
The Complaint falls to state a claim upon
which relief can be granted and/or the Court lac s
Jurisdiction over the subject matter because the
plaintiff failed to bring a civil action within ninety
(90) days after the filing of a charge with the
Commission as required by Section 706(e) of the Act.
4° U.S.C. §h000e-5(e).
Pleading further, if such be necessary, and
subject to and without waiving the foregoing defenses,
the defendant would show the following:
III.
Defendant admits that this is a suit instituted
pursuant to Title VII of the Act of Congress known as
the Civil Rights Act of 1944, as alleged in Paragraph
I-A of the Complaint, but for the reasons stated in
Paragraphs I anJ II of this Answer, denies that this Court
has jurisdiction of the subject matter.
IV.
With regard to the allegations contained in
Paragraph I-B of the Complaint, defendant admits that
nn March ?7, .1967, plaintiff filed a complaint with the
403
f 4-
quvl Employment Opportunity Commieeion alleging
'enin.1 of Wifi rights under Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of . Defendant further admits that
on April 2, 1958, the Commission issued a decision
that in its judgment there was reasonable cause to
believe that a violation of the Act as alleged In
plaintiff's charge had occurred. Defendant also admits
that the Commission notified plaintiff by letter
dated December ", 1966, that the Commission had failed
to achieve voluntary compliance by the defendant
through conciliation as provided by Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1954, and that plaintiff was entitled
to initiate 0 civil action in United States District
Court as provided by Section ?OOOe-5(F) of the Civil
Rights Act of 1954.
V.
Defendant admits the allegations contained
in Paragraph I-C of the Complaint.
VI.
Defendant admits that this is a proceeding
for a preliminary and permanent injunction restraining
defendants from maintaining alleged discriminatory
practices enumerated in Paragraph II, Subparagraphs 1,
p and 3 of the Complaint, but for the reasons stated
in Paragraphs I and II of this Answer denies that this
Court has jurisdiction of the subject matter and further
denies each and every other allegation contained in
Paragraph II of the Complaint.
VII.
Defendant admits that this is a proceeding
for a declaratory judgment in which plaintiff seeks a
-3-
404
’pelt: vet Ion that defendant has engaged in a course or
conduct that tends to deprive plaintiff of equal
employment opportunities because of his race, as alleged
ir Parp"rapii Ill of the Cooplaint, but for the reasons
stated in Paragraphs I and II of this Answer denies that
this Court has jurisdiction of the subject natter and
further denies that plaintiff is entitled to the relief
sought.
VIII.
With regard to the allegations contained in
Paragraph IV of the Complaint, defendant denies that
ary of the collective bargaining agreements which have
regulated plaintiff's wages arid conditions of employ
ment up until this date, including the one which
currently regulates plaintiff's wages and conditions of
employment, have in any way discriminated against the
plaintiff because of his race.
IX.
Defendant admits the allegations contained
lii Paragraphs V and VI of the Complaint.
X.
,/ith regard to the allegations contained in
Paragraph VII of the Complaint, defendant admits that
pin lot iff, Henry Bradley, was first hired by defendant
Southern Pacific Company in 1925• Defendant admits
that In November of 1934 plaintiff was transferred to
the mail root, with the classification of mall room
porter. Defendant also admits that in 1944 plaintiff
became the head of the mail room and has hold this
position up to the present time. However, defendant
405
/c3 to
expressl" >enies that during? this period of time .i.Toi:;
1/3':- unt l.'i the present tine plaintiff has been per far!. -
inc, el erica 1 rather than menus! duties. Defendant
further - /nice that p.lalntlff Is paid less than a
elorlcaleemployee with comparable responsibilitlea, Ir.
•• t olot low of the collective bargaining agreement, be
en use of '.is race. Defendant spirits that from until
the present time plaintiff has beer listed in Seniority
Group Two. but defendant expressly denies that Seniority
Group Two yenorrlly covers employees performing c-anua.l.
tabor. Defen-lant further denies that tra 1 ittonally Group
One employees have been white, whereas Group Two em
ployees here been, tier>.ro. Defendant admits that on
January V, IJd', Group Two employees were given Group Gee
i o.rity •-tries of January L . i.f •. . Defendant also
•cri.ts that plaintiff's Group One seniority --ate was
intermit.c-’ to he January 1, lybh. Defendant denies, how
ever, that plaintiff's Group One seniority -’ate shoul : bo
Nov<?;-her t, 193l!. Defendant further denies that rie-
>n-.’er;ts' collective bargaining nsreeventa have resulted'
in froevJng the plaintiff into a discriminatory seniority
pattern which woe the result of prior discriminatory em
ployment practices on the part of Southern Pee if
aul the.Brotherhood of Railway, Airline end :ten
Troight Handlers, ixpresa and Station Employees,
xc Company
liohip Cl -r.'.a..
h o c r, 1
Defendant admits that plaintiff duly fil-;-'
chat-res with the Eqtusl Employr-ent Opportunity CornelssLow,
but. -'eoles, re stated In Para .graph I of this Answer,
that plriuttfi 's chcr:"e before tno CorJitiosion if; any way
4 0 6
// '-C.
vp Int-.v' to the .complaints he now attempts to assert
i-.r the first time in this Court, and denies each nrr'
*r:t. r.> other allegation contained in Paragraph VII
of the Complaint.
XI.
For the reasons stated herein, defendant
•vai.'S that plaintiff ie entitled to any of the relief
sought Paragraph VIII of the Complaint.
XII.
Dei'p.i-'ant would further ohovr that it is
>*: ••"■.rrcf i.-cly committed to the principle and practice
of ardii.-g r-i'pie 1. ei r '.oy - 'i't opportunities to all
employees without regard to race, color, religion, se
er national origin and that the tern,3 and conditions
its ..•i..p.-lo;/i;>ent of the plaintiff are and have Pee*,
ie full compliance with the Civil Rights Act of l'to-A.
XIII.
As :• result o- plaintiff's action herein the
.e>><‘a:tt has Icon required to retain the services of
the ;tivv..reigned attorneys, and defendant is entitled
to rec.f or re-.* portable attorney's fees under Sect ion
r ) Of the Act. Ur- U.S.C. §f000c-5(Ji).
'.JHERKJ'OriB, premises considered, defendant
.••St" out upo ; '.'luel trial and hearing hereof it <
,u,i y.-.erd that toe injunctive relief prayed for by
r Ie i- ti i'..' he ’e;jir*d, that, plaintiff ta te nothin;.' by hie
ou!t rr.-, ; that •’ei’endnt. t 'o ne.uce without day and with
nil costs of court i n c u r r e d and reasonable attorney's face
heroin, and that defendant have such other air’ further
relief, .tcnernl and special, nt law or in equity, to
which it ray show itself justly entitled.
('• 3R, ;/TO, SlfSPHKRD
■ v ’ ; -iz.
407
/ •• - ^ / '
7 , .Trf * J
Richer-: R. jiihui inoo Brneraon 3ui Idiri Roust Of!, Tree V'.)-) ;
At!' v re rys .!o r Sot*’.horn P a c i f i c Cot
CSHTIFICATE Of SERVICE
I certify that a copy of the above air1
;'or« Answer of helen'ioct, Southern Pacific
Corapn;...y, has beet; serve’ on the plaintiff by
i-’f- •" oor.-y OX the setie to bio attorney of recor-1,
on
xen, yoi- Main. Street, Houston, Texas
the f ‘lay of February, ?. > >}.
fee:ta; t.
r*
* c*o r;p copiftH :> ' «juc!i Answer to Hr, ft 11.’. :.«rr.
Tower Bull-.’in.", Washington, D.. C. 'KMjit .
’obert L. Steely, yOO Houston First -a/inyc
. Houston, Terrs TP'O'x, attorneys for .Ic--
irjt'icvhcol of Hallway, Airline anH Stear.shiv
i’reiyht Handlers, Express ar.6 Station Employeos,
L o an 1
V. R. Burch, Jr.
Hieher ’ R. Brnnn
408
/ J W
\ ■>;!
CHARGE OF DISCRIMINATION
h a w a complaint, fill in this form and mail ii to the Equal / --^TmsTt>rrii.js to he used only to file a charge of discrimination
I'uriMt Oppoitunity Commission's Regional Oftice in youi ^ - -o r r RACE^C’OLOR, RELIGION, SEX, or NATIONAL ORIGIN
,i' soon .is possible. It must he mailed within 'TO days alter the d:s- s '
.'rwVii.o.itorv act took place. (See addresses on hack pane) /c?s .
3 BfcCEiYfcfl • . Case rile No.
______A.^2 : 1
____ Phone N'umber-_̂ .-_ir~̂ C-..
tPl EASE PRINT OK TYPE)
N a m e _____H e n r y K. B r a d l e y _
N; r s'et Address _
Citv ___________
1 3 0 5 TUla n c S t r e e t
H o u s to n
P \ RCGIOI./ I. G. i : . •
\ w k --------A u y r t f t----------- r --------
J s \ _____r c c c
y /-. Texas w
S t a t c > s ^ ^ _ r ^ ; w ^ -Zip Code_
2 WAS THE DISCRIMINATION BECAUSc O f : (Please check one)
Race or Color Ai Religious Creed □ National Origin CD Sex □
W ho discriminated against you? Give the name and address of the employer, labor organization, employment agency and/or apprentlceshi;
'committee. If moreJh.-m one. list ;ill „ , ,
N im e Soutnorn Pacific Railroad Company
i street Address__Southern. Pacific .Building.___________________________________________ _____
t H o u s t o n __ ____ ________ ______..State. ____T e x a s ______
AND tother parties if any)__H o i ; th _ e r h o o d _ o f _ R a i l i e a y _SJ, e c . ' - s h i p - C l e r k s .
.Zip Code-
B ettes Bui ld in g , Houstoni Texas Loca l 5S9
Have you filed this charge with a state or local government agency? Yes □ No □
I: your cr.arge is against a company or a union, how many employees or members?-
3 The most recent date on which this discrimination took place: Month_ February_____ Day____ 9_
_Number Do not know C
.Year__1 9 6 7 -
7 Explain what unfair thing was clone to you:
I have beer, in charge o f the mail room a t the Southern P a c if ic Building fo r
more than ten years. A ll o f my work i3 that o f a m i l c lerk for the company.
' ------------------1 have a p p l ie d t o t h e company andt,he~union- V ■ change n y -c la s s if ic a t io n -fr o n
K t C £ X X Y . : . i ^ 7
at “5 f T va^Tio tn r N eg ro s y “
led aa. ____ ____ -
3 1 swear or affirm that I have read the al : --e charge and that it is troy toyheN
D .:v /? ^ : y 2. / A '-P -7 / y h ,
Su'jscr.hed and sworn •« before me ■___
. ___
v knowledge, information and belief.
/ / ' , .
,Si*i*w.->ur njnu'l
— 1 9 6 - ^
409 ftfe.
EQ UAL L M L L O Y M L N I O PPO RTU N ITY COMMISSION
W ASHINGTON, D.C.. 20506
Henry Bradley
Charg ;i ng Pa r ty
Case Mo. AU 7-3-183
AU 7-3-183U
v s .
Southern Pacific Railway Company
Honston, Texas
and
Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship
Clerks, Freight Handlers and
Station Employees, Local 589
Houston, Texas
Respondents
alleged violation: Continuing
filing: March 27, 1967
service of charge: August 14, 1967
DECISION
SUMMARY OF CHARGE
The Charging Piirty alleges unlawful employment practices
in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
in that:
1. Respondents maintain a Collective Bargaining Agree
ment under which he is improperly classified and
paid as a porter instead of a clerical, because of
his race (Negro).
2. The Company and the Union have -peatedly refused to
reclassify the Charging party ora porter to clerk
because of his race (Negro).
/ S ’ 4-- '
Date of
Date of
Date of
410
PageSouthern Pacific Railv.vy Company
Case Koe. hli 7-3-183 & AU 7-3-3.83b
s i w m .a r Y 0 ? Id
C h a r g i vug P a : i
I n .19 34 h e w:
o 1 a s s :i f i ca t i c
C h a r e ] ng P a r i
P a r i y i s s t i 1
D u r i n g cl 11 t l
T w o , v:•h.i.ch e
v v:a s o r i g in .1.ly hired by
s tra nsfor n*L 1 to the mail
n of "por Lc r Di 1 9 4 4 ,
y, ho bC Ca head of the
1 cl ass. i f iCid as a porter
is t.ime he ).-is been 1 is to
i i c ral ly cr)VCrs employees
Res: >o ■ idor.i. i n 19 2 3.
room under the
according to the
na.il room. Charging
in the mail room.
:] iii Seniority Group
performing manual labor.
Charging -Pa
time ho war
and that P*:
wi tli compar
Co].] oct ivc
rty contend.'- that during thin whole period of
u: rforming clerical rath.or than manua.1 duties
; i'on.dents cire paying hii.m .loss than a clerical
able respond ibilities, in violation of the
bargaining Agreement, because of his race.
The Company defends or. the ground that the Charging Party
is already receiving $35.00 more par month than the other-
three men working with him in the mail room and thus the
Charging Party is being compensated for his work.
The Respondent Union defends
Party can cxorci.se his full
clerical jobs. The evidence
on the ground that the Charging
seniority rights to transfer to
subs tanti.ates the a] 1 egat.ions
of discrimination made by the Charging Party.
The investigation revealed that th"> Charging Party is not
performing the work of a porter. his responsibilities in
clude the continuous handling of - 11 types of mail; regis
tered United States mail, insured puree1 post, certified
mail and special delivery, in ftddi • : to railroad- regis
tered mail in addit t h Oh - Par tv ; t V n n w a n H
keep abreast of the United States pun
all classes of mail, while rt: ntair.'
control over the other employcor in
Charging Party is presently reccm vi:.
1 rate changes for
genera] supervisory
m: 11 room. The
$ 50S . '90 month ly .
411 / a
South rn Paci fic Pvailwa y Commany Page -3-
Case No 3 . AU 7-3 -18 3 J AU 7- 3-18 3d
An an „,iySJ 51 o f t11 c pos t:.od vacanc ics j: can '1c. that ternporary
c 1 c r iC'£'. 1 p:r.itiod'.s with. rospon sib.iliti o. clnd dut i e s of
morely genera l fi 1ing an.d m iSCO 11 an oous Cl o ri cal dut .i c s
car ry rai.t s o £ iav f a i* i n ex ce. ss of the Cha rg ing Par ty ’s
ra to, do -■pi Li !.0 ap]j><u Ci it. 1O s. 3 or sk i 11 an.d re spoi l s ihi 1ity
requi od for the parti c• n 1a.r job.
The P r, ic Agrcc..iont bet On the Corny-tii d the Unic»n,
A r t i ci ]O 11, Y<ul o Da f i ni tion of C‘1 e r ica] Wo rkers, sta to sI
(a) Clerical Workers •- "Employees who regularly
devote rot less than four (-1) hours per day to
the writing and calculating incident to keeping
records and accounts, rendition of bills, reports
and state:rents, handling of correspondence and
similar work."
The foregoing definition appears to cover the Charging
Party’s duties of receiving sorting, mailing, and handl
ing all typos of United States and Company mail eight
hours a day, which ho has been doing for over 20 years
as chief of the mail room.
Tradi tionally. Group 1 employees, primarily clerical,
' Group 2 employees, primarilyhave c Gil w i. to-, wherea
man ua 3 , havG be en Negro
employees wpre given Gr
1966. Th i s is Charging
v:c r.cod r.c t OOP.Cj ■? v- 1. ̂ "1
that the Ch.clrging Party
son i.or i ty to advanco to
ins tint Cfic-rgo is that
v;ork of a C1eri cal vhi1
ce i v .iy.cj a j~c lto o f pay ]
1 e s s expo r i0nee and res
1 seniority dates of January 1
o classified
ov/er than oth
ponsibi1i tv.
Union’s response
that Group 1
jobs, since his
resent]v performing the
a porter and re
el ericals with
ild exercise
or clerical
c* r~
-*-1 t
412
: 7
Page -4-S O U l 11C L i 1
C'aae Nos
Ive.i f;i.e Kai.lv/iiy Company
Ai: 7-3-183 & AU 7-3-183U
jL‘I H if>i as th : evidence indicates, were i
facl. t h a t i V;C- b arging Party were Negro
c l i\\-si f j,ed e..s a clerk and receiving pay
v/i Idi his re •' Pon m in i 3 i t i OK.
D1 'Cb 8i Qa
Rea enable cn use exists i■ 0’ RelieveCo: pany 11nd t,n 1 o;i are in v i o 1 a t i o) iC i v ii Right;- Act of 100;, s a] leg
For the Co;
/
Marie D. v;
413
' * ut- '
not for the
he would be
commensurate
t . h e R e s p o n d e n t
tie Vli of the
amission:
L.lson, Secretary
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
HOUSTON DIVISION
HENRY BRADLEY,
Plaintiff,
v . :
SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY, INC. and : CIVIL ACTION NO.
BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY, AIRLINE AND : 68-H-1079
STEAMSHIP CLERKS, FREIGHT HANDLERS, :
EXPRESS AND STATION EMPLOYES, LOCAL 589 :
9 H*
. <»
< CL
■i S ? Nr\ , H* O*V- 0)VS O H
Defendants.
MOTIONS OF THE DEFENDANT BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY, AIRLINE
AND STEAMSHIP CLERKS, FREIGHT HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND STATION
EMPLOYES LOCAL 589, TO DISMISS, OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE, FOR
SUMMARY JUDGMENT ____________
Now comes one of the defendants herein, Brotherhood of Railway,
Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station
Employes Local 589 (hereinafter referred to as Local 589), to respect
fully move this Court to dismiss the complaint or in the alternative
to grant it summary judgment on the basis that the court lacks juris
diction over the subject matter or the complaint fails to state a claim
upon which relief can be granted against the said defendant Local 589
on the grounds that:
(1) Said defendant Local 589 is not a labor organization within
the contemplation of Section 706(e) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
(Act), 42 U.S.C.A. 2000e-5; and
(2) Said defendant Local 589 is not a party to any agreement, does
not possess, and has not exercised any authority to negotiate or deal
with any agreement setting forth the rules and working conditions affecting
the employment rights of the plaintiff which are alleged to give rise to
a course of conduct that deprives, or tends to deprive plaintiff of equal
/y«»-
414
2
employment opportunities that otherwise adversely affects his employee
status because of his race; and
(3) Said defendant Local 589 is not a "labor organization" or an
agent of a labor organization which is authorized to deal with, or has
dealt with, employees concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates
of pay, hours, or other terms or conditions of employment, as set forth
in Section 701(d) of the Act, 42 U.S.C.A. 2000e(d); and
(4) Contrary to the provisions of Sections 706(a) of the Act, 1*2
U.S.C.A. 2000e-5(a), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(Commission) made no endeavor, and could not have, by way of conference,
conciliation, or persuasion with said defendant Local 589 to eliminate
any alleged unlawful employment practice said to have been participated
in by defendant Local 589 or any of its officers or members, such as to
warrant the filing of this complaint against defendant; and
(5) Contrary to the provisions of Section 706 of the Act, 42 U.S.C.A.
2000e-5, the complaint purports to constitute the institution of a civil
action against said defendant Local 589 for alleged unlawful employment
practices in violation of the provisions of the Act which were not set
forth in the charges filed by plaintiff with the Commission; and
(6) That contrary to the provisions of Section 706 of the Act, 42
U.S.C.A. 2000e-5, the complaint purports to rely upon an investigation by
the Commission of alleged unlawful employment practices by said defendant
Local 589, and an endeavor to eliminate such unlawful employment practices
by the Commission, whereas in fact no investigation or endeavor to con
ciliate was made by the Commission regarding the alleged unlawful employ
ment practices described in the complaint; and
(7) That the complaint relies upon a contention that the Commission
made a finding that there was reasonable cause to believe that violations
of the Act as alleged in the complaint by plaintiff had occurred, whereas
in fact no such finding was made and no notice from the Commission was
415
- 3 -
issued as concerns said described violations by defendant Local 589, as
required by Section 706(a) of the Act, 42 U.S.C.A. 2000e-5(a): and
(8) That contrary to the requirements of Section 706(d) of the Act,
42 U.S.C.A. 2000e-5(d), the plaintiff failed to file a charge with the
Commission within ninety (90) days after the occurrence of the alleged
unlawful employment practices on the part of said defendant Local 589; and
(9) That contrary to the provisions of Section 706(e) of the Act,
42 U.S.C.A. 2000-5(e), plaintiff failed to file a civil action with respect
to any alleged unlawful employment practice on the part of said defendant
Local 589 within the thirty (30) day period required by the Act after
receipt of a so-called Notice Letter from the Commission informing him
of such alleged right; and
(10) That the contract of employment of plaintiff with the defendant
Southern Pacific Company, Inc. (Southern Pacific), and the Railway Labor
Act, 45 U.S.C.A. 151 et seq. provided full and complete statutory and
contractual remedies whereby any grievance arising under that contract of
employment affecting plaintiff could have been fully adjudicated, and
plaintiff has failed to allege resort to and exhaustion of said remedies
or assert any valid reason for failure to do so prior to the filing of
this action; and
(11) That the Constitution, Statutes, and Protective Laws of the
Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers,
Express and Station Employes of which plaintiff is a member contains a
full and complete internal union procedure for the settlement of any claim
that may be made by a member of that organization against the organization
or any of its officers, members or agents, which procedures must be resorted
to and exhausted by plaintiff prior to the filing of any civil action
against the organization; and
(12) That the plaintiff has failed to allege resort to and exhaus
tion of the internal remedies provided by his union and has failed to
assert any reason for failure to do so.
■X!
416
4
WHEREFORE, premises considered, said defendant Local 589 prays that
the complaint be dismissed, of in the alternative, that it be granted
summary judgment for failure of plaintiff to state a claim upon which
relief can be granted or a claim as to which this court possesses juris
diction to adjudicate.
Of Counsel:
BROWN, KRONZER, ABRAHAM, WATKINS
& STEELY
500 Houston First Savings Building
711 Fannin Street
Houston, Texas 77002
MULHOLLAND, HICKEY & LYMAN
620 Tower Building
Washington, D. C. 20005
WILLIAM J. DONLON, General Counsel
Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and
Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers
Express and Station Employes
1015 Vine Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Respectfully submitted,
CURTISS BROWN
500 Houston First Savings Building
711 fannln Street
Houston, Texas 77002
Attorneys for Brotherhood of Railway,
Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight
Handlers, Express and Station Employes
Local 589
417
-5-
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I, Curtiss Brown, of Brown, Kronzer, Abraham, Watkins § Steely, one of the attorneys for the Brotherhood of Railway, Airline, Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station
Employees, Local 589, in the above entitled and numbered cause,
do hereby certify that I have on this I /4 day of February,
1969, by regular United States mail, sent copies of the above
and foregoing motion to dismiss, etc., to Mr. Vincent C.
O'Brien, 708 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77002, attorney of record for the Plaintiff, and to Mr. V. R. Burch, Jr., care
of Messrs. Baker, Botts, Shepherd 8 Coates, Esperson Building,
Houston, Texas 77002, attorneys for the Defendant, Southern Pacific Company, Inc.
£ 3 4 ,
418
HOK THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OK TEXAS
HOUSTON DIVISION
HENRY BRADLEY,
Plaintiff,
v.
SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY, INC., and
BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY, AIRLINE AND
STEAMSHIP CLERKS, FREIGHT HANDLERS,
EXPRESS AND STATION EMPLOYES, LOCAL 589
Defendants.
CIVIL ACTION NO.
68-H1079
<3
f
SUPPLEMENT AND AMENDMENT TO
MOTIONS OF THE DEFENDANT BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY, AIRLINE
AND STEAMSHIP CLERKS, FREIGHT HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND STA1ION
EMPLOYES LOCAL 589, TO DISMISS, OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE, IOR
SUMMARY JUDGMENT___________•________
Now comes one of the defendants herein, Brotherhood of Railway,
Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station
Employes Local 589 (hereinafter referred to as Local 589), to sup
plement and amend its Motions filed herein by striking the last
paragraph of said Alternative Motions and inserting in lieu thereof
the following:
WHEREFORE, premises considered, said defendant Local
589 prays that the complaint be dismissed, or in the al
ternative, that it be granted summary judgment for failure
of plaintiff to state a claim upon which relief can be
granted or a claim as to which this Court possesses juris
diction to adjudicate, and that the Court grant it such
421
2
other and further relief as to the Court may appear appro
priate together with its costs, including a reasonable
attorney's fee.
Respectfully submitted,
CURTISS BROWN
500 Houston First Savings Building
711 Fannin Street
Houston, Texas 77002
S
- _
IR.
IR.
620 Tower Buildl^n^
Washington, D. C. 20005Attorneys for Brotherhood of Railway,
Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight
Handlers, Express and Station Employes
Local 589
Of Counsel:
BROWN, KRONZER, ABRAHAM, WATKINS
& STEELY
500 Houston First Savings Building
711 Fannin Street
Houston, Texas 77002
MULHOLLAND, HICKEY & LYMAN
620 Tower Building
Washington, D. C. 20005
WILLIAM J. DONLON, General Counsel
Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and
Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers
Express and Station Employes
1015 Vine Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
.A. 5 —
■ion
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
HOUSTON DIVISION
HENRY BRADLEY,
VS.
Plaintiff
SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY,
INC., AND BROTHERHOOD OF
RAILWAY, AIRLINE AND STEAM
SHIP CLERKS, FREIGHT HANDLERS,
EXPRESS AND STATION EMPLOYEES, LOCAL S89,
Defendants
I
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I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
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I
CIVIL ACTION NO. 68-H-1079
MOTION TO REMOVE MOTION FROM CALENDAR __________OF THE COURT
TO THE HONORABLE JUDGE OF SAID COURT:
Comes now the Defendant, BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY,
AIRLINE AND STEAMSHIP CLERKS, FREIGHT HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND
STATION EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 589, and respectfully moves the Court
to remove the motion of this Defendant for dismissal or summary
judgment from the Court's calendar on April 21, 1969, for re
setting at some later date, and as grounds therefor this Defen
dant would respectfully show:
I .
This Defendant does not have sufficient facts to
properly analyze the contentions set forth in the complaint.
II.
Interrogatories to acquire this information will be
shortly filed, but would not be required to be answered under
the Rules before April 21, 1969.
III.
Furthermore, there have been informal discussions as
to possible courses of action which might satisfy the desires
4.34
of the Plaintiff and avoid the burdensome and expensive
future litigation.
By reason of the foregoing, it is respectfully prayed
that the motions hereinabove referred to be removed from the
Court's motion docket on April 21, 1969, without prejudice to
a later appropriate setting, if necessary.
Respectfully submitted,
Curtiss Brown
500 Houston First Savings Bldg. 711 Fannin Street Houston, Texas 77002
Capitol 2-7211
One of the Attorneys for the
Defendant, Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express
and Station Employees, Local 589
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
3 1, Curtiss Brown, do hereby certify that on this the
day of April, 1969, a true and correct copy of the above
“Foregoing Motion was forwarded by regular United States
mail to Mr. Vincent C. O'Brien, 708 Main Street, Houston, Texas
77002, attorney of record for the Plaintiff, and to Mr. V. R. Burch, Jr., care of Messrs. Baker, Botts, Shepherd 6 Coates,
Esperson Building, Houston, Texas 77002, attorneys of record
for tne Defendant, Southern Pacific Company, Inc. Notice was further given that the original of this instrument was being
filed with the United States District Clerk for the Southern
District of Texas, Houston Division.
iown V
- 2 -
j y u . 435
pom thl
Plaint iff
-.a-NO* D IS T R IC T O f t a u s
r.CeafGN DIVISION
A
>*
I CIVIL ACTION NO. 63-H107S'
. PACIFIC CCMPA..Y, INC. « -..-LCOCD OP RAILWAY,,■ -t-> c rr.- • -v r-o'-T'', • '•.'*■<•
■—*■**’ *. $ ±j03Aj>j
Lvfor.dar.ts
oOSCS OP SAID COUNT •
■"A'lCn TO SU3SIIT'JTB COUNSEL
Now coces Vincent C. O'Brien Attorney of Recor<
f In the aboveatyled and numbered cause and
r leave of court to withdraw as said Attorney of Pace,
ether requested that Cabrielle McDonald be henceforth
-d Attorney of- Becord for Plaintiff.
eUKK, U. '• L'iS! WC i COv~
SOJTHEKiM UlSTKiv.:( Ot.
F ! L E D
JAM x 2 IS'/U
V. BAILEY IHOM/VS. JCU'ljK
BV.K EUI
L v » ~ .
Vincent C. O'Brien
733 Bankers Mortgage Buildin ;70o Main Street
Houston, Tanas 77002
CA-3-3o31
Cabrielle McDonald lS3d Southmore
Houston, Texas 77004
JA-3-7423
7>
L ‘37—A-a ley
4 4 9
2
O.-
..cfon-.a n
- v.cy oo;.'.c on to bo heard the foregoing hotior. to
u Counsel. The Court being of the opinion that oai,
ould be- granted it is therefore
ê iD chat Vincent C. O'Brien have leave to vjithdrav; ;
of Record ar.d he is hereby relieved of his duties
ox ..ecora. It is further CRDBR3D that Gabrielle
ave leave to represent the Plaintiff and she is
designated Attorney of Record for Plaintiff.
SIGX2D, REK32S3D AIO EfTBRBD THIS / U\ DAT Of
f a ,A.O. 1970.
I k ' ^
J a liilb -La> a
C. G lB:?ien
l-.ô tSa.gc* Building
- - - — wG. ., *i?cxc*o yy 002
J jjk jjd L & J i* f <r ̂ /g.
».::oriesle l-.cfonald
^ O e u i / G... O
Houston , Texas 77004 .
CLcriK, U. S L'li : RIPT .
southern District B rtl
F ! L E D
JAN 1 o (9 /0
evvpftuTf
450 3 /. migrofilmi®
IN T in s U N IT E D STATES DISTRICT COURT
KOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
H O U STO N DIVISION CLtlMV u.
H ENRY ERADEISY F I L E D
PI a in t if f A P R '1 0 1 9 7 0
v s
S O U T H E R N P A C IF IC C O M PA N Y , IN C . )
A ND B R O T H E R H O O D O F R A ILW A Y , ) C IV IL A C T IO N N O . 6 8 - H - l 079
A IR L IN E , AND S T E A M S H IP C L E R K S , )
F R E IG H T H A N D L E R S , E X P R E S S AND )
S T A T IO N E M P L O Y E E S , L O C A L 589 , )
D e fe n d a n ts . )
M O TIO N FO R L E A V E TO F IL E A M E N D E D C O M P L A IN T
Now c o m e s , p la in t i f f H e n ry B r a d le y b y an d th ro u g h h is a t t o r n e y s and
p u r s u a n t to R u le 15 o f th e F e d e r a l R u le s o f C iv i l P r o c e d u r e r e s p e c t f u l ly m o v e s
th i s C o u r t f o r le a v e to f i le P la i n t i f f 's F i r s t A m e n d e d C o m p la in t w h ic h is s u b
m i t te d h e re w ith an d fo r g ro u n d s th e r e f o r e s t a t e th e fo llo w in g :
1 . O n J a n u a r y 16 , 1970 th is C o u r t e n te r e d an o r d e r g r a n t in g a M o tio n to
S u b s t i tu te C o u n se l w h e re b y p la i n t i f f 's p r e s e n t c o u n s e l b e c a m e h is a t to r n e y of
r e c o r d .
2 . P la in t i f f 's F i r s t A m en d ed C o m p la in t i s d e s ig n e d to c la r i f y an d m a k e
m o r e s p e c i f ic th e a l l e g a t io n s c o n ta in e d in h is o r ig in a l C o m p la in t; e s p e c ia l ly
to s e t f o r th th e l im i t s o f the c l a s s a c t io n in an e f f o r t to b e o f a s s i s t a n c e to th e
C o u r t an d a l l p a r t i e s c o n c e rn e d .
3 . D e fe n d a n ts w ill in no w ay b e p re ju d ic e d by th e f i l in g o f th i s A m e n d e d
C o m p la in t .
4 . T h e in t e r e s t s o f ju s t i c e w ill b e s e r v e d b y th e g ra n t in g o f le a v e to f i le
P la in t i f f 's F i r s t A m en d ed C o m p la in t .
W H E R E F O R E , fo r a l l th e fo re g o in g r e a s o n s . P la in t i f f p r a y s th a t th is
C o u r t w ill g r a n t h im le a v e to f i le P la in t i f f 's F i r s t A m e n d e d C o m p la in t .
R e s p e c tf u l ly su b m it te d
G A B R IE L L E K . M CD ON ALD
M A RK T . M CD ON ALD
M C D O N A LD & M CD O N A LD
1834 S o u th m o re B o u le v a rd
H o u s to n , T e x a s 77004
A T T O R N E Y S FO R P L A IN T IF F453
N O T IC E O F H EARING ON M OTION FOR
L E A V E T O F IL E A M E N D ED
C O M P L A IN T
T O : M r . V .R . B u rc h , J r . , B a k e r , B o t t s , S h e p h e rd & C o a te s ,
N ie ls E s p e r s o n B u ild in g , H o u s to n , T e x a s 77002 .
M r . J a m e s L . H ig h sa w , J r . , 631 T o w e r B u ild in g ,
W a sh in g to n , D .C . 20005
M r . C u r t i s s B ro w n , B ro w n , K r o n z e r , A b ra h a m , W a tk in s
.& S te e ly , 500 H o u s to n F i r s t S a v in g s B u ild in g , H o u s to n ,
T e x a s , 77002 .
P L E A S E , T A K E N O T IC E th a t th e u n d e rs ig n e d w ill b r in g th e
a t ta c h e d M o tio n fo r L e a v e to F i l e A m e n d e d C o m p la in t on fo r h e a r
in g b e fo r e th i s C o u r t a t th e U n ited S ta te s C o u r th o u s e in H o u s to n ,
T e x a s on A p r i l 20, 1970 a t 10 :00 a m . , o r a s so o n th e r e a f t e r a s
c o u n s e l c a n b e h e a r d .
< / r / ■> < <• < ( y ^ J * ( j r > "
g a b r i e l l e k . m c d o n a l d
M A RK T . M CD O N A LD
M C D O N A LD & M C D O N A LD
1834 S o u th m o re B o u le v a rd
H o u s to n , T e x a s 77004
A T T O R N E Y S F O R P L A IN T IF F
C E R T IF IC A T E O F SE R V IC E
T h is is to c e r t i f y th a t th e u n d e r s ig n e d h a s th i s d ay s e r v e d a co p y of
th e fo r e g o in g M o tio n and N o tic e o f M o tio n a n d P la i n t i f f 's F i r s t A m e n d e d C o m
p la in t on M r . V .R . B u r c h , J r . , B a k e r , B o t t s , S h e p h e rd & C o a te s , M r . J a m e s
L . I l ig h s a w , J r . , 631 T o w e r B u ild in g , W a sh in g to n , D .C . 2 0 005 , a n d M r .
C u r t i s s B ro w n , B ro w n , K r o n z e r , A b ra h a m , W a tk in s and S te e ly , 500 H o u s to n
F i r s t S a v in g s B u ild in g , H o u s to n , T e x a s 7 7 002 , b y m a i lin g s a m e to th e m , a t
t h e i r a d d r e s s e s , p o s ta g e p r e p a id on th i s th e 8 th d ay of A p r i l , 1 970 .
if
<55̂ 5-
G A B R IE L L E K . MCDONA
454
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS.!-; .■>
HOUSTON DIVISION •soojherim oisvRicr c;
F I L E D
i
HENRY BRADLEY, j
IPlaintiff I
ISOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY AND
BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY,
AIRLINE, AND STEAMSHIP CLERKS,
FREIGHT HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND
STATION EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 589, J
IDefendants J
APR 2 ! 11970
V. 8AILEY THOMAS '
B I DEPUTY;
CIVIL ACTION NO.
68-H-1079
ANSWER OF BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY, AIRLINE
AND STEAMSHIP CLERKS, FREIGHT HANDLERS
EXPRESS AND STATION EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 589, IN OPPOSITION TO MOTION OF PLAINTIFF TO
______FILE FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT
The Brotherhood of Railway, Airline, and Steamship
Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees, Local
589 CBRAC Local 589) submits this answer to the Court in oppo
sition to the motion of the Plaintiff to file a first amended
complaint.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
The original complaint in this case was filed on or
about December 31, 1968. It is in the form of a suit by Plain
tiff, Henry Bradley, alone asking primarily for injunctive
relief against BRAC Local 589 and the Defendant, Southern
Pacific Company, Inc. (Southern Pacific), alleging discrimina
tory practices in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C.A., Section 2000c ct seq.). On or aboiil
February 17, 1969, BRAC Local 589 filed a motion to dismiss the
complaint or, in the alternative, for summary judgment based
on various Ini lures of the complaint to comply with the require-
i . r> 5
ments of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. On or
about March 21, 1969, BRAC Local 589 filed a supplement and
amendment to this motion. Thereafter, on or about April 9,
1969, BRAC Local 589 filed a set of interrogatories addressed
to the Plaintiff in support of the motion. This motion is
still pending.
On or about February 26, 1970, a new attorney sub
mitted to counsel for BRAC Local 589 a proposed "Plaintiff's
First Amended Complaint" and inquired whether or not BRAC
Local 589 would consent to the filing of the amendment.
An examination of the proposed amended complaint
shows that the original Plaintiff, Henry Bradley, retired from
employment with the Southern Pacific Company on or about August
1, 1969. Mr. Bradley is, therefore, no longer an employee of
the Southern Pacific who has any legal interest in the mainten
ance of employment practices on that railroad affecting him.
An examination of the proposed amendment shows that, therefore,
it is now proposing to convert the action into a class action
"on behalf of other Negro persons who are employed" by the
Southern Pacific, although the original Plaintiff, Henry
Bradley, is no longer so employed.
Both the original and proposed amended complaint show
that the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission noti
fied the original Plaintiff, Henry Bradley, by letter dated
December 2, 1968, that he could institute a civil action in an
appropriate United States District Court within thirty days of
receipt of said letter. It is, therefore, quite apparent that
the statute of limitations set forth in Section 706(e) of Title
Vli of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for the bringing of a suit
under such statute expired in the early part of January, 1969,
and that it would not now be possible to file a new complaint
setting forth a class action within such limitations. Conse
the proposed amendment, when considered along with Mr. Bradl
voluntary retirement from employment with the Southern Paci'
- 2 -
m•156
clearly constitutes an effort to create a new cause of action
after the statute of limitations has run on such cause. It
also constitutes an effort to bring what is in essence a new
suit. For the reasons set forth below, such an amendment
cannot be allowed, even though Federal Courts generally follow
the practice of liberality in permitting amendments to com
plaints .
ARGUMENT
I .
The Proposed Amendment to the Complaint Should
Be Denied Because the Statute of Limitations
in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Does Not Now
Permit the Filing of Such a Cause of Action
________ Based upon the Statute_______________
As shown by subparagraph B of paragraph I of the ori
ginal complaint, the original Plaintiff, Henry Bradley, filed
a complaint with the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission on or about March 27, 1967, and on December 2, 1968,
the Commission notified him that he was entitled to institute
a civil action in an appropriate United States District Court
based upon his claims. Under Section 706(e) of Title VII of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C.A., Section 2000e-5(e))
such an action must be brought within thirty days after receipt
of such notification from the Federal Commission. If a suit
is not brought within this statutory period of thirty days,
which expired on or about January 2, 1969, the Court does not
have jurisdiction of the suit. King v. Georgia Power Company,
295 F.Supp. 943 (D.C. Ga., 1968).
Thus, it was not possible on or after January 2, 1969,
to file a suit which complied with the statute of limitation
requirements of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Assuming arguendo
that the original suit met the statute of limitation requirement*
the voluntary retirement of Plaintiff, Henry Bradley, from his
employment with the- Southern Pacific on or about August 1, 1969.
eliminated any legal interest that Mr. Bradley had in the , ,■ y **
tinning practices of the Southern Pacific and/or BRAC 1
157 3
and it also put him in a position where he could not ask the
Court for any back pay based on his employment. Confronted
with this situation, the new counsel for the Plaintiff has
attempted to bring a class action on behalf of all Negro
employees of the Southern Pacific and to do so by an amended
complaint. It is respectfully submitted that the statute of
limitation provisions of Section 706(e) of Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 do not permit this to be done.
Jackson v. Ideal Publishing Company. 274 F. Supp. 318 (D.C. E. D
Pa., 1967). In that case, the Plaintiff attempted by an amend
ment to her complaint to raise new issues after the statute
°i limitations applicable thereto had run. The Court held that
this could not be done under Rule 15 of the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure. On this point, the Court spoke as follows
(page 320):
"Such amendment would have been allowed under
F.R.Civ.P. 15 if plaintiff had requested it at a much
earlier date. However, the two year statute of limitations, 12 Purd.Stat. I 34, ran as to those two addi
tional issues sometime during February and March of
1J66. Thus to permit plaintiff to amend as of the
dat<fj°u arSument defendants' summary judgment motion would be an allowance to amend around the statute of limitations."
In the present case, the attempted conversion.of the
action by an amendment goes even further than what was proposed
in the cited case.
II.
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Do Not
Permit the Filing of a New Suit by the Changing
of the Theory of the Complaint by an Amendment
___________ at this Date__________________
As is pointed out above, the proposed amendment wiuld
create an entirely new cause of action, i.e., essentially a
class suit in place of the original action by Plaintiff, Henry
Bradley, who has voluntarily retired from employment with the
Southern Pacific Company, which would, of course, substantially
broaden the case which Defendant BRAC Local 589 would have to
meet. Although the Federal Rules provide for liberality with
-4-
458
J r * , < K
respect to amendments to complaints, it is recognized that
where there is an apparent or declared reason "such as undue
delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on the part of the movant,
repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously
allowed, undue prejudice to the opposing party by virtue of
allowance of the amendment, futility of amendment, etc.",
amendment should not be allowed. Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178
at page 183 (1962). In the present case, the proposed amend
ment has not come until more than a year after the filing of
the original complaint, many months after the original Plaintiff
left the employ of the Southern Pacific, and its filing does
impose undue prejudice on BRAC Local 589 by substantially
broadening the subject matter of the complaint in a situation
where the interest of the original Plaintiff is now at best
minimal. It is respectfully submitted that under these circum
stances the proposed amendment should not be allowed-.
CONCLUSION
It is respectfully submitted that upon the basis of
the foregoing points and authorities the proposed amendment
should be denied.
Respectfully submitted,
JAMES L. HIGHSAW, JR.
631 Tower Building Washington, D. C. 20005
[} <f •*- ^ ilt<( 'tv' -
Curtiss Brown
500 Houston First Savings Bldg.
711 Fannin Street
Houston, Texas 77002
Capitol 2-7211
ATTORNEYS FOR THE DEFENDANT,
BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY, AIRLINE,
AND STEAMSHIP CLERKS, FREIGHT
HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND STATION
EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 589
-5-
&459
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I, Curtiss Brown, do hereby certify that on this
the / / day of April, 1970, a true and correct copy of the
above and foregoing Answer of Brotherhood of Railway, Airline
and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees, Local 589, in Opposition to Motion of Plaintiff
to File First Amended Complaint was forwarded by regular
United States mail to Mrs. Gabrielle K. McDonald, care of
Law Offices of McDonald 5 McDonald, 1834 Southmore Boulevard,
Houston, Texas 77002, attorneys of record for the Plaintiff,
and to Mr. V. R. Burch, Jr., care of Messrs. Baker, Botts,
Shepherd t, Coates, Esperson Building, Houston, Texas 77002,
attorneys of record for the Defendant, Southern Pacific
Company, Inc. Notice was further given that the original
of this instrument was being filed with the United States
District Clerk for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division.
Curtiss Brown
- 6 -
460
J 7<c>
CLERK, U. S. DISTRICT COURT
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
f i l e dFOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
APR 2 4 19/0HOUSTON DIVISION
V. BAILEY THOMAS, CLERK
BX OEEUIt;
HENRY BRADLEY,
Plaintiff,
VS.
SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY, INC
AND BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY,
AIRLINE AND STEAMSHIP CLERKS,
FREIGHT HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND
STATION EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 589,
Defendants.
§
§
§ CIVIL ACTION NO. 68-H-1079
§
§
§
§
DEFENDANT SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY'S
ANSWER IN OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFF'S MOTION
TO FILE FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT
COMES NOW Southern Pacific Company, Inc., a
Defendant in the above-captioned cause, and files this its
opposition to Plaintiff's motion to file first amended
complaint, and in support thereof would state:
The persuasive reasons why Plaintiff should not
be allowed at this late date to amend his Complaint
expanding it from an individual action into a broad class
action have been expertly presented in Answer of Brother
hood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight
Handlers, Express Station Employees, Local 589, in
Opposition to Motion of Plaintiff to File First Amended
Complaint already on file in this action. Defendant
Southern Pacific Company now joins with Defendant Union
in asserting those cogent arguments contained in Union's
Answer and would incorporate its arguments herein.
I n f u r t h e r s u p p o r t o f t h e a r g u m e n t t h a t t h e
P l a i n t i f f may n o t , l o n g a f t e r t h e e x p i r a t i o n o f a p p l i c a b l e
I t >f>
limitations, amend the individual Complaint to transform
it into a class action on behalf of all employees, we
call the Court's attention to Iocono v. Anastasio, 79
F. Supp. 378 (S.D.N.Y. 1948). As in the instant case,
the original complaint in Iocono did not intimate that
Defendants would be required to defend claims or incur
liability as to anyone except the named Plaintiffs.
Subsequent to the expiration of the short limitations
period applicable to the remaining employees. Plaintiffs
attempted to amend the original complaint to convert
it into a class action on behalf of other employees
similarly situated. Judge Medina denied Plaintiffs'
leave to amend in this manner, reasoning as follows:
"But this action is not a 'collective'
or 'class' action. The principal purpose
of pleadings is to notify the defendant by
whom he is being sued and what the claim is
about. No one of these numerous defendants
could possibly have had any reason to suppose
that any claim was being pressed for alleged
unpaid overtime compensation by any of the
one hundred and thirty persons whose 'consents'
were later filed.
* * *
"Here defendants had no notice what
ever that any claim was made by or on behalf
of the one hundred and thirty individual
claimants, until after their claims had been
outlawed by the running of the short statute
contained in the Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947.
"True it is that the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A. following section
723c, contemplate that amendments be liberally
allowed in the interest of justice. But there
must be an existing pending action by or on
behalf of the person seeking the amendment.
It will not suffice that someone else has a
pending lawsuit against the defendant sought to be charged, in which similar but nevertheless
different and separate claims are alleged, and
that through some ignorance or excusable neglect reference to the person seeking to
intervene and to his separate and individual
claim was wholly omitted. No amount of good
excuses or equitable considerations of one
sort or another can alter the fact that there
is not now pendi y anv action whatever by or
on behalf of these individual claimants.
Accordingly, the relief prayed for must be
withheld. To hole' otherwise would be to
dispense with the most elementary requirements
o' due process." 70 F. Pupp., at 381-82.
I : is clear from he above that Plaintiff herein
should net be allowed to use the device of amendment to
cleverly sic estep limitations as to the new parties
Plaintiff.
Defendant Southern Pacific Companv, on the grounds
set forth in Union's Answer and based on the additional
authority referenced above, respectfully submits that the
proposed aneilment would graetly prejudice Defendants and
should be denied.
CONCLUSION
Respectfully submitted
'. P., Burch, Jr. <r̂ j.
"ichard R. Brann
1800 Esperson Building
iouston, Texas 77002
attorneys for Defendant
Southern Pacific Company
OF COUNSEL:
BAKER, BOTTS,
SHEPHERD ’ COATES
Houston. Texas 77002
iGS
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I certify that a copy of the above and foregoing
Defendant Southern Pacific Company's Answer in Opposition
to Plaintiff's Motion to File First Amended Complaint has
been served on the Plaintiff by mailing a copy of the same
to his attorney of record, Mrs. Gabrielle K. McDonald,
McDonald & McDonald, 1834 Southmore Boulevard, Houston,
Texas 77004, on this 24th day of April, 1970. I have
also mailed copies of such Answer to Mr. James L. Highsaw,
Jr., 631 Tower Building, Washington, D. C. 20004; Mr. Curtis
Brown, Brown, Kronzer, Abraham, Watkins & Steely, 500 Houston
First Savings Building, Houston, Texas 77002; and Mr. William
J. Donlon, General Counsel, Brotherhood of Railway, Airline
& Steamship Clerks, 6300 River Road, Rosemont, Illinois 60018.
V . -----------
Richard R. Brann
4
469
■/ / «-
IN T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S D IS T R IC T C O U R T
FO R T H E SO U T H E R N
H OU STO N
H EN R Y B R A D L E Y ,
P la in t i f f ,
SO U T H E R N P A C IF IC C O M PA N Y , IN C .
A ND B R O T H E R H O O D O F R A ILW A Y ,
A IR L IN E , A ND S T E A M S H IP C L E R K S ,
F R E IG H T H A N D L E R S , E X P R E S S AND
ST A T IO N E M P L O Y E E S , L O C A L 589,
D e fe n d a n ts .
M EM O R A N D U M O F LAW
P la in t i f f , H e n ry B r a d l e y h e re w ith s u b m its th i s M e m o ra n d u m of L aw
in r e s p o n s e to th e A n s w e r o f th e B ro th e r h o o d o f R a ilw a y , A ir l in e & S te a m s h ip
C le r k s , F r e i g h t H a n d le r s , E x p r e s s & S ta t io n E m p lo y e e s , L o c a l 589 , in o p
p o s i t io n to M o tio n of P la in t i f f to f i le F i r s t A m e n d e d C o m p la in t .
I .
P L A IN T IF F 'S F IR S T A M E N D E D C O M P L A IN T IS N O T
B A R R E D BY T IT L E VII S T A T U T E O F L IM IT A T IO N S
"R a c ia l d i s c r im in a t io n i s b y d e f in it io n a c la s s d i s
c r im in a t io n . If i t e x i s t s i t a p p l i e s th ro u g h o u t th e
c l a s s . T h is d o e s n o t m e a n , h o w e v e r , th a t th e e f
f e c t s o f th e d is c r im in a t io n w il l a lw a y s b e f e l t e q u a l
ly b y a l l th e m e m b e r s o f th e r a c i a l c l a s s . F o r e x
a m p le , i f an e m p lo y e r ’s r a c i a l l y d i s c r im in a to r y
p r e f e r e n c e s a r e m e r e ly one o f s e v e r a l f a c to r s w h ich
e n te r in to e m p lo y m e n t d e c i s io n s , th e u n la w fu l p r e
f e r e n c e s m a y o r m a y n o t b e c o n tr o l l in g in r e g a r d to
th e h i r in g o r p ro m o tio n o f a p a r t i c u l a r m e m b e r of
th e r a c i a l c l a s s . B u t a lth o u g h th e a c tu a l e f f e c ts o f
a d i s c r im in a t o r y p o lic y m a y th u s v a ry th ro u g h o u t
th e c l a s s , th e e x is te n c e of th e d i s c r im in a t o r y p o lic y
t h r e a te n s th e e n t i r e c l a s s . A nd w h e th e r th e D a m o c le a n
th r e a t o f a r a c i a l l y d i s c r im in a t o r y p o lic y h a n g s o v e r
th e r a c i a l c l a s s i s a q u e s t io n o f f a c t co m m o n to a l l
m e m b e r s o f th e c l a s s . " H a ll v. W e rth a n B a g C o r p . ,
53 LC JI9014 (M .D . T e n n . M a r . 3 , 1966) ( e m p h a s is
s u p p lie d )
So h e ld a D i s t r i c t C o u r t , p e r m it t in g an e m p lo y e e to in te r v e n e a s a n a m e d
p la in t i f f in a T it le VII a c t io n w ith o u t f i r s t h a v in g to f ile a charge w ith th e E qual
E m p lo y m e n t O p p o r tu n ity C o m m is s io n . T h e d e fe n d a n t u n io n c o n te n d s in i t s
a n s w e r th a t th e p la in t i f f b y a m e n d in g h is c o m p la in t to s p e c ify th a t th e s u i t is
b ro u g h t a s a c l a s s a c t io n , i s a l le g in g a new c a u s e o f a c tio n b a r r e d b y th e th i r t y
D IS T R IC T O F CCERKA8. S. DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF. TEXAS
D IVISION F I L E D
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J y. BAILEY IHpMAS. CLERK ,j BY. OEPUIYl ' ‘
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4 * i t
( 2 )
CiO) d a y statute.' o f l im i ta t io n s s o t fo r th in T i t le VII. P la in t i f f s u b m it s th a t
th i s i s an e r r o n e o u s c o n te n t io n f o r a n ew c a u s e o f a c tio n h a s n o t b e e n a l le g e d
an d ev en a s s u m in g a rg u e n d o th a t th e r e q u e s t f o r r e l i e f f o r th e c la s s i s a new
c a u s e of a c t io n , i t i s n o t b a r r e d b y th e s t a tu t e o f l im i ta t io n s .
T h e U n ited S ta te s C o u r t o f A p p e a ls fo r th e F if th C i r c u i t h a s re c o g n iz e d
th a t a T it le VII s u i t a l le g in g r a c i a l d i s c r im in a t io n in e m p lo y m e n t i s m o r e th a n
s im p ly a p r iv a te c la im s e e k in g p e r s o n a l r e l i e f o n ly .
' T he s u i t i s th e r e f o r e m o r e th a n a p r iv a te c la im b y
th e e m p lo y e e s e e k in g th e p a r t i c u l a r job w h ich i s a t
th e b o tto m o f th e c h a rg e o f u n la w fu l d i s c r im in a t io n
f i le d w ith E E O C . . . . W h e th e r in n a m e o r n o t,
th e s u i t i s p e r f o r c e a s o r t o f c l a s s a c tio n fo r fe llo w
e m p lo y e e s s i m i l a r l y s i tu a te d . " J e n k in s v . U n ited
G as C o r p . , 400 F . 2d 28 (5 th C i r . 196 8 ), 58 LC
5 9 1 5 4 , p . 6 595 .
T h e c o u r t w en t on to d e s ig n a te th e p la in t i f f in su c h a s u i t a s a " p r iv a te A tto rn e y
G e n e r a l" .
P la in t i f f ’s c o m p la in t d e m o n s t r a t e s th a t h e i s in f a c t c o m p la in in g o f a
s y s te m o f r a c i a l d i s c r im in a t io n and w h e th e r o r n o t h e d e n o m in a te d h is f i r s t
c o m p la in t a c l a s s a c t io n o r n o t, th i s c o u r t s h o u ld g r a n t c l a s s - w id e r e l i e f i f i t
f in d s th a t th e d e fe n d a n ts h a v e m a in ta in e d s u c h a s y s te m .
" In d e e d , i f c l a s s - w id e r e l i e f w e re n o t a f fo rd e d e x
p r e s s ly in a n in ju n c tio n o r d e c l a r a to r y o r d e r i s s u e d
in E m p lo y e e s b e h a lf th e r e s u l t w ou ld b e th e in c o n
g ru o u s o n e o f th e C o u r t - F e d e r a l C o u r t , no l e s s -
i t s e l f b e in g th e in s t r u m e n t o f r a c i a l d i s c r im in a t io n ,
w h ich b r in g s to m in d a r e j e c t i o n o f l ik e a rg u m e n ts
an d r e s u l t in P o t t s v . F la x , F if th C i r c u i t , 1963 ,
313 F . 2d 284, 2 8 9 " . J e n k in s v . U n ited G a s C o r p . ,
s u p r a , 58 L C a t p .6 5 9 8 .
P la in t i f f th e r e f o r e i s n o t r a i s in g a new c a u s e o f a c t io n in h is F i r s t A m e n d e d
C o m p la in t . T h e a l le g e d d is c r im in a t io n a g a in s t h im b e c a u s e o f h is r a c e w as
m e r e ly a s in g le m a n is f e s ta t io n o f a s y s te m o f d is c r im in a t io n w h ich c a n on ly
b e e l im in a te d and w h jch sh o u ld b e e l im in a te d b y c l a s s r e l i e f .
In T it le VII a c t io n s , m e m b e r s o f th e c l a s s , a r e n o t r e q u i r e d to c o m p ly
w ith th e s t a tu te o f l im i ta t io n s p r e s c r ib i n g th e in s t i tu t io n of a c iv i l a c t io n w ith in
t h i r t y (30) d a y s of r e c e i p t o f th e l e t t e r o f n o t i f ic a t io n f r o m E E O C . M e m b e rs
o f th e c la s s r e c e i v e n o su c h l e t t e r s . In O a tis v . C ro w n Z e l l e r b a c h C o r p . , 398
F . 2d 49S (5 th C i r . 1 9 6 8 ), 58 L C 59140 ( J u ly 16 , 1 9 6 8 ), th e U n ite d S ta te s C o u r t
o f A p p e a ls fo r th e F if th C i r c u i t h e ld th a t i t i s n o t n e c e s s a r y th a t m e m b e r s of
( 3 )
th e c la s s f i le a c h a rg e w ith th e E q u a l E m p lo y m e n t O p p o r tu n ity C o m m is s io n a s
a p r e r e q u i s i t e to jo in in g a s c o - p la in t i f f s in th e l i t ig a t io n . A nd in M i l l e r v s .
I n te rn a t io n a l P a p e r C o . , 408 F . 2d 283 (5 th C i r . 1969), 59 LC 319211 ( F e b r u a r y
26 , 1969), th e C o u r t h e ld th a t m e m b e r s o f th e c l a s s , n o t n a m e d p la in t i f f s , w e re
a ls o n o t r e q u i r e d to f i le a c h a rg e w ith th e E q u a l E m p lo y m e n t O p p o r tu n ity C o m
m is s io n . T h e r e f o r e i t i s c l e a r th a t a r e q u e s t f o r c l a s s r e l i e f i s n o t a new c a u se
o f a c tio n b a r r e d b y th e t h i r t y (30) d a y t im e l im i ta t io n in T i t le V II b e c a u s e th a t
t im e l im i ta t io n is n o t a p p lie d to m e m b e r s o f th e c l a s s . J a c k s o n v s . Id e a l
P u b lis h in g C o m p a n y , 274 F . 2d 318 (D .C . E .D . P a . , 1967) r e l i e d upon by th e
d e fe n d a n t u n io n is n o t a p p lic a b le to th e in s ta n t c a s e , fo r th e new i s s u e so u g h t
to l.c r a i s e d in th a t c a s e w as n o t a r e q u e s t f o r c l a s s r e l i e f an d w a s s p e c i f ic a l ly
b a r r e d b y a s t a t e s t a tu te o f l im i ta t io n s . B e c a u s e of th a t s t a te b a r , th e c o u r t 's
s t a te m e n t th a t th e a m e n d m e n t w ou ld n o t h a v e b e e n a llo w e d u n d e r R u le 15 of
th e F e d e r a l R u le s o f C iv i l P r o c e d u r e i f s u c h a m e n d m e n t h a d b e e n r e q u e s te d a t
a e a r l i e r d a te i s m e r e ly d ic tu m .
P la in t i f f s u b m its th a t th i s C o u r t sh o u ld r e j e c t th e d e fe n d a n t u n io n 's
c o n te n t io n th a t th e p la in t i f f no lo n g e r h a s a n i n t e r e s t in th e s u i t b e c a u s e he h a s
r e t i r e d . T he m o s t o b v io u s r e a s o n i s th a t p la in t i f f h a s r e q u e s te d b a c k p a y lo s t
a s a r e s u l t o f th e d e fe n d a n ts ' p o lic y an d p r a c t i c e o f r a c i a l d i s c r im in a t io n in
e m p lo y m e n t. T h e U n ite d S ta te s C o u r t o f A p p e a ls fo r th e F if th C i r c u i t in
J e n k in s v s . U n ite d G a s C o r p o r a t io n , s u p r a , r e j e c te d a c o n te n t io n th a t the
a c t io n w a s r e n d e r e d m o o t b e c a u s e th e p la in t i f f h ad r e c e iv e d th e p ro m o tio n w hich
h e h a d c o n te n d e d w a s d e n ie d h im b e c a u s e o f h is r a c e . B e c a u s e , i n t e r a l i a , th e
p la in t i f f w a s a l s o s e e k in g b a c k p a y b e c a u s e o f th i s d i s c r im in a t io n . E v e n w ith
o u t th i s c la im fo r b a c k p ay p la in t i f f h a s s u f f ic ie n t i n t e r e s t to m a in ta in th is
la w s u i t . In C a r r v s . C o n o co P la s t i c s I n c . , 62 L C J9391 (5 th C i r . J a n u a r y 29 ,
1970), th e C o u r t a f f i r m e d th e d i s t r i c t c o u r t 's h o ld in g th a t a n a p p l ic a n t fo r
e m p lo y m e n t co u ld r e p r e s e n t in a c l a s s a c tio n p e r s o n s w ho w e re a l r e a d y e m
p lo y e d . T h is w a s a l s o a T i t le VII a c t io n a l le g in g r a c i a l d i s c r im in a t io n in e m
p lo y m e n t. E a r l i e r in Jo h n s o n v s . G e o rg ia H ig h w ay E x p r e s s , I n c . , 417 F . 2d
1122 (5 th C i r . 1969) 61 LC J9 3 5 5 (O c to b e r 3 0 , 1969), i t h ad b e e n h e ld th a t a
p e r s o n no lo n g e r in th e e m p lo y o f a d e fe n d a n t c o u ld p r o p e r ly m a in ta in a T it le
VII a c tio n in h is b e h a lf an d in b e h a lf o f p e r s o n s w ho w e re s t i l l e m p lo y e d b y
th a t d e fe n d a n t . 463
K o r a ll th e fo r e g o in g r e a s o n s , p la in t i f f s u b m it s th a t h is F i r s t A m en d ed
C o m p la in t is n o t b a r r e d by T it le VII s t a tu t e o f l im i ta t io n s and th a t In' s t i l l h a s
s u f f ic ie n t i n t e r e s t in th i s la w s u i t to m a in ta in th i s a c t io n in h is b e h a lf an d in
b e h a lf o f th e c la s s o f p e r s o n s h e s e e k s to r e p r e s e n t .
II .
F E D E R A L R U L E S O F C IV IL P R O C E D U R E DO N O T P R O H IB IT T H E
F IL IN G O F P L A IN T IF F 'S F IR S T A M E N D E D C O M P L A IN T A T THIS
D A T E
A s th e d e fe n d a n t h a s a d m i t te d , th e F e d e r a l R u le s o f C iv i l P r o c e d u r e
p ro v id e f o r l i b e r a l i t y w ith r e s p e c t to a m e n d m e n ts to c o m p la in ts . T h e l i m i t a
tio n th a t an a m e n d m e n t m a y n o t " s u b s ta n t ia l ly c h a n g e " th e c a u s e o f a c t io n o r
d e fe n s e , o r in t ro d u c e a d i f f e r e n t c la im o r d e fe n s e h a s n o t b e e n o b s e r v e d u n d e r
R u le 15 o f th e F e d e r a l R u le s o f C iv i l P r o c e d u r e . M o o r e 's F e d e r a l P r a c t i c e ,
S eco n d E d it io n , V o lu m e 3, p . 8 7 7 ,8 7 8 c it in g I n te r n a t io n a l L a d ie s ' G a rm e n t
W o r k e r s ' U n ion v s . D o n n e lly G a rm e n t C o m p a n y , 121 F . 2d 561 (8 th C i r . 1941)
w h e re an a c tio n o r ig in a l ly b ro u g h t u n d e r th e S h e rm a n A c t w as h e ld to b e i n
a p p lic a b le a n d s in c e t h e r e i s n o d iv e r s i t y o f c i t iz e n s h ip th e c o u r t h e ld i t w a s
w ith o u t j u r i s d i c t i o n h o w e v e r on m o tio n o f th e p la in t i f f th e a p p e l la te c o u r t p e r
m i t t e d p la in t i f f to f i le an a m e n d m e n t d is m is s in g th e r e s id e n t d e fe n d a n ts and
r e s t a t i n g th e c la im a s a c iv i l a c tio n b a s e d on d iv e r s i t y o f c i t iz e n s h ip . C o u r ts
h a v e h e ld th a t " a c o m p la in t in an a c tio n u n d e r th e J o n e s A c t m a y b e a m e n d e d
to b r in g th e a c t io n a ls o u n d e r th e D ea th on th e H igh S e a s A c t; o r i f p la in t i f f
w a n te d to f i le a n a m e n d e d c o m p la in t , m a y in c lu d e a n a d d it io n a l c a u s e of a c tio n
a r i s in g o u t o f th e s a m e t r a n s a c t io n , o r m a y c h a n g e th e c la im f ro m one on
c o n t r a c t to one f o r r e f o r m a t io n in e q u ity , o r to one in t o r t . M o o r e 's F e d e r a l
P r a c t i c e , s u p r a , p p . 8 7 8 ,8 7 9 .
A lth o u g h th e o r ig in a l c o m p la in t w as f i le d on o r a b o u t D e c e m b e r 31, 1968 ,
no d is c o v e r y h a s b e e n in i t i a te d b v th e p la in t i f f . T h e p la in t i f f h im s e l f w ould
b e u n d u ly p re ju d ic e d i f a m o tio n f i le d b u t n o t p r e s e n te d to th e C o u r t f o r a ru l in g
o v e r a y e a r ag o c h a lle n g in g th e s u f f ic ie n c y o f h is c o m p la in t co u ld a c t a s a b a r
to th e f i lin g of an a m e n d e d c o m p la in t . P la i n t i f f 's p e r s o n a l c la im of d i s c r i m i
n a tio n on a c c o u n t o f h is r a c e o r c o lo r i s d i r e c t l y r e l a t e d to a c la im of d i s c r i -
m illa tio n a g a in s t N e g ro e s in g e n e r a l . A s a p a r t o f i t s d e fe n s e to p la in t i f f 's
4«4
p e r s o n a l c la im th e d e fe n d a n t u n io n w ill h av e to show th a t i t h a s m a in ta in e d a
p o lic y o f n o n - d i s c r im in a t io n . T h is d e fe n s e i s in no w ay b ro a d e n e d by p la in t i f f 's
F i r s t A m e n d e d C o m p la in t .
O n J a n u a r y 16 , 1970 th i s C o u r t g r a n te d a M o tio n f o r S u b s t i tu tio n o f A t
to r n e y . P r e s e n t c o u n s e l f o r p la in t i f f h a s n o t b e e n g u il ty o f u ndue d e la y , th e
d e fe n d a n t h a s n o t c o n te n d e d n o r c o u ld i t c o n te n d th a t p la in t i f f i s g u i l ty o f b ad
fa i th o r d i l a to r y m o t iv e s , th i s i s th e f i r s t a m e n d e d c o m p la in t s o u g h t to b e f i le d
and th e d e fe n d a n t h a s f a i le d to show u n d u e p r e ju d ic e b y v i r tu e o f th e a llo w a n c e
o f th e a m e n d m e n t. If th i s C o u r t b a la n c e s th e e q u i t ie s the p la in t i f f s h o u ld b e a l
lo w ed to f i le h is F i r s t A m e n d e d C o m p la in t .
F o r a l l th e fo r e g o in g r e a s o n s p la in t i f f r e s p e c t f u l ly s u b m its th a t th i s
C o u r t sh o u ld g r a n t h im le a v e to f i le h is F i r s t A m e n d e d C o m p la in t .
T h is is to c e r t i f y th a t th e u n d e rs ig n e d h a s th i s d ay s e r v e d a co p y o f th e
fo r e g o in g M e m o ra n d u m of h a w on M r . V .R . B u rc h , J r . , B a k e r , B o t t s ,
S h e p h e rd C o a te s , M r . J a m e s L . H ig h sa w , J r . , 631 T o w e r B u ild in g , W a sh
in g to n , D .C . 2 0 005 , an d M r . C u r t i s s B ro w n , B ro w n , K r o n z e r , A b ra h a m ,
W a tk in s and S te e ly , 500 H o u s to n F i r s t S a v in g s B u ild in g , H o u s to n , T e x a s 77002,
b y m a i l in g s a m e to th e m , a t t h e i r a d d r e s s e s , p o s ta g e p r e - p a id on th i s th e
2 4 th d a y o f A p r i l , 1 9 7 0 .
R e s p e c tf u l ly s u b m it te d ,
G A B R IE L L E K . M C D O N A LD
M ARK T . M CD O N A LD
M C D O N A LD & M C D O N A LD
1834 S o u th m o re B o u le v a rd
H o u s to n , T e x a s 77004
A T T O R N E Y S FO R P L A IN T IF F
C E R T IF IC A T E O F S E R V IC E
/ G A B R IE L L E K . M C D O N A LD
*4 is ^ 465 ’ -3̂
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
HOUSTON DIVISION
U. S. DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
f i l e d
APR 2 7 1970
HENRY BRADLEY,
Plaintiff,
VS .
SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY INC.
AND BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY,
AIRLINE AND STEAMSHIP CLERKS,
FREIGHT HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND
STATION EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 589
Defendants.
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§
§
§
§
§
§
§
a * M e m * :
t
CIVIL ACTION NO. 68-H-1079
CLERK
i’jJ/' /
DEFENDANT SOUTHERN PACIFIC
IN OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFF'SCOMPANY'S RESPONSE MEMORANDUM OF LAW
COMES NOW Southern Pacific Company, a Defendant
in the above-captioned matter, and files this response in
opposition to Plaintiff's Memorandum of Law in support of
Plaintiff's attempt to amend complaint, and for such
response would say as follows:
Plaintiff's Memorandum of Law argues well for
the general proposition of maintaining class actions in
suits of this nature. However, Plaintiff's arguments ob
scure the real prejudice to Defendants and consequent
inequity of allowing this type of expanded class action
and specific class recovery belatedly attempted by amend
ment. We speak, of course, of the claim for back wages
and further specific relief for the entire class added by
Paragraphs 4 and 5 of Plaintiff's prayer for relief in
the proposed amended complaint.
The authorities cited in Plaintiff's Memorandum
all deal with the general propriety of class actions to
enjoin alleged discriminatory practices or to have such
470
practices declared discriminatory as to a defined class.
Plaintiff's proposed amended complaint goes far beyond
the propriety of recovery contemplated by the authorities
cited and attempts to expand the action from an individual
claim for an injunction, declaratory relief and recovery
of back wages into a class demand for an injunction,
declaratory relief and recovery of back wages for all
in the class. This novel concept of expanded class action,
while at least arguably sanctioned as to injunctive and
declaratory relief for the class, has never received
approval by the authorities Plaintiff cites insofar as
the recovery of back wages for the entire class is con
cerned. More importantly, this technique is expressly
prohibited by Judge Medina's well-reasoned opinion in
Iocona v. Anastasio. 79 F.Supp. 378 (S.D.N.Y. 1948).
The equitable considerations dictating the
disallowance of amendment in Iocona govern the instant
case. Plaintiff argues in his Memorandum that this has
been a class action all along, regardless of how it was
first pled. The argument obviously must fall with respect
to class recovery of back wages and further specific
relief. This action has never been a class action for
purposes of the recovery of back pay for the entire
class. Prior, to the proposed amendment, Defendants were
completely without notice of such broad claim. No
authority sustains allowing the proposed transformation
at this late date.
For the foregoing reasons, coupled with the
arguments and authorities contained in both Defendants'
Answers opposing amendment, Defendant Southern Pacific
Company submits that the proposed amendment would
- 2 -
471 i / V v*
greatly prejudice Defendants and consequently should be
denied.
Respectfully submitted,
V. R. Burch, Jr_
Richard R. Brann
1600 Esperson Building
Houston, Texas 77002
Attorneys for Defendant
Southern Pacific Company
OF COUNSEL:
BAKER, BOTTS,
SHEPHERD & COATES
Houston, Texas 77002
-3-
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I certify that a copy of the above and foregoing
Defendant Southern Pacific Company's Response in Opposition
to Plaintiff's Memorandum of Law has been served on the
Plaintiff by mailing a copy of the same to his attorney
of record, Mrs. Gabrielle K. McDonald, McDonald & McDonald,
1834 Southmore Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77004, on this
27th day of April, 1970. I have also mailed copies of
such Response to Mr. James L. Highsaw, Jr., 631 Tower
Building, Washington, D.C. 20004; Mr. Curtis Brown, Brown,
Kronzer, Abraham, Watkins & Steely, 500 Houston First
Savings Building, Houston, Texas 77002; and Mr. William
J. Donlon, General Counsel, Brotherhood of Railway, Airline
& Steamship Clerks, 6300 River Road, Rosemont, Illinois
60018.
V. R. Burch, Jr.
Richard R. Brann
IN TUK IINITl-:i> STATUS DISTRICT COURT
FOR Tllli SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF THXAS
HOUSTON DIVISION
southern district o*
F I L E D
WAY a '<:• »/U
HENRY BRADLEY,
Plaintiff,
v .
SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY, INC. and
BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY, AIRLINE AND
STEAMSHIP CLERKS, FREIGHT HANDLERS,
EXPRESS AND STATION EMPLOYES, LOCAL 589,
V. BAILEY T.HOMAS, Cl;
BY. OERUT-Y.: ~ ' ~ x ' / / •
<1
CIVIL ACTION NO.
68-H-1079
Defendants.
REPLY OF DEFENDANT BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY, AIRLINE AND
STEAMSHIP CLERKS, FREIGHT HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND STATION
EMPLOYES LOCAL 589, TO PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS IN SUPPORT
________OF MOTION TO FILE AMENDED COMPLAINT______________
On May 18, 1970, counsel for the Brotherhood of Railway, Airline
and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employes
Local Lodge 589, one of the defendants in the above-entitled cause,
received from counsel for the plaintiff a copy of a letter addressed
to the Court to which was enclosed a copy of a decision by a District
Court in the case of Carter v. Holt-Williamson Manufacturing Company
in support of plaintiff's motion to amend the complaint. This reply
is submitted because an examination of that decision shows that it
is not applicable for the reasons set forth below to the issues
raised by the defendants in this case with respect to the proposal
to amend the complaint:
1. The decision in the Carter case does not show the date upon
which the motion to amend the complaint was filed in relation to the
original complaint. The defendants have opposed the motion to amend
the complaint in the present case on the grounds that (a) it was filed
long after the statute of limitations contained in the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 for the filing of such actions had expired, and (b) the
474 3 /
2
proposed amendment is attempting to change the whole theory of the
case after the lapse of a long period of time during which plaintiff
had voluntarily retired from employment by the Southern Pacific Com
pany. The decision in the Carter case does not address itself to
either one of these issues nor is it apparent from reading the decision
that either one of these issues were raised in that case. The decision
in the Carter case was directed to the question of whether or not a
class action could be brought at all where the complaint before the
Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was limited only to
the main plaintiff. Defendants have not raised such an issue in their
opposition to the amendment here involved.
2. The Court in the Carter case, in allowing an amendment to
the original complaint to create a class action, emphasized that
"the language of the original complaint sought injunctive relief
for the rights of the plaintiff 'and others similarly situated'."
In contrast, the complaint in the present case sought only relief
on behalf of the plaintiff himself.
3. In the Carter case, the named plaintiff, who had been dis
missed from her employment by the defendant company, was seeking
reinstatement to her employment and continued to do so in the
amended complaint by which the plaintiff also sought to change to
a class action. In the present case, the plaintiff Bradley volun
tarily retired from employment with the defendant Southern Pacific
Company on August 1, 1969, as shown by paragraph IV of the proposed
amended complaint. Such an individual has severed his employment
relationship with the railroad and does not now have standing to
seek injunctive relief, which is the primary thrust of the amended
complaint, so that there is no continuing named individual with
proper standing to which a class action can attach. The amended
complaint is clearly a maneuver to bring an independent suit for
475 £** ̂ aX
3
relief by other individuals who have never filed a complaint with the
Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, not simply a means of
broadening an existing viable complaint on behalf of plaintiff Bradley.
4. If the Carter case is applicable at all it would require a
denial of the motion to amend the complaint. Although the District
Court in the Carter case did allow an amended complaint, it narrowed
the case so that it was limited only to those allegations and issues
raised before the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by
the main plaintiff and by the original complaint. As a consequence,
the named plaintiff obtained reinstatement to employment and back pay.
In the present case, a following of the precedent of the Carter case
would require a denial of the motion to amend because the named plain
tiff Bradley no longer has any interest in injunctive relief and can
not obtain back pay as an incident thereto because he is not a discharged
of suspended employee of the Southern Pacific Company, but one who
voluntarily retired. Moreover, as such a retired employee he has no
future interest in the operation of the company or of the collective
bargaining agreement involved. As a consequence, the basic require
ments of a class action under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure of a common right to enforce and common relief to be obtained
are not present. The so-called class is not similarly situated as
plaintiff since they appear to be existing employees with a prayer
directed primarily to future injunctive relief. In contrast, in the
Carter case the named plaintiff and the class action plaintiffs were
similarly situated.
Respectfully submitted
0f Counse1:
William J. Donlon, Gen. Counsel
Bro. of Railway and Airline
Clerks
6300 River Road
Rosemont, Illinois 60018
J-Ames L. Hi'ghsaw, Jr
631 Tower Building
Washington, D. C. 20005
May 18, 1970 Curtiss Brown
500 Houston First Savings Bldg.
711 Fannon Street
Houston, Texas 77002
Attorneys for BRAC Local 589
m 476
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I, Curtiss Brown, do hereby certify that on this the
21st day of May, 1969, a true and correct copy of the above
and foregoing Reply of Defendant Brotherhood of Railway, Air
line and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and
Station Employees Local 589, to Plaintiff's Contentions in
Support of Motion to File Amended Complaint, was forwarded
by regular United States mail to Mrs. Gabrielle K. McDonald,
1834 Southmore, Houston, Texas 77004, attorney of record for
the Plaintiff, and to Mr. V. R. Burch, Jr., care of Messrs.
Baker, Botts, Shepherd 6 Coates, Esperson Building, Houston,
Texas 77002, attorney of record for the Defendant, Southern
Pacific Company, Inc. Notice was further given that the
original of this instrument was being filed with the United
States District Clerk for the Southern District of Texas,
Houston Division.
Curtiss Brown
MEMORANDUM:
On Plaintiff's Motion to Amend
This is an action under Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C.A. § 2000(e), et seq.). The
plaintiff is Henry Bradley who at the time of the insti
tution of the suit was an employee of Southern Pacific
Company, Inc. He sues the employer and the local union
of which he was a member. He contends that as a Negro
employee of the defendant in the Mail Room of the defendant
he was classified as a "Mail Porter"; although it is further
alleged that he performed clerical duties which would have
entitled him to a higher salaried position. He contends
that there was a practice of discrimination against Negro
employees by classifying them as Mail Porters when they
should have been classified as "Mail Clerks", which latter
positions wele primarily irestricted to whites. Apparently,
he followed the prescribed administrative procedures and
the action was timely filed here December 31, 1968.
On August 1, 1969, plaintiff was retired from
his employment with the defendant.
179
- 2 - v
By the amended pleading which he seeks to file,
plaintiff undertakes to convert the foregoing into a
class action on behalf of all those who are presently
employed, have been employed, or in the future may be
employed by Southern Pacific Company in the following
departments located in Houston, Texas: Accounting, Freight
Accounts, Freight Claim, Duplicating, Regional Bureau,
Houston Collections, Time Keeper, Central Operating,
Freight Traffic, Chief Engineers and Transportation.
Mindful as I am of the holdings of the Court
of Appeals of this Circuit in Oatis v. Crown Zellerbach
Corp., 398 F.2d 496 (1968), and the cases which follow
it as Jenkins v. United Gas Corporation, 400 F.2d 28 (5th
Cir. 1968) and Miller v. International Paper Company, 408
F.2d 283 (1969), under the peculiar circumstances of this
«
case I feel the amendment is inappropriate and decline
to allow i t.
In Oatis, a single plaintiff who had followed
the administrative procedures and complied with the strict
480
S 7< &-3-
limitation periods filed his action alone. He thereafter
was joined by three individuals who had not so complied,
and likewise asserted an action on behalf of the class of
which he was a member. The Court of Appeals in allowing
the amendment recognized that those individuals who had
a similar complaint to that of the plaintiff (use by the
employer of segregated locker rooms) need not go through
what apparently would be a useless administration procedure
and could join; and held further that a class action might
be maintained if (a) the requirements of Rule 23, F.R.Civ.P.
were met and (b) if the issues to be considered were those
properly asserted by the original plaintiff in the E.E.O.C.
charge and in the complaint.
It is for these reasons that I consider the
present amendment to be deficient. First, the plaintiff
here since initiation of the action has been retired.
His position as an active employee is no longer the same
as when the complaint was filed and the action initiated.
Whether the issues which he may raise, and the relief
which he may seek are common to those of present or future
IS1
-4-
employees is subject to serious question. There is no
showing that the claims or defenses of Bradley are
typical of the claims or defenses of the class [(a)(3) of
Rule 23]. There is further in my mind serious doubt that
he is a proper party who will fairly and adequately pro
tect the interests of the class [(a)(4) of Rule 23],
Farther, 1 consider the petition to be too all-inclusive
in undertaking to represent employees of the various
other departments. The plaintiff's complaints have to
do with alleged practices which prevailed in the Mail
Room, and nowhere else. There is no reason to believe
that a similar situation prevailed in the various other
departments of Southern Pacific mentioned above. If
there be such complaints emanating in the other depart
ments, perhaps they would lend themselves to adjustment
<
before the E.E.O.C., as contemplated by the statute.
While a multiplicity of suits is to be avoided where-
ever possible, this desirable end should not be used to
defeat the statutory purpose of providing for adminis
trative measures wherein it is sought to reconcile the
482
_5_ ry*-"
differences which may exist by arbitration and adjust-
ment.
Leave to file the amended complaint is denied.
Clerk will notify counsel.
t v
Done at Houston, Texas this __day of
July, 1970.
United States District Judge
\
i
*
483
- 6 - £ CCL*
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J a m e s L . H ig h sa w , J r . , E s q .
6 31 T o w e r B u ild in g
W a sh in g to n , D .C . 20005
C u r t i s s B ro w n , E s q .
B ro w n , K r o n z e r , A b ra h a m ,
W a tk in s & S te e ly
500 H o u s to n F i r s t S a v in g s B u ild in g
711 F a n n in S t r e e t
H o u s to n , T e x a s 77002
G A B K 1E L L E K . M C D O N A LD
485 <ĵ»
I
n,
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■ !.i ̂ UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
I"OR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 30604
Cf\. Lvtf-icj'i
HENRY BRADLEY,
P l a i n t i f f - A p p e l l a n t ,
vs.
SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY, INC., and
BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY, AIRLINE AND
STEAMSHIP CLERKS, FREIGHT HANDLERS,
EXPRESS AND STATION EMPLOYEES, LOCAL
NO. 589,
Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the
Southern District of Texas
Before GEWIN, GOLDBERG and DYER, Circuit Judges.
BY THE COURT:
IT IS ORDERED that appellees' motion to dismiss the
appeal, filed in the above styled and numbered cause, is
heireby GRANTED.
A true copy
Tofjt I .
Clork, U. f». 0-rart o" A.... . •'•J-Ui Circuit.
c A t i c * / J a .
Lh I'iH y
New Orleans, Lou .fin.1
ig-.A
488
/r J (3U
7
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
I'OR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
HOUSTON DIVISION
HENRY BRADLEY
VS.
SOUTHERN l’ACIFIC COMPANY,INC., AND BROTHERHOOD OF’
railway, airline: and
STEAMSHIP CLERKS, FREICIIT HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND
STATION EMPLOYEES LOCAL 589
ANSWER
10 THE HONORABLE JUDGE OF SAID COURT:
Conics now BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY, AIRLINE AND STEAM
SHIP CLERKS, FREIGHT HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND STATION EMPLOYEES
LOCAL 589, one of the Defendants in the above entitled and
numbered cause, and hereinafter referred to as need be as
"Local" or "Brotherhood," and with leave of Court first being
had to waive its Motion to Dismiss heretofore filed and to
file this answer to Plaintiff's Complaint, would respectfully
:;how unto the Court the following:
I .
First Defense
Ihc Court does not have jurisdiction of the subject
matter of the complaint because Plaintiff has not complied
with the conditions precedent to his suit required by Title
VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in that:
(aj The charges of alleged discriminating employ
ment practices by Defendant contained in the Complaint
were not made to the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission as required by Section 706 of the Statutes.
charges Plaintiff did file with the FcdcraL
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
l
1
I
/
CIVII. ACTION NO. 68-11-1079
c r o p
6
ll>) The
Commission on March 27, 1967, were not filed within
ninety (90) days of the alleged discriminating
practice of Defendant as required by Section 706(d)
of the Act.
II.
Second Defense
I he Court does not have jurisdiction of the subject
matter ol the Complaint because the Federal Equal Employees
Opportunity Commission did not comply with the requirements
of Section 706 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
which are a condition precedent to any action against your
Defendant based on such Statute in that:
(a) The charges filed by Plaintiff with the
Commission on March 27, 1967, were not served upon
Defendant by the Commission and said Defendant was
given no opportunity to reply thereto as required
by Section 706(a).
(b) The Commission never undertook any concilia
tion with the Defendant as required by Section 706(e).
III.
this Dc(endant denies Paragraph 1(a) as alleged in
Plaintiff's Complaint and denies the jurisdiction of the Court.
This Defendant says that Plaintiff is retired, that all in
junctive issues are moot and not at issue and that the Court
docs not have jurisdiction of this cause. Furthermore, this
Defendant denies Paragraph 1(b) of such Complaint insofar as
it alleges any violation of the civil rights of the Plaintiff
by this Defendant or that it is entitled to any relief under
the so-called "Civil Rights Act of 1964." With respect to
Paragraph 1(c), this Defendant says that there were no unlawful
employment practices at any relevant time alleged hereto.
IV.
This Defendant denies Paragraph II of Plaintiff's
Complaint.
- 2 -
524
c
This Defendant denies the allegations contained in
Paragraph III of Plaintiff's Complaint.
VI.
This Defendant denies the allegations contained in
Paragraph IV of Plaintiff's Complaint.
VII.
Although this Defendant has no present knowledge con
cerning the Plaintiff and his residence since Plaintiff has
retired, this Defendant assumes that the allegations contained
In Paragraph V of Plaintiff's Complaint are correct, as they
were at the last knowledge of this Defendant.
VIII.
As far as Paragraph VI of Plaintiff's Complaint is
concerned, this Defendant says that with respect to the allega
tions concerning the Southern Pacific Company, Inc., this
Defendant is lacking in knowledge of the details of such
allegations other than that the Southern Pacific Company,
Inc., does operate a common carrier for railroad covering a
large portion of the United States, and certainly operating in
l lie Houston area. This Defendant is an unincorporated labor
association, and operates in Houston. Except as above stated,
the other allegations of Paragraph VI are denied.
IX.
With respect to the allegations contained in Paragraph
VII of Plaintiff's Complaint, this Defendant has no knowledge
concerning the original employment history of the Plaintiff,
Henry Bradley. This Defendant denies that it had any part in
the collective bargaining process resulting in any applicable
agreements relating to the Plaintiff during the time that he
was employed by the railroad. This local union simply has no
part whatsoever in this process. In addition, this Defendant
says that at all times material hereto Plaintiff's job was duly
rated and compensated for in accordance with its requirements
and qualifications. This Defendant denies having freezed the
Plaintiff into any seniority pattern at any material times.
This Defendant specifically denies that so-called Group 2
employees have been Negro. Except as hereinabove admitted,
the allegations of Plaintiff's Complaint in Paragraph Vll
are denied.
X.
The allegations of Paragraph VIII of Plaintiff’s
Complaint are denied by this Defendant.
XI.
Third Defense
This Defendant says that the Plaintiff has long
since retired from the service of the Defendant railroad,
and that, therefore, all questions of seniority, injunction
and declaratory judgment are no longer at issue, and as to
such matters this case is now moot.
XII.
As a result of the Plaintiff's action herein, this
Defendant has been required to obtain the services of the
undersigned attorneys, and this Defendant is entitled to
recover reasonable attorneys' fees under Section 706(k) of
the Act, 42 U.S.C.A., Section 2000 E-5(k).
XIII.
Fourth Defense
This Defendant Local 589 is not a party to any agree
ment, does not possess and has not exercised any authority to
negotiate or deal with any agreement setting forth the rules
and working conditions affecting the employment rights of the
Plaintiff which are alleged to give rise to a course of conduct
that deprives, or tends to deprive, Plaintiff of equal employ
ment opportunities that otherwise adversely affect his employee
status because of his race. Said Defendant Local 589 is not
authorized to deal with and has not dealt with employees con
cerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours
-4-
5 ^ 6
or other terms or conditions of employment as set forth
in Section 701(d) of the Act, 42 U.S.C.A. 2000E(d).
WHEREFORE, premises considered, this Defendant prays
that Plaintiff take nothing by his suit and that Defendant go
hence without day with its costs, and have such other and fur
ther relief, including its attorneys' fees, to which it is
entitled under law, and for general relief.
Respectfully submitted,.
yd
/ 1 / / / ;
- t / , - / C.„£. 1- , - V -
Curtiss Brown
> ■/> i
500 Houston First Savings Bldg. 711 Fannin Street
Houston, Texas 77002 Capitol 2-7211
, Jamesv J(. High
--631 Tower Building
Washington, D. 20005
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I, Curtiss Brown, one of the attorneys of record for the Defendant, Brotherhood 589, in the above entitled and numbered cause, do hereby certify that I have served the above
and foregoing Answer upon the attorneys for the interested
parties by handing same to Mrs. Gabrielle McDonald and Mr.V. R. Burch, Jr., on May 10, 1971.
Curtiss Brown
£ '■i
IN T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S D IS T R IC T C O U R T
Cl.kkK, U. o l-aoiivoi ouoi<i
F O R T H E S O U T H E R N D IS T R IC T O F TEXiS§>u THERN D.'SluiCV OF TEXAS
f i L t! D
H O U STO N DIVISION
19/1
HEN RY B R A D L E Y ,
P la in t i f f ,
VS.
S O U T H E R N P A C IF IC C O M P A N Y , IN C . an d
B R O T H E R H O O D O F R A IL W A Y , A IR L IN E ,
& S T E A M S H IP C L E R K S , F R E I G H T H A N D L E R S ,
E X P R E S S an d S T A T IO N E M P L O Y E E S , L O C A L
589,
D e fe n d a n t s .
M O T IO N TO JO IN P A R T Y D E F E N D A N T
T O T H E SAID H O N O R A B L E C O U R T :
C O M ES NOW P la i n t i f f H e n r y B r a d l e y b y and th r o u g h h i s a t t o r n e y s ,
an d p u r s u a n t to R u le 20 of th e F e d e r a l R u l e s of C iv i l P r o c e d u r e f i l e s t h i s
M o t io n to jo in a s a p a r t y d e fe n d a n t . T h e B r o t h e r h o o d o f R a i lw a y , A i r l i n e &
S t e a m s h i p C l e r k s , F r e i g h t H a n d l e r s , S ta t io n an d E x p r e s s E m p l o y e e s a n d a s
g r o u n d s t h e r e f o r s t a t e s th e fo l low ing :
1. On M a y 10 , 1 9 7 1 , D e fe n d a n t L o c a l 589 f i l e d i t s a n s w e r to
P l a i n t i f f ' s C o m p la in t in w h ic h i t a l l e g e d th a t i t h a s no p a r t in th e c o l l e c t i v e
b a r g a i n i n g p r o c e s s b u t f u r t h e r a l l e g e d th a t P l a i n t i f f ' s job w a s r a t e d and
c o m p e n s a t e d in a c c o r d a n c e w ith i t s r e q u i r e m e n t s an d q u a l i f i c a t i o n s . In f a c t ,
th e l a b o r c o n t r a c t w a s in th e m a i n n e g o t i a te d b y L o c a l 5 8 9 's I n t e r n a t i o n a l ,
w h ich P la in t i f f now s e e k s to jo in a s p a r t y D e fe n d a n t .
2 . P l a i n t i f f i s j o in t ly a s s e r t i n g a g a i n s t s a i d p a r t y s o u g h t to b e
j o in e d a s D e fe n d a n t h i s r i g h t s p r o v i d e d b y T i t l e VII of th e C iv i l R ig h t s A c t
o f 1 9 6 4 , 42 U . S . C . 2000e e t s e q . w h ic h h a v e b e e n v io l a te d b y s a i d p a r t y in
th e s a m e t r a n s a c t i o n , o c c u r r e n c e o r s e r i e s o f t r a n s a c t i o n s o r o c c u r r e n c e s
in w h ich th e n a m e d D e fe n d a n t s S o u th e r n P a c i f i c C o m p a n y , In c . an d L o c a l
58!), B r o th e r h o o d of R a i lw a y , A i r l i n e & S t e a m s h i p C l e r k s , F r e i g h t H a n d l e r s ,
E x p r e s s and S ta t io n E m p l o y e e s , h a v e v io l a te d s a i d r i g h t s .
530
2
3. A q u e s t io n o f law o r f a c t c o m m o n to a l l t h e s e D e fe n d a n t s w il l
a r i s e in t h i s a c t i o n .
4 . T h i s I n t e r n a t i o n a l U n io n s o u g h t to b e jo in e d d o e s b u s i n e s s w i th
in th e j u r i s d i c t i o n o f t h i s C o u r t .
5. P l a i n t i f f c o n te n d s t h a t h e w a s d e n ie d e q u a l e m p l o y m e n t o p p o r
t u n i t i e s b e c a u s e o f h i s r a c e o r c o l o r in v io l a t i o n o f T i t l e VII of th e C iv i l R ig h t s
A c t o f 1964, 42 U . S . C . § 2 000e e t s e q . b e c a u s e of i n t e r a l i a a s e n i o r i t y s y s t e m
n e g o t i a t e d b y th e D e fe n d a n t s an d m a d e a p a r t of th e L a b o r A g r e e m e n t b e tw e e n
D e fe n d a n t s and b e c a u s e th e job d u t i e s h e p e r f o r m e d w e r e n o t c o r r e c t l y c l a s s i
f i e d , th u s r e s u l t i n g in a l o s s in w a g e s th e jo b c l a s s i f i c a t i o n r a t e s a r e n e g o t i a te d
b y th e D e fe n d a n ts a s a p a r t of i t s c o l l e c t i v e b a r g a i n i n g p r o c e s s . P l a i n t i f f c o n
t e n d s t h a t b e c a u s e of h i s r a c e h e w a s n o t p a id a w ag e r a t e c o m m e n s u r a t e with
th e job d u t i e s h e p e r f o r m e d .
th e L a b o r A g r e e m e n t r e f e r r e d to in 5 a b o v e , h a s a c t e d in c o n c e r t w i th th e D e
f e n d a n t s in th e i n s t i t u t i o n , m a i n t a i n a n c e an d a c q u i e s c e n c e of th e d i s c r i m i n a
t o r y p r a c t i c e s w h ic h P l a i n t i f f in h i s C o m p l a in t a l l e g e d to b e in v io l a t i o n of
T i t l e VII of th e C iv i l R ig h t s A c t of 1964 , 42 U . S . C . §2000e e t s e q .
7. T h e D e fe n d a n t L o c a l 589 h a s a c t e d a s an a g e n t o f th e p a r t y
s o u g h t to b e e n jo in e d .
8 . B e c a u s e o f t h i s a g e n c y r e l a t i o n s h i p an d b e c a u s e o f th e c lo s e
i d e n t i t y of th e p a r t y s o u g h t to b e jo in e d w i th th e D e fe n d a n t L o c a l 589, i t h a s
b e e n s u f f i c i e n t l y a p p r i s e d t h a t th e p e n d e n c y o f P l a i n t i f f ' s c h a r g e s an d c o m
p la in t and w i l l s u f f e r no u n d u e p r e j u d i c e o r s u r p r i s e b y b e in g jo in e d a t t h i s
t i m e .
th i s C o u r t o r d e r th e j o i n d e r a s p a r t y D e fe n d a n t th e B r o t h e r h o o d o f R a i lw a y ,
A i r l i n e & S te a m s h i p C l e r k s , F r e i g h t H a n d l e r s , S ta t io n and E x p r e s s E m p l o y e e s .
6 . T h e p a r t i e s s o u g h t to b e j o in e d b y v i r t u e of th e e x e c u t io n of
W H E R E F O R E , f o r a l l th e fo r e g o in g r e a s o n s P l a i n t i f f p r a y s th a t
R e s p e c t f u l l y s u b m i t t e d ,
M cD o n a l d & M cDo n a l d
1834 S o u th m o r e B o u le v a r d
H o u s to n , T e x a s 77004
5 2 3 -7 4 2 3
531
3
A T T O R N E Y S F O R P L A I N T I F F
N O T IC E O F M O T IO N T O JO IN P A R T Y D E F E N D A N T
TO: M r . V . R . B u r c h , J r .
B a k e r & B o t t s
3000 O ne S h e l l P l a z a
H o u s to n , T e x a s 77002
A t t o r n e y f o r D e fe n d a n t C o m p a n y
M r . J a m e s L . H ig h s a w , J r .
631 T o w e r s B u i ld in g
W a s h in g to n , D . C . 20050
M r . C u r t i s s B ro w n
B ro w n , K r o n z e r , A b r a h a m , W a tk in s & S te e l e y
500 F i r s t S a v in g s B u i ld in g
H o u s to n , T e x a s 77002
A t t o r n e y s f o r D e fe n d a n t U n ion
P L E A S E T A K E N O T IC E t h a t th e u n d e r s i g n e d w il l b r i n g th e f o r e
g o in g M o t io n T o J o i n P a r t y D e fe n d a n t on f o r h e a r i n g b e f o r e t h i s C o u r t a t th e
U n i ted S ta t e s C o u r th o u s e in H o u s to n , T e x a s o^-^ 7 ^ 2 y / 7 , 1971 aX/O '. )
a . m . o r a s s o o n t h e r e a f t e r a s c o u n s e l c a n b e h e a r d .
G A B R IE L L E K . M cD O N A L D
5 00< j»,<..
7 /
IN T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S D IS T R IC T C O U R T
F O R T H E S O U T H E R N D IS T R IC T O F T E X A S
H OU STO N DIVISION
H E N R Y B R A D L E Y , )
P l a i n t i f f , (
)
V S. (
)
S O U T H E R N P A C IF IC C O M P A N Y , IN C . an d (
B R O T H E R H O O D O F R A IL W A Y , A IR L IN E an d )
S T E A M S H IP C L E R K S , F R E I G H T H A N D L E R S , (
E X P R E S S a n d S T A T IO N E M P L O Y E E S , )
L O C A L 589, (
D e f e n d a n t s . )
C . A . N O . 6 8 - H - 1 0 7 9
M EM O R A N D U M O F P O IN T S A ND A U T H O R IT IE S
In s u p p o r t of h i s M o t io n T o J o in P a r t y D e fe n d a n t , P la in t i f f h e r e w i t h
s u b m i t s a M e m o r a n d u m of P o in t s an d A u t h o r i t i e s .
B R O T H E R H O O D O F R A IL W A Y , A IR L IN E AND
S T E A M S H IP C L E R K S , F R E I G H T H A N D L E R S ,
E X P R E S S an d ST A T IO N E M P L O Y E E S , MAY
B E JO IN E D AS A P A R T Y D E F E N D A N T B E
C A U SE O F ITS A G E N C Y R E L A T IO N S H IP W ITH
L O C A L 589, B R O T H E R H O O D O F R A ILW A Y ,
A IR L IN E and S T E A M S H IP C L E R K S , F R E I G H T
H A N D L E R S , E X P R E S S A ND S T A T IO N E M
P L O Y E E S . ___________________________________
T a y l o r , e t a l v . A R M C O S te e l C o r p o r a t i o n , _ e t a l , 60 L C
JT9266 ( S .D . T e x . J u n e 9, 1969);
S o k o lo w sk i v . S w ift & C o m p a n y , 286 F . Supp 775 (D . M in n . 1968);
B u s h , e t a l v . L o n e S t a r S te e l C o m p a n y , e t a l . , E . D . T e x . ,
C iv i l A c t io n N o . 1420 ( M a r c h 12, 1971);
W i l s o n R o y , S r . v . J e f f e r s o n C h e m i c a l C o . , I n c . , a n d L o c a l
1792 , I n t e r n a t i o n a l A s s o c i a t i o n of M a c h i n i s t s and A e r o s p a c e
W o r k e r s , A F L - C I O , E . D . T e x a s , C iv i l A c t io n N o . 5891 ( A p r i l 16,
R e s p e c t f u l l y s u b m i t t e d ,
M cD o n a l d & M cDo n a l d
1834 S o u th m o r e B lv d . , S u i te 203
H o u s to n , T e x a s 77004
IA b r i e l l e k . M cDo n a l d
A T T O R N E Y S FO R P L A I N T I F F
C E R T I F I C A T E O F S E R V IC E
The u n d e r s i g n e d , o ne o f th e P l a i n t i f f ' s a t t o r n e y s h e r e b y c e r t i f i e s
5.33
a
th a t s h e h a s s e r v e d a co p y of th e fo r e g o in g M o t io n w i th P l a i n t i f f ' s F i r s t
A m e n d e d C o m p l a in t a n d M e m o r a n d u m of P o in t s and A u t h o r i t i e s a t t a c h e d t h e r e
to up o n V . R . B u r c h , J r . , B a k e r , B o t t s , 3000 O ne S h e l l P l a z a , H o u s to n ,
T e x a s 77002 , a t t o r n e y o f r e c o r d f o r D e fe n d a n t C o m p a n y and J a m e s L . H ig h s a w ,
J r . , 631 T o w e r B u i ld in g , W a s h in g to n , D . C . 2005 and C u r t i s s B r o w n , B ro w n ,
K r o n z e r , A b r a h a m , W a tk in s and S te e ly , 500 F i r s t S a v in g s B u i ld in g , H o u s to n ,
T e x a s 77002 , a t t o r n e y s f o r D e fe n d a n t U n ion b y d e p o s i t i n g s a m e in th e U n ited
S t a t e s M a i l , p o s t a g e p r e - p a i d t h i s p ) d ay of i<~ C'<. j ________ , 1971 .
»
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
HOUSTON DIVISION »' l U o
HENRY BRADLEY, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. )
)
SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY AND )
BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY, )
AIRLINE, AND STEAMSHIP CLERKS, )
FREIGHT HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND )
STATION EMPLOYES LOCAL 589, )
)
Defendants. )
_____________________________________________ )
CIVIL ACTION
NO. 68-H-1079
ANSWER OF DEFENDANT LOCAL 589 OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF
RAILWAY AND AIRLINE CLERKS AND OF SAID BROTHERHOOD
OPPOSING MOTION OF PLAINTIFF TO AMEND THE COMPLAINT
TO JOIN THE BROTHERHOOD AS A PARTY DEFENDANT
Now comes the defendant Local 589 of the Brotherhood of Railway,
Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station
Employes (BRAC Local 589) and BRAC to oppose the motion of the plaintiff
to amend the complaint so as to make BRAC a party defendant. This oppo
sition is based upon the ground that (1) said amendment is untimely and
would improperly delay the trial and disposition of the complaint, and
(2) the amended complaint raises serious questions of jurisdiction and
venue which would make it subject to dismissal.
There is attached hereto a memorandum of points and authorities in
support of this opposition along with an affidavit of James L. Highsaw, Jr.
Respectfully submitted,
Sines L. HighSaw, Jr./
1015 Eighteenth Street, N. W.
Washington, D. C. 20036
July 12, 1971
Curtiss Brown
500 Houston First Savings Bldg.
711 Fannin Street
Houston, Texas 77002
Attorneys for Defendant BRAC Local 589
and Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks
5 3 5
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
HOUSTON DIVISION
HENRY BRADLEY, 1
2
Plaintiff, _)
1
v. ) CIVIL ACTION
j NO. 68-H-1079
SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY AND )_
BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY, 2
AIRLINE, AND STEAMSHIP CLERKS, 2
FREIGHT HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND 2
STATION EMPLOYES LOCAL 589, 2
2
Defendants. 2
____________________________ )
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that I have served the answer of the defendant
Local 589 of the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks and cf the
said Brotherhood in opposition to the motion of the plaintiff to amend
the complaint to join the Brotherhood as a party defendant upon all
parties to the case by mailing a copy thereof, properly addressed,
with air mail postage prepaid, to counsel for the plaintiff and the
defendant Southern Pacific Company as follows:
Mrs. Gabrielle K. McDonald
Suite 203 Groves Professional Bldg.
1834 Southmore Blvd.
Houston, Texas 77004
Attorney for the Plaintiff
Mr. V. R. Burch, Jr.
Baker & Botts
One Shell Plaza
Houston, Texas 77002
Attorney for defendant Southern Pacific Company.
July 12, 1971
'hsaw_ .TrZ'James L. Highsaw, Jr,,
Attorney for Defendant BRAC Local 589
and Brotherhood of Railway and Airline
Clerks
5.26
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
HOUSTON DIVISION
HENRY BRADLEY )
)
)
)
Plaintiff
f t )
v. ) CIVIL ACTION
) NO. 68-H-1079
AIRLINE, AND STEAMSHIP CLERKS
FREIGHT HANDLERS, EXPRESS AND
STATION EMPLOYES LOCAL 589,
SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY AND
BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY,
Defendants
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
WASHINGTON )
) ss
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA )
AFFIDAVIT OF JAMES L, HIGHSAW, JR
JAMES L. HIGHSAW, JR., being duly sworn, deposes and says as
follows:
1. That he is a member of the bars of the state of Tennesee and
the District of Columbia, the United States Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for
the Fifth Circuit, and of the United States Supreme Court and is
engaged in the practice of law in an office located at Suite 506,
1015 Eighteenth Street, N. W. , Washington, D. C. 20036; that he is
the counsel for the defendant BRAC Local 589 in the above-entitled
case.
2. That he has appeared as counsel for the Brotherhood of Railway
and Airline Clerks and for various BRAC Locals in numerous cases arising
under Federal statutes applicable to the labor-management relationships
in the railroad field and is familiar with the organization, structure
and operation of the Brotherhood.
'H •-
C H A R G E O F DISCRIMINATION
i' \ u, have .i t ompi.nnl. till m tins form and mail il to the Crju.il 1 'W '1' Oi'fxirluniiy Commission’s Regional Office ,n yoor .m y
.1' >oon .is possible. Il musl he mailed within 90 days after the i/C
criminatory act took place. (See addresses on hack page) /O'
(PLEASE PRINT OR TYPE)
1 'im.r Name__
Street Address.
C i ty ___________
Henry H. Bradley
_!»305 TUlane Street
Houston
. ■ Tprnv̂ s to be used only to file a charge of discrimmahon oas
^-orrRAC£nCQU)R, RELIGION, SEX, or NATIONAL ORIGIN.
RECEIVE ■ ... w A \ -i > i o -,\ Case file N o . tJ 7- ! Y '
A-jmizQmo,.]________a /g,-r
- w /yt r-rrtre— i. ___________ rn n n o iv n m h o r ^^
RGGiOKAi. O.TiCL !'f
-------- A U tr r m ------------
^____ rc .o c /
Texa o - >
•Sal::
-.Phone Number.
— Zip Code.
2 WAS THE DISCRIMINATION BECAUSE OF: (Please check one)
Race or Color [?§ Religious Creed □ National Origin □ Sex □
3 ^ ^ ,he empi° ye' ’ ,lb0f ° 'g' m“ l'° n' and/or .. ,e n ,.c e
Name___
irtclh.in one. list all,
tSouthom Pacific Railroad Company
street Address -
Cny _
AND (olhe
^Southern.Pacific BoHdin/;.
Houston St.lie. _Texa3_
or part.es if any)— Bortherhood of Railway .Steamahip_Clerka____
_____Bettea Building, Houston, Texas Local SftQ
-Zip Code_
---------------------------------------------- ------------- ------ ---------------
Have you filed this charge with a state or local government agency? Yes □ No □
--------------- -
It your cnarge is against a company or a union, how many employees or meml>ers?
—------------ Number Oo not know- Cl
The most recent date on which this discrimination took place: Month F e b r u a ry n^y —a -----------------Year . l d f.7
txp.jm what unfair thing was done to you
— — ■ _r ■ «*<*j_*. * q o tno cwuhiitui. raciiic riUAXuing ior
more than ten ye&ra. All of my work io that of amnil clr*rk~for the cowparv.
I h a v e appealed to th o’ company and the u r.J~n to charge my classification from
porter to mail clerk. Both the company and the union~have~i/stored-
"my 4pp«sl to chsnge my-classiflcation;— T-feel-tharirr-vas^no-t’a-Negro-Triy-— 4nK—A1 n oi r*4 ̂ 4 a r. a 4 a— . . —a .. T a _ 1 . A , , ■ ■ . — .- - -o- —v ---- — VAA.W... ± i t-ei u ia i a i i waa n o t a riegro r y —
job-clasoification-would -be -change-from -portor-to head malL-clork-siM^—there
-are two-othor-morv working—with mo—who-arc-cal a sifted aa porterw,_________
swcur^or alarm that I have read the above charge apd th.it it is tru... . 7 ,h*‘l “ , s ‘ri>“ ol mV knowledge. information and belief.
^ - ? 2 ___U fa ? . . / / t . f y / i .
Subscribed and sworn tp before me th.s
r \ > > r.
£ X t f / & . /
5 . ? 9
E O U A L E M P L O Y M E N T O P P O R T U N IT Y C O M M IS S IO N
R E G I O N A L O F F I C E
300 C e»H STREET
AUSTIN. TEXAS 76701
Amt a C oo t 476-661
M r . H en ry B rad ley
4305 T u lan d S t r e e t
H o u s t o n , T e x a s 77018
Re: A U 7 - 3 - 1 8 3 / 1 83U
S o u th e rn P a c i f i c R a i lw ay Co
a n d B ro therhood of R a i lw ay
a n d S te a m s h i p C l e r k s , . . .
L o ca l N o . 589
NOTICE OF RIGHT TO SUE_
WTTHIN 30 DAYS
P u rs u a n t to S e c t i o n 706 (e) of T i t le VII of th e C iv i l R igh ts Act
1 9 6 4 . you a r e h e re b y n o t i f i e d t h a t y o u m ay w i th in th i r ty (30) d a y s
of r e c e i p t of t h i s c o m m u n ic a t io n , i n s t i t u t e a c iv i l a c t i o n in th e
a p p r o p r ia t e F e d e ra l D i s t r i c t C o u r t . If y ou a re u n a b le to r e t a i n a n
a t t o r n e y , th e F e a e r a l D i s t r i c t C o u r t i s a u th o r i z e d in i t s d i s c r e t i o n
to a p p o in t a n a t t o r n e y to r e p r e s e n t y ou a n d to a u th o r i z e c o m m e n c e m e n t
of th e s u i t w i th o u t p ay m e n t of f e e s , c o s t s or s e c u r i t y . If y o u d e c i d e
to i n s t i t u t e s u i t a n d f in d y o u n e e d a s s i s t a n c e , y o u may ta k e t h i s
n o t i c e , a lo n g w i th a n y c o r r e s p o n d e n c e y o u h a v e r e c e i v e d from th e
C o m m is s io n , to th e C le rk of tn e F e d e r a l D i s t r i c t C o u r t n e a r e s t to
th e p l a c e w h e re th e a l l e g e d d i s c r im in a t io n o c c u r r e d , a n a r e q u e s t t n a t
a F e d e ra l D i s t r i c t Ju d g e a p p o in t c o u n s e l to r e p r e s e n t y o u .
/
j < l 'JyLtL'ci-Ujs______ iLCL
Lee G . y f i l l i a m s
R eg io n a l D i r e c to r
c c M r. S . N orm an S o r r e l l , A tto rney
S e v e n th F lo o r S o u th C o a s t B u ild ing
M a in a t R usk S t r e e t
H o u s t o n , T e x a s 77002
D e c e m b e r 2 , 1968
Date
F •Z
540
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
HOUSTON DIVISION
4
3 HENRY H. BRADLEY
* V S . CIVIL ACTION
NO. 68-H-1079SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD
COMPANY, et al
8
9
10 BE IT REMEMBERED that on the 18th
1 1 d a y o f August, 1971, et seq., the above-entitled
1 2 m a t t e r came on for trial, without the intervention
1 3 o f a jury, before the Honorable Ben C. Connally,
1 4 U n i t e d States District Judge, and the following
I
15 j proceedings were had:
I hereby certify that the oral
1 7 proceedings were reduced to writing by me in machine
1 8 I shorthand and were thereafter placed into typewritten
19 form under my direction, and that the following is a
20 full, true and correct transcript of my stenotype
2 1 n o t e s .
Houston, Texas 77002
V O L / rtf W
& 0 < * ^
I
ry4*
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
1 ?
1 3
1 4
1 S
18
1 7
1 8
1 9
20
21
22
2 3
2 4
2 5
Name
INDEX OF WITNESSES
For the Plaintiff
i
Page
HENRY H. BRADLEY
Direct Examination by Ms. McDonald -
By the Court -----------------------
Direct Examination (Cont'd.) ------
Cross Examination by Mr. Burch ----
By the Court -----------------------
Cross Examination (Cont'd.) -------
By the Court -----------------------
Cross Examination (Cont'd.) -------
Cross Examination by Mr. Highsaw --
Redirect Examination by Ms. McDonald
By the Court -----------------------
Recross Examination by Mr. Burch --
W. B. DEESE
Direct Examination by Ms. McDonald -
Cross Examination by Mr. Burch ----
Cross Examination by Mr. Highsaw --
Redirect Examination by Ms. McDonald
ANDREW M. DOTSON
Direct Examination by Ms. McDonald -
By the Court -----------------------
Cross Examination by Mr. Burch -----
10
50
51
76
84
85
90
93
105
115
1 2 0
128
143
160 I
163
168
169
175 ,
176 i
RENFRO MOODY
Direct Examination by Ms. McDonald------ 178
Cross Examination by Mr. Burch----------- 183
Cross Examination by Mr. Highsaw--------- 191
Redirect Examination by Ms. McDonald ---- 193
ERNEST JOHN MACKEY
Direct Examination by Ms. McDonald ------ 194
Cross Examination by Mr. Burch----------- 197
Plaintiff rests ----------- 199
✓ / a .
i
**L.
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
1 3
1 4
1 5
1 r>
1 7
1 8
1 9
20
21
2 2
2 3
INDEX OF WITNESSES (Cont’d.)
j Name
For Defendant Railroad
BRIAN W. ADAMS
Direct Examination by Mr. Burch -
By the Court --------------------
Cross Examination by Ms. McDonald
Redirect Examination by Mr. Burch
Cross Examination by Mr. Highsaw
A. J. MOORE
Direct Examination by Mr. Burch ---------
Cross Examination by Ms. McDonald -------
Defendant Railroad Rests —
For Defendant Union
P. J. GIBSON
Direct Examination by Mr. Highsaw —
Cross Examination by Ms. McDonald —
Redirect Examination by Mr. Highsaw
Recross Examination by Ms. McDonald
L. M. GREATER
Direct Examination by Mr. Highsaw--
Cross Examination by Ms. McDonald —
Redirect Examination by Mr. Highsaw
Defendant Union Rests
v*>
1
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1 0
1 1
1 2 !
i
1 3 I
:
1 4 1
1 3
I
1 6 j
1 7 !
19
20
i
21
■> 7
2 3
24
23
a p p e a r a n c e s
For the Plaintiff:
Gabrielle McDonald and
Mark McDonald
1834 Southmore
Houston, Texas
For the Defendant Union:
James L. Highsaw
Washington, D. C.
J. Curtis Brown
Houston, Texas
For the Defendant Southern Pacific Railroad Company:
Reagan Burch and
Richard Brann
Houston, Texas
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1 0
11
12
1 3
1 4
1 5
1 8
18
1 9
2 0
2 1
22
2 3
24
2 s
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 3
P R O C E E D I N G S
August 18, 1971
i
THE COURT: We have Civil Action
i
68-H-1079, Bradley against the Southern Pacific
and others. Are we ready?
MS. McDONALD: Ready.
MR. BURCH: Ready for the Railroad.
MR. BROWN: Defendant Local is
ready. Your Honor.
THE COURT: Do you want to tell
me what you expect to prove, please, Ms. McDonald?
Ms. McDonald: First, let me tell
j
you a little about the action. This is a Title VII
action filed pursuant to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
It was filed by Mr. Bradley on December 31, 1968. In
his complaint, Mr. Bradley is alleging first of all
that he was classified as a mail porter, although he
did not do porter duties. He is also alleging that
he was head of the mail room. He is alleging that
he wa s not paid commensurate to the duties that he
per f o r m e d as a mail porter and head of the mail room.
He is also alleging that the seniority system which
in January of 1966 for the first time permitted mail
p o r ters in the mail room the opportunity to transfer
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to what was called, or what was called Group 1, which
is essentially a grouping of clerical employees of
Southern Pacific; that this system for the first time
permitted him to transfer over and denied him equal
employment opportunities because it did not give him
the opportunity to use all of his accumulated seniority!
for promotion purposes. Instead, he was given a
seniority date of January 1st, 1966 which was the day
that this system was instituted.
Now, we intend to prove first of
all that Mr. Bradley was not performing porter duties.
j
I would like to read to the Court just a very short
definition, according to Webster’s Dictionary, of what
a porter is. Webster’s Dictionary says that a porter
is an, and I am quoting, a person who carries things,
j especially a man who carries luggage for hire or as
i an attendant at a railroad station, hotel, et cetera.
Two, a man who sweeps, cleans, does errands and so
forth in a bank, store, restaurant. Three, a railroad
employee who waits on passengers in a parlor car or
sleeper. There is a fourth definition that refers to
.
a type of beer, but in any case, we will show that
Mr. Bradley did not do any of the duties that are
normally ascribed to a porter.
We will show also that Mr. Bradley
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_____________ ____________________________________________5
was head of the mail room, that he supervised all of
the employees under him, that he was responsible for
teaching the employees how to perform their job.
Thirdly, we will show that there
I
are several clerk jobs classified at Southern Pacific
that are paid more than mail porter and more than
Mr. Bradley himself received as head of the mail room.
We will also show that the
seniority system which in January of 1956 permitted
Mr. Bradley as a mail porter to transfer over to the
clerical jobs is unlawful under Title VII, because
it conditioned promotion on a type of seniority that
was denied him because of his race. That was seniority I
in Group 1.
I think we need to make clear to
the Court that we are talking about more than just
the name of the job. We are not arguing over whether
it was called porter or clerk. What we are saying
is because he was called porter he was denied oppor
tunity to get in the clerical grouping and to promote
to the higher job classifications.
iJust one point, I wanted to bring
out to the Court, on the question of liability. I
would think that it would be better to decide the
question of liability first because the method of
calculating his exact amount of damages can be done
very easily, because we intend to introduce the wage
rates. Mr. Bradley has done this for one of the
clerical jobs, but has not done it for all of the
clerical jobs.
Secondly, on his attorney fees,
in his complaint he asks for attorneys’ fees. I
don’t think it is proper to burden the Court in trying !
II
to determine the amount of attorneys’ fees, and again
I would like to ask the Court to wait until it decides
liability and then permit me to file a motion for
attorneys’ fees.
THE COURT: I have no objection to
taking up damages and attorneys’ fees later. That is
agreeable with you all, is it not?
MR. BURCH: I certainly agree with
Your Honor.
THE COURT: That is fine. Do you
wish to make a statement of your position now or do
it later?
MR. BURCH: If I might, I would
like to make a brief statement at this time.
Ve think that it would be well to
review where a case stands procedurally at this time.
This is not a cross action, this is an action by an
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individual, and an individual who has retired.
Mr. B r adley retired from Southern Pacific July 31 of
1969. We do not think that any issue concerning the
s e n i o r i t y systems or any other aspect of the case that j
go beyond Mr. Bradley’s situation are relevant or
involved in the case at this time.
We think the evidence will show
that Mr. B r a d l e y was employed on a job for many years
that had the title of mail room porter, that he had
c e r t a i n responsibilities in effect as a lead man, but j
that he was not a supervisor in the normal sense.
Now, we don't agree that the
W e b s t e r Dictionary definition of porter is anywhere
relevant to this case. The Court undoubtedly knows
in the railroad industry there is a great deal of
cu s t o m and practice in the employee and labor relations:.
The title porter has a well defined meaning, I think,
in the railroad industry, and it has been applied for
many years to the type of job Mr. Bradley had in
handling mail.
Mr. Bradley did not wait on
customers or carry luggage, but he did perform a
function which is historically porter by style.
We deny that the seniority that
was in effect was d i s criminatory. W e d e n y he wa s not
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given the opportunity to bid out, and one of the
reasons is that Mr. Bradley chose not to bid out
of the position he held.
We do not think that the plaintiff
will be able to show that the duties he performed were
not adequately compensated. We think that in making
that contention, the plaintiff is asking this Court to
perform a function that is not the function of the
Court, and is asking the Court in effect to arbitrate
an issue over wage rate that properly is left to the
parties, the company and union, to negotiate or to be
handled as an arbitration matter.
We do not think that the Court
should be required to try to decide whether or not
Mr. Bradley’s job was adequately paid.
I think that is really all this
case boils down to at this point. The contention that
he should be permitted to stay in his job and not bid
up to higher paying, better jobs that were available
to him, rather he says he should have been permitted
to stay there and draw that rate of pay, and now have
this Court declare that he should have been paid more
money.
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We think the record will show that
many Negro employees of Southern Pacific employed in
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jobs comparable to that of Mr. Bradley, or lower paid,
they have chosen to go on to better paying clerical
jobs and have done so, and Mr. Bradley could have done
the same thing.
I would reserve the right to make
any further remarks at the time we begin our case.
MR. HIGHSAW: I am James Highsaw
and I am appearing for the local union. I have nothing!
:to add to the statements made by counsel for Southern
Pacific, and we agree with every aspect of that
statement. I would simply like to add that the
evidence will also show that Local Lodge 589 had no
legal responsibility and was not involved in any way
in the job classification of Mr. Bradley, nor were
they involved in any way in the seniority status.
I THE COURT: You may call your
first witness.
MR. BURCH: We would like to
invoke the Rule.
THE COURT: All of those appearing
as witnesses in the courtroom, please stand and be
sworn at this time.
(Wit nesses sworn.)
THE COURT: The Rule has been
invoked, which means that the witnesses may not remain
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inside the courtroom while the case is on trial. You
may not discuss your testimony with anyone except the
lawyers, and only one witness may be present. Wait
outside, please, where we can call you.
MS. MCDONALD: Call Mr. Bradley.
HENRY H. BRADLEY,
a w i t n e s s called for and on behalf of the plaintiff,
having been duly sworn, was examined and testified as
f o l l o w s :
DTlfflCT EXAMINATION
BY MS. MCDONALD:
— ...................■■■■■■■ ■
Ij
Q Mr. Bradley, would you state your name for the
Court, please?
A My name is Henry H. Bradley.
Q And, Mr. Bradley, what is your race?
A Negro.
!
Q What is your educational background?
IA I have a high school education. I have studied
el e c t r i c a l engineering and I have studied
theology and the ministry. I have studied
public relations.
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Q
Are you presently employed by Southern Pacific?
No, ma'am, I am not.
Were you ever employed by Southern Pacific?
Yes, ma'am, I was.
When were you first employed, Mr. Bradley?
March 7, 1929.
Now, how were you classified at that time?
I was classified as an engine wiper.
|
Can you tell the Court what were your duties?
J . ! My duties at that time was wiping engines.
Did you perform any other duties while classified
as an engine wiper?
I
While classified as an engine wiper, yes, ma’am,
I did.
What were they?
I worked as an engine wiper for approximately
one and a half years, and then tjie roundhouse
foreman, J. S. Flynn, called me to work in the
office. The roundhouse foreman did this, in
which the roundhouse foreman, assistant roundhouse
t
foreman, the stenographer and timekeeper, and in
this office I was to do porter work. But I was
classified as engine wiper. I did not do any
duties as an engine wiper at all.
What were some of your duties that you actually
? JLOL
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performed?
The duties that I actually performed were not a
porter. They had another man from the shop come
and do the porter work, and at that time I was
doing clerical work in the roundhouse foreman's
office.
What did you do?
My duties were to -- I assisted the stenographer,
I typed, I shorthanded, I wrote letters for the
foreman and the assistant foreman. I made forms,
compiled forms pertaining to the receiving and
disbursing of oil to the various engines. I was
a file clerk, and I did various clerical duties.
And in fact, we had a safe with numerals, and we
paid the engineers and firemen off from this
office. And I had access to the safe and I was
to pay the firemen and engineers their checks.
And I would lock the safe and open it when it
was necessary. I also performed other clerical
duties. I would issue out timecards to the
various employees in the shop, and I would receive
those timecards at the close of the morning. In
addition to all of that, I would stamp the cards.
My file duties were to file all of the reports
25 and everything, and while I was performing my
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duties as file clerk one day, Mr. W. J. Blakney,
who was the assistant roundhouse foreman and chief!
clerk says to me, he says, Henry, if you were a
white boy — " pardon me, I will ask this Honorable
Court and Judge’s pardon for this statement. But
he says to me, If you were a white boy, you
would have a damned good job." So I says, "What
did you say, Mr. Blakney?" I wanted him to tell
me the second time so that I would be sure of the
statement. He says, "If you were a white boy, j
you would have a damned good job." I said,
"Well, Mr. Blakney, I am performing the duties
i
and why can’t I have it now?" And he shrugged I
his shoulders and said, "You know how it is."
Those were my duties in the office of the
roundhouse foreman.
Q Now, for what period of time was this,
Mr. Bradley?
A That was -- you mean the years?
Q Yes.
A That was 1927 to 1932.
Q Now, then, where did you go after you left this
job?
A I left that job and were transferred to the
big shop. See, the H and TC shop was located on
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Houston Avenue, and the big shop was Hardy. The
H and TC shop was discontinued, it was closed and
everything transferred to the big shop.
How were you classified at the big shop?
I was classified as porter.
How long did you work at the big shop?
!
I worked there until '34.
Where did you go from there?
I was transferred back to — I was transferred to
the mail room.
Now, how did you happen to be transferred to the
mail room?
I was in town looking for a job. I was just
walking around looking for a job, and I heard
about one of the employees that was in the mail
!
room losing his mind, and I knew that he could
I
not perform the duties of a mail clerk. That
;
is what they were doing, performing duties of a
clerk, and I knew that he could not perform
those duties efficiently under that condition.
So I immediately went to the mail room and talked
with Mr. King, Mr. C. A. King, a Negro who was
head man in the mail room. I asked him about
being appointed to this job that was held by a
man named Nick who was on the job. And he said
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that he would like to have me in this position.
He referred me to Mr. C. S. Markham, who was
manager of the Duplicating Bureau.
And then were you employed in the mail room,
were you accepted?
I was employed in the mail room in 1934.
What was the month?
August, 1934.
Now, is this the mail room that you worked in
until the time that you retired?
It is. Yes, ma’am.
When did you retire?
I retired July 31, 1969. Of course, my retirement;
was effective August 1st, because I had one
month vacation and my retirement was effective
August 1st. But the last date of work was in
July.
When you came to the mail room in August of 1934,
I
how many persons were employed in that mail room?
There were four.
Now, what was their race?
Their race was all Negro.
How did you learn how to perform the job as it
was classified mail porter?
By being instructed by Mr. C. A. King.
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_________________________ ______________________ _ 16
Q Did Mr. Barker, who you mentioned, teach you
any of the duties?
A No, ma’am, he did not.
Q So you learned entirely from Mr. King? |
A Mr. King.
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Q Now, what were your duties when you first came to
the mail room in August of 1934 as a mail porter? |
A My duties in August, 1934 was to pigeonhole mail, |
what they call train mail. I addressed mail and
pigeonholed mail and then in the afternoon when
we were closing out, we would tie this mail up
in bundles and then it would be ready to go to
the station for dispatch on various trains.
Q Now, who, after the mail was tied up, how would
it be taken to the trains?
A It was carried to the trains by a man — one man,
a man employed by Mr. C. A. King. He paid the
man himself.
Q Now, you said Mr. King employed a man to carry
the bundles to the train station?
A Yes, ma’am, he did. Mr. King had a contract with
the company to haul all of the mail to and from
the building. At that particular time he was
using a truck.
Q Now, how was this man classified who was carrying
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the bundles of mail?
A He was not classified.
Q He was not employed by Southern Pacific?
A He was not employed by Southern Pacific in nowise.;
Q So, did you do any carrying of mail at all?
A No, ma’am, I did not.
Q Now, did you have any other duties besides pigeon
holing mail?
A My other duties were just to address mail, stamp
mail, put postage stamps on the mail.
Q How long did Mr. King continue to work for
Southern Pacific?
A He continued until August, 1944.
Q What happened then in August of 1944?
A August, 1944 I asked to be appointed to that job
as head man. They told me whoever would be
appointed to the job would have to know it.
Now, there was another man who had five years’
seniority on me at the time. Now, this man who
is now deceased did not know the whole job.
; 1
What I mean to say, did not know everything about
the job, that is all of the boards, didn’t know
all of the work and conditions that would be
performed by each person in the mail room. So,
fortunately, during my time as working on the
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training board, during my leisure time I would
assist on the other boards, helping, learning,
trying to learn the work. And I would also assist
Mr. King in weighing the mail for the proper
postage to be applied.
Now, did you take over Mr. King’s position after
he retired?
Yes, ma’am, I did.
Did you have any conversation with Mr. Markham
concerning your taking over Mr. King’s position?
Yes, ma’am, I did.
What was that conversation?
Mr. Markham appointed me as head man in the mail
room.
Was your rate any higher than the.other mail
porters once you took over Mr. King’s job?
Yes, ma’am, it was.
Do you know approximately how much more you
received than the other mail porters?
It was approximately thirty dollars per month,
somewhere in that neighborhood. Approximately
thirty dollars a month.
Who was Mr. Markham, what position did he hold?
Mr. Markham was manager of the Duplicating
Bureau, Central Mailing and Duplicating Bureau.
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So the Court would have an understanding, the
Duplicating Bureau has what relationship to the
mail room?
The Duplicating Bureau consisted of — there was
a machine bureau that handled the typewriters,
adding machines and all of the machine work, and
print shop, that was the duplicating of printing
forms, and envelopes and all of the printing, and
then the mail room. Each department, each one of
those departments had a head man. The typewriter
bureau, the head man in that place was Mr. Moore,
Mr. A. J. Moore. The head man in the printing
department was and is Mr. Frank Tate. The head
man in the central mailing bureau was Henry
Bradley.
Now, so there is a duplicating bureau and three
sub-departments under the duplicating bureau?
That’s true.
And the mail room is one of them?
The mail room is one.
Mr. Bradley, I will show you what has been marked
for identification purposes as Plaintiff’s
Exhibit 1 and ask you to tell me whether you know
what that is?
This is a charge of discrimination about me being
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discriminated in my clerical work of being
carried as mail porter, but did not do any
porter work. All of my work was clerical work.
MR. BURCH: Excuse me. I tried not
to object too much. The witness is now
characterizing this exhibit and we are
going to object to that. His reading
is not responsive to the question.
MR. HIGHSAV: Same objection, Your
Honor.
(By Ms. McDonald.) Mr. Bradley, is this your
signature?
THE COURT: Well, I think the lady
can identify it. It is necessary to
show that they have gone through that
procedure, is it not?
MR. BURCH: Yes, but he has gone
to the body of it in saying, or reading
in his own terms what the thing contains;.
i
It goes beyond just identifying the
exhibit.
THE COURT: Well, why are you
offering this, Ms. McDonald?
Ms. McDONALD: I am trying to show
that Mr. Bradley has complied with the
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_________________________________ ____________________ ______________________ 21
administrative procedures.
THE COURT: I think it is admissi- I
ble for that purpose.
MR. BURCH: We would object for thej
record, Your Honor, to the entry of the j
charge into the record. We have admittejd
in our answer that the charge was filed
and that the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission eventually gave Mr. Bradley
a letter advising him he had the right
to sue. But we would object to the
charge and decision of the Commission
on the ground that they are not relevant
i
to the issues in the case, do not con
stitute findings of fact that are in any
way binding on this Court.
THE COURT: I recognize that what
they found is of no evidentiary matter
here and is not binding. I think she
can offer the whole works to show that
she complied with the procedure.
MR. HIGHSAW: I have no objection
that she followed the procedure.
THE COURT: And the Commission
acted on it.
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Q (By Ms. McDonald.) Referring to Plaintiff's
Exhibit 1, is this your signature?
i
A That is my signature, yes, ma’am.
MS. McDONALD: I offer in evidence i
at this time Plaintiff's Exhibit 1,
charge of discrimination filed by the
plaintiffs in this action.
THE COURT: It will be admitted
for that limited purpose.
Q (By Ms. McDonald.) I will show you what has been
marked for identification purposes as Plaintiff’s
Exhibit 2, and ask you to tell me what this is?
THE COURT: You can just offer it, {
if you tell me that is the file from
the OEC, no one is going to quibble
about it.
i
Q (By Ms. McDonald.) Referring to Plaintiff’s
:Exhibit 2, is this the decision that you received
from the Commission after you filed your charge?
A Yes, ma’am, it is.
MS. McDONALD: I offer in evidence
Plaintiff’s Exhibit 2, the decision of
the OEC.
THE COURT: Received.
Q (By Ms. McDonald.) And referring to the exhibit
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which is marked for identification, is this the
notice of right to sue which you received from
the Commission concerning your charges against
these defendants?
A From the Commission?
Q Y e s .
A Yes, ma’am, it is.
MS. McDONALD: I offer in evidence j
Plaintiff's Exhibit 3.
!
MR. BURCH: May the record simply
reflect that we have the same objection
to Plaintiff's Exhibits 1, 2 and 3.
MR. HIGHSAW: And the same objec
tion, Your Honor.
Q (By Ms. McDonald.) Mr. Bradley, would you explainj
to the Court what were your duties as you
characterized it, head of the mail room?
A As head of the mail room?
Q Yes. Tell the Court what you did.
A My duties as head of the mail room was supervisory.
I taught the men, the new men coming in for
employment, I taught them about the various
boards. We had, let me see, four boards and a
working table. Now, I taught those men how to
handle the mail on each of those four boards.
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And then in addition to that, we had to address
our envelopes. I taught them how to use the
addressograph machine, and in addition to that
we had to write up United States Registered Mail, j
certified mail, Railway Express prepaid, COD,
airmail and airmail prepaid and airmail collect
express, all express. We had certified mail and
registered mail. The certified mail, whenever
the mail would come down, sometimes the letters
i
would come down from the various departments
from the building as well as from the shop on
which was attached a number, a certified receipt
number and a little stub. This letter was properly
weighed, postage affixed, whether it was certified
and return receipt requested.
The same with registered mail, we had
to weigh the mail, apply the correct postage,
the value of the registered mail, state the value,!
whether it was of any extent value or of no value
and then in addition we had to have return receipt!
requested.
Can you tell the Court how you went about
weighing1 the mail?
I weighed the mail.
What would you do?
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A We had on this long working table, I imagine is
about ten or twelve foot long, and in the center
|on a little table there was a scale, a United
I
States postage scale. I would weigh this mail
and determine whether it was first class, what
I mean to say, had to have the class, first,
second, third or fourth class mail.
Q How would you know the rates?
A The rates? I had an official manual. I studied
the official postal manual, and I had to determine
■
if it was first class mail, second class mail or
third class mail. All of that is listed in this
official manual. We had to know about the various
laws pertaining to postal regulations.
Q How would you know —
i
A And about the various laws pertaining to the mail
going to foreign countries, such as Germany,
France, England, Russia, Portugal and all of the
foreign countries. And the rates varied and were !
i
different than the domestic rate of our country.
In addition to that, I taught the men
how to throw the mail to the various pigeonholes, j
We have what they call the office board, the
inner-office mail.
Q What is a board?
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A board, it is a big board in which is pigeonholes!,
boxes, similar to those in the post office. And
I
the clerks or messengers from the various offices
II
picked that mail up from the outside just as they
do in the post office. Now, those of us in the
mail room would throw the mail into those boxes
from the inside, and this mail was thrown according
to the department or the head of a department, of
the person in each department. Sometimes the men |
would not know who the men were or where they
were located and it was my responsibility to know
exactly what box that mail was to go into.
Now, the people who would pick up the mail after
it was inserted in the pigeonhole, how were they
classif ied?
Some of them were classified as clerks, some
Ihead clerks, some messengers.
What was their race during the time that you were
employed?
Their race?
Race.
Their race was white.
Can you recall there ever being a black messenger?
From the shop, there was one man, coming over from
the shop, that was a Negro, and he was the one
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that drove the truck. But throughout the
building there was all white, no Negro picking
up any mail.
Q Now, if loose sheet mail came down from one of
the nine floors in the building, how was that
sent out, who was responsible for sending that
out?
A. What we call loose mail, just the typewritten
j
sheet or pencil, and it is addressed to a certain
person, a certain company or a certain individual,
if that was addressed to a general agent, a
division agent or a district agent, that would
go on that board. We had a board which we called
the general agent’s board and all that loose
sheet mail would be given to the man working that
board. He would put that mail in the pigeonhole i
to a general agent or whoever it was going to.
On the train mail, the board for the
train mail, the same applied. It could have been
addressed to an agent such as like Dallas or San
Antonio or Mejia, or New Orleans, and it was
thrown into that particular box. We have another
board there called the Cotton Belt and the same
applied on that, we put the mail in there.
Q Who would write up the envelopes?
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A The envelopes, each man who worked on the board
would take care of his own envelopes.
Q He would actually have to address the envelope?
A Address the envelope, whether it was by pencil
or pen or addressograph machine. The way we would
do, in order to save time, rather than address an
envelope when it was needed, we would take, say,
about twenty-five or thirty envelopes and use the
Iaddressograph machine and address that number and
put them all in that particular box. Whenever we
wanted to close out, we would just take one
envelope and put the mail in that envelope and
we would have sufficient envelopes for days to
j come.
Q Where was this addressograph machine located at !
first?
A It was in the hall, in the central mailing and
duplicating bureau.
Q Did the central mailing —
A Pardon me, please. At one time we had an
addressograph machine in the mail room. It was
a small one, but that was sold and it was on the
outside.
Q Who else used this addressograph machine that was
in the hall at the duplicating bureau?
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A That was used by everybody throughout the
building together with we in the mail room.
Q Now, these other people that used this addresso-
graph machine, do you know how they were
classif ied?
A They were classified as clerks and some of them
were head clerks. Sometimes, I recall, a head
clerk coming out of the freight account, coming
down once, he didn't have anything else to do.
I
In fact, he was teaching someone how to handle
this addressograph machine.
Q Now, you mentioned that as a part of your
supervising activity, you taught men how to
perform their jobs. Did you do anything else?
A Yes, ma'am, I did. There was one time we used
I
to deliver mail to the general attorney's office,
what we call Baker, Botts, that's what we called j
I{
it, Baker, Botts. We made a trip down there
twice a day, in the morning and in the afternoon. ]
One afternoon we had a man working in the mail
room by the name of Donald Pitts, and he made
this trip to Baker, Botts with the regular mail,
leaving there at 2:00 o'clock. All he had to do
was go to Baker, Botts, leave that mail and pick
up the mail coming back to the building. This
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mail that was picked up from Baker, Botts was
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addressed to various departments in the building,
some of which was addressed to Mr. Lowe, who was
president at that time. And it was addressed to
the general manager, whoever it was addressed to,
and that mail was to be thrown into the various
boxes.
Now, Donald didn’t get back that day
until after 5:00 o’clock. I reprimanded Don
about being so late with this important mail,
some of which was mail that Mr. Lowe’s office,
I believe it was Mr. Lowe, anyway the president’s
office, had sent down looking for it from Baker,
Botts. They had called Baker, Botts and they
said the messenger had picked it up that evening, '
and Don didn’t get back to the mail room until
after 5:00 o’clock. I reprimanded him and told
him that the mail was late and caused lots of
!
confusion, his mail was late coming in and we
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would be late getting the mail out. So I told
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him not to come back to work the next day, that
he was suspended, to come back and tell
Mr. Markham. That night I called Mr. Markham
and told him what had happened. Pardon me, may
I make this statement, I told him that he was
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_____________________________________ __ ___________ 31
suspended and not to come back to work until he
had talked to Mr. Markham. He had a knife in his
pocket, and he tried to catch me to cut me, and
around this long table I ran this way and he ran
that way, just chased me around the table. So
finally I didn’t have anything to defend myself,
so I finally ran outside and got in touch with a
policeman. The policeman came in and he said,
"This man said you ran at him with a knife.”
Don was drunk, had been drinking heavily, you
could smell it. And he said, "No, I don’t have
a knife. And at that time Don was wearing
leather boots, his trouser leg was over the boots,;
and so the officer searched him. He held his
i
hands up like this and the officer searched him
iand he couldn’t find the knife. And finally the
officer ran his hand down the leg and felt the
boot and told him to pull up the pant leg and he
did. And then to take off his boots and the
officer found the knife.
Mr. Bradley, you suspended Mr. Pitts, is that
c o r r e c t ?
That’s right. Pardon me, please, the next
morning Mr. Markham came down. I told him that
night, Mr. Markham came down and Mr. Markham
/Vi-t.
upheld me in my ruling suspending him, and for
him to see Mr. Markham when he came down.
At this period of time how were you classified,
Mr. Bradley?
I was classified as a mail porter.
But you were receiving the rate that Mr. King l
had received which was a little bit higher than
the other mail porters? I
T !I was.
.
Now, if mail porters in the mail room wanted a
j
day off, how would they get that day off?
They would ask me.
iAnd would you give them permission to have the
day off?
Yes, I would. I told them it would be all right.
There were some times I didn’t feel like we could
spare them, by being off on a certain day, because;
of conditions and handling the mail. So I would
tell them, "I would like for you to stay here
because we need you, the work is pretty heavy
and we just need you." Sometimes they would not
agree and they would go to see Mr. Markham, and
Mr. Markham would send them back and say, "Henry
is head of the mail room."
And would you make the decision?
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A I would make the decision.
Q If a new person wanted to be employed in the mail
Iroom and had to be interviewed, who interviewed
him? |
A I did .
Q Did you actually interview prospective new
employees?
A I did. Once or twice, on one or two or three
occasions, there was a man transferred from the
station. He was recommended to me by one of the j
other employees as being a good man, and he could j
do a good job. So he came over and I talked with
him and told him about the work and what we
expected of him, we couldn’t afford to have him
laying off haphazardly, no drinking, no vile
language or anything of that kind. And I talked
to him in general about the work and he said he
was satisfied that he could do it. I told him
all about it and I went and told Mr. Markham.
I told him we had a young man here and told him
his name and said he is qualified and I believe
he will make a good man. This was a man we would
like to have.
Q Was that man hired?
A That man was hired.
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Q What was that man's name?
A Willy B. Deese.
Q Mr. Deese, you say, was a porter in the train !
station?
A He was a porter.
Q Is there a classification called mail porter in I
.the train station?
A Mail porter at the train station, I don't know.
Q Is there a classification called porter in the
train station?
A There is.
Q What did these porters do?
A The porter at the train station, they did manual
work, handled mail pouches, throwed onto the
baggage cars or mail cars. They would mop the
floor in the waiting room, wash windows and oil
trucks, just do labor work, just general porter
work.
Q Earlier, Mr. Bradley, you testified about loose
sheet mail coming down and having to send it to
j
persons within the Southern Pacific Company.
Suppose the mail porter didn’t know where to send j
it, how would this mail porter find out where to j
send it?
A He would ask me.
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Would you tell him who to send it to?
I would. And if I didn’t know, I would look in
my directory and I would know where to find it. I
But practically, there was very, very seldom,
having been there so long, such a long period
of time, there was very few people in the building
that I did not know.
Now, suppose there were errors made in the
sending of mail, how would these errors be
corrected?
I was called and questioned and I would find out
what the error was and then I would look at the
letter and I would know who handled the work and
I would tell them, make a correction on it and
tell them how it should have been handled. Now,
there was several times we had what you call mail
pouches, consolidated mail, and we used to send
it by truck, transport truck, and this particular
case went to Dallas, Texas. The chief clerk in
Dallas is named Mr. Smith, and several times
there was mail in the Dallas pouch that belonged
to some other agent. Mr. Smith in Dallas would
call me in Houston by long distance and tell me
what happened. I would express my regret that
the incident happened and ask him to please return
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it and that we would correct it.
Q And then would you correct the employee?
A I certainly would. Yes, ma'am.
I
Q The one that made the mistake. Now, during the
time that you were working as head mail porter,
how many mail porters were there in the mail room?
A At one time there was five of us.
Q Does that include yourself?
A Including myself.
Q So there were four people who you were responsiblei
for supervising?
A That is true. |
Q Now, after the mail was bundled, as you described,!
what would happen to it then?
A After the mail was bundled — was this after
Mr. King's retirement or what?
Q I am talking about — well, before Mr. King's
retirement, once it was bundled what would
happen to it?
A Well, it was bundled and carried by this man that
Mr. King employed, was carried to the station
and to the post office in Mr. King's truck.
Q After Mr. King retired?
A After Mr. King retired, I asked for the contract :
to handle the mail. I was going to get a truck,
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buy a truck myself, and do as Mr. King had done,
hire somebody to drive the truck and do the
hauling and transfer and things like that.
So he told me no, the company was — they were
going to use a company truck and use one of the
mail porters to carry the mail around. And so
one of the porters is the one that used the
company truck, would carry this mail to the
station and post office.
Now, was there any change in terms of the name
of the employee, the job classification of the
employee who was responsible for carrying the
bundles of mail before and after Mr. King
retired?
None whatsoever.
They were called mail porters before he retired
and after he retired also?
That is right.
Could you describe to the Court what happens
in the morning as far as picking up the bundles
of mail and in the evening so far as returning
the bundles?
Yes, ma’am, I can. In the morning this man was
driving the truck and would pick up the mail at
the post office, a pouch of mail. It comes in
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pouches, see, the Post Office Department would
bundle it, tie it up in the post office. We
didn't have anything to do with the tying, and
they would throw this in the pouch and we would
go to the post office. That’s this man would go
to the post office and pick up this pouch, go to
the station and pick up the mail over there and
bring it to — come on around to the transport
and pick up the mail there and bring it to the
building, to the mail room. When it would get
to the mail room, we would work it out to the
various departments where it was supposed to go.
Excuse me just a minute. Did this employee have
to pick up bundles of mail anywhere else other
than the post office?
Post office, freight station.
This was one employee, and how was he classified?
That one employee was classified as mail porter. I
Now, approximately how much time would it take him
in the morning to pick up the bundles of mail from
the train station and the freight station and the
post office?
Approximately thirty to forty-five minutes.
That would be to pick it up in the train station?
Train station, post office and transport and have
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Q
it back to the building. Now, sometimes it would
vary, it all depends on the traffic.
But approximately thirty to forty-five minutes?
I
Thirty to forty-five minutes.
How many times would he do that a day?
He would do that once in the morning, he would
pick up the post office twice in the morning and
once in the afternoon. He would pick up at the
Ifreight station — may I say it like this, the
first trip in the morning he would pick up at
the freight station, post office and depot.
That eliminated the freight station. That —
That would take how long?
Thirty to forty-five minutes. Now, after that
he would pick up around 10:30, something like
that, later on in the morning, he would go back
to the station, pick up more mail and back to the
post office and then back to the building.
How long would that take?
That would take approximately thirty minutes.
Then in the evening, once the mail was bundled,
would this employee have to take the bundles
anywhere?
Yes, tna’am, he would.
Where would he take them?
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A He would carry the mail to what we called
transport mail, that was mail going by truck,
that included the bundles and the pouches,
carry that to the freight station. He would
carry a pouch of mail to the post office. And
he would carry the railroad mail over to the
SP station and leave the truck up at the station
and he was off from duty at that time.
Q And how long would that take in the evening?
A In the evening?
Q Yes, to do this?
A Take from twenty to thirty minutes making his
round trip.
Q So then in the morning this employee would spend
approximately an hour to an hour and fifteen
minutes making the two trips that you have
described?
A In the morning.
Q And in the evening he would spend approximately
twenty to thirty minutes, is that correct?
A That is correct.
Q So, then, for a full day he would spend
approximately one hour and twenty minutes to
one hour and forty-five minutes, of a full day?
A Approximately. Sometimes it runs two hours for
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a full day.
Two hours for the outside limit?
That’s right.
That would be morning and evening?
Morning and evening.
How long is the work day for a mail porter?
Eight hours, you mean?
Yes.
Eight hours.
For the other six hours, what would he do?
Clerical work. He was classified as mail porter
but doing clerical work.
Specifically what would he be doing?
On these boards I was telling you about. If it
was inter-office mail, he would be throwing mail
in that board to be picked up by the messengers
or head clerks, whoever picked up the mail on the
outside. And if it was the general agent’s board
he would be working one of them boards. Each of
the employees would be on one of them boards.
How many other mail porters would be working
while this one mail porter was delivering bundles
how many were there in addition to this one?
While this one was on his round trip?
II
Yes.
IThere were three of us.
So the other three would remain in the mail room
performing duties as you described it?
That's right. May I make this statement, at
first I told you there were five. When this
man passed, they did not replace him. That
left four. Now, when this man was making his
round trip, then I got three doing clerical
work.
Does that include your work?
I was the fourth.
So in total there were five mail porters,
including yourself?
That’s right.
One who would spend, as you described it, at
the outside limit two hours carrying and picking
up bundles?
That is true.
And the other four, including yourself, would
perform the other duties as you have described,
pigeonholing, weighing of mail and stamping of
mail. Is that correct?
That is right.
Now, Mr. Bradley, suppose there were supplies
needed in the mail room. By supplies, I mean
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things that you used during the course of your
job? )
t
You mean supplies like envelopes and stationery?
Right. How was this secured?
The company had a stationery department. At one
time it was just a separate department and then
they would transfer it over to the store’s
department. Now, I would order this stationery
myself, either by phone or by requisition written
by myself. Sometimes I would call Mr. Blakney,
who was the head of the stationery at that time,
I would call him and say we need some envelopes.
.
And I said what number, the large size envelope,
what we call 25-97, that is the large size
envelopes. There were three or four different
sizes.
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THE COURT: I am sure you just
ordered whatever was needed without
telling me how many sizes there were.
Let’s just sort of keep this a little
more confined instead of so much detail,
if you would.
Q (By Ms. McDonald.) So you had the total responsi
bility for ordering supplies?
A That is true. And may I say this, there was one
; /c±4*-
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time we ordered supplies from the Texas Office
Supply Company, and I ordered that.
Now, Mr. Bradley, was any record kept of the
number of postage stamps used?
Yes, ma’am, there was.
And who kept this record?
I kept that record.
Now, did the system change from postage stamps
to another method for mailing out mail?
Yes, ma’am, it did.
What was that system?
That system was the postage meter.
Who was responsible for keeping a record of how
much was spent in the postage meter?
i
I was responsible for that record.
Could you describe briefly to the Court what you I
did in terms of this responsibility?
This responsibility about the postage stamps,
regular postage stamps, we would have a supply |
of stamps and they would be ordered from the
Treasury Department in Houston. And I would
write, we had a little requisition form, I would
state on this form that we have so many stamps
left and please send us, say, three hundred
three-cent stamps, four hundred six-cent stamps
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and so forth, and then the total amount and they
I
would send them down to me and I would sign the
receipt. I signed the receipt for having received]
it. When we changed to the postage meter, we had
a check from the Treasury Department to carry toi
the post office for the necessary postage. I I
would write a letter to the Treasury Departmenti
asking to please issue a check for a certain
amount of money to be applied to the postage
meter machine, and I would give the number of
that machine for the record. I
Q During this period of time you were classified
as a mail porter, is that correct?
A Mail porter.
Q Is this what the company told you?;
A That’s right. I
i Q Now, Mr. Bradley, I’m going to show you what has !1 I
been marked for identification purposes as
Plaintiff’s Exhibit 4, and ask you to tell me
what that is?
j A Sometime ago I made a requisition for transporta
tion to Detroit, Michigan.
Q Well, rather than explaining in detail at this
time, all I want you to tell me is what this is?
A That is a rate order for transportation.
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What does it say at the top, Mr. Bradley, can
you read that?
I have cataracts -- .
THE COURT: You can tell me what
it is.
MS. McDONALD: It says at the top
record of retired employee. That is all
it is.
(By Ms. McDonald.) Is this the record of retired
employee that you received?
Yes, ma’am, it is.
MS. McDONALD: Your Honor, I offer I
in evidence Plaintiff’s Exhibit 4,
record of retired employee for Henry H. !
jBradley.
THE COURT: What does it show,
what relevance does it have?
MS. McDONALD: Once it is in
evidence, it says occupation at the
time of retirement mail clerk.
THE COURT: Okay.
MR. BURCH: We object to the
document on the ground that there is no
evidence who prepared this. I am
informed that this was not prepared by
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47
,
the railroad. There is no evidence
whatsoever of the origin of it, who
iput on this title of mail clerk. I
don’t think it is relevant.
THE COURT: Is there any doubt
that the man was classified as a mail
clerk?
MR. BURCH: Yes, his title was
mail room porter.
THE COURT: Porter?
MR. BURCH: I am not here to
quibble as to how he wants to describe '
this job, but we want to keep the recordj
straight. He always had the title of
mail room porter.
MS. McDONAlD: I would just like
|to point out 9o«e of the blanks on the
record of retired employee, and
Mr. Bradley can testify that it came
from San Francisco, which is the home
office.
THE COURT: Is this the type of
form that you all use for this purpose
normally, Mr. Burch?
MR. BURCH: I don’t know anything_________________________________________ i
/ A
about the form. It was my impression
from a previous conference this came
from the Railroad Retirement Bureau
and probably the origin of this occupa
tion is whatever Mr. Bradley wrote down
on an application.
THE COURT: At least you deny that
it came from this Southern Pacific?
MR. BURCH: No, not until I check.
THE WITNESS: May I say something?
THE COURT: No, you just be quiet
for a minute. i
MR. BURCH: Your Honor, all I can
say is that our company representative
here has never seen one of these, and
has no information indicating that it
is a Southern Pacific document.
THE COURT: All right, sir.
MS. McDONAID: May I speak to this
exhibit?
THE COURT: Sure.
MS. McDONAIJ): I think it is very
important because it is our contention
that Mr. Bradley has been doing clerical
work although he was classified as a
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porter. We have this and many other
documents which show that he was referrecji
to as a mail clerk but not paid clerk’s
money. This is why it is terribly
important.
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THE COURT: Well, regardless of howi
important it is, are you prepared to
prove that it came from the defendants ;
here? !
MS. McDQNALD: I can ask Mr. Bradley
what it came from.
(By Ms. McDonald.) Refer to this record of
r e tired employee, Plaintiff’s Exhibit 4 which
has b e e n marked for identification purposes.
Where did you get this?
That came to me from Mr. Pretty in San Francisco,
j
manager of the Bureau of Retired Employees,
Mr. C. A. Pretty. j
Did you get it through the mail?
T h r ough the mail, yes, ma’am.
Was there any letter of transmittal that came
w i t h it, or by itself?
It came in an envelope by itself.
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BY THE COURT:
How do you know where it came from?
It was in an envelope with his return address
on it.
And who is Mr. Pretty?
He is the manager of the Bureau of Retired
Employees, a company man.
It had his name on the upper left-hand corner
of the envelope in which it came?
Yes, sir, it did.
And that is the only basis on which you say he
was the source of this thing, right?
That is true.
When did you receive this, '69 when you retired?
When I retired, yes. I retired in ’69.
That is when you got this document?
After my retirement, yes, sir. I
MS. McDONALD: I offer in evidence |
Plaintiff's Exhibit 4, record of retired
employee.
THE COURT: Well, you can have a
chance to inquire into it later. I
will withhold ruling on this. Counsel,
find out if Mr. Pretty sent it or if
this is a form that Southern Pacific
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uses and so forth.
(By Ms. McDonald.) Mr. Bradley, I will show you
what has been marked for identification as
Plaintiff's Exhibit 5 and ask you to tell me
what this is, if you can, just read at the top?
THE COURT: You can tell me what
it is.
MS. McDONAID: National Railroad
Passenger Corporation half weight order
must be exchanged for ticket.
(By Ms. McDonald.) Is this what is commonly
referred to as a pass?
That’s right.
MS. McDONALD: I offer in evidence
Plaintiff’s Exhibit 5, National RailroadI
Passenger Corporation pass rate. And
again, the relevancy, it says on the
face is job classification, mail clerk,
retired.
THE COURT: Okay.
MR. BURCH: May I have just a
moment to confer with our representative!.
Your Honor, we object to
Plaintiff’s Exhibit 5 on the ground
that there is no proof, no evidence
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that it is a document issued by the
Southern Pacific Transportation Company.;
I am advised that it is issued by the
!
new agency properly called Amtrack, the
governmental agency that operates the I
passenger railroad.
THE COURT: Will you ask your
client where he got it and when he got !
it and that sort of thing?
MS. McDGNAID: The issue date is
on it, June, 1971. And by then, that
is true.
THE COURT: June, *71, just two
months ago?
MS. MCDONALD: Yes .
THE COURT: What has that got to
do with his classification twenty years
ago, which I thought we were squabbling
over here?
MS. McDONALD: It is important and
there is another document during the
war and he was classified mail room
clerk. What I wanted to point out, that
Southern Pacific has been calling him
mail room porter when he is performing
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clerical duties, and yet he is commonly
referred to as a clerk, but not paid for
Iclerical duties.
THE COURT: You can show he is
referred to accurately or inaccurately
in correspondence or inter-company
communications as a clerk, if you wish. |
I think it would be admissible. The
question would be what weight the
Court wanted to give it. If you are
not able to prove that is an inter
company memo or something emanat ing
from either of these defendants, I
would say that I couldn't receive it.
Now, let’s get this June 9, 1971 matter,!
can you show that emanates from the
Southern Pacific?
MS. McDONAID: Amtrack, I will
have to do a little checking, Amtrack
vs. Southern Pacific. But my point is
i that when he retired, Southern Pacific
|
was calling him a mail room porter, yet
when he received his retirement slip
from the head office, they are carrying
him as a mail clerk.
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THE COURT: Suppose the slip cal loci
him the president of the company, what
difference would it make?
i
m s . McDo n a l d : if he were per
forming duties as president of the
company, it would be very relevant.
But he is performing clerical duties,
since he is called a clerk by the head j
office, he should have been paid as a
clerk, sir.
THE COURT: Okay. Go ahead. j
MR . BURCH: What he was called -- Il
THE COURT: I know. Let’s go aheadj
with the evidence. I will pass on this I
Amtrack thing after you have had a
chance to look into it. i
MS. McDONAID: So Plaintiff’s
Exhibit 4 and 5 —
THE COURT: Hand them to the clerk
so I may take a look at them, please.
I will withhold ruling on both of these
and give you and defense counsel a
chance during the noon hour to check
it out. Mr. Burch says he questions
No. 4, and you tell me you have to check
, J* -
_________________________________________________55
on No. 5. So I will pass on them after i
lunch.
j
(By Ms. McDonald.) I will show you Plaintiff's
Exhibit 6, which has been marked for identification,
and can you tell me what this is?
Yes, ma'am. That is an article which was in the
Southern Pacific bulletin in regards to my
retirement. Not my retirement, my going into
the Navy.
MS. McDQNALD: Your Honor, I would
like to offer this in evidence as, I
Plaintiff's Exhibit 6. 1
MR. BURCH: I object, on the
grounds that it is not relevant or
material. There is no proof of when•* i
this appeared In the paper. I am willingj
to stipulate that there was a company
publication of some kind, but there is ;
no proof of when it was published and
the circumstances under which it was
written, and no indication at all that
it is binding on this defendant.
THE COURT: Hand it up here. Let
me see.
MS. McDCNALD: May I speak to that?
As Mr. Bradley said, it was an article
in the Southern Pacific bulletin
jreferring to when he went in the Navv ,
' |and it says November 4th, and he will
say it was in ’44 during the war.
Again the relevancy, they say mail
iroom clerk.
THE COURT: Is this from some
publication by the railroad?
THE WITNESS: Southern Pacific
Bulletin which was published in Houston.:
THE COURT: Okay. I will receive
it for what it is worth. I
(By Ms. McDonald.) Now, Mr. Bradley, at the
period of time when you were, as you described
it, head of the mail room, all of the other
mail porters including yourself were Black,
is that correct?
Were Black, yes, ma’am.
Now, did you ever have occasion to have a white
person work relief in the mail room?
Yes, ma'am.
When he came in to work relief, did you receive
any letter of introduction or something like that?
He had a little slip which he turned over to me.
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What was his race?
His race was white.
When he came in, what duties was he performing?
He was performing the same duties. He was the
relief man performing the same duties as we
were performing.
And "we" are what?
Mail porters.
All of them were what race?
All of them were Negroes.
And I will show you what has been marked for
identification as Plaintiff’s Exhibit 7 and ask
you to tell me what that is?
That states the name as Charles C. White.
Okay. What is this, the card that you received
introducing this man?
That’s right.
>®. McDONALD: I offer in evidence
Plaintiff’s Exhibit 7.
MR. BURCH: We object, Your Honor.
There is a card which on the face of it
appears to be prepared by the Texas
Employment Commission introducing
Charles C. White. This is not a
Southern Pacific document, I am informed.
<
What was his race? 1
His race was white.
When he came in, what duties was he performing?
He was performing the same duties. He was the
relief man performing the same duties as we
were performing.
And "we" are what?
Mail porters.
All of them were what race?
All of them were Negroes.
And I will show you what has been marked for
identification as Plaintiff’s Exhibit 7 and ask
you to tell me what that is?
That states the name as Charles C. White.
Okay. What is this, the card that you received
introducing this man?
That’s right.
M3. McDONALD: I offer in evidence
Plaintiff’s Exhibit 7.
MR. BURCH: We object, Your Honor.
There is a card which on the face of it
appears to be prepared by the Texas
Employment Commission introducing
Charles C. White. This is not a
Southern Pacific document, I am informed.
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There is no proof, no evidence whatsoever
that anyone at Southern Pacific placed
anything on this card.
I
THE COURT: Hand it to the Clerk,
please, ma’am.
MS. McDONALO: If I may just speak
to that, that person to contact, B. J.
Gibson, and the other person are
Southern Pacific employees. As a matter!
of fact, Mr. Gibson is supervisor of
employment.
MR. BURCH: He is or has been
supervisor of employment. It says on
the face that the upper portion was
filled out by the same person and comes
from the Texas Employment Commission.
Whatever Mr. Crumbaugh or someone at
Texas Employment states is not in any
way binding. I
THE COURT: I think that is well
taken. I don’t think that is admissible
against the defendant without proof that
it emanated from them.
MS. McDONALD: I have no proof of
that. What I am referring to is the
59
person to contact and that is Mr. Gibson
or Mr. Wiley. These are Southern
Pacific employees. Mr. Bradley testi
fied that this man brought this card of j
introduction with him.
THE COURT: You are trying to show !
that whoever wrote up the little card
referred to — I don’t believe this
V Idocument is admissible, and I would so
rule. \
(By Ms. McDonald.) Mr. Bradley, again referring )
ito this employee Charles White who came to work
in the mail room, how was he classified? |
Well, I don’t know how he was classified because |
I did not see his card. 1i
What card are you referring to?
Timecard.
Why didn’t you see his timecard?
Where we got our timecards from were in the
typewriter room, in a little box behind the
door, and all of our timecards were placed in
this box, and we would go there and get the
timecards out of the box in the morning, and
in the evening put the timecards back after
completing our work.
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Q Who are the "we” you are talking about?
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A Mail porter and all of the employees in thei
Duplicating Bureau who used timecards.
* *
I Q Did this Mr. Charles White put his card in with
the other mail porters?
A No, ma’am, he did not. His card was not in there.|
I know it was not because lots of times I would
look through the cards trying to find mine, and
jCharles White’s card was never in there. *
Q What did he do with his card?
MR. BURCH: This is completely
irrelevant.
THE COURT: If you don’t know what
his classification was, what is the
relevancy?
MS. McDONALD: I think he will be
able to say what the man eventually
told him, Your Honor.i ■
THE COURT: I think that would be
1 /' hearsay, wouldn' t it?
21 Q (By Ms. McDonald.) So you never saw his card?
22 A I did not see his card.
23 | MR. BURCH: I just objected to
24 that question.
25 THE COURT: It doesn’t do any harm
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to say he didn’t see it. Go ahead.
(By Ms. McDonald.) Mr. Bradley, what was this
Mr. Charles White’s race?
He was white.
Now, Mr. Bradley, when did you join the union,
Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship
Clerks?
At first we joined the union in 1954. I think
it was Local 1534, and then I don’t know the year '
that we went in with 589. I don’t know the year, j
When you joined 1534, was that local lodge a part !
of the brotherhood?
It was a part of the brotherhood.
When we refer to the brotherhood, we are talking
about the Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and
Steamship Clerks?
That's right, and warehouse employees.
And what was the race of members of 1534? I
Negro.
All Negro?
All Negro.
Now, vvhy is it that you were not able to join
the union before 1954?
We were in what we call excepted positions, we
were not able — permitted to join the union.
What was an excepted position?
Excepted position from my understanding from
supervisors, it was the handling of confidential
mail.
Did you handle any confidential mail?
Yes, ma’am.
And what do you do with this confidential mail?
This confidential mail —
MR. BURCH: Objection, Your Honor,
this is also completely irrelevant to
any issues in this case.
THE COURT: I wonder if that is
not so.
MS. McDONAlD: I think I can show
the relevancy. After they pigeonholed
the confidential mail, it was picked up
by clerks, members of the union. They
were allowed to join the union.
THE COURT: Are you suing them for
not letting him join the union before
1954?
MS. McDONALD: No, but this adds
to the pattern of what is going on and
I want to point out that it was the
company that classified Mr. Bradley and
not the union. The union was not
involved until 1954.
MR. BURCH: Your Honor, that is
almost twenty years ago. The question
of which position is within the
company or excepted, in other words,
excluded from the union bargaining unit,
is a matter that is determined either
by law or bargaining. Now, the fact is
that back in 1954 the company and union
agreed that these jobs should be in the
bargaining unit. That is twenty years
ago.
THE COURT: I don't really believe
we want to go back to ancient history.
I don’t think it proves a thing that
he has been discriminated against.
MS. McDONAli): I think it does.
THE COURT: I don’t. I would
sustain the objection. Let’s go to
something new, please, ma’am.
(By Ms. McDonald.) Mr. Bradley, how did you
happen to join the union?
Well, from the very beginning we were excepted
positions, and I complained to Mr. Bryan Adams.
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I made an appointment to talk with him about the! I
situation, see if we couldn't get our situation
corrected. And we had this appointment and he
said that we had been carried as porters for such
a long period of time there was nothing he could
do about it. He couldn’t change it. It would
i take an act of Congress to do that. He said he
realized it was not porter work, but there was
nothing he could do about it then. He further
said that it was not the company who was keeping
us out of the union or classifying my job, it
was the union.
MR. HIGHSAV: I object to that,
because counsel has just stated a few
moments ago the union was not involved
at that stage.
THE COURT: I would sustain an
objection that it was hearsay. Goi
ahead.
Q (By Ms. McDonald.) Mr. Bradley, did you ever
have any conversations with the local chairman
of 589?
:
A Yes, ma'am, I did.
I Q What is his name?
A Mr. L. L. Greater. And at one time it was
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_______________________________________________________________________________ 65
E. N. Hudson. Hudson was before Mr. Greater.
Was this a factor in yoir joining the union, your
Iconversations with Mr. Hudson?
Well, he told us that it was not porter work,
our job was not porter work, and if we would
join together, all of the locals joined together,
that we could get that corrected.
Mr. Bradley, I am going to show you what has
been marked for identification purposes as
Plaintiff's Exhibit 8 and ask you to tell me
if this is your membership card in Local 589?
Yes, ma’am, it is.
MS. McDONAUD: I offer in evidence
Plaintiff’s Exhibit 8.
THE COURT: Received.
MR. HIGHSAW: May counsel state
for the record, I do not see a date.
THE COURT: When did you join,
Mr. Bradley?
MS. MCDONALD: It says on here
good until December 31, 1971.
THE COURT: When did you join 589?
THE WITNESS: That is what I was
saying a moment ago, Your Honor. We
were in 1534 and we merged into 589.
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THE COURT: When?
THE WITNESS: I don’t know the datej.
THE COURT: Okay. j
(By Ms. McDonald.) Now, Mr. Bradley, when, as a j
mail porter, were you first given the opportunity
to transfer into what was called the Group 1?
January 1st, 1966.
What were the types of jobs in Group 1 at that
time?
ii
Clerical jobs.
Now, when you transferred over into Group 1,
what would happen, how did it operate?
Well, I was, our seniority was dated from
January 1st, 1966.
Now, what did that mean, suppose you transferred
over and you wanted to promote to head rate clerk,!
ifor example?
I felt that —
.
Just let me finish my sentence. What seniority
would you use for promotions?
For promotions I would use my January 1st, 1966
seniority.
MR. BURCH: Your Honor, I am sorry
I am tardy. I want to object to the
witness' testimony about what kind of
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seniority he would use. The best
evidence of that is the agreement betweqn
|the company and the labor organization.
I
He is now testifying and being asked
1about a conclusion.
THE COURT: I think he may tell
us his understanding of it, counsel.
I don’t believe it would be necessary
to exclude it. Go ahead.
Q (By Ms. McDonald.) Now, Mr. Bradley, I am going j
to show you what has been marked for identifica
tion purposes as Plaintiff’s Exhibit 9 and ask
you to tell me what this is?
A I can’t read this.
Q Is it a letter?
A It is a letter to Mr. Greater, local chairman
of the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks, Local 589.
Q And was this letter sent to him by you, is this
your signature?
A Yes, ma’am.
MS. McDONALD: Your Honor, I offer i
in evidence Plaintiff’s Exhibit 9, a
letter to Mr. L. M. Greater, local
jI
chairman, from Mr. Henry Bradley.
MR. HIGHSAW: Your Honor, I have no*,__________________________________________________________1
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objection to the admission of this
letter to show that on July 2, 1967
I
Mr. Bradley wrote a letter to Mr. L. M.
I
Greater, local chairman of Lodge 589,
complaining about his seniority date
and complaining about the classification
of his job. I would object, however, |
to the admission of it for the truth of j
any statements contained in the letter, ;
because it contains numerous hearsay
statements as well as self-serving
conclusions of the plaintiff. For
example, the letter speaks of, compares
the duties of the mail room to the dutieis
in the post office, which is obviouslv !
hearsay and they are referring to matterls
which occurred in 1912, many years
I
before.
THE COURT: 1912?
MR. HIGHSAW: Yes, Your Honor.
|
That is examples of hearsay evidence.
THE COURT: I will receive it, but
not intending to prove the truth of the
matters therein contained.
Q (By Ms. McDonald.) Mr. Bradley, I show you what______ ______________ ___________________________ i
/V
■>** Exhibit 1.0, and ask you to tell me whether this
3 1 is a letter addressed to you?
4 A That is a letter addressed to me from Mr. Greater
5 Q And what is the date of this letter?
6 A The date is —
7 Q December 10, 1967?
8 A That's right.
9 | MS. McDONALD: Your Honor, I offer
10 in evidence Plaintiff's Exhibit 10, a
1 1 letter addressed to Mr. Bradley from
12 Mr. L. M. Greater.
13 THE COURT: Received.
14 Q (By Ms. McDonald.) Mr. Bradley, I am going to
15 show you what has been marked for identification
lf> as Plaintiff's Exhibit 11 and ask you to tell me
17 whether this is a letter to you?
18 A It is a letter to me from Mr. Denis, yes, ma’am.
19 Q And Mr. Denis, what does it say under his name?
20 A International president.
2 i Q And is that of the Brotherhood of Railway and
1 * X. * Steamship Clerks?
23 A That's right. Yes, ma'am.
24 MS. McDONALD: Your Honor, I offer
2S in evidence Plaintiff's Exhibit 11.
/TOO.
THE COURT: Received.
(By Ms. McDonald.) Now, Mr. Bradley, in January
of 1966 when, as you testified, your understanding
|
you were first able to transfer to Group 1,
clerical employees, how many years had you been
employed at that time?
At that time, let me see, in 1966 I had been
employed forty-one years.
How long had you been classified as a mail porter
doing the duties you have described?
Since 1934.
So that would be what, thirty-two years?
Thirty-two years.
And you testified that you retired in July of
1969?
'69, yes, ma’am.
How old are you in January, 1966?
I was, let me see, 1966 —
How old are you now?
I am sixty-seven now. I was sixty-two.
And you had how many more years to retire?
1 had three more years to retire.
Now, when you were transferred over into
Group 1, what would happen to your seniority
in Group 2, your understanding of it?
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MR. BURCH: Objection again, and
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that the agreement would be the best
evidence. Il
THE COURT: He may tell us, if he
knows.
Q (By Ms. McDonald.) Would you be able to transfer i
back to your old job?
A If I had been bid on a job in Group 1?
Q Yes.
A No, ma'am, I would not have been.
Q Now, as a result of what you have described,
Mr. Bradley, being classified as a mail porter,
have you lost any money?
A I have, yes, ma’am.
j
Q Now, why have you lost money?
A By being —
MR. BURCH: Objection. She is now
lasking him to make a finding and conclu
sion.
THE COURT: I am not going to find
damages. I think he may testify that
he has lost something and why he thinks
he has lost something. If I conclude
there is liability, we will go into the
question later.
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(By Ms. McDonald.) Why have you lost money?
I have lost money, yes, ma'am.
Why have you?
Why have I? By not being given the proper rate
on the job that I am doing as a clerk, head clerk
in the mail room, comparable to head clerk in
other departments, particularly the head clerk
in freight traffic, customer service, which rate
is $195 a month more than what my salary was.
If you had been able to use your seniority dating
from 1934, would you have been, in your opinion,
been able to make more money?
I would have.
MS. McDONALD: I would like to
offer in evidence what has been marked
as Plaintiff's Exhibit 12, which is
Plaintiff's interrogatories to Southern
Pacific and its response, listing the
wage rates that Mr. Bradley has earned
from the time he was employed until the
time he retired. Can we stipulate on
this, Mr. Burch?
THE COURT: If they are answered,
they do not need to stipulate. Received
(By Ms. McDonald.) Mr. Bradley, you testified
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that in your opinion you were doing clerical
duties?
I did.
What are some of the names of the clerks in
Group 1 whom you feel were doing work comparable j
to yours?
Well, the control clerk, the record clerk, the
rate clerk in the freight traffic department,
which I compared my job to. That is as near as
I could get to it. There was general clerk and
there were several other clerks that I don’t
recall right now. |
Are you familiar with the duties of a collection
clerk? I
Collection clerk? Yes, ma’am.
Do you feel in your opinion, your duties as mail
porter, duties of a mail porter are akin or
equivalent in terms of responsibility to collec
tion clerk?
I do.
Mr. Bradley, at the time that you filed this
complaint, did Southern Pacific, from your
observation, have more than a hundred employees
employed?
At that time?___________________________________________________ I
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Q
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Yes, sir. I
Yes, ma’am.7 :
And from your observation, did Local 589 have
more than a hundred members?
Yes, ma’am.
MS. McDONAUD: Now, Your Honor, I. I have two more exhibits which I want
to introduce and again they came from
responses to interrogatories. I have
nothing more with the witness, because
I don’t want to go into the exact amount
of damages until liability is deter
mined, and then I would like to call
him back.
THE COURT: Do you want to offer
these?
MS. McDONALD: Perhaps I had i
better offer the wage rates in now, I
if I may.
THE COURT: These are responses
\
to interrogatories. They are admissibly
1
MS. McDONAlD: They are Exhibits
13 and 14. 13 is the wage rate and 14
is the seniority roster.
THE COURT: Received.
/rrc
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MS. McDGNALD: I’m sorry, Your
Honor. 13, as I have it, is the i
seniority roster for District Group 1
dated January 1st, 1965. And on the
exhibit is indicated "LA” for Latin
American and "N" for Negro, and those
without identification are white.
i
Exhibit 14 are the wage rates for
employees of Defendant Southern Pacific
from January 1st, 1964 until, it should
be, November 1st, 1970.
MR. BURCH: Would you identify
i
those as to the interrogaty number
or the exhibit number that we used in
our response, please?
MS . McDQNALD: They are mar ked on
the exhibit. Plaintiff’s Exhibit 13 is
Exhibit No. 6, Interrogatory No. 27.
Plaintiff’s Exhibit 14 is Exhibits 1, i
2, 3, 4 concerning Interrogatory No. 7.
MR. BURCH: Your Honor, we have no
objection to the authenticity of those
records. I do think that Exhibit 13
is not really relevant, since it is a
seniority roster as of 1965.
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THE COURT: Well, if it is not
relevant when I look at it, I will not
consider it. Let’s go ahead.
CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. BURCH:
'
Q Mr. Bradley, you were just telling us about a
job you thought had comparable duties and I would
like to identify those, if we can. You mentioned j
collection clerk. Do you know where that job is,
in what department?
A Yes, I do.
Q Where is that?
A That is in the accounting department on the sixth j
floor.
Q How about the record clerk?
A They have a record clerk on the sixth floor.
Q Is that in the accounting department?
A Mechanical department.
Q Accounting?
A That is the accounting department.
Q How about the general clerk that you mentioned?
They have a general clerk on that floor also.
Do you know whether or not that is in the
accounting department also?
Yes, sir. j
How about the collection clerk, where is that |
located? ]
That is in the accounting department also.
Mr. Bradley, at the time you retired, or at the
present time, do you know whether the company
employs any Negro persons in any of those jobs?
Yes, sir.
As a matter of fact, there are Negroes employed
in all of those jobs, are there not?
In all of those, collection clerk, record clerk, 1
yes, sir, that’s right.
Do you know personally any of the employees who
bid into those jobs?
I do.
Did you voluntarily choose not to bid into any of
those jobs?
I did.
Did you like your work in the mail room?
I did.
Would it be fair to say that you considered your
responsibility there to be a fairly important
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function?
I beg your pardon.
I said, would it be fair to say that you
' I
considered your job there to be a fairly
important function?
>*•
Very important.
Did you from time to time perform the same duties ;
as the other men who worked in the mail room?
As the other men in the mail room?
Yes, sir.
I was head man.
Well, did you ever perform any of the duties that '
the other men in the mail room performed?
Yes, sir, I did.
As a matter of fact, wasn't your method of
operation in there generally to try to cooperate
with one another and keep the mail flowing
through the room?
That's right. j
And in doing that, didn’t the various men in
there step in and help one another out from
time to time?
I beg your pardon. Did what men?
I am talking about the men in the mail room.
I am talking about the men classified by the
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company as mail room porters. Isn’t it a fact
that from time to time the various mail room
porters would help each other out in order to
keep the work moving?
That is true.
And you did that yourself, didn’t you?
Yes, sir, I did.
And you spent a substantial amount of time, from
time to time, pigeonholing mail, did you not?
That’s true.
Did you ever haul the mail from the Southern
Pacific office building to any of these locations
you described earlier?
No, sir, I did not.
Did one man do that hauling all the time or was
that duty rotated?
That was one man’s duty.
Did anyone ever — tell us who that was by name
when you retired?
That hauled the mail?
Yes, sir.
At one time it was Willy B. Deese.
Who did it after Mr. Deese left?
After Mr. Deese left?
Yes, sir.
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We had Bedford Collier.
All right. Who did it after Mr. Collier?
Paul Ledette.
Who was hauling the mail when you retired?
Ernest John Mackey, I think it is.
Incidentally, do you know that Mr. Mackey now
occupies the job that you held in the mail room?
That’s right.
From time to time when the man that hauled the
mail was absent, would other porters haul the
mail?
That is true.
After the mail was hauled into the mail room
in pouches, or whatever form it came in, was it
necessary to handle the mail in the mail room?
Was it necessary to handle the mail? Yes, it was.
Was it necessary to move the pouches and bundles
around?
It was.
Was it necessary to open them up and remove the
mail so that it could be sorted and processed?
It was.
Did you participate in and assist in this work
from time to time?
I did.
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After mail was processed and handled in the mail
room and was ready to go out to the freight
station, or wherever it was to be taken, was it
placed in pouches or bundles?
It was placed in both.
Was that then carried out of the mail room and I
placed on the truck?
It was.
And who did that?
The mail porter, one of the men that was driving
the truck.
Did any of the other mail porters help him carry
pouches out?
.
Yes, sir.
Did you ever help carry it out?
No, sir, I did not.
How did your duties differ from the duties of the
other mail room porters?
My duties was different because I was head man, i
I was supervisor.
Well, you did work in the mail room, didn't you,
in spite of being supervisor?
In addition to my supervising.
You said that you had a scale in the mail room
that was on a center table. Is that correct?2 5
That’s correct.
Did any of the other mail room porters handle
that scale while you were in there?
When I was teaching them how to handle it.
Did you normally reserve that job for yourself?
I
I did not necessarily reserve that job for myself,
because that was the job that Mi'. C. A. King had
and it was just handed down to me.
In normal operation, did you spend more time
using the scale than the other mail room porters? ;
Than the other mail room porters? I did.
Did you have certain vacation rights when you
were working for the company?
I did.
At the time you retired, how many weeks’ vacation !
were you entitled to?
Four weeks.
Did you normally take all of your vacation? .
I did.
Who carried on the functions in the mail room
when you were absent on vacation, if you know?
Well, at one time it was Renfro Moody and
sometimes it was Willy B. Deese.
Yes, sir.
And sometimes it was C. W. Monroe.
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Were you ever absent on occasions other than
vacation?
Sometimes ill.
When you were ill, did someone else in the mail
room carry on the work there in your absence?
I'm quite sure, but I don't know who they were.
Let me go back just a minute, Mr. Bradley, to a
question I asked you about these jobs that you
named as being comparable to your job, record
clerk, rate clerk, general clerk and collection
clerk. In your judgment, if you had chosen to
bid for those jobs, do you think you would have
had the skill, ability and qualifications to
handle those jobs within a reasonable period
of t ime?
I do.
Did you ever submit a bid, Mr. Bradley, for any
job other than the mail room job?
I did.
About when was that?
I don *t know.
Did you withdraw that bid the day after you
submitted it?
I did.
Did anybody with the company tell you to withdraw
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that bid? !84
A No one did.
f
Q Was it your own choice to withdraw it?
A My own decision.
BY THE COURT:
Q I take it, then, for reasons of your own you
didn’t want to transfer for one of these clerk's
.jobs?
A It was not a matter of not wanting to. My
decision was to not transfer because if my
seniority date would have been January 1st, 1966,
I had been there in the mail room all of those
years and having had just three years to go
for my retirement, I would have lost approximately1
thirty-two years. Had I bid on a job with my
seniority date January 1st, 1966, the company
could have hired a man anywhere in 1965, he could j
have bumped me and I would not have had any place '
to go. I would have had to exercise my seniority
on down the line and eventually I would be out of
a j ob.
Q But at the time that you filed the bid and then
withdrew it —
A I did.
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at that time you told me that there were Negroes
in those various clerks’ positions to which you 1
were considering and ultimately did make applica-
ition, but then withdrew it?
That’s right.
|
So you are not suggesting that you failed to make i
or to pursue the bid because of your race?
No, sir, I’m not.
I
MR. BURCH:
Mr. Bradley, I think it is very evident from
|
everything you have said that you have ample
and entirely adequate ability to read and write,
do you not?
Ability to read and write?
Yes, sir.
Certainly I have.
You had dealt with written material in your job
every day, did you not?
Every day .
After you joined the clerks' organization, did you
ever see a copy of the contract or agreement
between the company and the union?
No, sir, I did not.
You never saw a copy of the labor agreement that
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covered your terms of employment?
No, sir. I don't recall having seen that copy.
Did you know that in December of 1965 the company
and the clerks’ organization entered into an
agreement that gave you and other Group 2 employee^
a seniority date in Group 1?
Did I know that?
Yes.
Yes , sir, I do.
How did you receive that information?
By word, by being informed.
Who informed you, do you remember?
Other employees.
Did you ever see a copy of the agreement that
gave you that seniority date?
No, sir, I did not. You mean a copy of the
seniority list?
Let's just ask you about the seniority list.
Did you see that?
I saw the list.
Did you see the agreement?
No, sir, I didn't see the agreement.
About when did you see the seniority list?
It was approximately, well, it had been posted
sometime. I was told it was out, it was posted,
// G*
I but I didn’t know.
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Was it posted in the Southern Pacific building?
It was. |
Incidentally, over the years, Mr. Bradley, isn’t
it correct that at least once a year a seniority
list or lists were put up in the Southern Pacific !I
building?
At least once a year?
Yes, sir.
No, sir, it is not.
How often were they put up?
Well, sometimes it was every other year. It
wasn’t once a year. It was approximately a year
and a half or within the next year.
When no seniority lists were posted, were the
employees generally interested in going and
looking at them and checking their own date?
Some of them were.
Were you interested or not?
No, sir, I was not.
I see. Did you know, Mr. Bradley, at least twenty
years ago that the company considered your job
title in the mail room to be mail room porter?
That’s right.
Now, going back to the question of seniority,
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prior to 1966 didn't you know that if you had
transferred to another group, one of the so-calledij
clerical jobs, that you would have retained your
seniority in Group 2 where your mail room job was
located?
I was told by Mr. L. M. Greater that it would not.
I could not go back to Group 2 until I had
exercised my rights all the way down the line
in Group 1.
All right, sir. I think for the Court’s benefit
we ought to clear up a little bit about Group 1
and Group 2. Is it correct that your job in the
mail room was considered a Group 2 seniority job?
Is it correct? i(
Yes.
It was.
And there were other jobs that were considered
to be within seniority Group 2, without going
into detail?
There were other jobs in Group 2.
There were additional jobs that were considered
to be Group 1 seniority jobs, is that correct?
In Group 2?
No, sir. I am leaving that and going to Group 1.
Group 1 consisted of a number of different jobs
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that were grouped together for seniority purposes?
.
That is true.
The jobs that you gave us earlier as comparable
to yours, control clerk and those other clerk
jobs, for example, were in Group 1, weren’t they? I
That’s right. I
Isn’t it correct that Mr. Greater told you if you
did bid into a Group 1 job, and if there was a
layoff, that you would have to exercise your
Group 1 seniority as far as you could before you
could then bump back into Group 2?
No, sir, that is not.
Well, tell me what he said to you?
He told me that I would have to wait until I
exercised, go all the way down the line before
I could go back to Group 2.
All right. You would have to go all the way down
the line in Group 1 before you could go back to
Group 2?
That’s right.
Is that substantially what he told you?
And then probably within a period of time I would
lose that seniority in Group 2 altogether.
When did Mr. Greater tell you that?
When he told me that? Was after the posting of
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that seniority list. I talked with him on the
sixth floor when he had told me that if I was not |
satisfied in the mail room, why didn’t I bid on
!
one of the other jobs. I told him that I would
not because I would take a chance on losing all
of my seniority, and probably lose my job. I
would be bumped around and have to go to the shop
or some other place, and Mr. Greater said that
iwas right.
Q Mr. Greater said that you would be bumped around
and lose your job, correct?
BY THE COURT:
Q I take it in the event of a layoff, the youngest
employee, I mean the man with the least seniority,
would be the first to go?
A That's right.
Q So the reason that you were so interested in
staying in Group 2, where you had so much
seniority, was to assure yourself, regardless
of how often a layoff came about, that you would
always have a job there. Is that a fair statement?
l
A That's ri<rht . If I had been given my seniority
back to where it should have been, I would have
bid on a job in Group 1.
/7/o
Now, at the time that you had these conversations
with Mr. Greater, was that about in 1966 when you '
joined Local 589?
:
No, sir. That’s when we were put into Group 1,
in 1966.
When was it that you had these conversations
with him about transferring from the Group 2
job to a Group 1 job?
That was after the posting of this 1966, combining
of Group land 2 in 1966 seniority.
What he told you was, if I understand it, that if
you transferred from Group 2, from a Group 2 job
to a Group 1 job, your seniority then would
begin in Group 1, which meant, of course, you
would not have any, and if there was a layoff |
in the Group 1 job, you would then have to revert
back to your Group 2 seniority that you had had
before. Is that what I understand?
No, sir, it is not.
Tell me just how it did work?
He told me that I would have to go all the way
down the line.
What does that mean?
Down the line in Group 1 to the last man.
You would go down. Okay.
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A D o w n the line to the last man. And there w a s a
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p r o b a b i l i t y somebody would bid on my job in the
mail room, Group 2, that had more seniority than
I had and I would be out of a job.
Q So what you are really complaining about is this,
that in the event of a change from Group 2 to
G r o u p 1, you wouldn’t have been allowed seniority
for all of those years in Group 2?
A T h a t ’s right.
I
Q That is r e a l l y what you are complaining about here^,
is it not?
j A Yes, sir.
j lQ And was that a provision of the union contract |
as to how the seniority was to be calculated?
A Well, we were discriminated against.
j
Q I did not ask you that. I say was this method
of determining seniority under Group 1 and
G r o u p 2 a portion of the contract between the
railroad and the union?
j A Well, I never did see the contract. !
Q You do not know?I
A I d o n ’t know.
Q Whe r e did you get the idea that this is the way
!
it w o r k e d ?
A Mr. G r e a t e r told me. )
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And who was Mr. Greater?
He was local chairman of 589.
Of your union?
My union, yes.
THE COURT: Go ahead.
BY MR. BURCH:
Mr. Bradley, were you at all curious about what
the labor contract said on this question?
I was, and I tried to get one and see it, but I
could n’t.
You could not get a copy of the labor contract?
I could not.
Did you ever see one of these blue books like
I have in my hand here, a blue contract, floating
around the building?
I saw a fellow with one, but —
Didn’t you know that these are readily available
to anyone that wanted one, Mr. Bradley?
I did not know that.
Mr. Bradley, let me ask you a little bit now about
some of your supervisory functions. You told us
about an occasion when you, as you have put it,
reprimanded Mr. Donald Pitts. Would it be fair
to state that Mr. Pitts didn’t appreciate or
really accept graciously your reprimand?
Well, I, being the head of a department, I think
that was my duty.
THE COURT: But Pitts didn't like
it, he is the man that came after you
with a knife?
THE WITNESS: That's right.
THE COURT: He did not accept it i
gracefully, that is what counsel asked i
you?
THE WITNESS: That's right. !
(By Mr. Burch.) As a matter of fact, have you
had other friction with people in the mail room
because in effect you tried to boss them around?
No, sir.
You got along perfectly with all of them?
Sometimes they wouldn't agree with what my
decision was, but I was interested in carrying
out the duties of my work, seeing that all of
the jobs were performed efficiently and the mail
was done correctly, and sometimes they didn’t
want to do that.
Is it not fair to say that most of the men that
worked with you in there were not really willing
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to accept the fact that you were their boss or
supervisor?
I
No, that is not true.
i
Now, let me ask you about days off. Is it your
testimony that you actually told some of the other
mail room porters that they could take a day off
and they did so? I
I told them that they could take a day off?
Yes, sir.
No, sir, I did not say it that way.
What are the facts? What happened when people
wanted to take a day off?
They would say they wanted to be off for a certain:
day. If I felt that it was all right and the mail
had been light, we wouldn’t have too much to do,
all right. I would talk to Mr. Markham about it.
IAnd you would?
J
No, I would tell them it was all right to go on
•and then I would tell Mr. Markham.
And you would tell the employee to take off and
that would be the last he would hear about it?
That’s right.
What was Mr. Markham’s position at the time you
are telling us about?
He was manager of the central mailing and
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duplicating bureau.
Now, did you understand that it was his responsi
bility to see to the proper operation of the mail j
room as well as the duplicating bureau?
It was.
Was he considered a supervisor by the company?
He was.
Was he covered by the labor agreement with the
c l e r k s ?
No, sir, he was not.
When did Mr. Markham leave that position?
I don’t know the year when Mr. Markham retired.
Do you know about how long ago it was?
Oh, I don’t know. I am afraid to say the exact
date. It was approximately five or ten years,
somewhere along in there.
Five or ten years ago?
No, after 1944.
Did you recognize Mr. Markham as your superior
and your supervisor?
I did.
Who succeeded Mr. Markham as your supervisor?
Mr. A . J . Moore.
At the time that you retired, did Mr. Moore have
the supervision of the mail room, the duplicating
>77*-
functions and the machine repair function?
He was manager of the central mailing and
duplicating bureau.
How many people worked in the duplicating bureau,
do you know?
I do. Let’s see, there was Mr. Tate. We won't
consider Mr. Tate, he was assistant to Mr. Moore.
Mrs. Tate and Mr. Tate and two in the typewriter
bureau, not including Mr. Moore, and those of us
in the mail room, myself and three others.
Well, would it be correct that Mr. Moore had the
supervision of approximately seven people,
including yourself?
That's true.
How many times did you interview employees who
were being considered for employment?
How many times I interviewed an employee?
Yes, sir.
Well, each employee was interviewed once.
Did you interview each employee that entered the
mail room during the time you worked there?
During that time I did.
Was this before or after they started to work,
or do you know?
Before they started to work.
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_________________________________________________ ________ 98
Q You know if they had already been selected for
the mail room or not?
A I did not. ■ I
THE COURT: What counsel is asking ;
you, did you determine whether or not
the railroad was going to hire them?
THE WITNESS: I was recommending
them and accepting them. One man in
particular came in --
THE COURT: I am not asking you
about one in particular. He is asking
you about the fact that when new people
iapplied for a job, who made the selectioji?
THE WITNESS: I did.
THE COURT: And if you gave the wor#,
they got the job?
THE WITNESS: That’s right. |
THE COURT: If you turned them down,
they did not get the job?
THE WITNESS: That’s right.
Q (By Mr. Burch.) Did you ever turn anybody down,
Mr. Bradley?
A No, sir, I did not.
Q Who did you discuss these new men with, who did
you talk to about them?
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Mr. Markham.
Do you know whether or not Mr. Markham talked
.
to these men himself?
After I had talked with them, after I had talked
with Mr. Markham.
Do you know whether the position of mail room
porter was one that under the union contract
was required to be posted so that the employees
could bid for it?
That’s true.
And in fact men who entered that mail room bid
on that job under the contract?
I
This was before we went into the union that I
interviewed the men.
.
After you went in the union in 1954, people bid
in there under the union contract? |
They bid in there and we didn’t have any say as
to whether they were coming in or not. I didn’t
have anything to do with that. They bid on the
i
job.
Before that time, did the men who came into that 1
office come in as new employees of the company
or were they men who had worked elsewhere for the
company?
Had worked elsewhere.
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Q For the company?
A I mean for the company.
Q So they were transferring
P a c i f i c organization?
jobs within the Southern
1
A That’s true.
THE COURT: Is this a convenient
place to stop for lunch?
MR. BURCH: Yes, sir. I may be
able to shorten my cross examination.
THE COURT: Okay. Recess until
2:00, then, ladies and gentlemen, and
be back approximately at that time,
please.
(Noon recess.)
THE COURT: Be seated, please.
Q (By Mr. Burch.) Mr. Bradley, just a few questions;,
please, sir. You told us earlier about a conversaj-
tion you say you had with Mr. Greater in which he
told you that your job was not porter’s work and i
that he would do something about it. Would you
tell us again what took place in that conversation^
A That was Mr. Hudson also.
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Well, was Mr. Hudson at one time the local
chairman?
Yes, sir.
iiDo you know when he left that job?
The year?
Yes, sir.
No, sir, I do not know.
Well, was it in the neighborhood of twenty years
ago or less?
No, sir, it was not. It was, I imagine, about
five or six years before my retirement.
Now, Mr. Greater became local chairman five or
six years before you retired, is that right?
Yes, sir.
I am asking you now about the conversation you
said you had with Mr. Greater?
All right, sir.
Will you tell us about that, please?
I talked with Mr. Greater about my classification
and rate, and he told me that he knew it was not
porter work, and he had been in the mail room and
looked at us performing our duties and that it was
not porter work, it was clerical work. But we
were carried as porters and there was nothing he
could do.
Well, I think earlier you said something about
him saying if you joined the union he would get
it corrected. Is that what he said or not?
Did I misunderstand?
That was Mr. Hudson who said that, and Mr. Pat
Gibson also said that.
I just want to ask you now about the ones you
told us about earlier. Mr. Hudson is the one
who said he would get that corrected, is that
your testimony?
Yes.
When did he say that to you?
That was before his retirement, I mean before he
gave up his job as local chairman.
Was it before your jobs in the mail room were
covered by the clerks’ agreement?
It was before, yes, before we were covered by the ■
clerks’ agreement.
And your job became covered by the agreement in
1956, did it not?
’54.
All right, sir. Now, when you talked to
Mr. Greater, can you tell us about when you
talked to him?
It was about five years before my retirement.
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__________________ _________________________ ____ 103
That was about 1965 or 1964, between '64 and ’65.
Q When you talked to Mr. Hudson about your job, was
that about the same time that you went to|
Mr. Brian Adams to talk about your job?
i A That was, yes, sir.
Q So your recollection is when you talked to j
Mr. Adams it was around sometime before 1954,
before you came into the union?
i
A That's right.
Q All right, sir. Just one last question. I direct
your attention to the little news item that
appeared in the — or some bulletin when you went
into the Navy. Do you recall that?
A Ido.
>I .
Q For your convenience I will show you my copy of it,
A Yes, sir.
|
j Q In what kind of publication did that appear?
A That appeared in the Southern Pacific Bulletin.
;
Q Do you know who Nancy Sharp is, the correspondent?1
A Yes, sir, I do.
Q Who j.3 she?
A She was the correspondent and all I know is her
I name was Sharp and she transferred to San
Francisco.
Q Did she talk to you before this appeared in the
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104
bulletin?
Yes, sir.
Did she interview you, in other words, and find
out about your going into the Navy and so forth?
Yes, sir.
Incidentally, was she a clerk who was within the
union bargaining unit, or do you know?
She was.
Did she ask you about your job at that time and
what your job was?
No, sir, she did not. She knew that.
So you didn’t talk to her about what you did or
where you worked?
No, sir, she knew all about it, because she
worked, I think it was, in the public relations
department.
MR. BURCH: Pass the witness.
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__________________________________ 105
CROSS EXAMINATION
I
BY MR, HIGHSAW:
Q Mr. Bradley, would it be right to say that you
became a member of Lodge 589 around December of
A
Q
A
Q
Q
A
Q
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Q
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1965?
I think it was before then.
You think it was before that?
I think it was before ’65.
Now, during the period that you were a member of
Lodge 589 prior to the time you retired, was that
an integrated lodge, did it have both members of
the Negro and white race?
Before I joined?
No, Lodge 589 during the period of time you were
a member?
When I was a member?
i'
Of Lodge 589?
It was integrated.
Would you say there were approximately a hundred
Negro members of that lodge while you were a
member?
There were.
Now, you have referred to Mr. L. M. Greater as
local chairman of that lodge. Does that mean-------------------------------------------------
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1 that b e was the chairman of the grievance
!
2 committee of the lodge? |
3 I A N o , sir, it does not. It means that he was the
4 local chairman.
-5 Q You do not know him as chairman of the grievance
6 committee, then? i
7 A N o , sir, I do not.
8 Q Was he elected to the position he held by the
9 lodge membership?
10 A As local chairman?
i
l i Q Yes. 1
I
12 A He was.
1 3 Q Do you know whether the grievance committee of
1 4 the lodge had any Negro members on it? 1
j
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1 5 A The grievance committee? 1
1 6 Q Yes, Lodge 589.
1 7 A Well, each floor, each department, I think it was,
1 8 had a grievance committee. l
1 9 Q And speaking of the committee of Lodge 589 now.
20 Is it correct that it had five members?
2 1 A I don't know about that grievance committee of
22 five - - 589. i
2 5 Q You don't know whether it had among those five
2 4 members two Negro members?
2 5 A I don't know about the grievance committee of 589.
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Mr. Bradley, you have identified and there has
been placed in the record as Plaintiff's Exhibits
9 and 10. Exhibit 9 is a letter which you wrote
to Mr. Greater on July 2, and Exhibit 10 is a
letter which you received from Mr. Greater on
December 10, 1967 referring to your complaint.
Now. I have here a document which purports to be
a letter from Mr. Greater to you referring to your
letter of July 2 as well as a letter from you of
July 7, and responding to those two, and I wish
you would take a look at it and see if you can
identify that letter?
I do.
That is dated August 13, 1967?
That’s right.
And you received that letter?
I did, yes, sir.
ii
MR. HIGHSAW: I would like to have
this marked for identification as Local
2 0 589 Exhibit 1.
I
Q Now, Mr. Bradley, is it correct that that letter
22 refers to a letter which you wrote to Mr. Greater j
2 * o n J u l y 2 and July 7, 1967 and then this letter
, 4 o f A u g u s t 13 that has been marked for identifica-
s tion as Local 589 Exhibit 1 goes on to say that
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these letters were read at our lodge meeting the
night of July 11, 1967 and they were recommended
to be turned over to our system board for their
handling?
A I remember that. In fact, I was in the meeting.
Q You were at the meeting when these letters were
read? i
A I was at the meeting.
Q In other words, your letters of July 2, which
was identified here, and the letter of July 7
was read at the meeting and this is the action
taken with respect to them?
A That's true.
Q Now, when it says the letters will be transmitted
to the system board for handling, what is your
.understanding of what the system board was?
A The system board, my understanding, is the
general chairman, who was Mr. P. J. Gibson.
THE COURT: General chairman of
what?
THE WITNESS: Of Local 589.
Q (By Mr. Highsaw.) Your understanding is he was
an officer of 589?
A Yes, sir.
Q Now, I have here, Mr. Bradley, a letter which
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_____________________________________________________ ________ 1 0 9
purports to be a document, a letter addressed to
you by Mr. Gibson as general chairman dated
July 11, 1967, referring to a letter which you
wrote to Mr. Gibson on June 9, 1967, and I would
:
like to ask you to take a look at this document
and see if you recall that and if you received
such a letter?
This letter was written to me in regards to a
previous letter that I had written, yes, sir.
And that concerned your seniority date?
That’s right. Yes, I remember that letter.
MR. HIGHSAW: Your Honor, I would |
like to have this document marked for
identification as Local 589 Exhibit 2.
jMr. Bradley, is it correct that in that exhibit, I
the letter dated July 11, 1967, which we have
marked as Local 589 Exhibit 2, that General
Chairman Gibson rejected your claim saying you
had the correct seniority date in each of the
groups in Seniority District 1. Is that what
the letter in substance says?
That’s right.
Now, since Mr. Gibson’s letter referred to your
earlier letter of June 9, 1967, I have here a
' •.
document which purports to be a copy of an earlier
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letter which you wrote to Mr. Gibson, except for
this handwriting in the left-hand corner here.
I don't know who put that on. But leaving that
handwriting out, is that the letter of June 9,
1967 which you wrote to Mr. Gibson?
This is correct. I remember that letter.
MR. HIGHSAW: I would like to have
this document marked for identification
as Local 589 Exhibit 3.
At this time I would like to offer
into evidence the documents marked for
identification as Exhibit Local 589 I
1, 2, 3.
THE COURT: Have you had time to
see them, Ms. McDonald? I
MS. MCDONALD: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Any objection?
MS. McDONALD: No, I have no
objection.
20 THE COURT: Received.
21 ! Q (By Mr. Highsaw.) Mr. Bradley, you identified
2 2 and put into evidence as Plaintiff's Exhibit 11,
23 | a letter which was addressed to you by Mr. C. L.
2 4 1 Denis, International President of the Brotherhood
2 s °f Railway and Airline Clerks. Do you recognize
/9<
Ill
that? j
I do remember this letter and I received it.
Now, Mr. Bradley, the last paragraph of the
j
document identified as Plaintiff’s Exhibit 11
states that Mr. Denis had received a copy of
a letter which General Chairman Gibson had
addressed to you dated January 23, 1968, and
Mr. Gibson goes on to state that he feels that
the letter from Mr. Gibson had made full response
to all the points you had raised. Now, I have
here a document which is dated January 23, 1968
and purports to be a letter addressed to you by
Mr. Pat Gibson as general chairman. Would you
take a look at that and see if that is the letter,'
a true and correct copy of the letter of
January 23 sent to you by Mr. Gibson?
|It is, yes, sir.
MR. HIGHSAW: I would like to have
this letter marked as Local 589 Exhibit jl.
Now, Mr. Bradley, I have one other document here
I would like for you to take a look at and see if
you can identify it. I have a further document
that is dated March 28, 1968 that is addressed
to you by Mr. J. V. Gates as general chairman,
and it refers to a letter which you had written
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to Mr. Gates on March 11, 1968. May I ask you
who Mr. Gates is or was?
Mr. Gates succeeded Mr. Gibson as general
chairman of Local 589.
In other words, he held the job which Mr. Gibson
had held?
Which Mr. Gibson held.
Did Mr. Gibson retire, do you know?
Mr. Gibson retired.
Would you take a look at this document which is
dated March 27, 1968 and see if it is a copy of
a letter which you received from Mr. Gates?
I do.
MR. HIGHSAW: Your Honor, I would
like to have marked for identification !
as Local 589 Exhibit 5 this document
dated March 27, 1968. j
Now, in these letters for Mr. Gibson, which is
dated January 23, 1968 and has been marked for
;
identification as Local 589 Exhibit 4, is that
a four page letter which sets forth Mr. Gibson’s
reasons why, in his opinion, you didn’t have a
valid claim?
MS. McDGNALD: I will have to
object to that question. I don’t think
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Mr. Bradley is the proper person to
conclude --
THE COURT: I think that is well
taken.
Q (By Mr. Highsaw.) I will ask if that is a four
page letter?
A Is this a four page letter?
Q Yes.
A It is.
MR. HIGHSAW: That is all I have,
Your Honor.
THE COURT: Are you offering
these last documents?
MR. HIGHSAW: If counsel has had a
chance to look at them. The letter
received from Mr. Gibson which is dated
January 23, 1968 has been identified as
Local 589 Exhibit 4. I will offer that.
THE COURT: Have you seen them all?
MS. McDONALD: I have read them.
I have no objection to their introduction
as being letters that were sent, but I
would have to object to the truth of
some of the statements that are made,
particularly in the letter dated
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January 23, 1968 referring to
Mr. Bradley’s request having the effect
of causing injustice on others. But I j
have no objection to either of them.
THE COURT: All right. They will
be received. I will not consider them
for the truth of the recitation.
MR. HIGHSAW: That will be both
four and five, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Are you
through with the witness?
MR. HIGHSAW: Yes.
THE COURT: Any redirect?
MS. McDONAID: Yes, Your Honor,
just a few questions.
24
/ f f
REDIRECT EXAMINATION 1
BY MS. MCDONALD:
i; I
Q Mr. Bradley, when you had a problem which you
wanted resolved by your union, who did you look
to?
A I looked to the local chairman.
Q Now, what is his name?
A Mr. L. M. Greater.
Q Prior to Mr. Greater who was the man?
A E. M. Hudson.
Q If you had a grievance, you would go to one of
these two men?
A That’s true.
i
Q In your opinion, did you conclude that either|
Mr. Greater or Mr. Hudson, as his predecessor,i
would be able to resolve your problems?
A Well, I thought that was the proper source, that
was the proper person to go to.
Q Now, when you were classified as a mail porter
from 1944 when you took over Mr. King’s job, were|
you making more money than the other mail porters?
A I was making approximately thirty dollars more
than the other men.I
MS. McDONALD: Prior to the lunch
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116
break I had offered into evidence
Plaintiff’s Exhibits 4 and 5, and the
Court reserved ruling on them.
THE COURT: Yes, because I didn't
know where it came from, or at least it
didn't appear that the witness knew.
Q (By Ms. McDonald.) Now, Mr. Bradley, referring
to Plaintiff’s Exhibits 4 and 5, four being the
record of retired employee, and five being the
National Railroad Passenger Corporation half-rate
order, would you tell me how you acquired i
Exhibit 4?
A Yes. What is four? This is four about my
retirement?
Q Yes.
A Well, I did not ask for this. This was sent to I
me by Mr. C. A. Pretty, who is manager of the
pension bureau, Southern Pacific Company in San
Francisco.
THE COURT: That is what you told
;
me before lunch, is it not, and you con
cluded that was the case because his
name was on the envelope on the outside.
THE WITNESS: That’s right. It was
sent to me by him. It was the return
/?; . .
117
address, Southern Pacific Company,
C. A. Pretty, San Francisco.
(By Ms. McDonald.) Now, do you have any other way!
of finding out whether or not Mr. Pretty is, as
you feel he is, an employee of Southern Pacific
Railroad?
I send all of my retirement, I mean insurance
money to Mr. Pretty.
How do you address your letters to Mr. Pretty?
I address it to Southern Pacific Company,
Mr. C. A. Pretty, Manager of the Pension Bureau,
San Francisco, California.
MS. McDONAID: Your Honor, again
I offer in evidence Plaintiff's Exhibit 4.
MR. BURCH: Your Honor, we have the
Isame objection. I do not have anything
to add except what I said earlier.
THE COURT: I think we are sort of
making a mountain out of a molehill. I
I will consider it for what it is worth. !
It is received.
(By Ms. McDonald.) Referring to Exhibit 5, the
half rate order, how did you obtain that?
I mailed a request to Mr. Pretty for transporta-
i
tion to Detroit, Michigan. We do not have passes
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any more, it is a rate order. So, I requested a
rate order from Mr. Pretty in San Francisco to
.IDetroit, Michigan.
Did you write Mr. Pretty at the same address as
you described before?
|
I wrote Mr. Pretty, Southern Pacific Company,
C. A. Pretty, Manager of Pension Bureau in
|
San Francisco, California.
And did you receive Plaintiff’s Exhibit 5 in
response to that request?
I received that rate order in response to my
request. I
Now, on the envelope containing this half rate
i
order was there the same information that was
on the envelope sending you your record of retired
employee?
Yes, sir, it was in the upper left-hand corner,
Ian envelope with the return Southern Pacific
Company, C. A. Pretty, Manager, Pension Bureau,
San Francisco, California.
MS. McDONALD: I offer in evidence
Plaintiff's Exhibit 5.
MR. BURCH: The same objection,
Your Honor.
THE COURT: Well, now I have some
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let me see that, please, ma'am. Okay,
it is received.
(By Ms. McDonald.) Earlier, Mr. Bradley, before
lunch, I believe you were asked a question whether!
or not race had a factor in your not transferring
to Group 1. Do you recall that question?
II do.
Do you recall that your answer was no?
That’s right.
Now, do you feel that race was a factor in your
being classified as a mail porter?
I do.
iMR. BURCH: Objection, Your Honor,
as to his feeling. He is simply drawing!
a conclusion. That is for the Court to ;
decide.
THE COURT: It may be, but I will i
let him answer it. ’
I do.
Do you feel the fact that if you wanted to
transfer to Group 1, you would only have seniority!
dated January 1, 1966 when you transferred, do you;
feel that was because of your race?
I do.
MS. McDONALD: No further questions.
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THE COURT: I have just one or two.
I
BY THE COURT:
Q This question of transferring from Group 2 to
Group 1, that arose at the time that your union
was absorbed by 589?
A That's right. Yes, sir.
Q And it was as a result of the contract between
the railroad and Local 589 that this question
of transferring from one seniority group to
another arose, am I correct in that?
A No, sir.
Q Okay. Tell me.
A We could not transfer from Group 2 to Group 1.
That was done by the union. The union placed
all the employees in Group 2 and Group 1. They
dovetailed us in there.
Q Now, what was your situation before you were
associated with 589?
A What was my situation before?
Q What group did you belong to, what were your
seniority rights or your job rights?
A I was in Group 2.
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Q
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And had been since 1944?
1954 when we joined the union.
.
Okay. You joined 1534?
That’s right, sir.
And was it as a result of the union agreement'
with the railroad in 1954 that you were a
.
Group 2 employee?
Yes, sir.
I see. And you remained in that status, that was
the situation until 1966, wasn’t it?
That’s right. When the union and the company,
I don’t know, I didn’t see the contract, but they
put all of the members in Group 2, those in the
mail room, and in Group 1 giving us seniority date
of January 1st, 1966, even though my seniority
date was far earlier than that.
But you did not, you did not find that acceptable,
you wanted to retain your earlier seniority date
and stay in Group 2. Do I understand you to say
that ?
I wanted my earlier seniority date so I could
exercise my rights in Group 1.
Would it be fair to say you wanted to have your
cake and eat it too? You wanted to go to the new
and different group, but you wanted your seniority
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to date back from the original group?
A Well, Your Honor —
Q Just answer my question. Isn’t that really what
you wanted?
A No, it is not.
Q Tell me what you did want now?
A I felt if I had used my seniority date of
January 1st, 1966 and bid on a job in Group 1
I would
Q You told me that. You would lose your job when
you had a layoff.
A That’s right. And I would be losing all those
years.
Q So you thought it was to your advantage to stay
in Group 2?
A Now, if I had my seniority back when I should have
had it, 1934, then I would have been able to
exercise my right in Group 1, assuring me of a job,r
Had I bid on a job with January 1st, 1966 seniority,
'
somebody who was employed as late as December, 196$
| could have and would have —
Q They would have had seniority over you, would
they not?
A They certainly would have, and I have no doubt
I would be eventually out on the street.
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A
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What other job classifications were Group 2
classifications in the interval from 1954 until
1966?
I don’t quite understand.
All right. You were classified as a mail porter?
That’s right.
And that classification is a Group 2 job?
That's right.
And that began in 1954?
That's right.
What other jobs were Group 2 jobs other than mail
porter?
Well, the janitors.
All right.
And there were men at the station, mail porters,
train porters.
Redcaps?
Not Redcaps, I mean porters that handle mail, put
mail on the train and janitors around the depot,
and some truck drivers from Group 2.
And that was essentially all of the Group 2 jobs?
That's right, practically. There may be a few
others, but that was the majority.
Well, now, you have told us that Local 589 was
integrated the whole time you were in there, correct?
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A That’s right.! |
Q Had a substantial number of Negro members and ai
large number of white members, I am sure?
i A And the only reason it was integrated, Your Honor,j
was that they took us in from Group 2 and gave us
the day of January 2, 1966. That was the cause of
the integration.
! Q I don’t believe I understand what you are telling |
me. You have been in 1534?
A That’s right.
Q Was it integrated?
A It was predominantly Negro.
Q Did it have as many white members as —
| A No, no whites.
Q No whites at all?I
j A No, sir.
Q Now, in '66 what happened was that an all Negro
union was merged into 589?
A That’s true.
I Q I see.
A So that gave us more than a hundred Negro members
in 589.
:
Q Prior to that time had 589 been exclusively
white?
A Exclusively white.
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Q I see. I’m beginning to see a little bit what
this is all about. For ten years you had two
unions, one all white and one all black?
A That's right.
Q And in ’66 they merged?
A That is true.
Q You took up your grievances about this beginning
date of your seniority with your union officials?
A That is true.
Q Wrote them letters and attending the meetings
and heard it discussed and that sort of thing?
A I first took it up with my official, meaning the
manager of the duplicating bureau.
Q Well, whoever was the right man, you went through
the union channels, did you not?
A Step by step, yes, sir.
Q And what satisfaction did you get, what was the
net result of that?
A None whatsoever.
Q Did they ever go to the railroad with this?
A Did they go to the railroad?
Q Did the union go to the railroad with it, do you
know, undertaking to adjust it without success
or simply treat it as a union matter?
A Well, I don’t know, Your Honor. I said this,
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I contacted, as I said a moment ago. I talked with
Mr. Brian Adams, as I said a while ago. and he
told me that it was not the railroad that was
keeping us out. I mean keeping me from my proper
classification and rate. It was the union. That's
what Mr. Adams said in his office. i
When was this?
Prior to going into the union, and so then I
talked with the union, Mr. Greater, and he said,
It is not the union that wants to keep you out,
it is the railroad." Now, there I am between
.
the devil and the deep blue sea. Neither one
wanted to accept the responsibility, but we were
out and never allowed to go in.
THE COURT: Anything else in the
light of my questions?
MS. McDONALD : No, Your Honor,
except that the contract effective 1956
we were going to introduce later on,
but perhaps this would help you to
understand the groups.
THE COURT: I will have a look at
it later.
THE WITNESS: May I say this, Your j
Honor?
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THE COURT: Yes, you may.
THE WITNESS: They told me that
Local 589 didn’t have anything to do
with my grievance, that it had to come
through the International. Now, we had
no dealings with the International Lodge
whatsoever. All of our dealings were
with our local chairman, and from the
local chairman, he would carry it on to
the general chairman, and the general j
chairman, if he saw fit, he would carry
it on to the International where they
had the Grand Lodge. But it never got J
any further, as far as I know, and
Mr. Pat Gibson and Mr. Gates did not j
have any connection whatsoever with the
International. And the only reason that
I wrote to Mr. Denis was because I was
going step by step. I wanted to prove
I had written to Mr. Greater. I wrote j
to the president of 589, I wrote to
Mr. Pat Gibson and from there I wrote a
letter to Mr. Denis.
THE COURT: That’s all, then, thank
you.
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MR. BURCH: Pardon me.
THE COURT: I thought you said you
had nothing else.
MR. BURCH: I’m sorry.
RECROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. BURCH:
Q Mr. Bradley, let me see here so I can understand
one thing. You told us a few minutes ago when
you went to see Mr. Brian Adams who, incidentally,
is present at the table, is he not?
A I know him.
Q And he is and was the employee representative
of the company?
A He was.
Q And you told us you went to see him about the
classification and the rating of your job before
your job was covered by the union contract. Now.
you have also told us here that he told you that
the company couldn’t do anything about that, it
was up to the union. I want to ask you if you
are sure about those facts?
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A I made an appointment to talk with Mr. Adams
through his chief clerk, Mr. Roberts, and I did
igo see Mr. Adams. We talked at length. And he
said that it was not, he said he knew, after we
talked about it, and I told him my duties in the I
mail room, all that I was doing, and he said,
"Yes, I know that is true and I realize it is
not porter work." He had been down in the mail
i
iroom looking around, seeing upon my duties, and
said there was nothing he could do, this has been
going on for such a long time and in fact it had
been going on since 1912, since the mail room was
set up by C. A. King. He said, "Now, it is not
the railroad that is holding you back on this,
it is the union."
THE COURT: That was 1534, was it
not? That was before you ever merged
with 589?
THE WITNESS: I was trying to get
my seniority.
THE COURT: Just answer my question^
It was 1534 rather than 589?
THE WITNESS: That’s right, sir.
THE COURT: Because that was before
1966 when they merged?
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THE WITNESS: That’s right.
(By Mr. Burch.) And this was after your job came
into the union bargaining group and you were
covered by the union agreement, was it not?
Yes, sir.
Now, let me suggest that you may be in error in
your date, and that when you talked to Mr. Adams
it was around 1963. Is that possible?
I think it was before then.
Let me ask you if you recall around 1963 when
Mr. Shepherd, a Negro employee, bid for and took
a Group 1 job. Do you remember that?
I do.
And wasn't it about that same time that you went
to talk to Mr. Adams?
I don’t think so.
All right, sir. Didn't Mr. Adams tell you when
you came to talk to him that he couldn't do
anything about changing your position to Group 1,
that it was set up that way by the agreement with
the union?
No, sir. May I say what he said?
Isn’t any different from what you have already
told us?
It was not considering Group 1, I was talking
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about changing my rate and classification.
Q Didn’t he tell you that that could not be done
because it was all established by the agreement
with the union and there was no way to change
that?
A He said there was nothing he could do.
Q All right, sir. Now, let me ask you a little
bit about your understanding of your seniority
rights. You told us, I believe, that you studied
electrical engineering and you studied theology?
A That’s true.
Q Are you a minister of a church?
A I have been, but I am on sick leave.
Q Do you read fairly extensively?
A Pardon?
Q Do you read a good bit?
A Not now.
Q Back at the time you worked with the company, were
you interested in reading in general?
A I certainly was.
Q Didn’t you know in 1966 when the company and union
merged these seniority lists, that you had the
right to keep your seniority in Group 2 and in
fact to accumulate seniority in Group 2 if you
chose to take a job in Group 1?
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A That was not my understanding.
Q That was not your understanding. You did not
have any curiosity about what happened to your
seniority if you moved into a Group 1 job?
MS. McDONALD: I object to the
characterization of Mr. Bradley not
having curiosity. I think he can ask
him if he inquired about it.
THE COURT: I think it is legiti
mate cross examination.
A I was informed by Mr. Greater and Mr. B. ¥.
Gibson that I would lose my seniority in Group 2
if I bid on a job in Group 1.
Q When did they inform you of that?
A After the institution of -- after January 1st,
1966.
Q Did you just take their word for that and not
check it any further?
A I thought their word was law.
Q And you just accepted their word?
A Accepted their word.
THE COURT: Are you suggesting
that the contract was different, con
trary to what he has testified?
MR. BURCH: The contract is
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completely to the contrary. The
contract, even before ’66, at least as j
early as 1963, provided an employee
went from Group 1 to another would
retain and accumulate seniority in the
group from which he came.
THE COURT: In other words, he
I
could go up the ladder to a higher
group, and as to the higher group I
assume his seniority would begin when
he began that classification, but if
he got bumped in the higher classifica
tion he could still go back and have the,
advantage of his long seniority in the
jlower classification.
MR. BURCH: He certainly could,
and could bump anyone who was his junior.
THE WITNESS: Mr. P. W. Gibson
informed me personally that that was not
right. Mr. L. M. Greater told me the
same thing, that when I bid on a job in
Group 1 I would lose my seniority rights
in Group 2. I would have to exercise
my rights all the way down in Group 1
before I could be considered for any job;
___________________________________ J
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in Group 2.
Q (By Mr. Burch.) Let’s just take it right there,
if we can. I think that is basically right. You
did understand that if you went up to Group 1
and there was a force reduction, you had to use
your seniority and take any job you could in
Group 1 as long as there were jobs available.
Isn’t that your understanding?
A I could take a job in Group 1.
Q You had to take any job in Group 1 that was
Iavailable to you on the basis of your Group 1
seniority?
A That’s right.
Q Before you left that group?
A That’s right.
Q Now, once you got to the point that you couldn't
bump anybody in Group 1, you knew you could go
back to Group 2 on your Group 2 seniority?
A No, sir.
Q Now, you said you understood you had to exercise
your rights in Group 1 before you could be con
sidered for Group 2. What did you mean by that?
A Suppose somebody in Group 2 had bid, older than
I was, had bid on my job. I could not get that
job, and all of the white furloughed people that
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had been furloughed, they would have to come
back before I could even be considered for a job
in Group 2.
Now, did Mr. Greater or Mr. Gibson tell you that?
That's true.
Let’s just talk about white people for a minute.
Do you remember back in '62 there was a lot of
white people who were laid off in Southern
Pacific Company?
I do.
And didn’t that result in merger between the
old Texas & Louisiana Railroad and the Southern
Pacific Company?
Not necessarily.
Or do you know?
Not necessarily.
There were probably hundreds of people laid off
around 1962, weren’t there?
That is true.
And a lot of those people were laid off out of
Group 2 and went out the door and out to their
other employment?
Other employment, that’s true.
And they did not have the right to use their
Group 1 seniority to bump you in your Group 2
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.job, did they?
A The reason for that is they didn’t have enough
seniority. In fact, I was the oldest.
Q Whether they had seniority or not, they couldn't
touch your job, could they, because it was another
seniority group?
A I don’t quite understand that.
Q You knew that those people in Group 1 in ’62
couldn’t bump into your group, could they?
A That’s right.
Q Now, as a matter of fact, you just said you were
one of the oldest employees in Group 2 who was I
still working in Group 2 in January of 1966,
weren’t you?
A That’s true.
Q And Group 1 people in January of ’66 were given
Group 2 seniority as of January 1, 1966, weren’t
they?
THE COURT: I am lost now. You will
have to say that again. This is ’66
i
when the union’s merger occurred?
MR. BURCH: I think the merger,
Your Honor, was actually before that,
and I don’t know whether it is related
or not.
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THE COURT: Was this the provision
of a new contract?
MR. BURCH: There was a new con-
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tract that merged the seniority lists
as of January 1, 1966. Maybe Mr. Bradley
can confirm this.
Q (By Mr. Burch.) As of January 1, 1966, everyone
in Group 2 was given a seniority date in Group 1
as of that date?
A Everybody in Group 2 had seniority in Group 1 as
of January 1st, 1966. But that merger was before
'66. )
Q The merger of the union was before '66?
A That's right.
Q Let's just stay with January 1, ’66. On that same
day, everybody in Group 1 was given seniority in
Group 2, weren’t they?
A No, sir.
THE COURT: As of January 1?
Q As of January 1, 1966?
A No, sir.
Q What is the basis for your answer "No”, how do
you know that didn’t happen?
A Because I saw the list.
Q You knew in January of 1966 and thereafter that
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Negro employees were bidding to and moving into
Group 1 jobs, did you not?
A I did.
Q And in fact, some Negro employees before January 1„
1966 had bid into Group 1 jobs, hadn't they?
A That's right. Pardon me, please --
Q Let me ask the question, please. Ms. McDonald
will ask you some others if she wants to.
As I understand your testimony, you are
saying that because you thought you would lose
all your Group 2 seniority, that is the reason
you didn't bid the Group 1 jobs. Is that your
test imony?
A I didn't only think that, I was told that by
Mr. Greater and Mr. Gibson.
Q In fact, Mr. Bradley, you were rather proud of
your job in the mail room, were you not?
A Well. I was proud of my job, so much so that I
wanted to stay there and I enjoyed my work and
I enjoyed those that I was working with. But
naturally, I am like anybody else, if I could
advance I would want to advance. But I had to
consider the hereafter. I could not afford to
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lose thirty-two years' seniority taking a chance
on going into a higher group, into Group 1, and
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taking chances on losing all my rights and all
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my seniority and being bumped out of a job, losing
everything that I had.
Q In fact, Mr. Bradley, in all honesty, is it not
the case that what you asked the union representa
tives, and what you asked Mr. Adams, was that you
be permitted to stay in your mail room job, have
the title changed, and have the rate made higher.
Wasn't that what you wanted?
A No, sir. I wanted them to change my classificatioh,
■
correct my rate and permit me to bid on another
j ob.
Q Well, did you ask Mr. Adams to permit you to bid
on another job?
A If he had given me my seniority, I could have
bid on another job if I had asked him or not.
Q Mr. Adams never told you you could not bid on
another job, did he?
jA No, sir, he did not.
Q In fact, every bit of correspondence you had with
:
the union, the charge you filed with the Equal
Opportunity Commission asked that you be permitted
to stay in your job in the mail room and be given
a different title and higher rate. Now, that is
really what you wanted, was it not?
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A No, sir, I wasn’t concerned about staying in the
mail room. All I wanted was reclassification and
my correct seniority, and the rate according to
the classification.
Q Did you ever say to the company or to the union
or to the Equal Opportunity Employment that you
were not permitted to bid for a higher job?
A Did I ever say to the Equal Opportunity Commission!
or to the company or to the union?
Q Yes.
A That I was not permitted to bid to a higher job?
Q Yes.
A No, sir, I did not.
Q When you got ready to retire, did you go down to
the Railroad Retirement Board here in the Federal
Building and make application?
A I did.
Q Did you talk to someone there and make out some
forms?
A I did.
Q Let me show you a blank form. Up at the top it
is labeled "Employee’s Relinquishment of Rights," |
and I will ask you to look that over and tell us
whether you made out a form like that in applying
for your pension?
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A I did. I
Q All right, sir. Did you fill it in yourself?
A I don't know whether I filled it in myself or the
clerk there filled it in.
Q Let me see if it will refresh your recollection
to show you another form that is two pages printed
front and back, and I will ask you whether you
filled in that form?
A I am not able to say about whether I filled this
out or not.
Q That form is quite long, is it not?
A It is. In either case, I would have had to sign
it.
Q Well, as far as you recall, you either filled
these out or gave a clerk the information to put
down, did you not?
A That is true.
Q On the first short form that I showed you, there
is a place that says "Occupation.Did you tell
the clerk your occupation or write it down there?
A I don't know whether I told him or wrote it down.
But either one of the two, if I filled the form
out, I wrote it. If I did not fill the form out,
I told them what it was.
i Q What occupation did you tell them?
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A Mail porter.
Q Are you sure of that?
| A Positive.
Q Are you sure you did not put down there mail
clerk?
A That’s right.
MR. BURCH: Pass the witness.
.
THE COURT: That is all, thank you,|
you may be seated.I
(Witness excused.)
THE COURT: Next?
MS. McDQNAID: Your Honor, I would ;
like to offer in evidence Plaintiff's Exhibit 15 which
i is the labor agreement effective July 1st, 1956.
THE COURT: No objection, I take
I
it? Received.
MR. BURCH: No objection.
a 2 i c
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W. B. DEESE,
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10 A
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12 A
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14 A
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17 A
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DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MS. MCDONALD:
Will you state your name, please?
W. B. Deese, D-e-e-s-e.
And Mr. Deese, are you employed?
Southern Pacific Company.
When were you first employed by Southern Pacific?
July 22, 1949.
That is here in Houston?
Houston.
Now, how were you classified when you were first
employed in July of *69?
Train mail porter.
Was this at the station?
Southern Pacific station.
Tell the Court what your duties were as a porter
at the station?
To unload mail from the incoming and outgoing
train. After all the trains had departed, we
went in and washed windows, scrubbed floors and
dust all doors and things like that.
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Q How long did you work as a mail porter at the
train station?
A About two and a half years,
j Q What was the race of the other porters at that
time?
A All black.
Q Can you recall approximately how many mail porters
were employed at that time at the station?
A Approximately, maybe a hundred or something like
that. I don’t know the exact amount.
Q Now, did the mail porters at the train station
ever become classified in a group at Southern
'
Pacific? By group, I mean Group 1, 2, 3?
A Group 2.
i Q They were classified in Group 2?
A In Group 2 later on.
Q Was this the same group that the mail porters
|in the mail room classified in?
A Yes, sir.
Q Now, where did you go after you left your job
as mail porter at the train station?
A January, ’53 went to the mail room at 915 Franklin.
Q Now, when you came to the mail room, how did you
learn how to perform your duties?
A I was instructed by Mr. Bradley.
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How did you happen to apply for a transfer to the
mail room?
I was recommended by Mr. Moody and hired by
Mr. Henry Bradley.
Were you interviewed by Mr. Bradley?
Interviewed first.
Who was Mr. Moody?
A neighbor of mine. He worked in the mail room
at the time.
Was he a mail porter?
Yes, he was a mail room porter.
Now, when you came to the mail room in January
of 1953, what was the race of the other mail
porters?
Black.
All black?
All black.
Mr. Deese, I don’t want to delay the Court, but
can you just briefly explain to the Court what
your duties were as a mail porter in the mail roomf
IAs near as possible, we started out in the
morning and we were to sort mails for different
departments over to the depot and put them in
sacks, and after we would get back to 915 Franklin
we would take the mail out of the bundles and
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place them in pigeonholes for departmental
;
pigeonholes.
jQ Did you work with any loose mail?
A There were a type mail addressed central mailing
bureau and we had to open them and place them in
the various departments that they went to.
Q Did you perform any other duties in dealing with
mail?
A There were registers, U. S. registers that had
to be written up, and we wrote them up and weighed
them to see how much they weigh and put the
proper amount of postage that was supposed to be
placed upon them. And write them up as to the
destination and where they go with the return
receipts and so on. And we had to know the amount
that it would cost for this particular type of
service.
Q Did you have occasion to address any mail?
A Occasionally. We had an addressograph machine
that we would use to address various agencies
that were connected with the Southern Pacific
Railroad.
Q Did you actually pick up some of the bundles of
mail from the train station and freight station
and then in the evening return it?
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Sure did.
Approximately how much time total did you spend
during the day picking up the bundles and then
returning the bundles?
We had various schedules, and in the eight hours,
I would assume it would take from two and a half
to three hours to do this picking up, as far as
the trip was concerned.
Once you finished that, did you perform the other
duties that you described?
On the inside.
And how long was your work day, how many hours?
We worked from 7:00 o’clock until 10:30 and closed
the office up and went back 2:00 to 6:15 until
we got through, which would be sometimes 6:30.
Was it an eight hour work day or longer or shorterfj
It was an eight hour, but we had from 10:30 to
2:30 for eight or ten hours.
You worked a split shift?
Yes, that’s right.
If you wanted a day off, who would you contact?
Mr. Bradley.
Did you take orders from Mr. Bradley?
All orders came from him.
Did you have any qualms or mind taking orders
from Mr. Bradley?
No. We knew he was the supervisor.
How long did you work in the mail room as porter?
Twelve to twelve and a half years, I can’t
remember.
Do you remember when you left the mail room,
approximately?
Somewhere in 1965, I believe it was, latter part
of ’65 or first of '66. I don’t know the exact
date. But I was displaced by a Mr. Jones,
Mr. B . C . Jones. ;
How did he happen to displace you?
According to seniority. They had a rule that you j
could exercise your seniority rights on any
employee younger than you, you could bump off
that job.
So then Mr. Benny Jones came from another job
and bumped you?
From the mail porter to come over to the mail
room porter, and he bumped me because of his
seniority.
Did Benny Jones work the station?
Yes, sir.
He was also in Group 2, as you testified earlier?
Yes, sir.
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So he exercised what type seniority to bump you?
Group 2 seniority.
If, as a mail porter, you would have been classi
fied in Group 1, is it your understanding that
Benny Jones could have bumped you?
Not if I was in Seniority 1, he could not have
bumped me.
What job did you go to after you were bumped off?
I took a job as messenger, lower paying.
Can you recall approximately how much lower paying
it was per month?
I will take a guess at near forty dollars a month.iI
How long did you work the messenger job?
From 1965 until 1967, I believe, the latter part
of 1965 or the first of 1967. A year, or close
to two years, something like that.
Now, when you left the messenger's job, where
Idid you go next? I
I bid upon a District 1 job as a junior file clerk1
in the freight claims department.
Now, at the time that you went to the file clerk's
job in the freight claims, what was the race of the
other file clerks?
White.
How many file clerks were there at that time in
J -Jo •<_-
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freight claims?
There was two others, a head file clerk and
assistant and the lower file clerk’s job.
And yourself?
And myself.
That is three in total?
Yes.
And the other two were white?
Yes.
To your best knowledge, were you the first black
person to be employed as a file clerk in freight
claims?
To my knowledge, yes.
Do you know of any others employed there?
No, sir.
After you became a part of District 1, what was
your understanding of the agreement and how it
would affect your seniority rights?
MR. BURCH: I will object for the
record, Your Honor, as to his under
standing .
THE COURT: I would sustain it.
MR. BURCH: The contract is now in
evidence.
THE COURT: I would sustain it.
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MB. McDONALD : I’m sorry, Your
Honor, I did not understand the basis.
THE COURT: The basis is that the
contract itself would be the best
evidence as to what the provisions of
it were, and what this witness under
stood them to be would not be of any
relevance.
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(By Mrs. McDonald.) So, after you left the file
clerk's job, where did you go next?
I went to the next file clerk’s job.
What was the name of that?
The same department. They had a low and middle
and head file clerk, and each one paid a different
salary.
Why did you make that change?
Because of more money, I would say.
Where did you go from that file clerk's job to
the next one?
!
II took a temporary position as head file clerk.
How long did you work that?
Approximately three or four months.
Where did you go after that, Mr. Deese?
I bid on control clerk’s job in the collection
department.
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When was that, approximately? I
I don’t know the exact date or the month that I
did do this. I stayed there about four days and
got bumped by a junior employee.
What year was this?
1967.
So how long did you work as a control clerk?
Four days.
When you first became a control clerk, how many |
control clerks were there?
I think there was five or six.
And what was the race of these other control
clerks?
White.
To your knowledge, were you the first black to be
employed as control clerk?
Yes.
Now, you testified earlier that you were bumped
by another employee off the control clerk’s job.
Who was this employee?
I don’t know his full name, but we call him Bob.
Do you know his race?
White.
Now, did he have more or less seniority in
Group 1?
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More seniority.
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And that enabled him to bump you?
Yes.
.
Did he have more or less company seniority?
He had less company seniority.
How do you know this?
According to the roster, the seniority roster.
Are these seniority rosters posted?
Yes, sir.
Now, after you were bumped off the control clerk’s;
job, where did you go?
Head file clerk.
Did you make more or less money after you were
bumped?
i
Less money.
This was after you were bumped off the control
clerk’s job?
Yes, less money.
How long did you work in that capacity in the
file clerk’s job?
About thirty days, and then another job came on
the board as statistical clerk in the service
account.
Did you bid on that?
I bid on the job.
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Q Did you get the job?
A I got the job.
i Q How long did you work as a statistical clerk?I
A About eighteen months.
Q How did you happen to lose that job?
i
A I got bumped, displaced by a senior employee on
District 1 roster.
Q What was the race of this employee?
A White.
Q Did you say he was senior employee on District 1
roster?
A District 1 roster.
Q Was he a senior employee on the company roster?
A No.
Q He has less company seniority?i j
A Yes, sir.
Q Now, did either of these white employees, the one
who bumped you from the control clerk’s job and
the one that bumped you from the statistical
clerk’s job, was their company seniority prior
to 1953 when you became a mail porter?
MR. BURCH: I want to object to
this. It is a part of a series, this
is completely irrelevant to Mr. Bradley’s
case.
155
THE COURT: I think it is, too.
What are you trying to show by this
witness?
MS. McDONALD: We filed a motion
to make it a cross action and you deniedj
that action.
THE COURT: Just thirty days ago
or something.
MS. McDONALD: No, this was months
ago, and it is our contention, Your
Honor, that if it cannot be maintained I
as a cross action, at least we can show !
discrimination to other persons so
identif ied. :
THE COURT: Perhaps so. What has
this witness told us? He has gotten
two or three Group 1 higher classifica
tions, higher paying jobs, and has been
bumped after, once, a matter of four day£
and, once, a matter of eighteen months,
by an employee who had more Group 1
seniority. What you are really saying
is that the contract is inequitable in
that it ought to have provided for
company seniority rather than Group 1
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or Group 2 seniority. Isn’t that what
you are getting down to?
MS. McDONAID: I think we are, Your
Honor. What I am trying to establish, j
and I think the Fifth Circuit has held I
in Local 189, that a company and union
cannot condition promotion or demotion
on the type of seniority that has been
denied people because of their race.
Now, I have in evidence a seniority
roster for District 1 employees as of
1965 which shows one black person. I
have in the testimony also that there
have been very, very few, if any, black I
persons in Group 1 until recently. |
Therefore, they have been denied the
opportunity to accrue that Group 1
seniority. What I’m saying is that
therefore promotions and demotions
shouldn’t be on the basis of Group 1,
but company seniority. And I want to
show through this witness what happened
to him is what Mr. Bradley did not want
to suffer, the constant bumping. This
man has less company seniority than
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Mr. Bradley and is a younger man and is
willing to take the chance, and he also
was a messenger — |
THE COURT: Are we through with
this?
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MS. McDONALD: No, Your Honor, I
have a few more questions.
THE COURT: All right. Let’s get |
through with it. I am going to let it '
go on, I think we will save time.
(By Ms. McDonald.) Had these people that bumped |
you been employed prior to 1953?
No.
I
They had been employed after?
No, 1965. }
Now, you said you worked as a file clerk in the
freight claims department. Will you tell the
Court what your duties were?
To file all the claims in freight claims department.
What did you do daily, what types of filing did i
you do? I
File the claims, open the mail and mail out the
mail, address and mail out the mail to various —
2 4 all the correspondence.
2 -> Q Di d you do anyt h i n g e l s e ?
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No.
Now, as a control clerk, what were your duties
as a control clerk?
To put the numbers on the freight bills that
were sent into us from the various agencies.
What kind of numbers did you put on?
We put what we called freight bill numbers and
divide them up to cashiers, a group for cashiers,
group for the station records and group for the
consignee or the shipper, whoever it was, that
was involved in the shipment and whatnot.
Did you do anything else as a control clerk?
Just that.
Now, what were your duties as a collection clerk?
We collected money from the various shippers and
consignees who do the shipping and receiving.
We collected all the money for the freight
shipments.
Did you write any letters to clerks or how did
you collect?
No, just collected.
How would you collect?
We had IBM cards and we matched them up with the
amount of money that they sent in, the collection
that they sent in. We would take them and add
olvj'yac.
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them up and subtract them and so on, whatever
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was necessary, to meet the amount of money that
|was sent in with the check.
■
Q Now, what were your duties as a statistical clerk?!
A Well, our duties as statistical clerk were to
take the attorney’s report and add it up from
the attorney’s report of any train that went out,
and every time it made a stop, we would take and
calculate the amount of miles and the time from
one stop to the other, and so on, and the amount |
of cars that they put on and the ones that they
picked up, and put the attorneys on them and how
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much time it would take to get from one destina
tion to the other.
Q How did you learn to perform each of these job
;
duties, how did you learn to perform collection
clerk and statistical clerk and file clerk? j
; I
A I was taught by the one in charge of these
various departments.I
i Q Just one further question, Mr. Deese. When you
were bumped off of the statistical clerk’s job,
i1
you then went to what job?
A I went as collection clerk in the zone office.
Q Did that result in a loss in salary?
A No.
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Q It is the same?
A No, it was a promotion, which is more, collection!
clerk.
Q Is that the job you are working on now?
A Yes, it is.
Q Are you saying the collection clerk makes more
than a statistical clerk?
A Yes, sir.
MS. McDONALD: No further questions),
Your Honor.
CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. BURCH:
Q Mr. Deese, do you know whether other employees
in so-called Group 1 jobs are bumped from time
to time?
A Do I know of any?
Q Yes.
A Personally, just from my personal standpoint,
sometimes you hear it, you know what I mean.
Q Don't you know, Mr. Deese, very well that
numerous employees, including numerous white
4 4 >
1employees, are bumped on almost a weekly basis?
Well, I couldn’t say definitely. I can say that j
that is the procedure.
And it is not at all unusual for a white employee
in Group 1 to be bumped by someone else, is it?
No, sir.
As a matter of fact, at the present time you have |
your company seniority in your present job, don’t
you?
I
As of July 1st, yes.
And you understand that there is no such thing
as group seniority any more?
As of July 1st, yes. July 1st, 1971, now,
according to the union, 1971 now.
Yes, sir. You know that your entire company
seniority is available to you for any clerical
job you might want, is it not?
Right now, yes.
Whether it was formerly in Group 1, 2, or wherever
it was?
As of July 1st, yes.
When you went to work in the mail room the first
time, was that job subject to the union agreement
or not?
No. it was an excepted position for about a year.
162
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Q
Mr. Moody, you say, recommended you and Mr. Moody
at that time was working as a mail room porter,
was he not?
Yes .
Who did you talk to besides Mr. Moody and
Mr. Bradley in connection with taking that job?
I didn’t talk to anyone. I only talked to
Mr. Bradley.
Did you ever talk to Mr. Markham?
Yes, sir, after Mr. Bradley had talked to me, he
carried me to Mr. C. S. Markham and said this is
the man and Mr. Markham said, "He is going to
work with you, and so that’s it."
That same day you first saw Mr. Bradley?
That’s right.
i
Now, Mr. Markham was the supervisor at that time, j
was he not?
That’s right.
And you recognized that he was the supervisor in
charge of the mail room and the machinery repair
room and the duplicating bureau?
He was in charge of the entire duplicating bureau.
And that included the mail room, didn’t it?
Yes, it did.
You were aware before you came in to testify today,
J
I '1 that it was Mr. Bradley’s contention that he was
2 the supervisor over the mail room, weren't you?
3 | A Yes.j
4 MR. BURCH: I have no other
|
5 | questions. Pass the witness.
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CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. HIGHSAV:
Q Mr. Deese, am I correct in my understanding that
you have held a Group 1 job continuously since
sometime in '67? i
A Yes.
Q And at the time you bid in that Group 1 job, j
you were working in a Group 2 job?
A Yes.
Q And at that time you did have less seniority
than Mr. Bradley?
A Sure.
Q Now, you have also mentioned that you have
company seniority in Group 1 jobs since 1971,
according to the union. According to the union,
do you mean Local Lodge 589?
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A That’s right.
Q How was it that the Union 589 informed you of
that fact?
A At the union meeting.
Q There was a union meeting?
| A That’s right.
Q When was that?
A The union meetings are held first Tuesday night
I
of each month, I think it is, I think I have the
dates right.
Q Do you recall whether or not members were informed
of this, of the rights they had back in January,
1966 when you were first placed on Group 1
seniority roster?
»
A The only way that I found out that my seniority
date would run from January 1, '66, I was told
about it and asked to look on the roster, stating
that they would be consolidated on the Group 1i
seniority roster as of 1-1-66.
Q And this was told to you at a union meeting also?
A It was told in a union meeting. I wasn’t at that
particular meeting.
I Q Do you know Mr. Greater?S
j A Yes, L. M. Greater, yes.
Q What position does he hold in 589?
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2S Q
He is local chairman.
Is that chairman of the grievance committee?
No, he is the local chairman. He is overall
the grievances, too, I might say that. I say yes
on that question.
Was he elected to a position?
Yes, he is elected.
Is the lodge an integrated lodge?
Yes, it is.
And it has a substantial number of Negro members?
Would youmind repeating that?
A substantial amount of Negro members?
Yes, it has.
Now, on that committee, do you know whether or
i
not there are two Negro members on the grievance
committee?
They had two up until last month, I believe, and
since then they put Mr. Davis as assistant to the
zone office grievance.
Mr. Davis?
Yes.
Is he a white man or a Negro?
No, he is a Negro. We asked to have one in the
black race to represent us.
Now, you spoke of union meetings that you attended
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_________________________________________________________________ 166
Do you remember whether or not you were at a union;
meeting in July of 1967 when Mr. Bradley's prob- I
lems were discussed?
A Yes. I think I can remember. I can’t remember
i each word for word.
Q Do you recall what the union meeting decided to
do with Mr. Bradley's problems at that time?
A I'm not sure. I don't know if I should say,
i
but I think Mr. Greater said that his case was
referred to Mr. Gibson, who was at that particular!
time our chairman, and there was nothing that he
could do. I am not sure of this now. I don’t !
know his exact words, so I would rather not say.
But he said it was out of his hands, Mr. Greater'si
Q Do you know what position Mr. Gibson held at that |
time?
| A I don't know if you call that the general
chairman or not, but it is above Mr. Greater.
Q What was your understanding of the general
chairman, was he a Local 589 chairman?
A He is over the entire local here in the State ofI
Texas.
j Q In other words, he is not an officer of Lodge 589?
A No, he is over 589.1
i Q Have you been in any other meetings of Local 589
9- - 7 4-.
when Mr. Bradley’s problems have come up?
Yes. We go through proper channels in taking
grievances we have. We take them to the grievance
man and from there to the local chairman and from
there to Mr. Gibson and from Mr. Gibson it goes
on up to higher authorities.
Who was the grievance man?
At that time, that particular time we gave them
to -- we have one now named Baker, but we had
another one then.
White or Negro?
Each department has its own grievance committee.
And by the grievance man, you mean the grievance
man in the department in which you worked?
Yes, we give that grievance to that particular
person.
MR. HIGHSAW: That is all, Your
Honor.
THE COURT: Is that all? Suppose
we take our recess at this time.
(A short recess was taken.)
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THE COURT: Please be seated
REDIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MS. MCDONALD:
Q
A
Q
A
Q
A
Mr. Deese, if you had a grievance concerning
your employment and you wanted to go to a union
official, who would you go to?
The grievance man in my department.
And what is his name?
The last name is Beckman. I don’t know his first
name.
A member of 589?
Yes, sir.
MS. McDONALD: I have nothing
further.
THE COURT: That is all, sir, you
may step down.
(Witness excused.)
1 ANDREW M. DOTSON,
2 a witness called for and on behalf of plaintiff,
3 having been duly sworn, was examined and testified
4 as follows:
5 DIRECT EXAMINATION
6
7
BY MS. MCDONALD:
8 Q Would you state your name, please, sir?
9 A Andrew M. Dotson.
10 Q Mr. Dotson, are you employed?
1 1 A Yes, sir.
12 Q Where are you employed?
13 A Delta Airlines.
14 Q Were you ever employed by Southern Pacific?
15 A Yes.
16 Q Here in Houston?
17 A Yes , I was .
18 Q When were you first employed?
19 A 1940 and returned in '45.
20 Q In what classification were you priced?
21 A In 1940 I was working SP shops and I left and
22 came back in ’45 in the rip shop.
23 Q What did you do at the SP shops?
24 A Labor.
25 Q And did you ultimately work in the mail room at
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Southern Pacific?| !
A In 1953 until T62.
Q When you first came to the mail room, how did you i
learn how to perform your job duties?
j A Mr. Bradley, along with the rest of the men.
Mr. Bradley was my boss.
Q Is that Henry Bradley?
A That’s Henry Bradley.
Q If you wanted to have a day off, who did you
contact?
A I would tell Mr. Bradley.
Q Did you ever take any other instructions from any
other person other than Mr. Bradley during the
time that you were employed in the mail room?
A Pertaining to mail room work, no.
; Q Now, can you briefly tell the Court what your
duties were?
I A It has been quite a while now, but I recall, I
think it was 7:00 o’clock we would go to work,
pick up mail at the SP station and post office,
came back and distributed the mail, go to the
freight house and pick up mail, deliver the mail;
| to Baker, Botts law firm, pick up at the union
station, back to the post office and pick up more
mail and then distribute mail in the building at
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171
other departments in the building.
Did you pick up mail every day?
Yes, five days a week. Sometimes we would
alternate.
Other mail porters would pick up the mail?
Yes .
How many mail porters would be responsible for
picking up the mail in one day?
I drove the truck the majority of the time.
So the other mail porters wouldn’t go, is that
correct --
Right.
-- with you when you were picking up mail. Did
you do anything else?
IOh, yes.
i
What else?
I would get my agent board ready and then
distribute mail to the building, the U. S. mail
i
and the company’s mail to each individual where
it was going, in the State or out of the State.
Were these pigeonholes?
Yes.
Did you do anything else?
If I had a few minutes and I noticed that my board
was low on envelopes, I would run the machine, my
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addressograph machine, and fix my envelopes so
my board wouldn’t be out when it came time for me
to get the mail ready for U. S. mailing.
Did you do any loose sheet mail?
Quite a bit.
What did you do with that?
So that it would get to each individual, it all
came in bulk, and we had to cut it out.
What do you mean "cut it out"?
i
For instance, if something was coming to you,
put it in your mail box, and each individual
|up and down the line.
When you mean the word "cut" does that mean take
it out?
|
Yes, cut your name from the other guy, because
it is all bundled up together, so these are onion
skin sheets.
Separate them?
Right.
What would you do with them?
Pigeonhole it.
Did you use the addressograph machine?
Oh, yes.
What did you do with that?
For my envelopes for the different agents up and
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down the SP line.I
Q On the days that you would be responsible for
picking up the mail, would you spend more than
three hours a day picking up and delivering the
bundles of mail?I
A No, I would say three hours.
Q What did you do the other times?
I A We had a break in there where the mail room was
closed, and then we would come back in the
afternoon, continually inside the building
distributing our outgoing and incoming mail,
and preparing the postage for the out-of-city
and train mail.
Q Is that when you performed the other duties that
you have described, pigeonholing?
A Yes, that was morning and afternoon also, in
between times.
Q Now, when did you leave Southern Pacific?
A In July of ’62.
i Q Why did you leave?
A Furlough, cut-off rather, the job played out.
Q Have you been since recalled?
A Haven't heard a word from the SP since, nothing
about being called back to work.
i Q Why didn’t you transfer to another group?
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I had no choice.
What do you mean?
When I left the Sky Cap I relinquished my Red Cap
rights, and went to the mail room and I was on
their roster.
What roster is that?
MR. BURCH: Your Honor, I would
object again. This is totally irrele
vant to any issue in this case, what
might have happened to this man.
THE COURT: Well, the plaintiff is
contending, as I understand it, that
this was a course of conduct that was
in itself discriminatory. I will hear
it.
(By Ms. McDonald.) You were in what group when
you transferred to the mail room?
I guess it was Group 2, this local that we joined.
Why didn’t you transfer to another group?
I couldn’t transfer, I didn’t have any place to go
I was on the mail room roster under their seniority
list. My other years, I couldn’t move any more.
MS. McDQNOUGH: No further
questions, Your Honor.
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BY THE COURT:
Was there a layoff, they did not have enough
jobs and someone with greater seniority took
yours, and perhaps you were one of those —
No. What happened, Judge, the company merged
or moved the office or some of the force to
San Francisco, and my job was not classified
as a movable job. So by doing this, they reduced
the force.
Some fellows lost their job and you were one of
them?
Right.
And you did not have enough seniority that you
could keep the job that you had?
That’s right. I was the only one.
THE COURT: Any cross examination
at all?
1 CROSS EXAMINATION
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BY MR. BURCH:
I
Q Just a couple of questions. As I understand it,
the force in the mail room was cut down. Is
that correct, when you were furloughed?
A One man.
Q Were there five in there besides you, before you ;
were furloughed, or four, or do you remember?
A Five of us.
Q At the time you were furloughed, was it your
understanding that just about every department
or small office in the company’s organization
was a separate seniority unit?
A It was my understanding that the mail room porter,;
that job, did not merit either severance paper
'or going to San Francisco, either one. I
Q Let me get at it another way. You had previously !
worked for Southern Pacific as a Red Cap?
A Right.
Q Was that a Group 2 seniority job?
A We weren’t localized, so I couldn't say whether
it was Group 1 or 2 or 3, because I couldn’t bump
from the Red Cap roster to the baggage room
porters. I couldn't go there.
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Was the Red Cap job a union job?
Yes.
Are you sure about that, are you sure it was
covered by the clerks?
It was not covered by the clerks, it was covered
by United Transport Workers.
All right. You understood that the job in the
mail room was covered by the Brotherhood of
Railway Clerks, a different union?
I think when they revised, I joined. I think the
book stated it was Brotherhood of Railway Clerks
and Freight Handlers.
It was a different union that had the contract
over the mail room?
Than the Red Caps, right.
MR. BURCH: That is all I have.
MR. HIGHSAW: No questions.
THE COURT: That is all, thank you.
(Witness excused.)
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178
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RENFRO MOODY.
a witness called for and on behalf of the plaintiff,
having been duly sworn, was examined and testified as
4 ; follows:
5 : DIRECT EXAMINATION
6
BY MS. MCDONALD:
7
8 1 Q Would you state your name, please?
Q A Renfro Moody.
10 i Q Mr. Moody, what is your race?
11 A Negro.
1 2 i1 Q Are you employed?
13 I A Yes, ma’am.
.4 Q By whom are you employed?
15 ! A SP Railroad.
16 Q That is Southern Pacific here?
17 \ A Yes.
18 i Q In Houston?
19
i A Yes, sir.
20 1 Q When were you first employed, Mi'.
2 1 ! A January 22, 1946.
22 Q How were you employed?
23
! A How was I employed?
2-v Q What .job?
2 S A Mail porter. _1
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1 i Q Was that working in a mail room?
7a* A Mail room.
3 1 Q At the time that you were employed, what was the
4 race of the other mail room porters?
A Negro.
6 i Q All Negro?
7 Aj All Negro.
8 Q How did you learn how to perform your job duties?
9 ! A. Through Mr. Bradley. He taught me about handling
10 the mail.I
1 1 ! T H E C O U R T : A l i t t l e l o u d e r , I c a n n j )
1 2 h e a r y o u .
1 3 Q D i d y o u g e t i n s t r u c t i o n s f r o m a n y o n e e l s e
1 4 i c o n c e r n i n g y o u r m a i l r o o m p o r t e r d u t i e s ?
i s | A No, h e w a s h e a d o f t h e d e p a r t m e n t t h e r e .
16 | Q T h a t i s M r . B r a d l e y y o u a r e r e f e r r i n g t o ?
1 7 A M r . B r a d l e y .
1 8 Q Now, i f y o u h a d a p r o b l e m c o n c e r n i n g y o u r
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employment situation and you wanted to go to
the union, whom did you contact, who did you go
to in the union to get help?
I believe Mr. Greater.
Is that Lo M. Greater?
Yes, ma'am.
Was he grievance chairman, to your best knowledge,
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____________ _______________________________ 180
of 589?
Yes.
Now, did you ever have an opportunity to talk
with Mr. Hudson, who was Mr. Greater's predecessor!?
Yes, ma’am. He came in the mail room.
What did he do when he came in the mail room? 1
Well, he said if we joined the union there he woulji
get our -- change our status from porter to clerk.jIIDid you ultimately join 589?
After closed shop, yes, we had to join.
Can you speak up a little louder? You did join
589?
Yes, ma'am.
Now, Mr. Moody, what job do you presently have?
Line desk clerk in the accounting department.
That is in what group? j
Group 1.
When did you first transfer out of Group 2 into
Group 1?
Must have been about mid summer of '67.
Why didn't you transfer earlier?
MR. BURCH: Just for the record,
Your Honor, I want to object to why.
She is asking now for subjective state
of mind.
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THE COURT: Okay. He may answer.!
Why did you transfer in *67 from Group 2,
;
to Group 1?
I
THE WITNESS: Why did I?
| Q (By Ms. McDonald.) Why didn’t you transfer
earlier, I think is the question?
A Because you give up all your seniority rights
to go into Group 1.
Q What do you mean by that?
j A Well, you start from January 1st of ’66, and if
you didn’t make it, you had to exercise your
seniority rights before you got back to Group 2,
i and you didn’t know, I mean you had to bid on any
I
other job that you could hold there. It was a|
big decision to make.I
Q Now, you worked as a file clerk for a while?i
A Yes, I did.
Q What were your duties as a file clerk?
A Filing freight claims in the freight claim
department. I mean dead file. I think I started
in the dead file, just filing bills, way bills.
Q Just filed all day?
I A Yes.
Q And in what department was that?
A That was freight claims, the first job I worked.
182
1 Q Now, was that job paying more than the job that
2 you occupied before as mail porter?
3 A Yes, ma'am.i
4 Q Now, when did you get the job of line desk clerk?
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Q
That must have been about two years ago. I
changed from freight claim and went to record
clerk in the accounting department and the job
came open as control clerk in the same department
there and I bid on it. Then I was bumped off and
then I bid on line desk clerk where it paid the
same as the control clerk did.
What were your duties as a record clerk?
Well, it was almost the same as freight claim
was, filing way bills.
Just filing of papers?
Yes, filing papers.
Did you tell me what your duties were as a line
desk clerk?
Well, I make the way bill for the rate department.
Is that filing for what, what do you do with
these bills?
Well, it is a running bill that moves with the
shipment there and you have to match the revenue
bill up with it.
You match two bills together?
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A Match them together and pass it on to the rate
department. All you have to do is check your
card number and way bill number and date and pass
it on to the rate department.
Q Do you clip them together?
A Yes.
Q And then what did you do?
A Give them to the rate department.
Q Is this line clerk, line desk clerk paying
more than the mail porter’s job in the mail room?
A Considerably more.
MS. McDGNALD: I have no further
questions, Your Honor.
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BY MR. BURCH:
CROSS EXAMINATION
20 Q Let me ask about your testimony. You understood
2 1 you had to give up your seniority rights if you
2 2 went to Group 1?j
2 3 j A Yes.
24 Q Did you understand that if you bid into Group 1
j
jobs that there was a reduction in force, you
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would have to use your seniority to move to any
available job in Group 1 before you could bump
back to Group 2?
Yes, sir, what I had, which wasn’t any. You
started as a new employee in Group 1.
At the time you went into Group 1, according to
our records, that was around March 2 of 1967.
Does that sound about right?
Sometime in ’67, yes, sir.
At that time you had a little over one year of
seniority in Group 1, didn’t you?
Yes. sir.
And you understood that if there was a layoff,
then -- and you were unable to find a job in
Group 1 on seniority, then you could bump back
in Group 2?
Well, I could bump back in Group 2 there, but
I had to give up about twenty-one years’
seniority.
Mr. Moody, didn’t you know that you kept all
the seniority you ever had in Group 2 when you
bid out of there?
Well, Mr. Gibson was the man taking care of bid
slips, and he told me when I first bid into
Group 1 that I was giving up my seniority in
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Group 2.
t Q When did Mr. Gibson tell you that?
.
A A couple of time. Every time I started to bid,
a couple of times I even rejected because I hadi
to think of it again and I would never be back.
j
Q Did you submit this to Mr. Gibson or did you
submit them to somebody with the company?
A To Mr. Gibson. I think one to Mr. Gibson and!
one to Mr. Greater, three of them.
Q What Mr. Gibson are you talking about?1
A B. W. Gibson.I
Q Is he an official of the company?
|S A Yes, sir.II
Q What was his job?
j A I don’t know. He is the one that was taking careI
of bids, assigned the jobs to the one who had the
most seniority. I
Q Why did Mr. Gibson tell you specifically about
what would happen to your Group 2 seniority?
:1 A If I leave Group 2 and come to Group 1, he wanted
to make sure I knew what I was doing there, that|
I was giving up my seniority to come in Group 1
there, and then you didn’t know whether you werej
qua l i f i e d for the job until after you was in
there and they kept me just quivering for quite
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a while.
When did Mr. Gibson tell you this?
When I put in a bid. j
Well, do you remember, are you talking about some
time in T66 for example?
Some jobs came open in Group 1 there. That's the
reason I waited about a year there, and I would go
in and ask about the job — I really didn't know
all of the duties, I never had filed before, and
so I was asking about bids, and was explaining,
you know, if I wanted, I would be the highest
bidder on the job and I would get it. He explained,
you know, what I was giving up there.
And it is your testimony that that happened
probably sometime about a year after you first
had seniority in Group 1?
Well, I guess, probably the first time I attempted
I guess would be about six or seven months in '66.
Then that first time they laid off people and
wouldn’t take -- wouldn’t accept any bids until
the people were all replaced, or either when they
called them back, you know, reclaimed the job
there, and all those people were put to work
before they would accept any bids. After that
was exhausted, then I made another attempt and
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that’s when he started explaining about what you •.
are giving up and leaving.
Did you go to anyone with the union at that time
and inquire and ask whether Mr. Gibson was right j
i
about this?
No. The position he held I didn't think that
would be necessary.
Were you familiar with the labor contract at that j
time?
When I talked to Mr. Gibson?
Yes.
Which one?
The labor contract with the clerk’s organization
that covered your job?
Oh, no, sir.
You were not familiar with that contract? |
No, sir.
Did you ever see it before or read it?
No, sir.
You mentioned that — something about joining the
union under the closed shop. Do you know about
when it was that you first joined the union?
It would be hard for me to make a good guess there
When it was closed shop, that’s when we went into
the union. _____
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----------- --------------- ---------- ------ — ---- 1
That was sometime after 1954, wasn’t it, a number
of years after 1954?
Yes, sir.
As I understand your previous testimony, someone
told you that if you joined the union you would
get your status changed from porter to clerk.
Who was it that told you that?
You are talking about the chairman of the union
now, that’s Bob Gibson. I think it was at the
time T. J. Bettes Building — no, First National
Bank Building at that time. I was working in
the mail room, working a split shift and I think
I got off around either 10:00 or 10:30, and my
job to deliver mail to several departments in the j
First National Bank Building. I guess Mr. Gibson :
over there told me, I would say close to a dozen
times, that we wasn’t in the union, that if you
boys over there in the mail room, if you joined
the union, you know, he would get it changed to
clerk.
This is before the mail room jobs were brought
under the union contract, was it not?
Yes, sir, that's right.
You and I met yesterday for the first time, did
we not?
=2-6
Yes. i
And I told you who I was and that I was trying
to find out some facts about this case?
Yes.
Are you telling me about a conversation you had
with Mr. Gibson back before the mail room was
covered by the union?
Yes.
And didn’t you tell me yesterday that you talked
to Mr. Gibson and he said that if you fellows
would get in the union down there, that he could
get rid of that split shift for you?
I told you about Mr. Hudson, not Mr. Gibson.
It is your testimony that you told me that about !
Mr. Hudson and not Mr. Gibson?
Yes, sir, unless we got mixed up on our persons
there. Mr. Gibson stated that he would change
it from porters to clerk if you boys get together.
But Mr. Hudson and —
May I interrupt?
Sure.
Well, you go ahead and finish.
I said about Mr. Hudson there, when he came over,
he came in the mail room, the time I remember most
definitely, he came in there and looked around at
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what we was doing there and he said it was iclerk’s work. The only thing he said, we joined
the union and that he would, you know, do away i
with the split shift and have it changed to
porters -- from porters to clerk is what I am
trying to say.
The split shift was done away with when your job
came under union contract?
Yes, sir.
You did not tell me yesterday about Mr. Gibson
or Hudson, either one, telling you if you would
get in the union they would change your job to
a clerk’s job, did you?
I sure did.
You remember that you told me that yesterday?
Sure did.
MR. BURCH: That is all I have.
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CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. HIGHSAW:
Mr. Moody, am I correct in my understanding that
you are presently a member of Local 589?
Yes.
Can you recall about when you became a member
of Local 589?
Right now I can’t, but whenever the closed shop
came.
Was that around 1965, you think?
Well, you said ’54 a while ago. When it was
closed shop.
Do you attend union meetings of Local 589?
Very seldom.
Do you recall attending a meeting in ’67 when
Mr. Bradley’s situation was discussed?
I wasn’t at the meeting at that time. I heard
about it.
I’m sorry?
I said I heard about it.
You heard about it?
Yes, but I wasn’t present.
You weren't there. Do you know who Mr. Pat J.
Gibson is?
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Yes.
Were you speaking of Mr. Pat Gibson when you were !
italking about these conversations back in ’54
about the union or some other Gibson?
I was speaking of him, too. That was before we
joined the union.
Were you talking with Mr. Pat J. Gibson?
Yes.
What is Mr. Pat Gibson’s position, do you recall?
Well, he changed that after he joined the union,
changed what he had said before we joined the
union. He said it was clerk’s work, and after we
Ijoined the union —
Pat J. Gibson? j
IYes, he is across the street there.
>Now, am I correct in my understanding that you
have held a Group 1 job continuously since you
first bid on one in 1967?
Yes, sir.
IAt the time you bid the job in. Group 1 job, in
1967 was your seniority less than Mr. Bradley’s?
Yes.
In other words, if Mr. Bradley bid for the job,
he would have gotten it rather than you?
Yes, sir.
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1 ! MR. HIGHSAW: That is all I have,
2 i Your Honor.
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6 REDIRECT EXAMINATION
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BY MS. MCDONALD:
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Q Mr. Moody, this Mr. Hudson that you referred to,
what position did he hold?
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A He was the grievance man or something before
t Mr. Greater.
Q With 589?
i A Yes.
MS. McDONALD: I have no further
questions.
THE COURT: That is all, thank you.
(Witness excused.)
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=2 7*/ 4.
1 ERNEST JOHN MACKEY,
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a witness called for and on behalf of plaintiff,
| having been duly sworn, was examined and testified
>Ij as follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION
I BY MS. MCDONALD:
Q Would you state your name, please?
A Ernest John Mackey.
Q Mr. Mackey, what is your race?I
A Negro.
j Q And are you employed by Southern Pacific in
Houston?
A Yes, ma’am.
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j Q How are you classified?
1 A Classified as mail porter.
, Q Did you take over Mr. Bradley's position when he
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left?
Yes, I did.
Do you receive more money per month than the
other mail porters in the mail room?
Yes, ma’am, I do.
Now, can you briefly describe to the Court what
your duties are?
My duties are to weigh, stamp, mail, to pick up a
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3 mail for the different offices.
4 Q D o you compute mail rates, postage rates?
5 A D o I handle mail rates?
6 Q Yes.
7 A Yes.
8 Q D o you weigh mail?
9 A I weigh it. That is what I said, I weigh the
1C m a i l , sometimes stamp it.
1 1 Q Do you prepare certified mail?
12 A Yes, I write up certified mail.
1 3 Q D o you prepare registered letters?
1 4 A Yes, I do.
IS Q Now, since Mr. Bradley has left, have there been
1 6 a n y whites employed in the mail room?
1 7 A Yes. j
1 8 Q When was the first white person employed on a
1 9 permanent basis in the mail room?
20 A On a permanent basis it would be about a week
21 ago, I’d say, last Thursday.
22 Q A week ago Thursday?
2 3 A Yes.
24 Q Is this the first white?
25 A That was the first one.
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Q Is this the first white person to be employed on
IIa permanent basis in the mail room since you have I
been working there?
A Yes. |
Q At the present time how many other persons are
in the mail room?
A Besides myself?
Q Yes.
A Three others.
Q How many?
A Three.
Q How did you learn how to perform the job of mail I
porter?
A My first day Mr. Moore was there working and he
showed me, and after that, whatever was to be
done and I didn’t know, I would ask Mr. Bradley
and he would instruct me what to do. i
Q When did you come to the mail room?
A In ’67, about April, I believe, of ’67. I believe
that is the date.
Q Now, did you also talk with Mr. Reagan Burch
yesterday, the attorney for the company?
A Yes, I did.
Q What did he tell you yesterday?
A He just asked me a few questions.
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Q What did he ask you?
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MR. BURCH: Excuse me, Your Honor,
unless there is something —i iTHE COURT: I would sustain an
objection to that.
Q (By Ms. McDonald.) Did you talk with him yesterdajr?
A Yes. I talked with him yesterday.
i IMR. BURCH: I will withdraw my i
objection. I don’t mind if she goes
into it.
MS. McDONALD: I have no further
|questions, Your Honor.
CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. BURCH:
Q Mr. Mackey, I will ask you, do you remember what
I asked you yesterday when I first met you, in
ef feet?
A Well, if I remember right, I can remember one
question in general. You asked me about what
I thought about the classification of the job,
why the job was called a mail porter job, and
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that I believed it was called mail porter job
because the majority that worked in there were
Negro. You asked me more questions, but I don't
remember right offhand.
As far as you recall, were my questions about
your job and how it works and what your duties
were?
That's right.
At the outset, did I tell you, or did Mr. Adams
tell you that I was an attorney for the company? I
You did.
i
And we sat down in the duplicating room and talkedJ|
did we not?
That's right.
Does the mail room operate fairly smoothly now
that you are working there and in Mr. Bradley’s
former position?
Well, I think so.
MR. BURCH: I have no further
questions.
THE COURT: That is all, thank you.
(Witness excused.)
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MS. McDONOUGH: Your Honor, I have
ji no more witnesses to call. We rest.
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THE COURT: Are you ready to go
forward?
MR. BURCH: Yes, sir. May we have
about ten minutes or so?
I
Mr. Burch.
THE COURT: Yes.
(Recess taken.)
THE COURT: You may go forward,
MR. BURCH: Your Honor, at this
time I would like to dictate into the record a motionI
i to dismiss.!
THE COURT: Suppose you let me
hear your testimony and dictate your motion later.
I would prefer to hear — well, you may tell me your
own points.
!
MR. BURCH: For the record, I
think the plaintiff has failed to prove any violation
of the Civil Rights Act or any discrimination on the
basis of race. The record shows he voluntarily remainedj
in the position of mail room porter despite the fact
that he could have bid into higher paying positions
I in Group 1 where there were jobs which he apparently
contends now were more desirable. And in the second
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place, I think the record shows conclusively that
junior employees from Group 2 in fact did bid into
Group 1 and have remained there since that time,
|and if Mr. Bradley had bid into such job, he would
have remained there until he retired.
Finally, it seems to us that the
basis of the complaint in essence is that Mr. Bradley's
mail room job was not properly titled or compensated,
and there is no evidence whatever that would support
such a finding. I
THE COURT: Well, it may be that
your motion has merit. I haven’t even had time to read
over these union contracts and so forth, and I don’t
think I can pass on it intelligently until I do so.
MR. HIGHSAW: Your Honor, may the
record show that Local 589 joins in the motion, and
also in support of the motion that the record in our
opinion shows conclusively that 589 had no responsi
bility with respect to the matters for which the
plaintiff complains; that the agreement is now in the
record, Plaintiff’s Exhibit 16, and shows that Local
589 was not a party to that agreement. In addition
to which the record shows conclusively that the
plaintiff's grievances were fully discussed in the
meeting of the union members of an integrated lodge
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and that they passed it out of the lodge because the
lodge had no authority or the ability to deal with
them. And Mr. Bradley from the witness stand made
no complaint about this action and he was present
at the meeting.
MS. McDONALD: Just for the record,
I would like to oppose that motion. I don’t need to
go into detail.
THE COURT: Okay. I understand
that you do not favor it.
MR. BURCH: We will call Mr. Adams\
to the stand.
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I N T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S D I S T R I C T C O U R T
FOR TH E S O U T H E R N D I S T R I C T O F T E X A S
H O U S T O N D I V I S I O N
HENRY H. BRADLEY
VS
SOUTHERN
COMPANY,
P A C I F I C
E T AL
R A I L R O A D
)
)
)
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C I V I L A C T I O N
N O . 6 8 - H - 1 0 7 9
VOLUME I I
P A G E S 2 0 2 TH RO U G H 392
c m c U S DISTRICT COURT
£R K , U . rticTH lC T OF TEXAS
iJTHERN D ISTW CI u
r u . e d
D f c C S ' 9 7 '
G E T l
O F F I C I A L C O U R T R E P O R T E R
1 0 0 1<* U . S . C O U R T H O U S E
5 1 5 R U S K S T R E E T
H O U S T O N , T E X A S 7 7 0 0 2
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BRIAN W. ADAMS,
a witness called for and on behalf of Defendant Rail
road, having been duly sworn, was examined and
testified as follcws:
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. BURCH:
Q Mr. Adams, would you state your name, by whom you
are employed and your position?
A My name is Brian W. Adams and I am employed by
the Southern Pacific Transportation Company and
as assistant manager of labor relations.
Q Is the Southern Pacific Transportation Company
the successor to the Southern Pacific Company?
A Yes, sir.
Q How long have you been with the Southern Pacific?
A Well, wholly owned companies, I went to work for
H & TC in 1925 and I have been continuously em
ployed by the subsequent companies who owned the
same property until presently.
Q Would you tell us briefly some of the positions
you have held with the company?
A Well, I began work as a crew caller in Ennis,
Texas and I became a secretary and a timekeeper,
and then in the depression times I worked in
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almost every clerical capacity. Every time I had
an opportunity, I moved up from a crew caller to
a clerk's job, and after the depression I became
a timekeeper again and then I was chief timekeeper.
I came to Houston in 1960, and I was an examiner
in the personnel department which now is labor
relations. In 1963 I was promoted to my present
job, which is assistant manager of labor relations.
Q Briefly, what are your responsibilities in your
present job?
A Well, I am required to handle all matters for the
clerks and for the telegraphers. I maintain
agreements for those two particular crafts.
Q Does that include responsibility to participate
in negotiations with the Brotherhood of Railway
Clerks?
A Yes, sir.
Q I may have stated that name improperly.
I A I can’t remember the long one. We just call it
I by that, Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks.
Q Have a substantial number of jobs you have held
in the past been covered by the agreements between
the Southern Pacific or its companies and the
clerks’ organization?
: A All of them through 1946, November in ’46.
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Q During this substantial period of time before
’46 or since, have you been a member of the clerks
organization?
A I have, yes, sir.
Q Are you generally familiar with the jobs covered
by the agreement between your company and the
clerksf organization?
A Yes, sir, I am.
Q In your present job, is it your responsibility
to discuss claims and grievances presented by
either employees or by the organization?;
A Yes, sir.
Q Are you generally familiar with Mr. Henry Bradley’
job at the time he retired from the company?
A From observation, yes, sir.
Q Did you know Mr. Bradley before he retired?
A Yes, sir, I did.
Q Are you familiar with and have you worked with
the labor agreement between the company and the
clerks’ organization?
A I have, yes, sir.
Q I’ll refer you to Plaintiff’s Exhibit 15 and ask
if you will identify that and tell us the status
of that contract?
A This is the contract which was effective July 1,
J- VC>
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1956, and by that I mean that that was a re
compiling of the agreements that had been in
effect for years and brought up to date. This is
the current contract with the exception of some
changes that have been made in it.
All right, sir. In December of 1965, for example,
did the company and the organization make an agree
ment which affected the seniority dates of em
ployees in the various clerical groups?
We did, yes, sir.
I think it would be well if you could tell the
Court, first of all, briefly the nature of the
various seniority groups before the 1965 agreement
was entered into. What were the groups and in
general what category of jobs did they cover?
THE COURT: 1965? I understood
you to say '56?
THE WITNESS: May I explain that
this agreement first came into being in
1917 when the railroads were under
government control in World War I.
General Hines was director general of
the railroads, and he wrote for the em
ployees the first set of rules that they
ever had which were standard. When the
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railroads came out from under govern
ment control, then most of those rules
were continually in effect by individual
agreements on individual properties.
Q Let me interrupt you and ask that a booklet
entitled "United States Railway Administration"
be marked as Defendant Company Exhibit 1 for
identification. I will ask you to identify
Defendant’s Exhibit 1 for us, if you can.
A This is a book, this is the printing of the
directive of the director general of railroads
effective January 1, 1920. I think there was
probably, one prior to that.
THE COURT: We don’t need to go
back before 1920, I would say. Let’s
sort of get up to date.
THE WITNESS: The thing I’m saying
is that the definitions were made by
this book in 1920. Essentially, they
have continued down to the 1956 agree
ment, Your Honor. The definition of
clerical workers in this agreement was
in three groups, actually there were
four for listings, but they fell into
three groups.
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Q Now, by this agreement, you were referring to
Plaintifffs Exhibit 15?
A That's right. The agreement of July 1, 1956.
Clerical workers in this Rule 2 are defined as
employees who regularly devote not less than four
hours per day to the writing and calculating
incident to keeping records and accounts, rendition
of bills, reports and so forth. It is printed
out in the agreement. And then machine operators
were also included in that, like the person who
operates a comptometer machine or a bookkeeping
machine and those kind of office machines. And
then there were exceptions to those, and secondly
were office employees and messengers and other
employees doing similar work, and then students
and apprentices who qualified for specific clericaL
work as a machine operator, and then there were
employees who performed manual work that did not
require clerical ability.
Q Would you tell us with reference to those categories
which classes of employees under the 1956 agreement
iell into Seniority Group 1?
MS. MCDONALD: Excuse me. I have
to object to that question, Your Honor,
I think the exhibit speaks for itself.
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But I do not mind him trying to explain
it because it shortens it, but I think
he is giving you an incorrect under
standing when he said that the contract
says employees who regularly perform.
I think the contract says employees who
spend more than four hours per day per
forming, and in that regard I think you
are misleading the Court.
THE WITNESS: Perhaps you are right.
I’m sorry. Who regularly devote not
less than four hours to the work, to
be exact.
Mr. Adams, tell us briefly which of those cate
gories of employees under the 1956 agreement were
considered to be in Seniority Group 1.
Well, the clerk employees, the people who were
defined as clerks.
Would that have included also the employees
defined as machine operators?
Yes, sir.
Which categories were included in Seniority Group 2?
Well, there were employees such as office employees
and messengers and other employees. That group
included the mail porters, the porters on the
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____________________________________________________ 2
platforms and chore boys and crew callers, as a
matter of fact in which group I was employed, and
so forth.
Q Were you originally employed then in Seniority
Group 2?
A I was, yes, si,r.
Q What employees generally were employed in
Seniority Group 3?
A Well, those are manual laborers, such as a trucker
on the dock and those kind of employees.
Q Under the 1956 agreement, what seniority rights,
if any, did an employee retain if he promoted or
transferred from one seniority group to another?
A Well, he retained all of his seniority and
accumulated more during the time he was promoted.
Q Would you tell us which article in that contract
covered that question?
A I believe it is 49. May I see it?
Q Let me see if we can shorten it.
A If you will.
Q Page 10, Article 3, and ask you whether that dealt
with the question of retaining seniority?
A You are right.
Q Was the provision in Article 3 on Page 10 concerni
the retention of seniority continued in effect
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until the present time, or has that been changed?
Well, on July 1st, 1971 we did away with the
grouping, and now we only have one seniority groupl,
and consequently the matter of moving from one
group to another is now no longer there.
Let me ask you about some modifications of the
1956 agreement. First, I will ask you whether in
1963 you had any seniority breakdowns other than
the seniority groups you have referred to, did
you have districts or any other?
Yes, sir, as shown by Rule 6 of the agreement.
All right. In 1956 and until it was amended, did
employees hold their seniority in only one of
these departments or districts listed in Rule 6?
1956, yes.
THE COURT: By district, you mean
a geographical district?
THE WITNESS: Well, for instance
in the general office, they had the
office of the chief engineer, evaluation
department, motive power and equipment,
rail department, each department had a
separate seniority all of its own.
THE COURT: You would have a
Group 1, 2, 3 in the headquarters office)?
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until the present time, or has that been changed?
A Well, on July 1st, 1971 we did away with the
grouping, and now we only have one seniority groupj,
and consequently the matter of moving from one
group to another is now no longer there.
i
Q Let me ask you about some modifications of the
1956 agreement. First, I will ask you whether in
1963 you had any seniority breakdowns other than
the seniority groups you have referred to, did
you have districts or any other?
i
A Yes, sir, as shown by Rule 6 of the agreement.
Q All right. In 1956 and until it was amended, did
employees hold their seniority in only one of
these departments or districts listed in Rule 6?
A 1956, yes.
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THE COURT: By district, you mean
a geographical district?
THE WITNESS: Well, for instance
in the general office, they had the
office of the chief engineer, evaluation
department, motive power and equipment,
rail department, each department had a
separate seniority all of its own.
THE COURT: You would have a
Group 1, 2, 3 in the headquarters office
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until the present time, or has that been changed?
Well, on July 1st, 1971 we did away with the
grouping, and now we only have one seniority groupj,
and consequently the matter of moving from one
group to another is now no longer there.
Let me ask you about some modifications of the
1956 agreement. First, I will ask you whether in
1963 you had any seniority breakdowns other than
the seniority groups you have referred to, did
you have districts or any other?
Yes, sir, as shown by Rule 6 of the agreement.
All right. In 1956 and until it was amended, did
employees hold their seniority in only one of
these departments or districts listed in Rule 6?
1956, yes.
THE COURT: By district, you mean
a geographical district?
THE WITNESS: Well, for instance
in the general office, they had the
office of the chief engineer, evaluation
department, motive power and equipment,
rail department, each department had a
separate seniority all of its own.
THE COURT: You would have a
Group 1, 2, 3 in the headquarters office
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until the present time, or has that been changed?
Well, on July 1st, 1971 we did away with the
grouping, and now we only have one seniority groupj,
and consequently the matter of moving from one
group to another is now no longer there.
Let me ask you about some modifications of the
1956 agreement. First, I will ask you whether in
1963 you had any seniority breakdowns other than
the seniority groups you have referred to, did
you have districts or any other?
Yes, sir, as shown by Rule 6 of the agreement.
All right. In 1956 and until it was amended, did
employees hold their seniority in only one of
these departments or districts listed in Rule 6?
1956, yes.
THE COURT: By district, you mean
a geographical district?
THE WITNESS: Well, for instance
in the general office, they had the
office of the chief engineer, evaluation
department, motive power and equipment,
rail department, each department had a
separate seniority all of its own.
THE COURT: You would have a
Group 1, 2, 3 in the headquarters office!?
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THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: And another Group 1,
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2, 3 seniority roster in another depart
ment even in the same building, or
certainly in the same city?
THE WITNESS: That’s right, sir.
(By Mr. Burch.) What, if anything, was done in¥
1965 by agreement between the company and the
labor organization that affected those districts?
Well, we did away with these, this number of
seniority rosters and we made four seniority
rosters based on a geographical division of the
railroad. Seniority District No. 1 is the general
offices. And the purchasing of materials, the
department there in Houston, and Seniority
District 2 was the Lafayette division down in
Louisiana. 3 is the central part of the railroad
and 4 is the western, just to state it briefly.
Now, do you recall the date of that agreement?
That is July 17, 1963.
Under that agreement and at the present time,
your Seniority District No. 1 applies to what
area?
To the general office building.
Would most of the employees in that district work
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in the Southern Pacific Building down here on
Franklin?
A Well, there are quite a number over on Fulton
Street and the purchasing materials department
and sane few scattered around the city.
Q Was the mail room included in Seniority District 1
in 1963?
A Yes, sir.
Q What effect, if any, did the 1963 agreement have
on the transfer rights of employees between
districts or groups?
A Well, between groups —
MS. MCDONALD: Excuse me, I would
like to object to that again on the
basis, I think, the agreement is the
best evidence and speaks for itself.
THE COURT: What did you ask the
witness?
MS. MCDONALD: He is referring to
another agreement now.
MR. BURCH: I asked him what con
solidation had on transfer rights.
THE COURT: I think he can tell me
that. It certainly would be easier
than me figuring it out.
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The only thing that happened was, instead of having
a dozen or more small rosters, we had one large
one, and the rules remained the same so far as
transferring between the groups in which one of
these four districts, which finally consolidation
came to.
MR. BURCH: I will ask to have
marked for identification as Defendant
Company's Exhibit 2 a document headed
’‘Memorandum of Agreement".
Your Honor, at this time I'd like
to offer Defendant Company Exhibit 1
in evidence.
THE COURT: What is No. 1?
THE WITNESS: That is the 1920
procedure.
THE COURT: Received.
(By Mr. Burch.) I will hand you what has been
marked for identification as Defendant Company
Exhibit 2 and ask you if you can identify that?
Yes, sir.
What is it, please?
This is an agreement that we made on December 29,
1965 to provide for a dovetailing or top-and-
bottoming, which is used of the seniority rosters
of Groups 1, 2, 3 in each separate seniority
district.
All right, sir. This agreement was negotiated
with the clerks’ organization, is that correct?
Yes, sir.
Tell us, if you would, what was done to carry out
the effect of this agreement in changing your
seniority rosters. How was this agreement placed
into effect?
We remade the seniority roster on January 1, ’66
to be in the manner in which the agreement now
provided that seniority should rank.
Let me ask you specifically about the seniority
roster for Group 2. Would that have been the
roster in which Mr. Bradley appeared and held his
seniority?
Yes, sir.
Effective January 1, 1966, what seniority, if any,
did Mr. Bradley have in Group 1?
Well, he had a date of January 1, 1966.
Did Mr. Bradley receive any seniority at the same
time in Group 3?
He did, the same date.
Is it correct or not that effective January 1,
1966, every clerical employee covered by the_____
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union agreement was given a seniority rate in the
other groups where he previously held no seniorit
That’s right.A
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MR. BURCH: I would offer Defendant’
No. 2 in evidence.
THE COURT: Rece ived.
MR. BURCH: I ask that a document
headed "Southern Pacific Transportation
Company Seniority Roster District 1
Group 1, January 1, 1971" be marked as
Defendant Company Exhibit 3 for identi
fication, and that a document headed
"Southern Pacific Transportation Company
Seniority Roster District 1 Group 2,
January 1, 1971" be marked for identi
fication as Defendant Exhibit 4.
Can you identify Defendant’s Exhibit 3 as a
Seniority Roster prepared by the company?
Yes, sir.
Is the effective date of that roster January 1,
1971?
Yes, sir.
There are sane red marks on that list. For exampl
I see the word LA on there. What is that intended
to signify?
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A That is the person who has a Spanish surname, a
Latin American we originally called them. That is
what we called them now as far as the records
were concerned.
Q Were those marks put on there in preparation for
this trial?
A Yes, sir.
Q And you also use a red "N" to indicate a Negro
employee?
A Yes, sir.
Q Let me ask you with reference to Defendant’s
Exhibit 4, whether that is also a seniority list
prepared by the company?
A Yes, sir.
Q At my request did you mark or cause it to be
marked the race Negro and Latin American employees
on that roster?
A I did.
Q Let me refer you specifically to No. 4, and I will
ask you where on that list would employees who
were formerly in Group 2 appear?
A This is a Group 2 roster and they would appear in
the order of their seniority in Group 2 here.
Q Let me ask you about a few examples here, just for
clarification and understanding.
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MS. MCDONALD: Excuse me. I have
to object to Mr. Adams' further testi
mony concerning this exhibit unless it
is going to be offered. It has just
been identified.
MR. BURCH: I will offer it in
evidence at this time and then I will
ask him to explain it.
MS. McDONAJLD: I have no objection
to either 3 or 4.
THE COURT: They are received.
Go ahead.
Q With reference to Exhibit 4, the first name is
Mr. P. H. Fontana and shews occupation Group 1.
What does that indicate?
A Well, Mr. Fontana began service on February 1st,
1924 as a messenger, or some other job, that fell
under Group 2 designation, and he now is employed
in Group 1.
Q Under the name F. W. Battel, occupation is shewn
as day mail porter, and a previous designation
which is apparently passenger station. What does
that indicate?
A That indicates that Mr. Battel was employed on
March 21, 1929 in Group 2 and that he presently
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holds assignment in Group 2 as a mail porter on
the passenger station.
Q Would it be correct then that where this seniority
roster shows Group 1, it indicates that an employe^
began in Group 2, moved to Group 1, yet continues
to hold his seniority in Group 2?
A Well, we would have to stop at 1-1-66, because
after that they are dovetailed dates and that
could have come from sane other source other than
being employed. But those on the first two sheets
and down to January 1, 1966 all began their
services in this group, in Group 2.
Q And beside their name there is a reference to
Group 1. It indicates that they have subsequently
moved into and now serve in Group 1?
A That’s correct.
Q Now, I think it may already be clear, but can you
show us on here the names of employees from
Group 1 who were given seniority in Group 2 on
January 1, 1966?
A Well, I would have to pick one I knew for the
reason that they could come from Group 3 to this
as well as Group 1, and so I would have to say
that there are a great many of them I know.
Parker and Trahan and any number of those — well,
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-------------- — ....... ......... — Iothers that I know personally.
Q All right, sir. Let me ask you briefly about
Exhibit 3, which is the seniority roster for
District 1 Group 1, and I will ask you whether
the format here is basically the same as the other
Seniority roster?
A It is.
Q I will ask you whether you can identify any of
the employees who were in Group 2 and who were
given Group 1 seniority as of January 1, 1966?
A Well, this Battel that you saw on the other one,
Bedford, I knew him, and D. Adams I know, and
C. D. Thornton, and here is Moody that testified.
Q Mr. Moody that testified then appears on the
second page, does he not?
A Actually that is Page 10.
Q And this shows at that time that he had the occu
pation of tracing clerk in the Houston zone, is
that correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q And his seniority then in Group 1 was January 1,
'6G, was it not?
A Yes, sir.
Q There has been testimony, Mr. Adams, to the effect
that in July of this year the previous seniority
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groups were eliminated in some way. Would you
tell us briefly what occurred and how this was
brought about?
Well, we have a proposition pending right now
which will shortly consolidate the telegraphers'
craft with the clerks' craft, and all telegraphers
and all clerks will be on a common seniority
roster based on their original seniority dates.
The telegraphers didn’t have any group, that
would be the station agents and tower men and
people like that. So the three groups, division
of seniority was no longer practicable or would
not be when that occurred, because where would we
put them together, 1, 2 or 3. So, we came to the
conclusion that we should just put all three
groups together in one group and give everybody
on that group their original seniority date
whether it came from Group 1, 2 or 3, and then
there would be no 1, 2, 3, just a clerical employe
and then a telegraph employee, and eventually put
the two of them together based on a relative
seniority date.
With reference then to the clerical employees as
distinguished from telegraphers, for example
Mr. Moody, who testified here today, have they
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Q
been given seniority in District 1 on the basis
of when they were hired originally by the company?
When they first went under the clerical agreement.;
So, if Mr. Bradley were hired in the mechanical
department, and of course that doesn't consolidate
with clerks, but the first date they performed
service as a clerk and stayed continuously, that
is their date now.
At this time does their former seniority in
Group 1, 2 or 3 have any significance under the
labor agreement?
No, sir.
Mr. Adams, prior to 1966, just to pick a reference
point, were the employees in Seniority Group 2
predominantly Negro or white or what were the
facts, as far as you recall?
I do not believe that they were predominantly I
Negro. I think, I do not have a '66 agreement
handy, and I made a study and it seemed to me they
were about fifty fifty between white and Negro.
It could have been this ’71 roster that I was
looking at, which would be to all intents the same
thing, except for those who have left the service.
It would be the same people that we would be
talking about. Mr. Bradley's name would not be
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on it because he is no longer in our service.
Have Negro employees in fact, prior to the 1971
amendment, premoted from Group 2 positions to
Group 1 positions?
They have, yes, sir.
Have other Negro employees been hired into
Group 1 positions?
They have.
From outside the company?
They have.
At my request in preparation for this hearing,
did you make an analysis of the racial breakdowns
of Groups 1, 2, 3 as of March of this year?
Yes, sir.
MR. BURCH: I will ask that the
document entitled "Total Employees in
District No. 1 as of 3-31-71" be marked j
for identification as Defendant Company
Exhibit 5.
Is Defendant Exhibit 5 the document that I just
asked you about, that you had prepared?
Yes, it is.
Would you explain to the Court what that document
purports to show?
Well, I had a check made. I am not positive I
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did this myself, but it was done at my direction,
where we counted the number of employees in each
of the three groups, 1, 2 and 3, by race. You
!
see, we are not allowed under the law to keep any
kinds of records as to what a person’s race is.
There is one record, but it is sealed in our
computer for the purposes of making the EE0-1
report which I am sure you are familiar with. But
we make a visual check and we have people who
j
know what they are and so we asked them just to
mark the seniority roster for us, and then weii counted them. We counted and found that as of
March 31, 1971 there were a total of five hundred
forty-one employees in all three groups in
District 1, three eighty-three were white and
one hundred thirty-one were Negro and forty-seven■
were Latin Americans, and the percentages were
sixty-seven percent, twenty-four percent and nine
percent. And Group 1 was seventy-five percent,
sixteen percent and nine percent.
Q I won’t ask you to read all those. The second
part of the exhibit has the heading "Hired in the
District No. l". Would you tell us briefly whatij
those figures show and the source?
i A In 1970 we hired one hundred three people into
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District No. 1, sixty-nine were white, twenty-four
Negro and ten were Latin Americans. I ran a
computation of percentages on that.
Then do you also have a figure on employees hired
in District No. 1 through March 31 in 1971?
Yes, sir. We had hired thirty-two. They were
divided twenty-nine and three.
MR. BURCH: I offer Exhibit No. 5
in evidence.
THE COURT: Received.
(By Mr. Burch.) Mr. Adams, does the company have
a policy concerning the implementation of Civil
Rights Act and Equal Employment Opportunities?
We do.
Briefly what is that policy?
Well, in 1962 the company joined the President’s
Plan for Progress, and we were a little proud,
we were the first railroad company who signed it,
and we pledged ourselves to equal opportunity to
everyone without regard to race or other
considerations, except ability. And since that
time we have followed that strictly. In recent
years, because we felt like that perhaps not
everyone understood the meaning of affirmative
action, we have devoted a great deal of time to
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education of our people as to what affirmative
action in this connection was concerned with.
It is not enough to wait for the people to come
and ask you for a job, but we must go out and
seek people for the jobs we have.
Q What policy have you followed in effect with
respect to seniority Group 1, clerical jobs?
A Well, we have hired any competent person without
regard to race or color.
Q Have you made any effort one way or another with ■
regard to increasing the number of Negro
employees in these jobs?
A Yes, sir, we have. We have gone to the sources.
We think with a very outstanding success.
Q By source, briefly what do you mean?
A Well, I don't know all of the initials that cover
them, and since I do not know this myself, but
there are certain groups in town who provide you
with names of competent people, if you will go
and ask. I was just trying to think for sure,
we contact Southern constantly, and the other
people, like I say I do not know the names of
all of these people who make that kind of an
effort for you, but we have our director of
employment constantly on the move. He goes to
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the high schools every year and explains what
employment we have and tries to counsel with the
students as to how to get a job. Maybe even if
we didn’t have one, and so forth.
Q Briefly, has the company in any way publicized
within the organization its position on equal
employment opportunities?
A We have, yes.
Q And in what way, briefly, how have you done this? j
A We have a house organ or bulletin, as we saw back
in the evidence there, and we published in all
those bulletins when the plans for progress were
signed. We published that for the information
of all the employees, and since we have had any
number of additions to that, or references to
that which we try to disseminate to all the people.
MR. BURCH: I would ask to have a
document consisting of two pages, first
page addressed to Mr. B. W. Gibson and
bearing the date of June 8, 1967 to be
marked as Defendant Company Exhibit 6
for identification.
Q (By Mr. Burch.) Mr. Adams, can you identify
D e f e n d a n t ’s Exhibit 6 as a Xerox copy of documents
which you supplied me in preparation for this tria]
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I can, yes, sir.
What are these documents and where were they
filed and maintained in the company's records?
This was a bid submitted by Mr. Henry Bradley for
a position of timekeeper in the accounting depart
ment on June 7, 1967, and a copy of a letter he
had addressed to the employment office asking that
that bid be withdrawn.
Does the company maintain bids and related notes
like this in the usual course of business?
For a period of time, until the new ones begin
to shove the old ones out of the back of the
drawer. They are not permanent records.
THE COURT: Let me ask you a
question. The witnesses have spoken
about bidding for a job. Does that
mean that a vacancy has occurred in the
organization through death or retirement
or scmething of that sort?
THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: So a new person is goin
to fill the job, and I take it that
perhaps you post notices and anyone who
is interested can apply, and the one
that has the greatest seniority, does
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he get it?
THE WITNESS: Fitness and ability
being equal. In other words, a person
has to qualify for a job.
THE COURT: If you can't take
shorthand you would not be a secretary?
THE WITNESS: If a person does not
know rates, he cannot be a rate clerk.
THE COURT: I did not quite under
stand the term bidding for a job. Now,
let me go a little further. In the
event you have to lay off some people,
that sometimes happens in the railroad
business I understand, you normally have
to lay off the ones with the least
seniority?
THE WITNESS: That is the ultimate.
If we were going to make a lay-off, we
pick the jobs that we think we can best
do without, and then we abolish those
jobs. If that is a senior person on
those jobs, then he displaces, but
eventually the younger employees of
however number you are talking about
are furloughed.
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THE COURT: If it were mail porters!,
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for instance, and you were going to let
a couple of them go, the ones junior in
service would be the ones that got the
ax?
THE WITNESS: Ultimately, yes, sir.
MR. BURCH: I am sorry, Your Honor,!
I'm not absolutely sure whether I offerejd
it, but I do offer Defendant Company j j
Exhibit 6 in evidence.
MS. MCDONALD: No objection.
ITHE COURT: Received.
Q (By Mr. Burch.) Mr. Adams, to pursue the Court’s
line of questioning, I will ask you whether the
bid dated June 7 submitted by Mr. Bradley is a
typical bid form, is this the way bids are normall|y
submitted?
A Yes, sir. I think that is a form prepared and
placed around for people to have to do this.
Q When a job is bid, tell us physically and proce-
durely what actually takes place, how is it
announced?
A It is made in triplicate because I assume they
wanted to maintain one for their own copy. But a
copy is mailed or sent to Mr. Gibson, who is head
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of the employment office, and has this task for
the general offices of making these assignments,
keeping the records and a copy goes to Mr. Greater,
who is the local chairman, I believe, for the
district. He uses it for whatever purposes he so
desires. They put all of these in the file to
gether with a copy of the bulletin that has been
issued. In other words, this was for bulletin
No. 162 and they put these in the file with 162,
and then get them all out when the bulletin has
run its course and see who is the senior and was
he a qualified clerk for this position. If so,
then they assign him.
Let me direct your attention now to Plaintiff’s
Exhibit 15, the blue contract, Page 16, Rule 12.
I will ask you whether that is the provision in
the clerks' agreement that spells out the basis iifor premotions?
It is, yes, sir.
MR. BURCH: If I might, I would
just like to read that rule briefly.
"Employees covered by these rules shall
be in line for promotion. Promotion
shall be based on seniority, fitness and
ability; fitness and ability being
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sufficient, seniority shall prevail.
"Note: The word "sufficient" is
intended to more clearly establish the
right of the senior clerk or employee
to bid in a new position or vacancy
where two or more employees have adequatje
fitness and ability."
Q (By Mr. Burch.) Now, Mr. Adams, in application
of this rule, has the company promoted the best
qualified bidder in every instance, or have they
applied this rule as closely as possible?
MS. MCDONALD: Your Honor, I ob
ject to that question. I do not think
Mr. Adams is in position to make the
conclusion whether or not the company
has in all instances promoted the best
qualified persons. That would be up to
the individual supervisors, as I gather
from his description of his duties.
THE COURT: I expect there is merit
to that. I will sustain it.
Q (By Mr. Burch.) Mr. Adams, are you familiar with
the basis on which bids are evaluated?
A Yes, sir.
Q Is it one of your responsibilities to help resolve
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iOn what basis has the company selected successful
bidders in actual practice?
On the basis of seniority.
Do you know approximately how many positions are !
filled by bid any particular year in the clerical
bargaining unit? j
I couldn’t tell you off the cuff, Mr. Burch.
|
MR. BURCH: I would like to have
marked for identification Company Exhibit
No. 7.
(By Mr. Burch.) I will ask you to identify
Company Exhibit 7 as a document which you prepared
at my request for this trial?
I can, yes.
Tell us what this purports to show and the source
of the information, please.
It shows the number of vacancy bulletins which
were issued in District 1 in the year 1969 and ’70
and the first three months of '71.
Does the company keep records of the numbers of
bids that are posted?
Well, we keep the bids for so long a time, yes, si::.
Did you have bids available to show the number of
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jobs posted in the years prior to 1969?
No, sir, we didnft have complete records.
MR. BURCH: I offer Company Exhibit!
No. 7 in evidence.
MS. MCDONALD: No objection.
THE COURT: Received.
Mr. Adams, so far as you know or can make a
reasonable estimate, beginning in 1966 and con
tinuing to date, has the volume of jobs posted
been approximately the same as it is today?
Probably there were fewer in '66, but beginning
in '67 we began to accumulate some more work into
this district and we put on a great many jobs,
yes, sir.
In 1966 would there have at least been over a
hundred jobs bid?
I am reasonably sure so, yes, sir.
The position vacancies reflected here in 1969,
for example, would those include positions that
Mr. Bradley would have been eligible to bid for,
if he had desired?
Yes, sir.
Mr. Adams, let me direct your attention now to
Mr. Bradley and his testimony earlier today con
cerning conversations with you.
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A Yes, sir.
Q When did you first become acquainted with
Mr. Bradley to at least know and identify him?
A Well, I came to Houston in 1960. I don't recall
knowing him prior to that time. So it was some
time after 1960 as I would go to the mail room
for various purposes, I would see him or see him
in the hall.
Q Do you recall ever having any conversations with
Mr. Bradley concerning his job in the mail room
or anything related to that?
A I believe, I am sure that he came to my office on
one occasion. He may have come other times than
that, but one that I know of distinctly. We
talked in the hall on a number of occasions as we
passed and talked.
Q I am asking you now about conversations you had
with him regarding his job or rate, title, any
thing related to his position.
A Well, he mentioned that in addition to coming to
see me in my office, and he mentioned to me a
time or two other than that, but those are more
or less casual.
Q Let me ask you this specifically, about the
conversations in your office, and I will ask you
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first if you will tell us as best you can about
when that occurred.
A My recollection, Mr. Burch, is that was in 1963
after we had consolidated the seniority rosters
into the four districts, and as best I can
recollect it had to be after 1963, because before
that time in February of 1963 I was promoted to
this job. Before that time it would have been
none of my business, what he was talking about.
Q Is there any reason why you believe the conversati
occurred around 1963?
A I may have been relating to the conversation with
Mr. Shepherd which I know to be just prior to
that. So I know a great many people talked to
me in 1963 who were a little confused about this
consolidation. I think, I have no record of it,
but let me say it that way, of a date.
Q Identify Mr. Shepherd, if you would, please.
A Mr. Shepherd, Mr. F. L. Shepherd is employed as a
mail porter and not in this office but over at the
depot, and he asked me —
Q What was his race, let me ask you that?
A He was a Negro. He is a Negro, excuse me.
Q I will not ask you to go into any conversation
with him. But I will ask, in 1963, did Mr. Shephe
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bid into a Group 1 position?
A Yes, sir, the date escapes me.
Q That's all right. That would appear in the
seniority roster?
A Yes, sir, it would.
| Q Tell us as far as you can recall what occurred
in the conversation in your office with Mr. Bradley.
A Well, Mr. Bradley asked if he could see me, and
I told him to come at his convenience, or con
venience of the mail room. I was going to be in|
that day, as I recall. He came in and told me
that he thought his job was not properly classified
nor was he properly classified, and I attempted
to explain to Mr. Bradley that that was the
classification that had been placed on that type
o f work since an agreement existed. When those
p e o p l e came under the agreement rules, that they
were classified as all others who had been under
agreement rules prior to that time were classified.
And that his seniority was established as had
everyone else's been established according to the
rules. And that there simply was no reason for
any change being made, so far as his title or his
rate was concerned.
Q Did you tell Mr. Bradley in substance that his
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work was not porter’s work?
A I did not. No, sir.
Q Did you tell him in substance, or in so many words
that it was not the company that was preventing
him being reclassified, but it was the union?
A I did not. No, sir.
Q Tell us, as far as you can recall, the substance
of any other conversations you had with Mr. Bradlej;
concerning his job. I believe you said you might
have seen him in the hall?
A They were in essence about the same thing, and my
position was the same as it had been.
Q In any of those subsequent conversations, did you
tell Mr. Bradley that you thought his work was
really not porter’s work?
A No, sir, I did not.
Q Does the railroad at this time make reports to
the Interstate Commerce Commission concerning
employees and nmnbers of employees?
A Yes, sir.
Q Very briefly, what is the nature of that report?
A Well, every month, and we recapitulate it every
year, the company makes a report of the number of
employees who were employed in the various classi
fications set up by the Interstate Commerce
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Commission, and the number that they had on the
middle of the month, and the number they had
during the entire month. And then the hours that
they worked in each classification, straight time
and overtime and time paid for and not worked,
and the money which matched those hours.
MR. BURCH: Your Honor, I beg the 1
Court’s pardon. I need to ask Mr. Adams
if he will get out a couple of books
which I think he has.
THE COURT: Well, it is about time
to knock off for today. Hew much more
will you have with this gentleman?
MR. BURCH: I think I will have
about fifteen minutes more with him.
THE COURT: Do you have any testi
mony other than Mr. Adams?
MR. BURCH: At this time, Your
Honor, unless we have some rebuttal
testimony I do not anticipate we will
have another witness.
THE COURT: Well, let’s recess
until 9:30 in the morning.
(Adjournment at 5:30 p.m.
until 9:30 a.m. August 19, 1971.)
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AUGUST 19, 1971
THE COURT: Are we ready to go
forward this morning, ladies and gentlemen?
MR. BURCH: I can finish up with
Mr. Adams.
BRIAN W. ADAMS,
the witness on the stand at the time of adjournment,
resumed the stand and was examined and testified
further as follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION (CCNT'D.)
BY MR. BURCH:
Q Mr. Adams, first let me ask you about a couple of
matters that were raised yesterday. One concerned
a document in connection with Mr. Bradley's
retirement from the railroad which showed his
classification as mail clerk. That appears, I
believe, as Plaintiff's Exhibit 4. I will show
you a copy of it. You recall that testimony and
discussion on that document?
A Yes, sir.
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Q After the conclusion of the proceedings here
yesterday, have you made an effort to determine
whether the Southern Pacific Transportation Compan|:
has in its files in Houston any of the documents
concerning Mr. Bradley's retirement?
A No, sir, we do not.
Q Do you have in your files in Houston, for example,
the form that Mr. Bradley was asked about which
he filled out or had filled out by a retirement
bureau clerk?
A We do not have them here, no, sir.
Q Do you know the procedure generally that is
followed upon the retirement of an employee with
respect to corranunications between the government
agency and your company?
A Well, as I understand it, the railroad retirement
board mails some of these documents directly to
the secretary of the board of pensions in San
Francisco.
Q That is a Southern Pacific bureau?
A I'm talking about Mr. Pretty, who is the secretary
of the board of pensions for Southern Pacific
Company involving all of the related properties,
yes .
Q The railroad retirement board you referred to is
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a governmental agency, is it not?
A Yes, sir. They mail two of them to him and one
to Mr. Breed, who is the assistant auditor of the
Southern Pacific Transportation Company here in
Houston, and he fills in sane payroll records and
forwards it on to Mr. Pretty. That is the general
way it is handled.
Q Does Mr. Breed here in Houston receive a copy of
applicantsf forms that are submitted to the
retirement bureau, or do you know?
A No, sir, I do not think so.
Q Do you know whether or not this card shown as
Plaintiff's Exhibit 4 is made out in San Francisco
or in Houston?
A It is not made out in Houston. Let me say it that
way.
Q Do you know whether this card and formal appli
cation is based on the information submitted by
the applicant to the retirement board or what the
facts are?
A Fran what either the retirement board did for him
or he did for the retirement board, this would be
taken and put on this card by people at San Franci
Q Are the people in San Francisco who handle these
records familiar with the job assignments of
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Houston employees?
A Oh, no.
Q There was testimony yesterday about a Mr. Charles C
White who did sane work in the mail room. Do you
recall that testimony?
A Yes, sir.
Q And Plaintiff’s Exhibit 7 is in evidence, and it
is a card —
MS. MCDONALD: Excuse me, Mr. Burch.
I think the judge overruled my attempt
to introduce Plaintiff's Exhibit 7 into
evidence.
THE COURT: What is 7?
MR. BURCH: This is the Employment
Commission card.
THE COURT: It was not admitted.
MR. BURCH: I beg your pardon. I
stand corrected.
Q Let me withdraw that question. Let me withdraw
the whole line of questioning, I think we can
shorten it.
At my request after the trial recessed
yesterday, did you attempt to find the personnel
record of a Charles C. White who had been employed
by the company?
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Yes, sir.
I will show you a file document and ask you if
that is the personnel file for Mr. White?
Yes, sir.
MS. McDONALD: Your Honor, I object
to this questioning. I think it is
irrelevant to the lawsuit. You denied
me the opportunity to introduce in
evidence my exhibit of Charles White.
THE COURT: No. As I remember,
you were interrogating to show there
was sane effort to conceal the employment
card or something like that. It carried
the inference that he was classified in
a different category from the plaintiff,
and I simply suggested that that did not
prove anything because the plaintiff
didn't know what his classification was,
and the card wasn’t in the place where
the others were kept. I venture to say
that defense counsel is trying to prove
what his classification actually was.
MS. McDONALD: That has nothing to
do with my Exhibit 7.
THE COURT: No, it doesn't.
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MR. BURCH: Mr. Bradley's testimony
was, and I don't think it is extremely
important and I am going to try to be
brief, I will show plaintiff's counsel
the record I just had the witness
identify. I do not propose to place it
in evidence as an exhibit.
Mr. Adams, what do the company's records show
Mr. White's classification was?
Extra mail porter.
With reference to that file, can you tell us
briefly the circumstances under which Mr. White
was employed, how long he was there and whether
he performed any work for the company?
Well, this file reflects that Mr. White was
referred to —
MS. MCDONALD: Excuse me. I think
if Mr. Adams is going to refer to the
file, I would like to have it in evidence
because I want to cross examine him.
THE COURT: You may have it avail
able to you.
The file reflects that this man was referred to
the employment bureau by the Texas Employment
Commission.
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THE COURT: All I am really interes
in is whether there was some discrimi
nation because White was a white man.
THE WITNESS: None at all, sir.
THE COURT: Wait a minute. Let
me withdraw that conclusion. He also
is classified as a mail porter or extra
mail porter?
THE WITNESS: That is true.
THE COURT: During the time he
worked in the mail room?
THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Okay.
MR. BURCH: With reference to
whether or not his card was concealed,
again I do not think it is important.
If I may, I will tell you what I want
to establish through the witness. It
is my understanding that he was employed
as a so-called hard-core employee, that
he did not cane to work more than maybe
the day he showed up, and then he was
terminated very shortly thereafter.
THE COURT: That is not of any
consequence as far as I am concerned.
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MR. BURCH: My point in explaining
the fact that his time card may or may
not have been handled like everyone else's.
THE COURT: I am not that impressed
with that.
MR. BURCH: The file is available.
THE COURT: Make it available to
Mrs. McDonald for cross examination.
Q (By Mr. Burch.) Mr. Adams, you were asked yester
day briefly whether the railroad was required to
classify and report statistics on employees to
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Interstate Commerce Commission. Is it so required?
i A It is.
Q I hand you a document marked for identification
as Southern Pacific Exhibit 8 consisting of sane
Xerox pages, and at the same time I hand you a
book entitled "Rules for Reporting Information on
Railroad Employees." Tell us first what this
book is and what use the railroad had made of it
in the past.
j A This is a book issued by the United States Rail-
j road Labor Board which was carried out by the
Interstate Commerce Commission.
Q When was that book issued?
: A This copy was issued in May of 1921.
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Q The pages Xeroxed here, are they copies of some
of the pages from that book which you prepared
at my request?
A They are.
Q Do they show, for example, Pages 1 through 6 which
includes introductory statement?
A They do.
Q Does it also include Pages 26 and 27, Pages 78 and
79?
A Yes, sir, they do.
Q With reference to that exhibit, would you tell us
how that was used, very briefly, in classifying
employees, specifically including Mr. Bradley's
job?
A Well, there were some five hundred or more classi
fications of employees in railroad service, and it
was kind of a hodge-podge affair. So the United
States Labor Board, through the Interstate Commerc
Commission, set up these lists of employees' title
and job functions and classified them in sane,
oh, I don't remember right offhand, about one
hundred twenty-eight separate classifications in
order that statistics might be available as to
the cost of wages and the hours worked by people
in various groups. They call them divisions,
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which is a division of the labor force.
| Q Let me interrupt you, if I may. In the interest
of brevity, did the classes of employees set up
by this book correspond in any way to the calsses
of clerical employees that were employed by the
company after the book was in effect?
A Yes, sir, it did.
Q I understand that there is a subsequent book which
I will ask you about. I will ask you simply this,
from the time this book was published until it
was superceded, did the Southern Pacific at all
times classify its employees consistent with the
rules in this book?
A Yes, sir.
Q Now, let me refer you to Pages 26 and 27 and I
will ask you whether there is a division there
entitled No. 20, elevator operators and other
office attendants?
A Yes, sir.
Q How was the mail room porter job classified, was
it handled under that?
A They have a classification office porter, office
porter in that classification, yes.
Q And in reports submitted, was the mail room porter
job reported under that category?
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Yes, sir.
Let me refer you now to the copy of Page 78, and
I will ask you whether there is again reference
to office porter at the bottom of the page?
Yes, sir.
In your judgment and in the railroad's practice
in reporting jobs, state whether or not the mail
room porter was considered to be under that
general definition?
They were, yes, sir.
MR. BURCH: Your Honor, if I may
read in the record for emphasis, there
are some illustrative examples and one
of them, office porter, gives this
definition: Porter assisting in moving
furniture, carrying heavy parcels,
carrying mail, sorting papers, opening
mail. I offer Defendant Company's
Exhibit 8 in evidence.
MS. McDONALD: No objection.
THE COURT: Received.
MR. BURCH: The book is available
for your viewing, Mrs. McDonald.
I will hand you what has been marked for identi
fication as Southern Pacific Exhibit 9. I will
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also hand you a book entitled "Rules Governing
the Classification of Railroad Employees," and I
will ask you whether Exhibit 9 consists of pages
Xeroxed from that book at my request?
A They do, or it does.
Q Mr. Adams, what is the book that I have just
handed you, and how does it relate to the earlier
book?
A This is the revision of the numbers and a kind of
contraction of the number of various divisions
that were carried in 1951 when this book was issuep
Q If I may try to clear up something, I will ask
you whether the division numbers that appear in
these two books, and the grade numbers, are the
same numbers that we have been talking about in
your seniority groups, in your seniority districts?
A I did not get all of that, Mr. Burch, I’m sorry.
Q Let me refer you to the one we are talking about,
Exhibit 9. Look at Pages 18 and 19 where there
are reporting divisions.
A Yes, sir.
Q And there are numbers there?
A Yes, sir.
Q Are those numbers the same as any numbers that
the company and union used for their seniority
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groups and districts?
A Well, these are the groups of employees that we
had, and they are the same that were in the other,
except seme contractions among them.
Q You say the ones in Exhibit 9 are the same as in
Exhibit 8, is that correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q There has been testimony about your agreement with
the clerks, and seniority districts and seniority
groups.
A Yes, sir.
Q And those are given numbers as I understand it
by the company and organization?
A Yes, sir.
Q Are those numbers the same as the numbers used
in these government books?
A No, sir, they are not the same. We don't use that
number in our agreement at all, no, sir.
Q The second book that I handed you was promulgated
in 1951, was it not?
A Yes, sir.
Q Since that time has the Southern Pacific attempted
to use the general categories and classifications
of employees that are reflected in this?
A The second book?
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Q Yes, sir.
A Yes, sir.
Q Now, do your job titles respond exactly to these
t itles?
A Not at all.
Q But your jobs are grouped for reporting purposes
in these categories, is that right?
A That is correct, sir.
Q The last page of Exhibit 9 is headed "Monthly
Report,” is that a copy of the report form that
is used?
A Yes, sir, in greatly reduced size, yes.
Q With reference to Page 18 in Exhibit 9, would you
tell us what category there is used to cover the
mail porter position?
A No. 16.
MR. BURCH: I offer Exhibit 9 in
evidence.
MS. MCDONALD: No objection.
THE COURT: Received.
MR. BURCH: The books are being
made available to plaintiff’s counsel.
Q Mr. Adams, does the railroad routinely prepare
lists of job titles covered by the clerks' contrac
along with the rates of pay?
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A Yes, sir.
Q I hand you what has been marked for identification
as Defendant Company Exhibit 10 and ask you if you
can identify that?
A Yes, sir. This is a copy of the rate chart show ink
the titles and positions and rates of pay extending
from April 1, 1971 through April 1, 1973.
Q Do you know approximately when this was prepared?
A Oh, approximately the date that it became effective
a month or two off.
Q That would have been prepared about July of this
year?
A Yes, sir.
Q At the time this was prepared, you still had
seniority groups, did you not?
A Yes, sir.
Q 1, 2 and 3?
A Yes, sir.
Q Looking at the Exhibit 1 on the left-hand side,
I will ask you whether the numerals 11 that show
up on the first page indicate the seniority
district and group?
A They do.
Q Does the first digit indicate the district?
A It does.
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Q And the second indicates the group?
A It does.
Q So these names or positions all happen to have
been in Group 1, is that correct?
A They were, yes, sir.
Q Referring to the second page, the position 005
messenger, it has the No. 12 in front of it. Does
that indicate it was in Group 2?
A I was on the wrong page, excuse me. Oh, yes,
005?
Q Yes, messenger.
A Yes, sir, 12, yes, sir.
Q The same identification is used throughout the
exhibit, is it not?
A Yes, sir, it is.
Q I believe that you have made seme corrections
just in longhand on this list, have you not?
A I did, yes, sir.
Q Is this sometimes necessary when you received
these —
A We check them back and maybe sane jobs have been
pulled off or something like that in the inter
vening period, and we strike them out.
Q Does this give you the positions and the applicabl
rates of pay extending through April of 1973 for
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jobs covered by the clerks' agreement?
It does.
And that would be for this seniority District 1?
It does.
MR. BURCH: I offer Defendant's
Exhibit 10 in evidence.
MS. MCDONALD: No objection.
THE COURT: Received.
MR. BURCH: Your Honor, I might
say that Mrs. McDonald put in sane
earlier lists and this simply brings it
up to date.
Mr. Adams, at my request in preparation for this
hearing, did you go through the lists of job titles
and rates in the former Group 1 and identify sane
which had rates of pay comparable to those of the
head mail room porter as Mr. Bradley described
his job?
I did.
I will ask you if you can identify a document
marked as Southern Pacific Exhibit 11 as the list
I have asked you about?
It is, yes, sir.
After the list was first prepared, did you go back
and add a number of incumbent employees and their
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race on those jobs?
A I did, yes, sir.
Q Does that appear in the right-hand margin?
A Yes, sir.
Q In referring to Negro and in referring to white?
A Yes, sir.
Q Incidentally, if I might digress and refer you
back to the list of titles and rates, would you
tell us where in reference to Mr. Bradley’s
former position appears, and I will direct you to
Page 14 and see if you can find it there?
A I will see if I can find 14. Yes, sir, Page 14.
Q Does his former position and position now occupied
by Mr. Mackey appear as Position No. 030?
A It does.
Q And the title is what?
A Mail room porter.
Q At my request, have you looked through the company
records that reflect the title for that job to
determine whether it has ever had a different
t itle?
A Since the records were available to me it has not.
Q Do those go back to approximately the 1930’s?
A Probably not quite that far, back at least beyond
when they were brought under union scope.
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Q Is it correct or not that the position occupied
by Mr. Bradley has historically had a higher rate
of pay than the other mail room porters?
A It did, yes, sir.
lQ Has his title ever been on the company's documents
as head mail roan porter?
A Not that I can find, no, sir.
Q Now, if I may direct you back to Exhibit 10 —
I beg your pardon, 11 — each of these positions
has after it a description of the position. Will
you tell me, please, who prepared that and what
was the basis for these descriptions?
A Well, I prepared that myself, Mr. Burch. Now,
I went to the supervisors in each of these
departments and asked them briefly just what does
this job do.
Q Were you familiar at all with any of these jobs,
at least in a general nature, before you made
that investigation?
A Some of them, yes, sir.
Q I will not ask you about all of them, but just
a few. First, let me direct your attention to
Item 1, Position No. 169, mail clerk, Houston
zone office. From your investigation, are you
familiar with that job?
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A I am, yes, sir.
Q Tell us where the occupants of that job work and
briefly what he does.
A Well, he works on the 6th floor and they have a
small portion of the office set aside as a mail
room for that particular accounting department,
and he worked in there. Briefly, as I stated here
he takes care of the outbound mail as it comes
up, and it goes to the central mail bureau, and
after that is closed it goes directly to the
post office from that location.
Q By central mail bureau, are you talking about the
place where Mr. Bradley worked?
A The central mail room or bureau as it may be calle
Q Does he have any duties in your judgment which are
clerical in addition to those —
A Well, that doesn't take all of his time, and the
other part of his time he supposedly assists the
clerk in that department in whatever they find
for him to do, yes, sir.
Q All right. In the area where this person handles
mail, or is there a board with pigeonholes for
distributing mail?
A There is, yes, sir.
Q Is there a scale for weighing mail?
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A There is.
Q How does it compare with the scale that was in
Mr. Bradley’s former work location?
A Well, just to look at it, it is the same kind of
scale.
Q In the area on the 6th floor, are there some
charts and booklets available with postal rates
and information?
A There are, yes, sir.
Q As far as you can determine, are they the same
or different than the books and charts in
Mr. Bradley's former working place?
A They appear to me to be the same.
Q What volume of mail is handled by the 6th floor
department, if you can tell us briefly, how does
it compare with other parts of the SP office?
A Probably, well, I couldn’t estimate by percentage
or anything, but a great part of the volume of
mail for the building comes there.
Q In your own terms, would you tell us how the mail
handling duties of the mail clerk in question
compare with the mail-handling work in Mr. Bradley
location?
A Well, except for volume, I would say they were
pretty well the same.
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Q The position 169 was in which seniority group,
1 or 2?
A It was in 1.
Q In your judgment, based on your knowledge of
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Mr. Bradley's position and the knowledge you have
acquired of these other positions, what is the
I comparison between them in terms of job requirements,
skills, ability, any other relevant factor?I
A I would not say there was much difference there
at all, as you have asked.
Q In your judgment, is the rate of pay for Mr. Bradley's
job consistent or fair or unfair in relation to
the jobs listed in this exhibit?
j A Well, I think it is fair, yes, sir.
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Q Mr. Bradley made the statement in testimony
yesterday that he felt that he had lost money in
relation to the rate of pay for the head rate
clerk in the traffic department. Were you present
and did you hear that testimony?
A I heard that testimony.
Q In your judgment, hew does Mr. Bradley's former
job compare or not compare with a job at head
rate clerk?
A It does not compare.
Q Would you tell us, as far as you understand it
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briefly, the duties of the head rate clerk and
what qualifications are required?
A Well, they must first be a qualified rate clerk,
which is a qualification and skill which takes
years to acquire. They must be able to make lates
and to check rates and to answer questions from
the public or from other railroads about rates,
and the head rate clerk is in supervision of that
department. I think the one that we were talkingI
about probably has five people in it, the head
rate clerk and four others, probably. And then
he is responsible for the work that is performed
by each of the others who are just rate clerks,
and if they have problems that they can't answer,
they refer to him and he in turn solves them or
: takes them to a higher source for the solution.
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Q What kind of documents and information does the
rate clerk or the head rate clerk use in his job?
A They have what we call tariffs, and they are
printed volumes of rates and conditions and added
charges and everything else that go up to making
how much the railroad charges a customer for
handling the freight.
Q When you say this man might make rates, would you
i tell us briefly what that means?
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Well, if someone calls in and says, "I have a
large volume or small volume of something of a
particular commodity that I want to handle from
here to there and I want your railroad to handle
it for me, what kind is the best rate you can
use?” Of course, the railroads are required by
the Interstate Commerce Commission to maintain
rates and publish tariffs so that everybody knows
what the rates for that kind of movement would
be. So they figure out the best that the man can
do, plus a profit for the railroad company, of
course, and they go through all of the tariffs
to make sure that that is not forbidden or barred
by any Interstate Commerce or anything else we
have already published, and then they tell the
customer that that will cost you so much per
thousand, or maybe they are going to ship in
carload lots.
State whether or not the job of the head rate
clerk requires the exercise of some judgment and
discretion.
It does, yes, sir.
THE COURT: I really think we are
getting pretty far off base. Let’s
wind this up, Mr. Burch, please.
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Q One last question. Is the job of the head rate
clerk filled by bid under seniority under the
agreement or what are the facts?
A Well, we publish notice that the job is open,
and then the clerks who feel like they are qualifie
for it make application and then they are selected.
That is the only difference. They are on a
selective basis after the job has been announced
open.
Q Let me ask you to explain, are there certain jobs
covered by the clerks' agreement that are filled
on the basis you have just described?
A Yes, sir.
Q Rather than on a strict seniority basis?
A Yes, sir.
Q Generally speaking, are these jobs that involve
some degree of supervision?
A They do, yes, sir.
MR. BURCH: I offer Defendant
Company’s Exhibit 11 in evidence.
MS. MCDONALD: No objection.
THE COURT: Received.
Q Mr. Adams, at my request in preparation for this
trial, did you prepare a list of employees from
Group 2 and Group 3 positions who have been
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promoted to Group 1 posit ions?
A I did.
Q Under the clerks* agreement. I will ask you if
you can identify what I have marked as Southern
Exhibit 12 as that list?
A It is.
Q The first group, as I understand your exhibit,
consists of employees who once held assignments
as mail porters in the central mail room, is that
correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q That would include Mr. Deese and Mr. R. W. Moody
who testified here yesterday?
A It does, yes, sir.
Q There is a heading there in present position, is
that intended to show the job that these men
occupied when this document was made up?
A It does, yes, sir.
Q And this was prepared as of May 12, is that
correct?
A Yes.
Q Now, the other date or heading is ’’Date first
assigned Group 1," is that the date in which
those employees first performed service in
Group 1?
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A That is, yes.
Q That is not the date on which they entered their
present position, necessarily, is it?
A No, sir.
Q The other employees listed, and as I understand
your exhibit, began their employment with the
company in either Group 2 or Group 3?
A Yes, sir.
Q And subsequently have been promoted to and have
assignments in Group 1?
A Yes, sir.
Q Now, you have also listed on Page 2, have you
not, sane Negro employees who were promoted to
Group 1 but are no longer with the company?
A That's right, yes, sir.
MR. BURCH: I offer Defendant
Company Exhibit 12 in evidence.
MS. McDONALD: No objection.
THE COURT: Received.
Q (By Mr. Burch.) Mr. Adams, I hand you Plaintiff's
Exhibit 15 which is the printed contract booklet,
and I want to ask you some questions about the
seniority rights of promoted employees. I am
going to ask you about the application of the
contract and I will also then ask you to show me
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the portions of the contract that apply, if you
can. First of all, you have already testified
that if an employee had been promoted from Group 2
to Group 1 and there had been a reduction in
Group 1, that employee would have retained
seniority in Group 2. Is that your testimony?
Yes, sir.
I believe you referred us there to Rule 3 on
Page 10, is that the applicable rule?
Yes, sir, it is.
And that provides in part that employees promoted
from Group 1 to another as established in Rule 1
will rank in such group fran the date of trans
fer thereto and will continue to retain seniority
in the group from which promoted. Is that the
way the contract was applied in this case?
Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Let me interrupt you. j
That raises a question I have in my mind.
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Let's assume that the Group 2 employee with a
long period of seniority is promoted or bids for,
25 j i believe you call it, a job in Group 1.
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A Yes, sir.
Q And he gets it. Let’s assume that he works in
this Group 1 job for a year, but he has only
limited seniority in Group 1. So, when a reduction
in force in Group 1 comes about and somebody has
to get the ax, he loses his Group 1 job because
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he doesn’t have enough seniority. He then, however,
can avail himself of his long seniority in Group 2
where he started from, correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q Now, let's suppose that during this interval when
I he is working in the Group 1 job, somebody else
has taken the particular position in Group 2 that
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he occupied. How would you determine what jobI ■in Group 2 that he could take, to avail himself
tof his seniority? Do you understand what I am
asking?
A Yes. He takes any job in that case, any job that
is held by a junior Group 2 employee, junior in
seniority in Group 2. In other words, in
Mr. Bradley's case, having had —
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Q Since 1925.
A A 1934 seniority in this particular group.
Q Practically any Group 2 job?
A That was still in existence.
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Q The fact that somebody else might have taken the
job which he formerly held would not prevent the j
man with the long seniority from taking it and
moving the new occupant to something else?i . !I !i A No, sir, it would not.i 7! THE COURT: Now go ahead.
MR. BURCH: Your Honor, you have
covered that point very adequately. I
will just ask Mr. Adams for the record.
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BY MR. BURCH:
; Q I will ask you whether Rule 24, together with
Rule 3, covers the questions that the Court just
asked you?
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A They do, yes, sir.|
Q Now, let me direct your attention to Rule 19 on
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Page 18. I will ask you if we may do it in the
interest of brevity to tell me what has happened
in actual practice under the contract when an
employee has been promoted to a job but has been
disqualified for inability to perform it. What
is the rule there?
A Well, Rule 19 provides in that case that he does
not have a displacement right, but must bid for
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a position that he wants or can hold, or can j
qualify for.
THE COURT: I don't believe I quite
understand what you are telling me.
Explain that to me again, please, sir.
THE WITNESS: If he bids for a job
and he cannot within a reasonable length
of time qualify to do the work, provided
the supervisors have given him all the
help they can, and they say you just
can't do it and you are disqualified,
then he is not allowed to go back and
bump anybody else, but is required to
bid for a job — well, I can't volunteer.
THE COURT: Yes, go ahead.
THE WITNESS: This is the thing
that confused probably Mr. Bradley and
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the other witnesses that we heard from
here when they said they would lose theii
seniority. I suspect strongly this is
what they were told, when they were bid,
to be sure that the job they bid for was
one they thought they could work, be
cause if they didn't, they would have
to wait and bid for a job to come back
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to, if they were disqualified.
THE COURT: If a man loses the
newer, better job, not because of
reduction in force as I asked you, but j
because after a matter of a few months
they find he cannot cut the mustard,
he doesn't have the training and skill
necessary, he doesn't have the right to
go back and re-acquire the job from
which he came?
THE WITNESS: He must wait and bid
for a job.
THE COURT: Okay.
̂ (By Mr. Burch.) Now, Rule 19 provides in part,
if I may again read, Your Honor: Disqualified
employees may bid on any bulletined positions but
may not displace any regularly assigned employee. |
It is understood supervisors will cooperate with
employees who are making an effort to qualify.
Now, in application, if an employee were
disqualified, he would have the privilege of
bidding on the next vacant job posted, is that
correct?
A That is correct, yes.
Q Now, in actual practice, tell us what the facts
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Q
are with reference to how often you disqualify
people down at the railroad for this clerical job,
usually or unusually?
Well, it is very unusual for that to happen,
Mr. Burch. If a person bids for more, bites off
more than they can chew, we tell the supervisor
to go to him and counsel with him, that he is
over his depth and he is not making it, and his
opinion is that he will not make it and suggest
that he pick a job which has maybe a little less
requirement or a little less knowledge or skill
or other things to perform the work.
THE COURT: Are you trying to
ameliorate the harshness of the rule?
THE WITNESS: Right. The rule is
harsh and it must be. If a man takes
the job and then doesn’t want it, he
will say he can't work it and we will
say he is disqualified and he would be
bumped, and it costs us money to educate
clerks, you see. We are trying to save
a little money.
Mr. Adams, has it been necessary within your
experience to take a disqualification case to an
arbitration because you and the union couldn't
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agree on it?
A No, sir.
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Q Now, let me go back to something I think you have
covered, but I want to ask you briefly, in your
conversations with Mr. Bradley concerning his
position, his employment situation, did he ever
say to you or suggest in any way that what he
wanted was to be promoted?
A No, sir.
Q Now, does the railroad and union have other agree
ments, other than the ones in this blue book?
A Yes, sir.
Q That apply to the situation of an employee such j
as Mr. Bradley who might be displaced or dis
qualified?
A Yes, sir, they do.
Q I will hand you a document marked as Southern
Pacific Exhibit 13, entitled ’’Memorandum on Agree
ment," and I will ask you if you will tell us the
date of that agreement and the subject of the
agreement?
A This is an agreement which was signed on the 17th
day of July, 1963 and in agreement provided for
the consolidation of seniority rosters of the
various seniority districts into four, and then
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also provided for protection and benefits to the
employees because of that concession.
Q Mr. Adams, the contract will speak for itself, I
do not ask that you interpret it, but will you
tell us what effect, if any, the contract had on
employees such as Mr. Bradley who might be dis
placed or disqualified.
A An employee that had a regular position on the
date this was signed, were guaranteed to have a
job or be paid their salary in lieu thereof until
they retired or died or discharged for cause.
Q Did that in effect constitute a guarantee against
lay-off pursuant to reduction in force?
A Yes, sir.
Q Would that apply, if Mr. Bradley had chosen to
be in Group 1 and had been displaced due to
reduction in force?
A It would, yes.
MR. BURCH: We offer Exhibit 13 in
evidence.
MS. MCDONALD: No objection.
THE COURT: Received.
Q (By Mr. Burch.) I hand you what has been marked
for identification as Southern Pacific Exhibit 14,
entitled "Addendum Agreement" and ask you to tell
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us the date and what it is.
A This is an agreement made in San Francisco on the
20th of April, 1966 between the clerks' organi
zation and the Southern Pacific Company, Pacific
Lines and the Texas & Louisiana Lines and the
Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company, and the
SD & AE Railroad, San Diego and Eastern Railway
Company.
Q Tell us briefly again, I'm not asking you for an
interpretation, but tell us the nature of this
agreement and how it would have affected an
employee such as Mr. Bradley with reference to
reduction in force, disqualification and any other
such action?
A Well, this agreement added to the protection that
had been made available to our clerks in the
July 17, 1963 agreement, in that it provided that
anyone who, on April 20, 1966, was in the service
of the company and had been there for one year,
they became protected in like manner. It also
provided that the rate of pay that that employee
had on that date would not be reduced because he
was required to drop back to a lower paying job
or something like that. We would continue to pay
what we call his guaranteed rate. It has a great
jrtc
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many more things, but for our purposes I think
that is what we are talking about.
Is it correct or incorrect that under Exhibit 13
and 14, Mr. Bradley was guaranteed a job with the
Southern Pacific Company until he retired, and he
was guaranteed not less than the rate that he was
drawing in 1966 when the second agreement was
signed?
That is true. Yes, sir.
And that would have been true regardless of whethe
there was a reduction in force or whether or not
he was disqualified from a higher position that
he bid on?
That is so, yes.
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MR. BURCH: We offer Exhibit 14
in evidence.
MS. MCDONALD: No objection.
THE COURT: Received.
(By Mr. Burch.) Mr. Adams, does the company have
certain disciplinary procedures that are followed
with respect to employees covered by the clerks’
contract?
Yes, sir.
Are employees covered by the contract subject to
suspension under seme circumstances?
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They are, yes, sir.
Tell us briefly what the circumstances are and
the procedures that are followed in a man that is i
suspended.
Well, a person who has done something that is
considered of a sufficient serious nature that
we think that he should not work longer, effective
right at that time, maybe suspending pending a
hearing, he may not be disciplined until he has
a hearing in formal form as covered by the agree
ment rules. But you may suspend him if the
circumstances would indicate that that was the
thing that should be done.
Is any paperwork initiated when an employee is
suspended?
Yes, sir. Whoever instituted or inaugurated this
suspension would have to report it immediately
to his particular supervisor and in a very short
time it would come to my hands.
Do employees who are members of the union and
covered by the contract, as far as you know, ever
suspend other union employees?
No, sir.
Do you know of any employee in Mr. Bradley’s
position or comparable position who has authority
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to suspend other union employees?
No, sir, they do not.
THE COURT: Your fifteen minutes
estimated yesterday have now run to an
hour and a half. Is there any way we
can shorten this?
Mr. Adams, there was testimony yesterday that at
seme time in the past there had been two separate
local unions of the clerks’ organization here in
Houston. Did you hear that testimony?
I did, yes, sir.
With whom has the company historically made its
contracts and handled labor relations concerning
clerks?
With the System Board of Adjustment through its
general chairman.
Did the company negotiate contracts with either of
the local unions that have been referred to?
No, sir.
You have heard testimony that those locals were
merged at some time. Were you aware that that
took place?
I had heard it.
Did that merger in any way affect the seniority
or other contract rights of Southern Pacific
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employees?
A No, sir.
Q Did the existence of two locals in the past in
any way affect the contract or seniority rights
of any Southern Pacific employee?
A No, sir.
MR. BURCH: Pass the witness.
THE COURT: We will take a ten
minute recess and then we will have the
cross.
(Recess taken.)
THE COURT: Be seated, please. You
may go forward.
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CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MS. MCDONALD:
Q Mr. Adams, you testified that Southern Pacific
had joined the President's Plans for Progress in
1962. Is that correct?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q What was the purpose of the President's Plans for
Progress?
A It was to try to promote the equal employment
opportunities to be given to everyone regardless
of their race or creed.
Q So if you joined the Plans for Progress, was this
an agreement that was made that the company would
try to insure that there would be no discriminate
against anyone regardless of race, is that correct}
A We did, yes, sir.
Q When you joined the Plan for Progress, that was
the company's intention?
A It certainly was, yes, ma'am.
Q You also testified yesterday that Southern Pacific
had engaged in some affirmative action, attempting
to seek out minority employees?
! A Yes, ma'am.II Q When did this begin?
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A Well, shortly after this time here, but it has
evolved into a real task at the present time.
But beginning about, oh, *63 or *64, we began to
really put the emphasis on affirmative action
rather than being sure that you did not dis
criminate against anybody. Our thought became
to go and get them.
Q Where did you go?
A Well, like to Texas Southern University and, as
I testified, I think I am not familiar with all
of — most of them go by letters, SER I think is
a Latin American organization who will provide
you with Latin applicants.
Q Were you responsible for conducting this affirmatiji
action program?
A It was under my direction, yes, maTam.
Q Do you know what was done, did you make a check? j
A Well, the employment director makes reports, made
reports at that time of what he had done. That
responsibility now has been placed under the
manager of personnel.
Q What period of time are we talking about when the
person under your supervision made reports to you
explaining what had been done as a part of the
affirmative action plan?
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A Oh, Mrs. McDonald, my memory for dates is completelyI
bad. But it extended over several years. Is
ithat sufficient?
Q You say it began in '62, the Plans for Progress?
A Yes, ma * am.
Q And when did your affirmative action program begir?
A As I recall, within a year or two after that,l i
why the whole concept of employment relations
began to evolve on a much more solid basis than
t ,it had, and affirmative action was the decision
of the top management. As a matter of fact, it
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came to us from the president of the company
through the vice-president to whom we would
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report, and the instructions were that we must
educate everyone on an affirmative action rather
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than just a negative approach by not doing any- I
thing wrong. We must start doing everything right.
Q So you visited Texas Southern University?
A I*m sorry, I can't name all of those.
Q Do you know how many times Texas Southern Uni-
i versity was visited?
A Mr. Gibson or someone from the employment office
has visited many, many times. Dr. Dorian, with
whom you may be acquainted, who was dean of ladies
out there, dean of women, was very helpful to us
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in trying to provide us with some people. As a
matter of fact, she sent her own secretary as the
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first Negro secretary that we were able or did
employ.
How many persons did yon employ as a result of
the visits to Texas Southern University?
That I can’t say.
You say someone in your organization also visited
SER and attempted to secure Mexican American
applicants?
Yes, ma’am.
Do you know how many times they were visited?
I can’t say.
Do you know how many applicants were secured as
a result of the visit to SER?
No, I do not.
Did the visits to Texas Southern University or
SER come as a result of the company’s initiative
or did you not visit TSU because they called you?
No, it was our initiative. They have a program
out there in which we participate where school
officials and counselors and all of those people
come for a summer program, and we participate in
that, and they come to our property and we try
to explain to them and show them what we are
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talking about so that they can interest students
as they graduate them, or as they have to quit,
that they may cane to us as applicants. ,
Have any other organizations been visited in an
attempt to secure minority applicants?
Yes, I think, to be exact, that every high school
has been visited.
Any high schools that are composed predominantly
of minority students?
Yes, ma'am.
Can you give us the names?
Yates and Wheatley were at one time completely
minority groups.
When were these high schools visited?
I can’t give you a date.
Do you know how many times they were visited?
They are visited almost every year, if not every j
jyear.
Is that Southern Pacific's program of visiting
all of the high schools in Houston?
Yes, ma'am, and all of Texas and Louisiana also.
Now, you heard Mr. Bradley describe the duties
that he performed as head of the mail porters,
head of the mail room. Was he correct, in your
opinion?
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A Outside of the assumption that he had supervisory
duties, which I do not think that he had, it
probably was a very accurate description.
Q Did he teach new mail porters how to perform
their duties?
A I have no doubt that is true. That is the custom
in the industry.
And did he also correct any errors that other
mail porters might have made?
That I can't say, but I would assume that is a
true statement.
Would you assume that he was responsible for
answering any questions that other mail porters
might have had concerning their duties?
I am reasonably sure of that, yes, ma'am.
Q Do you doubt that he interviewed Mr. Deese for
employment?
A Since that is so far before my time, I can’t say
that. I don't doubt Mr. Bradley’s word. I doubt
his construction of what he is talking about.
Q Now, what about Mr. Bradley’s testimony that he
authorized employees to take time off. Do you
have any information that would lead you to believje
that this was not correct?
A Well, not of my own knowledge. Let me say it
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that way. I am not that closely associated with
it. I
Q Mr. Moore is the present head of the Duplicating I
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Bureau, is that correct?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And there are three subdivisions under the Dupli
cating Bureau?
A That’s right.
Q What are the names of these subdivisions?
A Central mailing room and then the Duplicating
Bureau and then, I’m not sure what they call it,
in my mind it is the typewriter repair bureau
because that is what we call on them mostly for.
Q In the typewriter repair bureau, is there not a
head of that particular bureau?
A No, ma’am.
Q There is no person who is in charge?j
A No, ma 'am.I
| Q In the Duplicating Bureau, is there a person who
is in charge of that?
A Mr. Tate, whose position is an excepted position
and not under union contract. He and his wife
are the only employees. He is in charge of the
work, let’s say it that way, yes.
Q So he is in charge of the Duplicating Bureau, but
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he answers finally to Mr. Moore as the overall
head?
A That’s true, yes.
Q Now, yesterday the Defendant Southern Pacific
Exhibit 1 was introduced which was the ageement
between the director general of railroads and
Brotherhood of Railway & Steamship Clerks effective
January 1st, 1920. Now, in that agreement there
is a definition of a clerk on Page 5. Is that
essentially the same definition of a clerk as is
contained in Plaintiff’s Exhibit 15, which is the
agreement effective in '56?
A May I see the exhibit? Essentially it is, yes.
Q In both of these agreements there is a specific
provision that excepts persons who sort mail, is
that correct?
A That is correct.
Q So even if Mr. Bradley, as a mail porter, and as
head of the mail room was sorting mail and engaging
in other activities that would be included in the
definition of what constitutes a clerk for more
than four hours a day, then he could not be called
a clerk, is that not so?
A I am not getting your question exactly, excuse me.
Q What I am trying to get at is: Does this agreemenjt
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automatically except Mr. Bradley as a mail porter
I from coverage as a clerk regardless of what his
duties are?
A No, the duties of a job determine the classificati
! Now, if he were doing more than four hours a day
clerical work, then he would probably be classi
fied as a clerk.
pn.
Q Well, you have heard Mr. Bradley's description of
his duties. Don't you believe that his duties at
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least more than four hours were clerical?
A I do not, Mrs. McDonald.i
Q You don't consider addressing envelopes clerical?
A I do not.II
i Q And you do not consider weighing of mail clerical?
i
A I do not.
Q Or preparing certified mail?
! A I do not.
Q Now, you also testified yesterday that you worked
iust about all the clerical positions with Southerh
Pac if ic?
A I have worked in almost every one of the variousl
departments of the railroad, yes, ma’am.
Q And you have been employed since 1925, is that
correct?
A Yes, ma'am.
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When you were working these clerk positions from
the period of 1925 until you finally became — I
think it was assistant manager of —
In 1960 I became an examiner, which is an employee
in that office.
Did you ever see a single black person between
'25 and *60 ever employed in a clerical job?
Mrs. McDonald, I do not know.
Can you recall ever seeing any?
I can’t recall, let me say it that way.
i
So that in 1920, when Defendant’s Exhibit 1, |
which was this agreement defining what constitute^
a clerk and exempting people who dealt with mail,
was prepared and all of the persons who were
clerks were white, is that not so?
I wouldn't know.
But you have never seen a black clerk from ’25
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to ’60?
A To my personal knowledge, no, ma’am,
j Q Now, you worked as a crew caller in Group 2, is
that correct?
A That’s right.
Q Crew caller is a rather highly paid job classi
fication, isn't it?
A No, ma’am, not at all.
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Not today?
Well, I don’t know what the rate is today. I
doubt that the job still exists in that present
form. I got $3 a day when I went to work and
that was reduced in the depression to $2.70 a day.
That was in —
In the ’30’s, you know.
Effective July 1st, 1971, it is my understanding
from your testimony yesterday that all of the
groups, Groups 1, 2, 3, have been merged into the
one seniority unit?
iThat’s correct.
And everyone has carried their full seniority j
date, is that right?
That is true.
You also testified yesterday that you did have a
conversation with Mr. Bradley and the name of
Mr. Shepherd came up, who is a Negro, and during
this conversation I believe you testified that
Bradley told you that he thought his job was not
properly classified, and you told him that the
job was always classified that way and Mr. Bradley
also complained about his seniority. You said
that the seniority was established the same as
for others, and that there was no reason for a
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change. Is that correct?
A That is correct, yes, ma'am.
Q So then Mr. Bradley was complaining of the senior!
situation, was he not?
A As I recollect, yes, ma'am.
Q Now, the changes that were made effective July 1st
1965 were really what Mr. Bradley was asking for,
as far as the seniority arrangement when he talkec
with you in 1960, is that correct?
A Mrs. McDonald, I am not quite positive exactly
what he wanted at that time. He wanted more monej
so far as I could gather.
Q Didn't he also want his seniority back to 1934?
A I would not deny that statement. I cannot confim
it, either.
Q Now, during that conversation, you told Mr. Bradle
that there was no reason for changing the seniorit
situation, but yesterday you testified that since
there is going to be — who are the new people?
A Telegraphers.
Q Since the telegraphers are coining in there is no
reason for merging the groups?
A That is true.
Q Can you tell me why there was no reason in 1960
and there is now a reason?
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Because, Mrs. McDonald, the agreement as they so
existed gave the rights to everyone regardless of
their group, and there was simply no reason for
changing the agreements at that time to provide
in any other manner. Now, we made a change in
f65 to which you related, and that topped and
bottomed, you might say, the seniority groups and
gave everybody in 3 a place on 1 and 2, and every
body in 2 a place on 1 and 3, if they didn't have
one, and that was done later. But at the same
time, the rules always provided and still provide
for progression until July 1st and now because
there is a common group, then progression is not
in there any more, in that idea. But a person
could still bid who might be on the roster as a
porter or a mail porter or whatever, he could
still bid for a clerk's job just as he could then.
You expected this new system that was initiated
in July of this year will work efficiently, don't
you?
Mrs. McDonald, there are a great many objections
to it, but it is the best that can be done.
You, in your position, are satisfied with it?
I'm not satisfied with it at all, but it is the
best we could do.
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I Q Do you think it will decrease the efficiency of
the operations?:
A I am afraid it will, yes, ma’am,
j Q On what do you base that?i ;> A Well, you have to know that it is pretty hard for
me to say to another person that we just do not
think that you are qualified to do this particular
job. We are a little bit apprehensive that we are
going to have to do a great deal more of that thaniI
we did.
Q Is that your only concern?
A That is my only concern. I have no concern other-
wise with it.
Q Now, yesterday, you testified that generally the
job goes to the senior man, is that correct?
A Fitness and ability being equal.
Q And only on few occasions are persons disqualified,
is that right?i
A That’s right.
Q Under the present contract, and I am referring
to Plaintiff’s Exhibit 15, which would governI
until all of the groups were merged July 1st ofI
this year, there were three groups. Is that
correct?
A That is correct.
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Q And the third group is labor?
A Manual labor.
Q In the contract it says labor employed in and
around stations, tower houses and warehouses?
A That's true.
Q Now, the Defendant Company's Exhibit 5, which was
introduced yesterday, shows that as of March 31,
1971, this year, there are no whites employed in
Group 3, which is the labor force.
A That is true.
Q But you say that since 1962 the company has been
endeavoring to make sure there is no discriminatioi
and that persons are placed where they are qualifii
A That is true.
Q Now, Group 3 laborers, essentially the lowest
paying group of all three, is that correct?
A I am not quite positive about that. Some of the
dock workers receive pretty substantial rates.
Q Well, the wage rates would explain in detail,
would they not?
A Yes.
Q But as a general matter, would you explain that
the majority of the labor positions are the lowest
paid of Groups 1, 2 and 3?
A Well, probably that's so.
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Q You have worked in the personnel department, have
you not, as an examiner?
A That’s right. Yes, ma'am.
Q And you got to knew the employees of Southern
Pacific as they came in to get a job?
A No, that was just under the general supervision.
We have a bureau set up for that which is the
employment bureau. They come to the employment
bureau. At that time, well, in 1963 when I was
given the title of assistant manager, then that
came under my direct supervision.
Q Well, now, when the company joined the President’s
Plans for Progress, did you or any other officials
in the company communicate the change in policy
to the employees?
It was, yes, ma’am.
Was this through direct contact, verbal contact?
That is and then it was published in the house
organ, or whatever you call it, the bulletin, and
made available to everyone.
Q How long did you work in the clerk category?
A Pardon?
Q How long did you work in the clerical category?
A Well, I am on my forty-eighth year now.
Q And have you observed the work performed by the
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la bore rs in Group 3?
A Yes, ma’am.
• /} !*Q In your opinion would a clerk want to transfer to
the labor job?
A Well, I would not, no. But I can only speak for
myself. Someone else might want that.
Q Laborers do what?
A They do the physical labor.
Q Clean, mop?
A Well, in small facilities they do. But a clerk
does that too, if there is no labor employed.
But in large facilities we have positions which
are titled ’’janitor" and ordinarily a janitor
is required to do the major portion of his time
in that kind of work.
Q Would you agree that Group 1 generally contains
, 1 '
the highest paid jobs as compared with Group 2
and 3? I
A Generally, yes, ma'am.
Q Now, I am going to refer to the Defendant Company'^
Exhibit 2, which was introduced yesterday, which
was the memorandum of agreement between Southern
Pacific and the Brotherhood. It is datedl
24 1 D e c e m b e r 29, 1965. You participated in the negoti-I
25 at ion of this memorandum?
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A Yes, ma’am.
Q Now, what is the status of this memorandum, what
weight does it carry?
A Up until — well, on July 1st, 1971 we changed
it all by the second agreement. But up until that
time it was — it bound the company and the
organization as to what would be done and every
one who was employed prior to that time and subse
quent to that time were treated as that agreement
so provides.
Q So is this something like a supplement?
A That is a supplement to the contract.
Q And binding on the employees?
A Binding on everyone, yes, ma’am.
Q Who else participated for the union?
A Mr. P. J. Gibson, I think, and he had some of his
assistants with him.
Q Did Mr. Gates participate in the meeting?
A I believe that he did. He was probably as an
assistant.
Q Mr. L. M. Greater participate in the negotiation?
A I think that he did.
Q Now, Mr. L. M. Greater, what position does
Mr. L. M. Greater have?
A Well, this I have to tell you just by my understan
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I understand that he is the local chairman of a
local organization in 589. Maybe that is not
the right number. But in this capacity he was
introduced to me as a member of the negotiating
committee from the general committee.
Q But you dealt with Mr. Greater during his negoti
ations as a representative?
A No, ma’am, I dealt with Mr. Gibson.
Q Were there meetings where this contract was
negot iated?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q And you never spoke with Mr. Greater?
A Mr. Greater was present at the time it was signed,
yes, ma’am. But as to whether he was there at
the other meetings, I am not positive.
Q What was the purpose of this memorandum agreement
signed on December 29, 1965?
A Well, the change in conditions on the railroad
had created an unfair, we thought, block to
people in Group 2 and 3 from becoming clerks, and
let me explain to you how that was. The vast
majority of jobs that we were filling were key
punch operators and stenographers, and we made a
study to show that probably nine out of ten or
more of the people we employed fell into those
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categories. Those keypunch operators didn't pay
as much as a clerk, and ordinarily the steno
graphers that we hired were the lowest paid
stenographers which would almost follow, so those
people were moving as jobs became available.
They were moving out. Now, as long as that
happened, then a person from Group 2 had no
opportunity to move up, although we thought and
knew that we had qualified people there to fill
these clerical jobs which did not have specific
skills such as the ability to use a keypunch
machine or shorthand, and this, that and the
other. So that was the cause for the top and
bottom, in other words we put a block between any
new hires and the people that already had seniorit
in Group 2, whether they had wanted to move up
to Group 1 or not. We gave them an arbitrary
date on Group 1 which in effect gave them rights
over anybody we employed thereafter in Group 1.
Now, could an employee in Group 2 transfer to a
job above keypunch operator?
Yes, ma'am. But the presence of the keypunch
operator was blocking him, because the keypunch
operator moved up first, see, and for instance
Mr. Bradley, if he wanted one of those, this new
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employee would have blocked him. So we did that
so that there could be no blocking of Mr. Bradley
except his own choice.
Q The contract provided that vacancies would be
filled in Group 1 first by move-ups within
Group 1, and then transfers in Group 2.
A Well, we put them all on the board and we acceptec
any applicants. We put a bulletin notice on the
board and anybody who applied for it we considerec
If we had no application from a Group 1 employee,
and a Group 2 employee had made application for
it, he was considered right in turn.
Q New, isn't it true that a complaint was filed
against Southern Pacific in 1965?
MR. BURCH: Your Honor, objection.
That is completely irrelevant. Any
other legal proceeding, it is not in
volved in this case.
MS. MCDONALD: Your Honor, may I
answer that? In response to interrogate
which I served, I asked this question
about negotiation of the '66 agreement,
and the response to that, the answer
was that certain changes were made
because a complaint was filed, and I
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can refer to the response.
THE COURT: You may go ahead, I
will overrule it.
Q Would you answer that question, please?
A Well, we were in negotiations withe the conciliate
department of the EEOC, Equal Employment Opportune
Commission, and Mr. Kenneth Hulbert.
Q Had a complaint been filed against Southern Pacifi
challenging the seniority system?
A Mrs. McDonald, unless I am not testifying properlj
from memory, the complaint did not specifically
provide that. But in the investigations, as they
very often do, the end-up of the thing is not
nearly what the complaint was when it started.
Q Who was the complaint filed by?
MR. BURCH: Excuse me. Let the
witness complete his answer.
THE COURT: That is all right.
Thank you.
Q Who was the complaint filed by?
A This is from memory, a Mr. Moses Leroy and a
Mr. Clyde Thornton.
Q Now, Mr. Moses Leroy, was he the president of
Local 1534?
A That I do not know.
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Q And Mr. Moses Leroy is Negro, is he not?
A Yes, and so is Mr. Thornton.
Q So, as a result of this charge being filed, was
this Defendant Company's Exhibit 2 negotiated?
A Not as a result of that complaint being filed,
no, ma'am. But out of the information that grew
out of a thorough investigation of all of the
circumstances, assisted by the conciliating brand
of the EEOC, we developed that there was probably
a circumstance that was happening so far as the
entering level of jobs was concerned, that might
have been disadventageous to the people we had
in Groups 2 and 3. I proposed that we could1 1
block it in this manner, and the organization
agreed with that subsequently, and we executed
the agreement which successfully did it.
Q Now, the date that was given as the seniority
date for Group 2 and Group 3 employees who wished
to transfer to Group 1 was January 1st, 1966, is
that correct?
A That is correct.
Q N o w , w h y is it that certain jobs are put in
Group 1, certain jobs from Group 2 and certain
jobs in Group 3?
A Because of classifications that were set up
J X J ck.
beginning in 1920 and continued on down to the
present time as to what constitutes a clerk’s i
position, what constitutes the other positions
in Group 2 and what would be just a laborer’s
job which would fall in Group 3, although they
are not all called laborers. I
Is it because that the duties are somewhat analogc^us
within the group?
They cover about the same type of work and
responsibility.
Within each group?
Within each group. That is a pretty broad state
ment .
Now, I am going to refer to Defendant's Southern
Pacific Exhibit 3, which was introduced yesterday
as the seniority roster as of January 1st, 1971
showing the race, either Negro or Latin American
or employees holding assignment in Group 1. Does
that mean that these are employees who are actually
working in Group 1 jobs?
Who on this date were.
Actually working in Group 1 jobs?
That’s right, yes, ma'am. You see, where there
is a title and department, that is the title of
the job this person holds. Here is one which is
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___________________ 303
excepted and they are on another kind of job.
Some may show leave of absence or absent military
service or anything like that.
Q Now, suppose under occupation there is no job
listed but instead, Group 3 or Group 2?
A That means he has an assignment as laborer or Il
something else that falls in Group 2 or 3.
Q Then he is not working in Group 1 job? i
A That is true.
Q So then this exhibit does not show all of the
persons who are actually working Group 1 jobs.
A Yes, it does. i
Q And does it include those who are not working
;
Group 1 jobs?
jA Yes. This includes in one fashion or another i
ieveryone in this particular district who has
seniority as a clerk, you see. And this indicates;
in what capacity they were working as of the date
this was made. Sane of them who were clerks are ii
listed here. And those who -- we have a seniority
district Group 2 which I did not know would be
pertinent, or we would have produced it. If it
is in there, we could refer to that, but that
would show the ones in the same fashion by the
information as shown here, who were employed on
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this date in Group 2.
On January 1st, 1966 after these negotiations
with Mr. Hulbert, each of the employees in Group 1,
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2, 3 were given a seniority date in Group 1 and
in Group 2 and 3, so everyone had a January 1st,
1966 date?
Who did not have another date. Now, for instance,;
Mr. H. L. Shepherd, to whom we referred to, it is j
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not pertinent, but it does occur, has a date priorj
to f66 because he had acquired it prior to '66.
So, we didn’t take it away from him.
What I just wanted to understand was that if there!
is no job listed on Defendant Company’s Exhibit 3,|
but instead there is the word "Group 3" or
"Group 2" that means that that employee is not
working a Group 1 job?
iThat is true. I
Now, again referring to Defendant Company’s
Exhibit 3, this would show all of the persons,
white, black and Latin American, who are working
Group 1 jobs. Is that correct?
That's correct. i
And the date that they began to work Group 1 job?
No, that is not necessarily so. This is the date
i
of their seniority in this group, and this would
305
be the date that they first worked a Group 1 job.
Now, they could have been up and down and up and
down from Group 2 to Group 1 or Group 3 to Group 1
a number of times, and this does not show that.
But this is when they established their seniority.
So the date would be the first time that they
went and worked a Group 1 job?
Yes.
Now, from looking over this exhibit, Defendant
Company Exhibit 3, I find two Negroes and only
two Negroes who have a seniority date prior to
January 1st, 1966. Would you look it over and see1
if you can find more than two?
II do not see, other than Mr. Williams and
Mr. Shepherd.
Right. Now, then, just these two, of the Negroes
employed today or as of January 1st, '71, worked
a Group 1 job before 1-1-66?
There is one other. You have a person here by
the name of Stivers, I believe, who is now a
clerk over in purchases and materials and his
date is 1-1-66, but he had a date as clerk and
relinquished it. I don't know, he did it on his
own accord, let me say it that way. Then there
were others because I cannot give you specifics.
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Can you give me their oases?
No, I'm sorry, I can’t.
Q Now, this exhibit, Defendant Company's Exhibit 3,
does this accurately reflect all of the employees
working in Group 1?
A It is supposed to, yes.
Q Mr. Adams, I want to shoe yon Defendant Company's
Exhibit 4 which was introduced yesterday, and thisj
is Group 2 employees?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Now, I have examined this, and according to my
examination I find all but four of the Negroes
working as either nail porters, Janitors or
janitress. Will yon examine it?
A I would have to count them. I will have to put
marks to Indicate, because I wouldn't remember
fran one to the other. That Is one, and that is
two, and that is three in your category.
MR. BQ8CB: I want to object. The
document speaks for itself and if those
are the statistics she gets from it,
that is on there. She is asking the
witness to confirm her arithmetic.
THE COUET: I think we may take
your word for it.
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MS. MCDONALD: My point is that
Group 2 any be integrated and l will
get to another exhibit of the caapany's
in a moment. But of those Negroes in
Group 2, they are all working as janitoi
janitress or sail porters. That is all,
Q New, Mr. Adams, I want you to explain, if you
will, Defendant Southern fecific Exhibit 5 to me
that was introduced yesterday.
A This is a count of the total number of employees
in District No. 1 as of March 31, 1271, which tota
four hundred fifty. In Group 1, fifty-two, and
thirty-nine in Group 3 for a grand total of five
hundred forty-one, and then the division of those
figures by white and Negro and Latin American.
And then the percentages that that produces.
Q Does this show the numbers of persons actually
working on Group 1 jobs?
A That is what it is, yes.
Q New, then, there is another section hired in to
December 1, 1970 and some more numbers. Does
that mean how many of the total that appears in
the first paragraph were hired in 1970?
A That’s true. Yes, ma'am.
Q So then for example, this says twenty-four Negroeaj
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hired in 1970. That means of the total Negroes
in Group 1 as of March 31 —
A No, no, no. This is not Group 1, this is total
hired. Of the one hundred thirty-one employees
hired. Now, this figure doesn’t fit in there
except that it is included in the total, included
in the total of one hundred thirty-ooe Negroes
who are working in District 1, included in that
total are twenty-four Negroes who were employed
during 1970 and then there is another nine who
were employed during 1971.
Q But then it does not show whether they went to
Group 1, 2 or 3?
A Not this statement. It does not, no, ma'am.i -i ' •
Q If Mr. Bradley had transferred from the mail
porter’s job to a job in Group 1 before he retired
his seniority date would have been what, after
January 1st, 1966?
A January 1st, 1966, which he got by the special
agreement.
Q Then when he went into Group 1, bis promotions
would be based on what seniority date?
A January 1, 1966.
Q Now, this would be even though he had been workinf
as a mail porter since August of 1934?
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A That’s true. e* - *?
Q Would that mean thereafter, referring to Defendan :
Company’s Exhibit 3, a Mr. H. Blair, Jr., there
is no initial indication by his name, so I
assume he is white?
A Yes.
Q With a seniority date of May 4, 1967, if
Mr. Bradley when he originally signed his request
to transfer, do you recall that being introduced
in 1967?
A The one that he withdrew, yes, ma'am, I recall.
Q This request for transfer is dated June 2, 1967?
A Yes, ma’am.
Q And he wanted to transfer according to Defendant
Company’s Exhibit 6 to timekeeper's Job, is that
correct?
A Yes.
Q New, when he transferred over his seniority date
would be 1-1-66?
A That is true.
Q So that rather than Mr. Blair, Mr. E. L. Lanson,
who is a typist mail clerk, and I gather he is
white, am I correct?
A Yes, I am sure.
Q With a seniority date of May 14, '65, he would
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be able to bump Mr. Bradley from what?
A From his position if he went to timekeeper.
Q Did Mr. Bradley explain to you that is just why
he didn't want to transfer?
A I have no recollection of my asking Mr. Bradley
why he didn't want to transfer.
Q Now, this morning, reference was made to some
of the classification index of steam railroad
occupations, and I believe you testified that
the classification that Mr. Bradley was given
was pursuant to these statements, whenever they
are issued, by the United States Railway Labor
Board. Is that correct?
A The classification Mr. Bradley was given is that
specified in the agreement. Now, the agreements
in general follow the classifications that the
ICC set up for the division of the various
employees.
Q Isn't it true that the agreement, Plaintiff's
Exhibit 15, between Southern Pacific and the
Brotherhood of Railway Clerks, et cetera,
provided that one position could be moved from
one district to another, did it not?
A That agreement?
Q Yes.
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A Well, we always thought so, but we had two or
three adverse decisions in similar cases from
the Railway Labor Board, which made us doubt
that we could successfully do it and contest a
claim from someone because it was done.
Q Now, are you saying, and I’m referring to
Rule 7 of this agreement, Rule 7 would not
permit the company and union by agreement to
move the mail porters’ jobs to Group 1?
A I can’t say. I don’t recall Rule 7, but I don’t
see where that would have anything to do with
that.
Q Just read it to yourself and explain it to me?
A Well, Rule 7 concerns when a position was trans
ferred from one seniority district to another.
That means, for instance, a position that we
had in — well, because of the changes in the
number of seniority districts, when this was
written, let me say it that way, when this was
written and we had this large number, eighty some
odd separate seniority districts, then this says
when a position was transferred from one of those
districts to another, you see, not the groups but
districting, then this Rule 7 would come into
operation. This has no concern with transferring
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a job from one group to another. The groups are
specified by the agreement and we just could not
have done that.
Q Had you tried, had the company and union tried
to move one, a position from Group 1 to another
in the past and had this matter gone to
arbitration?
A No.
Q You never tried it?
A No.
Q Now, in the office in Houston, are there any
forms kept on retirement of employees, Southern
Pacific employees?
A Ms. McDonald, I don't know for sure exactly what
the question means, nor do I know that I have
knowledge of that.
Q The record of retired employee was introduced
yesterday by the plaintiff. Is that a record
that is kept in the Houston office?
A No. Those records are kept in San Francisco now
in the office of the secretary of the Board of
Pens ions.
Q Now, did I understand your testimony to be that
the Railroad Retirement Board of Pensions, which
is not connected with Southern Pacific, is that
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correct?
A That is true.
Q Sent out two copies of the retirement form to
Mr. Pretty?
A As I understand, Ms. McDonald, from talking to
the head of that bureau, that federal bureau,
there are three forms prepared either by the
applicant for annuity or people in his office
for the applicant, and these three forms are
then transmitted. And if I did not misunderstand
him, two of them are sent direct to Mr. Pretty
and the other form is sent to Mr. Breed, who is
the assistant auditor in Houston. And Mr. Breed
inserts some pertinent payroll information to
bring Mr. Bradley's earnings records, for instance
up to date. He testified, I think, he retired
in July, effective in July, but at any rate the
retirement board has no record readily available
of his earnings between January and July. So
that form comes to the auditor and he puts down
the information how much he earned January
through July, and then that goes to Mr. Pretty
who completes the other information that is
necessary to complete the forms, whatever that
may be. Then they go to Chicago to the Railroad
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3
Retirement Board. That is my understanding.
Q Well, both the auditor here in Houston and
Mr. Pretty are employees of Southern Pacific,
is that not correct?
A That is correct.
Q Now, Mr.‘Bradley does not complete the form sent
to the auditor or the two forms sent to Mr. Pretti?
does he?
A I do not know. We were told that the form itself
is either completed by the employee or by some
clerk or somebody in the office of the Railroad
Retirement Board here in this building for him.
Now, probably there are some reasons why they
help more than they used to, because it is key
punch operation, and if everything is not in
the proper place, you know it is out of the
window.
Q I am confused.
A I am, too.
Q It seems to me that two copies are sent by the
Railroad Retirement Board to Mr. Pretty and one
to the auditor, both employees, and they fill
out these forms and send them back to the
Railroad Retirement Board and then the Railroad
Retirement Board of Pensions, based on this
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information sends the record of retired employee
to the employee. Is that correct?
A I do not know.
Q Isn't that what —
A No, I did not testify to that. I testified that
we were told by Mr. Mann of the Railroad
Retirement Board that three forms were made out
either by the applicant or by someone in his
office for the applicant, and then one of them
comes to Mr. Breed, who includes on it some
payroll information that is available in his
office and not in the retirement board, and then
Mr. Breed in turn sends that to Mr. Pretty. In
the meantime, the other two forms have been sent
to Mr. Pretty and Mr. Pretty does whatever the
completion is necessary, I would assume, certi
fying that the information was correct. And then
those forms go to the Railroad Retirement Board
in Chicago, and based on the information, they
grant a pension or annuity, I believe, is the
proper term.
Q Now, referring to Charles White, Mr. Burch
asked you some questions about Charles White.
Do you recall yesterday that Mr. Bradley testifie<
this was a white employee who came into the mail
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room and worked with him, and he never saw his
card. Is that correct?
A I beg your pardon, he never saw what?
Q His card, his punch card, timecard?
A Oh, he never saw his timecard. I heard that,
yes.
Q You also testified, did you not, that EEOC,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, prohibits
Southern Pacific from keeping the race of the
employee, but you had a computer?
A We had to program it into the computer and from
that we get statistical information without
going to an individual.
Q Now, I am going to show you this file concerning
Charles White that Mr. Burch showed you earlier,
and ask you to tell me whether or not included
in this file is a form at the top entitled —
wait a minute, sorry. A form containing informa
tion of the employee Charles Coleman White and
whether or not there is a section in this form
for race for minority group and whether or not
it is not checked Negro?
A That's true. The reason for that is, this is
the form which goes to the auditor of the
timekeeping department and this information is
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all placed into the computer, and this is the
only opportunity for us to know that Charles
White was a Negro, according to this.
THE COURT: Well, he wasn't.
MS. MCDONALD: We are talking about
a different Charles White.
THE WITNESS: We don’t know that.
This is the only record we have of a
Charles White.
MR. BURCH: And he is the only one
we have a record of and he was employed
as a mail room porter.
THE COURT: I would hope that we
could finish with this matter before
the noon recess. Can you make it in
twenty minutes?
MS. McDONALD: I think so.
THE COURT: Let’s try to.
MS. McDONALD: Some of these
exhibits are rather long, so I am trying
to read through them.
THE COURT: I might say they are
long, but I don't think they add too
much to our overall intelligence,
Ms. McDonald.
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Q (By Ms. McDonald.) Referring to Exhibit 8
introduced this morning, on Page 78, there is
a classification called office porter and you
said that — is that correct?
A That’s right.
Q And you would say that Mr. Bradley’s job was
under this overall category of office porter?
A Yes, for the matter of reporting to railroad
retirement, or the Interstate Commerce
Commission. I get my things mixed up.
Q I will read the definition according to Exhibit 8
under office porter: Porter assisting in moving
furniture, carrying heavy parcels, carrying mail,
sorting papers, opening mail.
Is that the full definition as containe<
A I am not positive that is the full definition.
There would be a way to find it.
Q Is there any further definition of an office
porter on this document, Defendant Company's
Exhibit 8?
A Not in that, no, ma'am, excuse me.
Q So there is no mention under the description of
office porter of weighing mail, of posting mail,
preparing certified letters for mail, registered
mail, is that correct?
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I A That is true.
Q All ol these are duties that Mr. Bradley performed
A According to his testimony.
Q Then you agreed?
A I have no reason to doubt it.
Q Now, Mr. Adams, I want to refer to Defendant
Company’s Exhibit 11, which was introduced today.
This was a statement prepared by you showing
other classifications — why don’t you repeat
again what that exhibit is?
A This is a statement that I made following a
check I had made of the rates of pay on another
exhibit to find out why jobs were classified as
a clerk's job which paid approximately the
equivalent or less than what Mr. Bradley received
in his position.
Q Now,there are twenty-three positions on that
exhibit. Is that correct?
A That is true.
Q Now, is it not true that none of these positions,
with the exception of one, and that is twenty-one,
head file clerk, have any supervisory duties over
any employees?
A I could read it and tell you. I am sure they
don't. I see none that have any indication that
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they would have.
Q This is a full statement of duties prepared by
you as to each of these jobs?
A That is true.
Q Now, the only one that does have any supervisory
duties, according to this exhibit, is Position 43.
He is head file clerk making about two dollars
more than what Mr. Bradley made. He is also
Negro, is that correct?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Is that what that one "N" means?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Now, referring to the first position, mail clerk,
isn’t it true that this position was just
instituted in 1969?
A That I do not know, Ms. McDonald.
Q Was it your testimony that you really don't know
what is the percentage of mail that these mail
clerks handle, Position 169?
A What percentage of the total mail of the building?
Q Yes.
A I did so testify, yes, ma’am.
Q Now, in Position 169 of mail clerk, the duties
are very similar to those performed by Mr. Bradley
Is that correct, except for the supervisory
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A Yes, ma'am.
Q And did you not testily that this job of mail
clerk is in Group 1?
A That’s true. Yes, ma’am.
Q Referring to Defendant Company Exhibit 5, this
shows 131 Negroes employed as of March 31, 1971.
Is that correct?
A If those are the figures, yes, ma'am, they are.
Q On Defendant Company’s Exhibit 12, which was
the number of Negro employees who have trans
ferred from either Group 2 or 3 to Group 1, there
are twenty-three. Is that correct?
A I did not count them.
Q There are eight here and fifteen there?
A I’m sure that is true.
Q So would this indicate that only twenty-three
Negroes out of 131 employed have transferred
from Group 2 and 3 into Group 1?
A That would have to be true, yes, ma’am.
Q Mr. Adams, what are the educational requirements
for a rate clerk?
A Well, we require that a person who fills even
the lowest, if that is a proper adjective, job
of rate clerk, the one at the bottom in the wage
scale, would have completed a rate course which
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would require them to study on their own time
and there are three opportunities to do that,
they can get it by correspondence from San
Francisco or two schools are run in the building,
but he must complete that course before he can
start, and on the basis of what he does on that
course would be whether or not we consider him
qualified to even start.
Q Is there any educational requirement, high
school diploma or anything like that, to be
employed initially?
A Mrs. McDonald, I can't say. I would judge, to
be a rate clerk?
Q Yes.
A Well, if we were hiring off the street, we would
at least expect a person to have a high school
education, because we would not think they could
do without properly learning the work required.
Q You would expect them to have it?
A I do not know that.
Q Do you hire rate clerks who do not have high
school diplomas?
A I do not recall our having hired a rate clerk
off the street, Ms. McDonald, in some little
time. I do not know when it was last done.
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Q Referring to Defendant Company’s Exhibit 13,
I note that the memorandum of agreement on the
last page is signed by Mr. J. T. L. Renfrow and
a Mr. V. J. Lebeaux. Are these officials of 589?
A I do not know. They were introduced to me as
committeemen who were a part of the negotiating
committee.
Q For 589?
A I do not know. 589 is not a negotiating unit,
as you may have realized.
Q Now, referring to Company's Exhibit 14, the last
page indicates that the signatures were not
reproduced. Could you tell me why?
A Because they covered about three or four pages,
and when that was made, and for the sake of
brevity, we just an itted them. I do not believe
that even I have in my book a copy of that
agreement which would have those signatures on it.
But there were people from all of the separate
properties, as I remembered them there, and then
people from the railroad on the other side that
all signed a big, long signing deal there.
Q Now, this agreement is 125 pages. Is there any
way that I can get a copy of the three or four
more pages containing signatures?
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A Yes, ma'am. After lunch we will get you one.
I may have to give you mine because they are in
short supply, but I will provide you with one.
Yes, ma’am.
Q Mr. Adams, has Southern Pacific since you have
been employed had a policy of hiring Negroes
for certain classifications and whites for others?
A No, ma'am.
Q Has there ever been a practice for employing
Negroes for one classification and whites for
another?
A That is probably true. This is Texas, and you
know as well as I know that that was done in
some instances. Yes, ma'am. But not as a matter
of practice or company policy. No, ma'am.
Q Mr. Adams, you testified that you agreed with
Mr. Bradley's description of his job duties
except for the fact that he was supervisor of
the mail room. Is that correct?
A Yes, ma'am.
Q Mr. Bradley was paid approximately forty dollars
a month more per month than the other mail
porters?
A That is true.
Q Why was Mr. Bradley paid this increment if he was
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not supervisor of the other mail porters?
A You had four people working in a room of their
own and doing a similar task or the same task,
all of them, and as in so many other cases in
the railroad, we pay what in some instances would
be called lead. For instance, we have lead
laborers and lead this and lead that, which
are people who receive a differential in pay
for leading out in the work and seeing that it
progresses in the proper fashion. So far as what
you would actually call supervising, that is not
included in that kind of differential.
Q What does leading out mean?
A To see that the work all moves smoothly and if
this man got overloaded to see that someone
stepped over and helped him out. I think
probably most everybody did it voluntary.
But if not, the lead man was supposed to see
that the work moved.
Q You never worked in the mail room, did you?
A No, ma'am, I did not.
Q Do you know that the mail porters acted volun
tarily most of the time?
THE COURT: Of course he doesn’t
know that, Ms. McDonald.
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A I did not make an observation of what people do.
MS. McDONALD: I have no further
quest ions.
THE COURT: Any redirect?
MR. BURCH: Very little, Your
Honor.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. BURCH:
Q Mr. Adams, when you got for me copies of
Exhibit 14, did you deliberately omit the
signatures?
A No. The typed form, in the form it was there,
the signatures were omitted for brevity.
Q Is that the type form that you used for working
purposes?
A Yes, it is.
Q You were asked questions about the negotiation
of the 1965 agreement of consolidated seniority
lists and you testified that you were working
with a conciliator from the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission. Is that correct?
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A That is correct.
Q Old you disease with that eoaclllator the
general Idea of the 1S66
approach that yoe aad tin
taking?
A That*8 tree.
Q 014 jroa send a conciliator a copy of the 1965
agreement after it saa assented?
A We did.
MB. MePOtLMt Toar loeor, esc
an, 1 object to thin lias of passtioalas
1 vosld like Mr. Adana* last potation
abort sending a copy of the ngieeaent
to tbs eoaclllator to bo atrtabes. I
think Nr. Barth blaaelX atatod earlier
that it is not relevant as to what had
gone on with KSOC, if bs la trying to
laply tint DOC had glsea ita ataap of
i I cooldavt cars lens
whether BSOC gars their ataap of approve
It la not blading on as. I know the
plaintiff started the ball rolling and
opened it op, bat let*a lease it at
that.
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A That is correct.
; Q Did you discuss with that conciliator the
general idea of the 1965 agreement and the
approach that you and the organization were
taking?
A That’s true.
Q Did you send a conciliator a copy of the 1965
agreement after it was executed?
A We did.
MS. MCDONALD: Your Honor , excuse
me, I object to this line of questioning
I would like Mr. Adams' last question
about sending a copy of the agreement
to the conciliator to be stricken. I
think Mr. Burch himself stated earlier
that it is not relevant as to what had
gone on with EEOC, if he is trying to
imply that EEOC had given its stamp of
approval.
THE COURT: I couldn’t care less
whether EEOC gave their stamp of approve
It is not binding on me. I know the
plaintiff started the ball rolling and
opened it up, but let’s leave it at
that.
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MR. BURCH: Pass the witness.
CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. HIGHSAW:
Q Mr. Adams, was there an individual in NBRC
that was designated for you to deal with in the
negotiations?
A Yes, sir.
Q Who was that individual?
A Well, the times that have been discussed here
was Mr. P. J. Gibson.
Q From whan did you receive that designation?
A Fran the president of the International Union.
MR. HI (HIS AW: Nothing else.
MR. BURCH: That is all, Your
Honor.
THE COURT: You may be excused,
sir.
(Witness excused.)
THE COURT: What else do you have,
Mr. Burch?
MR. BURCH: Your Honor, I have
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waiting for use as witnesses Mr. Moore, who for a
number of years was employed as Mr. Bradley's
supervisor, and it was my intention to have Mr. Moore
testify briefly about Mr. Bradley's duties, about the
work in the mail room. I have photographs here that
depict the mail room, and we will certainly give
consideration over the lunch hour on whether we will
make him a witness or not. I think it will be
repetitive to some extent. Obviously, we think
Mr. Moore's point of view and evaluation of Mr. Bradley
job is different than what we have already heard. But
that is the only other witness we have.
THE COURT: Okay. Does the union
expect to have any testimony?
MR. HIGHSAW: We intend to call
two witnesses, Mr. P. J. Gibson and Mr. L. M. Greater.
THE COURT: How long is that going
to take? Will there be extensive testimony?
MR. HIGHSAW: No, they will not
be 1ong.
THE COURT: Do you anticipate any
rebut tal?
MS. MCDONALD: Yes. I don't know
how long it's going to be.
THE COURT: What do you expect to
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offer in the way of rebuttal?
MS. MCDONALD: I misunderstood you.
I thought you were saying cross. I don't expect any
rebuttal.
THE COURT: Let's try to be
through by the middle of the afternoon. Be back at
1 :30 today.
(Noon recess.)
THE COURT: Be seated, please.
You may go forward.
MR. BURCH: Your Honor, at this
time I ask permission to recall Mr. Adams briefly,
primarily to put in evidence a document which was
received during the lunch hour.
THE COURT: What is it?
MR. BURCH: The document that
did not show the signatures.
THE COURT: Yes.
MR. BURCH: A copy of the much
discussed forms of Mr. Bradley's application for
retirement benefits which we received from our office.
It does not show a great deal except on the one point,
Mr. Bradley was questioned — well, he offered in
evidence —
THE COURT: Somebody called him a
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clerk instead of a porter.
MR. BURCH: He testified that he
either filled out or gave information to a clerk to
fill out the form and he testified that he gave them
his occupation as mail porter. This document which
purports to be signed by him shows his occupation as
mail clerk.
THE COURT: Show it to counsel
and I am sure she will agree it is an accurate copy.
MS. McDONALD: Your Honor, I have
no objection to the introduction of it in evidence.
THE COURT: It is received.
MR. BURCH: I have a couple of
other exhibits, and if I may number this one out of
order, I would like to make this Defendant Company
Exhibit 17. The exhibit consists of three pages,
Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right.
MR. BURCH: I offer Exhibit 17 in
evidence.
THE COURT: Received.
MR. BURCH: Your Honor, I
finished counsel for the plaintiff copies of the
two Xerox pages which I represented to be the copies
of the signatures on Company Exhibit 14.
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THE COURT: Okay.
MR. BURCH: And I would offer it
in evidence.
THE COURT: We don't need it.
Nobody questions it.
MR. BURCH: I have offered it to
the other side and will let it go at that. I also
intend to ask Mr. Adams one question which I simply
overlooked and if permitted I would expect him to
testify that Mr. P. W. Gibson, who has been mentioned
as Southern Pacific supervisor of employment, is
absent on vacation.
being conceded?
THE COURT: No objection to that
MS. MCDONALD: No objection.
THE COURT: Very well, you may
call your next witness.
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A. J. MOORE, i
a witness called for and on behalf of Defendant
Railroad, having been duly sworn, was examined and
testified as follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. BURCH:
Q Mr. Moore, would you state your full name, by
whom you are employed and your position?
A A. J. Moore, employed by the Southern Pacific
Transportation Company. I am manager of the
central mailing and duplicating bureau.
Q Mr. Moore, how long have you been with the
company?
A It will be forty-five years this next September.
Q How long have you been in your present position?
A Practically, you mean the title or department?
Q Either by this title or similar title, how long
have you had your present duties?
A Since 1958.
Q Prior to 1958 what was your position and what
were your duties?
A Foreman of the machine repair shop from 1939
to 1958.
Q Were you familiar with Mr. Henry Bradley before
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he retired from the company?
A Yes, sir.
Q Tell us briefly what your duties and responsi
bilities are in your present job?
A In my present job?
Q Yes.
A Well, my duties are to oversee the entire
department, which includes the printing, office
machine repairs and the central mailing bureau.
Q Are you covered by the labor agreement with the
clerks’ organization?
A No, sir.
Q Are you in what is called an excepted position?
A That is correct.
Q How many people work in printing?
A Two at the present time.
Q How many in the office machine repair?
A Two more at the present time.
Q How many in the central mailing room?
A Four.
Q Are there any other employees who work under your
supervision who are in excepted positions? Are
they considered supervisors?
A Yes, sir. We have a foreman of the print shop,
Mr. F. P. Tate.
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Q When you are absent from the building or when
you are absent on vacation, who takes over your
job and your responsibility?
A Mr. Tate does.
Q Are you familiar with the. operations in the mail
room?
A Yes, sir.
Q Do you spend any substantial part of your day in
connection with the operation of the mail room?
A It would have to be on an average basis, because
I would say it probably would be an hour and a
half to two hours a day average.
Q Do you go in the mail room from time to time?
A Oh, yes.
Q Do you or not keep generally familiar with what
is going on in the mail room?
A I do, yes, sir.
Q Were you familiar with Mr. Bradley's duties and
responsibilities in the mail room during the time
he worked there and you were working there?
A Yes, sir.I
Q Is it correct or not that Mr. Bradley held a
position that paid more money than the other mail
room porters?
A That is correct.
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Q Prior to 1958 were you generally familiar with
Mr. Bradley’s duties in the mail room?
A To some degree, not a whole lot.
Q Did you work in a location that was nearby?
A Yes. I would say within twenty feet of the mail
room.
Q What briefly were Mr. Bradley’s duties and
responsibilities during the time he worked there
under your supervision?
A Under my supervision?
Q Yes.
A Well, he was what you would call a lead man. He
was to see that the flow of mail was constant.
For example, if mail piled up in a given area,
he was either himself to get it smoothed out or
designate someone who was available to get it
moving smoothly, check the dates on the postage
machine, be sure that that was correct, check
out registered and certified mail, be sure that
they were written up. That, as far as I can say,
would be about the extent of it.
Q Did you consider Mr. Bradley a supervisor over
the men in the mail room?
A No, sir.
Q As far as you knew, did the other porters in the
337
mail room consider him a supervisor?
MS. McDONAID: Objection, Your
Honor. I think Mr. Moore is not the
proper person to make a conclusion
about what the other porters said.
THE COURT: Well, that may be well
taken. You are asking what other
people thought about the situation.
(By Mr. Burch.) During the time that you were
his supervisor, did Mr. Bradley have the authority
or exercise the authority to give any of the other
porters time off from work?
No, sir.
Who had and exercised that authority?
I did.
When other porters wanted time off from their job,
what procedure did they follow?
Well, they usually came to me and asked me about
it.
Did Mr. Bradley have authority or exercise
authority to schedule vacations of the other
porters?
No, sir, he had no authority to schedule them.
However, we did let them pick their vacation
according to their seniority, as long as it didn't!
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interfere with the employees.
Q Did Mr. Bradley have authority or exercise the
authority to settle any grievances that the
porters might have?
A No, sir.
Q Who handled any questions that the porters had
in connection with their pay or their employment?
A Well, I don’t recall anybody. It would have
been handled through the union representative
and the labor relations department.
Q Did Mr. Bradley have or exercise any authority
to take disciplinary action against the other
porters?
A No, sir.
Q Do you know of any instance in which he ever did
so?
A I have heard that, but I couldn’t verify it, no.
Q What are you referring to that you heard?
MS. McDONALD: Objection, Your
Honor, it would be hearsay.
THE COURT: It probably would.
MR. BURCH: I will withdraw it.
Q (By Mr. Burch.) Did Mr. Bradley perform any work
in the mail room that was similar to or the same
as the work of the other porters?
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A You mean in the mail room?
Q Yes, sir.
i A Yes, he did.
Q Did Mr. Bradley, for example, pigeonhole mail
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from time to time?
| A Yes, he did.
I Q Do you know whether Mr. Bradley ever handled
sacks of mail? j
A I am not too sure, not in recent years, I don't !
believe because I knew his health was rather badi
and I think most of the other fellows knew it, j
too, and they more or less did all of the heavy
j
handling.
i| Q The mail was handled in rather heavy bundles and
packages in the mail room, was it not?
i A Yes, sir, anywhere from fifty to a hundred poundsII a sack.
Q When Mr. Bradley was absent from the mail room,
who did his normal work and filled in for him?
|
| A You mean during vacation and such?]
| Q Yes.
A Mackey or Ledette, Mr. T. H. liedette or Mr. Mackey,
j Q Were those two mail porters assigned to the mailI
room?
A Right.
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Q Is that the same Mr. Mackey now occupying the
position Mr. Bradley once held?
A That is correct.
Q Approximately how long was Mr. Mackey in the mail j
room before Mr. Bradley left? ji
A I'd say about three years. I'm guessing now,
I can’t say for sure.
Q So far as you know, how long did it take for
Mr. Mackey to become proficient in handling the
.
work after he was given Mr. Bradley’s position? I
A About six weeks.
Q How did Mr. Mackey get that position, was he
! Iappointed or did he bid?|
i A It was by bid, but the senior employee turned
it down.
Q What kind of job is Mr. Mackey doing now inIi
comparison with the way the mail room was handled i
previously?
I
I A Well, truthfully it is running quite a bit
smoother. If I may go a little further than
this, right now the way it is running, ninety-nine
percent of the time we wouldn’t even need a lead
man because the group that I have in there now,
each one is stationed in each one of the positions,
and even have one new man who is in his third week25
341
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Q
now who is practically able to take care of the
mail room himself.
At the present time do you have any problem with
the mail room handling all of the volume of mail |
that comes in each day or not?
No, sir, it is cleaned out completely every day.
At the time Mr. Bradley worked in the mail room,
did he have any authority to establish or change
any of the procedures that were followed in there?I
Not without my consent, no, sir.
Did Mr. Bradley in fact change any procedures
]
in the mail room on his own initiative?
No, sir.
Did Mr. Bradley ever come to you with suggestions |
about procedural changes?
lYes, sir, he did.
Did you follow those suggestions or not, or can
you tell us in general?
No, sir. Most of them I didn’t feel were
applicable to our particular situation, and
generally speaking it would increase the number
of employees and increase the rate of pay, plus
the fact that he wanted to get all the mail room
employees exempt from being bumped.
As far as procedures for handling the mail,
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scheduling the movement of mail and that sort of I
thing, did Mr. Bradley change those or not?
A No, I don't think so. I think they are pretty
much the same as they have always been.
Q In your own words now, I would like for you to
Itell us the general nature of Mr. Bradley's job,
in terms of discussion that was required, judgment,
tell us in your own words how would you describe j
his position?
I
J A Well, as I said before, he was the lead man in
there and he had, or generally did, compute theI
postage and be sure that everything was in order,
)
nothing was left over. In other words, he was to
see that the entire mail room was in smooth
operation.
! Q Was his job one in which he operated within set
procedures or did he use his own discretion, or
how did he operate in there on a day to day basis?
A Well, there is not much room for using your own
discretion, it was more or less set up a certain
way, certain areas for this mail to be handled,
and there was not too many ways that you could
change it.
Q Were the job duties performed by Mr. Bradley and|
the other porters, day by day, repetitive or not?
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A I did not hear it.
i Q Were the duties that Mr. Bradley and the other
porters performed day to day basically the same,
repeated over and over?
A Oh, yes, very routine.
Q Were you present, Mr. Moore, several weeks ago
when some photographs were taken in the mail room,;I
various shots of the mail room? ii '
A Yes, sir.
j
Q Mr. Moore, I want to show you a series of photo- j
Igraphs marked for identification as SP Exhibits
15A through 151. Now, with the exception of
Photographs G, H and I, I will ask you if these
.
photographs accurately depict the same central
mail room where Mr. Henry Bradley worked until
his retirement?
: A Yes, sir, this is the building board.
I Q I won’t ask you to describe each one in any
detail. If you would just look at them and tell
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me whether or not they accurately depict various
parts of the mail room?
A Yes, sir, as near as I can tell.
Q Just a couple of questions. Photograph E shows
what I believe is a small storage area?I!
A That’s correct.
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Now, I will show you Photograph I, and ask you if ;l
that shows the interior of the machine repair?
Yes, sir, that is part of it.
About how far is that from the door into the mail
room, is it just very nearby?
Yes, sir, within twenty feet.
I will ask you if Photograph H shows portions of
the duplicating room?
Yes, sir, print shop, yes.
Now, does the mail room open directly up off of I
the print shop? |
Yes, sir, opens directly into this area with the
exception of a little hall.
Is it correct or not that the entire area that |
you supervise is a fairly compact, contiguous
area?
That’s correct.
Including the mail room, print shop and repair
shop?
Right.
I will ask you about Photograph G, and ask that
you tell us what that is?
That is a letter being sent by certified mail and
is written up into a book. That is one that came
in and it had to be written up in the book. It
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345
came in the U. S. mail to be written up in the
book and signed for by Mr. J. R. Campbell of the
itraffic department.
Q Did Mr. Bradley and other mail room porters
normally maintain this book?
A That's right.
Q Does this illustration here show pretty accurately!
what was involved in registering mail in and out,
as far as keeping a record is concerned?
A Well, outgoing mail didn't even require that much,
because it has the tag on that is filled out by
the individual department. Now, registers were
■ ■written up in a separate book, besides this one. i
Q This book was out and available at the time you
j
took the photograph, was it not?
A Yes, sir.
Q You did not take the photographs yourself, did you^
A No, sir, I did not. I wish I could.
Q Let me ask you about Photograph C, and ask you if
that depicts the scale that is in the mail room?
A That’s right.
Q I notice in front of the scale there is an area
with some white paper. What is in that area?
A Postage rules and regulations and rates — I think
it is the word area — zone, I was trying to say.
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__________ 346
A book laying open there?
That is the zone book that I was talking about.
Are these documents laid out in front of the
scale plus the zone book, the books that are
used for whatever purpose is necessary?
Most of them, I'd say ninety-nine percent of
our mail, most of this is unnecessary, because
like I say, it is routine mail, very few times --
if we have particular packages or something like
that, or foreign mail, but other than that it is
just regular mail or regular parcel post. It is
all on the chart or scale.
MR. BURCH: I offer Defendants'
Exhibit No. 15 in evidence.
THE COURT: Received. i
MS. McDONAlD: No objection.
(By Mr. Burch.) Mr. Moore, I hand you what has ;
been marked for identification as SP Exhibit 16-A
and B. Can you identify these copies which you
obtained at my request of the rate schedules and
other information?
That is the information that is under this glass
in front of the scale, yes, sir.
Now, 16-B is a copy of a post office pamphlet,
2 5 is it not?
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Yes, sir. i
Showing some zone rates?
iTHE COURT: What is all this, just
the data that the mail porter has to
Irefer to?
MR. BURCH: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: We don’t need that in
the record. It will put Southern
Pacific out of business to haul this
to New Orleans. You can offer it if
you want to.
MR. BURCH: I offer Exhibit 16 in
evidence.
THE COURT: All right. Received.
MR. BURCH: Pass the witness.
</Jo
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CROSS EXAMINATION
«
by m s . McDo n a l d :
Q Mr. Moore, you have been employed since 1930 what?
A Pardon?
Q How long have you been employed with Southern
Pacific?
A Since September 13, 1926.
Q So that is about what?
A It will be forty-five years the next September.
Q About the same as Mr. Bradley, and you are pre
sently the manager of the duplicating department?
A Yes, ma’am.
Q What is your education and background?
A High school.
Q Have you had any training past high school?
A Nothing other than electronic training when I was
in the machine repair department, electronics and
office machinery repair.
Q What is your race, Mr. Moore?
A My what?
Q Race. Are you white?
A White, that’s right.
Q How often would you come into the mail room?
A Oh, that's hard to say, anywhere from one to ten
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349
times a day, sometimes I would be in there all day.
Isn’t it true that you didn’t start coming into
the mail room until after the lawsuit was filed?
Oh, no.
Did Mr. Malcolm tell you to come into the mail
room and learn the job?
He didn’t ask me to learn it, but he asked me to
come in and help out in there.
When was that?
Prior to the time the organization stopped me
from doing that.
Did Mr. Hincher tell you to get into the mail room
and learn how to do t he job?
No one ever told me to learn the job, no, ma’am. I
When did Mr. Hincher tell you to get in the mail
room?
Oh, that was when we had three men. I would say
about 1962, possibly.
He did not tell you that after December of 1968? |
No.
A few minutes ago you said that you were working
in the mail room until Mr. Greater told you to
stop?
Yes, sir.
Who is Mr. Greater?
__________________________________________________ 350
He is the union representative for our local j
lodge.
Local 589?
Yes, ma’am.
Why did he tell you to stop working in the mail
room?
He didn’t think I had any business in there since
I was an excepted employee.
Did you stop working in the mail room?
Yes, ma’am.
There are three different boards, is that correct,
in the mail room?
Well, no, five boards.
Is one the inter-office?
Yes, inter-office. Another one is that which
contains operating people, out on the line,
superintendents, train masters and the like,
general agents or sales representatives’ off
line, a board containing the Texas & Louisiana
line, all agents, and then we have the St. Louis
and Southwestern or Cotton Belt board.
How many pigeonholes are there in the inter
office board?
Inter-office board, I would say, about fifty-five,
fifty-eight.
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Q Are there some to each unit?
A Yes.'
; Q How many pigeonholes are in the general agents’
board?
A There is about twenty-four that we use.
Q General agents?
A General agents, yes, ma’am.Ii Q And how many pigeonholes are there in the train
men?
MR. BURCH: I do not think this is
relevant in any way.
THE COURT: I don’t think so
either, but it is no more detailed
I than you were trying to put in a while
ago. Go on.
| Q (By Ms. McDonald.) How many pigeonholes in
l train mail?
I A In train mail, you mean Texas & Louisiana Line
now?
Q Yes.
A I would say about one hundred thirty-eight.
Q Did you ever bundle mail, Mr. Moore?
A Pardon?
i Q Did you ever bundle mail?
A Oh, yes.
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Would you help carry it out?
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3 1 <» Now, head clerks are not excepted positions,
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are they?
5 A The head what?
t> Q Head clerks, like the head rate clerk?
7 Al Rate clerks, no, that I can’t answer. I'm not
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MS. McDONAlD: I have no further
questions.
THE COURT: That is all, Mr. Moore.
Next.
(Witness excused.)
MR. BURCH: Your Honor, the
Defendant Company rests.
MR. HIGHSAW: Your Honor, I would
like to call as a witness Mr. P. J. Gibson.
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353
P. J. GIBSON,
a witness called for and on behalf of Defendant Union,
having been duly sworn, was examined and testified as
follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. HIGHSAW:
Q Would you state to the Court your full name and
address?
A Patrick James Gibson, 4203 Allison Road.
Q Are you presently employed?
A No, I am retired.
Q Were you ever employed by the Southern Pacific
Company?
A Yes, sir.
Q When did you first become employed by the Southern
Pacific?
A September, 1918.
Q What general craft or class of employment?
A Clerical.
Q How long did you work as an employee of Southern
Pacific Company?
A Until September 1, 1943.
Q What happened on that date?
A Well, I went to work for the Brotherhood
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organization.
Q What was your position then?
A. I was assistant general chairman.
Q How long were you assistant general chairman?
A Oh, from September 1, 1943 to June 1st, 1950.
Q What happened on that date?
A Well, I was elected general chairman on June 1st,
1950.
Q How long did you continue as general chairman?
A Until March 1, 1968.
Q At that date you retired?
A Yes, sir.
Q Specifically what were you general chairman of?
A Well, the Southern Pacific for the clerical
organization in Texas and Louisiana.
Q Is this known as the system board or adjustment
for the Southern Pacific Line for that area?
A That's correct.
Q And what geographical area did that cover?
A From New Orleans to El Paso, Houston to
Brownsville, Houston to Denison, Houston to
Shreveport.
Q And how many members were there on the systems
board of which you were general chairman?
A Well, it changed from time to time.
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1Q At the time you retired, how many members were
on the board?
A I couldn’t say definitely.
Q Who were these members, where did they come from?
A Well, they came from El Paso, San Antonio,
Corpus Christi.
Q How did they get to be members?
A They were elected by the members on those different
divisions.
Q They were representatives of members?
A Yes.
Q Were they generally the elected representatives
of grievance committees from local lodges?
A Yes, sir.
Q Now, what was your principal duty as general
chairman, Mr. Gibson?
A Well, to negotiate and maintain agreements between
the carrier and the employee. I
MR. HIGHSAV: Your Honor, I have a
copy of the document which is the
Constitution of the Grand Lodge and
protective laws. I don't wish to put
the whole document in the record, because
most of it is not pertinent, but I do
want to have Mr. Gibson read a brief
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paragraph from it. I have a copy for
counsel for the plaintiff. I am looking
at Page 125.
THE COURT: You can read it to me
if you want to.
MR. HIGHSAW: Section 14-A, this
is Article I, Section 14-A of the
Protective Laws of the Brotherhood:
"It shall be the duty of boards of
adjustment, and the said boards are
hereby authorized when acting in con
formity with the Constitution and
statutes for government of lodges and
protective laws of the Brotherhood and
the By-Laws of the board of adjustment,
to negotiate, maintain, revise, modify
and adjust agreements establishing and
covering wages, working conditions and
other employment relations in their
respective jurisdictions. Boards of
adjustment shall have authority to
delegate any of these duties to a
committee consisting of such members and
officers of the board as the boards may
decide."
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There is another sentence dealing
with Railway Express which I have not
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quoted from, Your Honor.
Q (By Mr. Highsaw.) Is that the statement of your
duties as general chairman?
A That is correct.
Q Now, Mr. Gibson, did any of the local lodges under
your jurisdiction have any authority to negotiate
collective bargaining agreements?
A No, sir.
Q Let me ask you, who was the man that is known as
local chairman of particular lodges?
A He was the local chairman elected by the members
to handle grievances and complaints.
Q In other words, he was chairman of a local lodge
grievance committee?
A That’s correct.
Q What grievances, what kind of problems?
A If the carrier violated a rule or mistreatment or
probably dismissal.
Q In other words, it had to involve a question
concerning the application of a collective
bargaining agreement?
j A That’s correct.
Q But if you had to change a collective bargaining
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358
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agreement,
Yes.
that was a matter for your jurisdiction
Mr. Gibson, I have here some documents that have
previously been entered in evidence in this case.
One has been entered as Local 589 Exhibit 3, and
it purports to be a letter from Mr. Henry H.
Bradley addressed to you as general chairman
dated June 9, 1967. Could you take a look at
that and see if you recall that you received
that letter?
Yes, I received it.
Now, I have here another document that has been
admitted as Local 589 Exhibit 2 in the form of a
letter dated July 11 to Mr. Bradley responding
to his letter of June 9?
That is my letter, yes.
I have here another document dated January 23,
1968, Local 589 Exhibit 4, in the form of a letterI
from you to Mr. Bradley. Is that your letter?
Yes, that is my letter.
Now, Mr. Gibson, prior to the time that you
received the letter dated June 9, 1967 from
Mr. Bradley, identified as Local 589 Exhibit 3,
had Mr. Bradley ever made a written complaint to
you about his classification of his job and his
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seniority status and ask you to change it?
A No, sir.
Q Had you ever had an oral conversation with
Mr. Bradley on this subject?
A No.
Q Did he ever approach you orally and ask you to
■do anything?
A No.
Q So this correspondence then represents the first
time that this subject was ever brought to your
attention, and these letters in which you answered
Mr. Bradley represent your views to Mr. Bradley
on that subject?
A Yes.
Q Now, was the question ever presented to you,
Mr. Gibson, of a protest from Mr. Bradley
concerning, a protest of seniority roster?
A Not until I received that letter in 1967. I don’t
recall the date of it now.
Q The one I’m referring to is June 9th?
A That’s correct. That is the only complaint that
I ever had from him.
I Q Are seniority rosters posted on this property
which you served as general chairman?
A Yes, sir. They are posted on the bulletin boards,
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the rule requires that before ten or more
employees, a bulletin board will be posted for
the benefit of putting notices involving the
interests of members and seniority rosters are
posted on that board.
Are they issued every January 1st?
Yes.
And they are posted on the bulletin boards on
the property. Are they posted in the local
lodges, do you know?
The local lodge gets a copy of it.
Is there anything in the rule agreement
concerning a protest by member of the roster
that has been posted?
Yes, sir, there is rules in there. It provides
that the employee must protest the roster within
a certain period of time.
Did that period of time change while you were
general chairman?
Yes.
What was it originally?
It was originally, I believe, thirty days.
I would have to look at the rule book.
At the time you retired, was it greater than that?
Ninety days.
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361
------------ — — ---------------- — --------------------1
Q Now, during the time you were general chairman,
beginning in 1950, did the group of employees
among which Mr. Bradley was an employee, come
under the collective bargaining agreement?
A What date now?
Q I said sometime after the 1950's, from ’54, did
this group come under the collective bargaining
agreement and get seniority in their jobs?
A Yes, effective April 1, 1954.
Q From that date on a seniority roster was posted
every year with respect to these employees?
A Yes.
Q And Mr. Bradley’s name would have been on that
roster?
A Yes.
Q Do you know Bradley personally?
A Yes, sir.
Q Is he in the room?
A Yes, sir.
Q During this whole period of time, 1954 on until
you got these letters in 1967, did Mr. Bradley
ever protest to you the seniority status?
A No, he did not.
Q Or the employee’s position on the roster?
A No.
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362
Q Now, I'm going to go back again to the 1950’s |
when you were — right before this group of
employees was brought on under the collective
bargaining agreement. Did you ever tell
Mr. Bradley or any other employee for that matter
that if they would become a member of the union,
the union would get their job reclassified?
A No, I certainly didn’t.
Q Was there any need to do this?
A No, because there was a union contract in effect,
and they had to join within sixty days or their !
job was placed under the agreement. There was no 1
need to ask them to join.
Q In other words, by negotiating with the railroad
you brought this excepted group under the
collective bargaining agreement and they became
subject to the union shop provision and had to
join the union?
A That’s correct.
Q Do you know whether or not that was the time
that Mr. Bradley did join the union?
A Well, he joined a few days just before the
deadline, latter part of May, 1954.
Q Now, Mr. Gibson, under the collective bargaining
agreement, did they have Group 2 and 3 employees,
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did they have a right to bid for Group 1 jobs?
A Yes, sir, they did.
Q Was this true all during the time you were general
chairman?
A It has always been true.
Q Where it changes in 1966, they got Group 1
seniority, is that correct?
A That is correct.
Q Now, if a Group 2 employee did bid for a Group 1
job, and he subsequently was bumped in that
Group 1 job, out of that Group 1 job by another
member with greater seniority, what were his
bidding rights, the one who was bumped?
A First he had to exhaust his rights from Group 1
before he could go back to Group 2. If he had no
junior employee he could bump, he could return
to Group 2, displace a junior man.
Q And what seniority would he have to utilize to
return to Group 2?
| A He would use his regular seniority in Group 2.
J Q Assuming Mr. Bradley’s seniority date was 1934
and if he had been a Group 2 employee and had
been bumped out and exercised all of his Group 1
rights, he could have used his 1934 seniority
date to bump another Group 2 employee?
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364
A That’s correct.
Q Now, did you ever tell Mr. Bradley or any
employee on the property that if they did have
a Group 1 job and were bumped out of it in a
reduction in force, that they had no Group 2
seniority rights to exercise?
A I certainly did not, because they done it over
and over again on the railroad.
Q Did you ever go to lodge meetings of the lodges
that belonged to your jurisdiction?
A Yes.
Q This includes Lodge 589?
A Yes, sir.
Q At these lodge meetings did you ever discuss
bidding rights and bidding procedures?
A Only if someone asked.
Q Did you ever, at any of these meetings, tell
the members that they had rights to bid group
on jobs regardless of what group they were in?
A I tried to impress upon them that was the way
to get into Group 1.
Q And this was also true in Lodge 1534?
A That’s right, particularly true with that lodge.
MR. HIGHSAW: That is all, Your
Honor.
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CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MS, MCDONALD:
Q Mr. Gibson, when was Lodge 1534 merged with
Lodge 589?
A I really don’t know. I think it was 1966, but
we have a record here somewhere.
Q It was after 1965?
A Yes.
Q Was that about January 1, 1966?
A I believe it was sometime in there. You see, the
systems board didn’t have anything to do with the
merging, the two lodges get together.
Q Did the systems board let these two lodges exist,
each of the lodges had a charter?
A Yes, sir.
Q And couldn’t the system board have revoked the
charter of one of them?
A No. The Grand Lodge is the only one who can
revoke a charter.
Q And that is the Grand Lodge in Ohio?
A It is in Chicago now, the office is.
Q Lodge 1534 consisted solely of black persons,
is that true?
A Yes.
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366
Q
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Q
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Now, why was it that these two lodges, Lodge 1534
and Lodge 589 existed until they were merged
finally in 1966 or the end of 1965?
That would be something that the Grand Lodge —
they are the ones that set up the jurisdiction
of lodges. The systems board does not.
What was your position over two lodges, did they
look to you for advice?
Well, yes, and also we negotiated changes in
rates of pay and rules for those, just like we
did for all the other lodges under the jurisdic
tion of the systems board.
What was the bargaining jurisdiction, what was
the area of representation that Local 1534 had,
what jobs?
MR. HIGHSAW: I object to that
question because it involves a legal
conclusion that they had some representa
tion rights. It is our position that
they didn’t represent anybody. The
BIAC represented them in the matter of
their bargaining rights and the systems
board acted for BIAC.
THE COURT: What are you asking
him, please?
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MS. McDONALD: I am trying to find
out who was in 1534, what jobs.
THE COURT: Did you know what jobs
1534 covered?
THE WITNESS: They covered mail
handlers and laborers in the freight
station, laborers in the stores
department.
(By Ms. McDonald.) Now, was L. M. Greater chairman
of the grievance committee?
Of Lodge 589.
Was he a member of the systems board?
Yes.
Now, if an employee had a grievance and brought
it to Mr. Greater who was local chairman of the
grievance committee from 589, could he not then
Ibring it to the systems board of adjustment?
If he couldn’t settle it with the head of the 1
department, his function was to handle it with
the different heads of the departments and if he
couldn't satisfactorily dispose of it, he turned
it over to us for further handling.
Couldn’t he bring it to the systems board of
adjustment for resolution?
He did. This particular case, yes.
so
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Isn't it true that employees generally looked
to the chairman of the local grievance committee
of 589 to solve the grievances?
Well, that is the way they are supposed to, but
an awful lot of them go around that. But that
is the primary purpose.
In other words, they are not supposed to come to ;
you directly?
No.
They are not supposed to go over you and go to
Mr. Denis who is the president in Ohio, or who
was in Ohio?
No, so long as we are handling it.
MS. McDONALD: No further questions
MR. HIGHSAW: I would like to ask
one question.
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369
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REDIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. HIGHSAW:—
ji
Q Mr. Gibson, was the question of the reclassifica
tion of Mr. Bradley’s job and changing his
seniority status, was that a grievance involving
an interpretation or application of the agreement
which Mr. Greater had handled?
A No, it was not.I
| Q What was required?
A It required handling by the systems board with
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the management of the railroad.
Q And what would that change of handling have
required, what would you have had to have done?
’
A Well, we would, that is a case, it is not a
violation of rules, that would be a request for
a change in title or a change in rate of pay.
Q What then, amend the collective bargainingi
agreement, is that what you have to do, bring
up whether the agreement covers this particular
subject matter?
A That’s correct.
MS. McDONALD: I have just one more
question.
RECROSS EXAMINATION
! BY MS. MCDONALD:
Q If an employee had such a grievance that might
iI have considered amending the collective bargainingi
agreement, is it true that he was still to go to
Mr. Greater, and Mr. Greater would bring it on up?
A That's correct.
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MS . McDONALD: Thank you.
THE COURT: That is all, thank you,
sir. Next?
(Witness excused.)
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371
■ r ■ ...... ‘ I
L. M. GREATER,
a witness called for and on behalf of the Defendant
Union, having been duly sworn, was examined and
testified as follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. HIGHSAW:
Q Mr. Greater, would you state to the Court your
full name, address and present employment?
A L. M. Greater, 1135 Prince, Houston, Texas,
chairman of the local committee, Lodge 589.
Q Who is your employer?
A Southern Pacific.
Q Do you hold a full-time job with the Southern
Pacific?
A Yes, I do.
Q What job do you hold?
A Assistant head clerk of the timekeeping section.
Q What group classification is that job?
A District 1, Group 1.
Q When did you originally go to work for the
Southern Pacific?
A September 19, 1938.
Q What was your original job?
A Messenger.
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_ ___________________________________ _________________ 372
Q Approximately how many different jobs have yout
held over the years?
A Estimate between five and six.
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i Q If you are a full-time employee of the Southern
| Pacific, when do you perform your duties as local ji
chairman, grievance committee of Lodge 589?
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A Normally we try to take care of these before !
working hours in the morning, during our lunch
i hour or after work, but we do handle it sometimes
on the carrier’s time.
| Q Specifically what are your functions as chairman
of the grievance committee of Lodge 589?
;
A To handle grievance claims on the local estab
lished rules of Local 589.
Q Does that include claims that involve questions
of interpretation, application of the collective
bargaining agreement?
A I would say no. It would be mostly to the rules
of the local, well, I would say handbook.
, Q You mean this blue handbook?
A Yes.
Q Violations of rules in this book?
A Yes, sir.
! Q When somebody requested this to be amended, do
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you have any authority to do that?
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No, sir, I don't.
What would you do with such request as that?
I would take it to my general chairman and
discuss it with him.
How did you get to being chairman of the
grievance committee of the local lodge?
By election of the Lodge 589.
How many members of the grievance committee
are there?
In the neighborhood of five or six. They vary
from time to time. I have resignations, but
normally run about five.
Are all members of the white race?
No, I have two colored gentlemen.
How did they get to be members of the committee? >
I appointed them.
What are the names of the two Negro members of
the committee?
Frank Harrison and Paul Stivers.
Lodge 589 is an integrated lodge, has both Negro
and white members?
Yes.
Did you, at my request, check the exact date
Lodge 589 became an integrated lodge?
April 1st, 1966.
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Q How many members would you say, approximately,
how many Negro members does Lodge 589 have?
A It would strictly be an estimated guess, I would
say over a hundred.
Q And about what percentage of the total membership
does that represent?
A I would say maybe seventeen to twenty percent.
It is strictly an estimated guess.
Q What seniority do members of Lodge 589 work in,
what seniority district?
A It is entirely District 1.
Q In the course of a year, how many grievance
claims will you handle with the railroad on
behalf of the members of that lodge?
A Are these written grievances?
Q Whether they ask you to handle it verbally or in
writing?
A We have verbal grievances, some of my people come
to me and if it is a minor problem, I can go to
management and sometimes we settle it then on the
property right there.
Q How many of those do you have in a year altogether
A I would say in the neighborhood of around twenty-
five, maybe.
Q Mr. Greater, I have here a document entered in the
y \7+-
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record as Exhibit 8, and I would like to have
you take a look at it and tell us what that
document is?
A Yes, that is our membership book, we call it.
Q Does every member of Lodge 589 have such a book?
A Yes, they should be issued a book. Some of the
new members have not received theirs, but any
member of a year or more definitely have a book
issued to them.
Q And what is the designation of general office on
there mean, what does that signify?
A Well, the lodge has been identified as 589
general office.
Q In other words, that is where the members of the
lodge work?
A Yes, but we do have some members in the store
department, which is maybe a couple miles over.
Q Do their memberships say general office?
A Yes. Anyone who has come into our lodge would
have that identification.
Q Regardless of what job they hold with Southern
Pacific?
A That's correct.
Q In other words, this doesn't designate the job?
A No, that is just identification of our Lodge 589.
v-S jjr so
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Q Mr. Greater, there has already been entered into
the record some documents which I would like to
show you. A document has been entered as
Plaintiff's Exhibit 9 which is in the form of a
letter addressed to you by Mr. Henry Bradley
dated July 2, 1967. Would you look at that and
see if you can recognize that letter?
A Yes, sir.
Q And I also have here a document that has been
identified as Local 589 Exhibit 3, which is a
letter dated June 9, 1967 from Mr. Bradley to
Mr. Gibson and the letter shows on the face that
a copy was sent to you. Did you receive a copy
of that letter?
A Yes, sir.
Q I have here, Mr. Greater, a document that has
been placed in the record as Local 589 Exhibit 1,
which is a letter from yourself to Mr. Bradley
dated August 13, 1967. Did you send Mr. Bradley
that letter?
A Yes, sir.
Q Now, this letter states that you had read at the
lodge meeting of Lodge 589 the night of June 11,
1967 letters which you had received from
Mr. Bradley?
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A Yes, sir.
Q And was there discussion at the lodge meeting
that night on Mr. Bradley's claim or request
that he should have his job reclassified and
his seniority status changed?
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A Yes. We discussed the letter and we agreed to go j
ahead and turn it over to my general chairman |
since I had no power to change titles and rules
and pay rate or seniority on that level. I did
forward it to my general chairman at the request 1
of the lodge. It was voted on.
Q Was this the first time that you had ever j
received any written complaint from Mr. Bradley
on this subject or request to take some action?
A These were the first letters I received from him, |(
yes.
Q Now, Mr. Greater, are the seniority rosters made
up every January 1 and posted on the property? !
A Yes, sir, we try to put rosters on the bulletin
boards after the first of the year.
Q Is there a period of time in which the employee
has to protest his seniority position on those
rosters?
A Yes, ninety days.
Q Did Mr. Bradley — by the way, when were you first
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elected general chairman of 589?
A I think it was in the latter part of '65.
Q Where would the protest be filed if an employee
had to protest, make it to the company or to you?
A They should be filed with the local protective
committee member.
Q And that would come to you then as chairman of
that committee?
A Yes, it could.
Q Since you became local chairman of Lodge 589,
did Mr. Bradley become a member of that lodge
on July 1, 1966?
A Yes.
Q Did Mr. Bradley ever protest the seniority roster
to you other than this protest contained in these
June and July, 1967 letters?
A Not to my knowledge, no.
Q Now, did Mr. Bradley ever at any time, within
your recollection, discuss with you and
Mr. Greater bidding for a Group 1 job?
A He did, yes, he did come into our department one
time.
Q Approximately when was this?
A Strictly estimated, seems to me it was in ’67.
I am not sure of that date now, sir, or the year.
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Q Was this in the general office building?
A Yes, sir.
Q What floor?
A Pardon?
Q On what floor?
A Houston zone office on the sixth floor.
Q And that is where you were working at that time?
A Yes, sir, at that time I was employed on the
sixth floor.
Q And he came in and talked to you?
A I don’t know whether he came directly to talk
to me about the job, but he came up to survey
the collection department. He did talk to me
about it. I told him if he wanted the job all
he had to do was place the bid on it, but he
would have to bid on the position.
Q During the course of that conversation, did you
tell Mr. Bradley that if he bid on and obtained
the job in the collection department that he
would lose his Group 2 seniority rights?
A No, sir, I didn’t tell him he would lose his
seniority rights. No, sir.
Q Did you tell him if he bid on the job and obtaine
it and was subsequently bumped out of it, he woul
have to exercise his Group 1 rights before he cou
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exercise any bumping rights in Group 2?
A Yes, sir, I did discuss that.
Q To the best of your recollection, did you ever
have any other conversation with Mr. Bradley on
this subject?
A Not on the bidding part, no, sir.
Q What other, when you say not on the bidding part,
what other part?
A He had talked to me about establishing his
seniority at an earlier date than what we had
on the roster of 1-1-66.
Q What did you tell him about that?
A Well, I don’t recall exactly the conversation.
Q Was that before or after you received the June
and July, 1967 letters?
A It might have been before. I am not sure, sir.
Q Go diead and explain the circumstances?
A What I was going to say is, we had talked about
the date that he was placed on Group 2, and in
the conversation I told him that I didn't have
the authority to change that date. That was
just about the conclusion of it. I told him
I had no authority for that change.
Q Did you indicate to him that required changing
the collective bargaining agreement?
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A Yes, sir.
Q Now, Mr. Greater, are copies of collective
bargaining agreements available to members in
the general office, that is, are they available
somewhere?
A Yes, sir, the local lodge. We have them on file
and the protective committee members normally
have them. We may not have it complete, but we
try to keep the latest ones, sir.
Q Are they available, do you know, any place on
the property, the office building of the railroad?
A The April, ’66 agreement and the *63, we try to
keep those on the board.
Q A bulletin board in the railroad office?
A We have a large bulletin board in the basement
and also have a large board on the sixth floor
and also the other offices have boards where
there are, I think, ten or fifteen more people
in the office.
Q Is that where seniority rosters and copies of
agreements and things of interest to employees
are posted?
A Yes, sir.
Q Now, has Mr. Bradley ever come to you and asked
you to take a look at the copy of the collective
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bargaining agreement?
A I don’t recall it, sir.
Q Did you ever go down to the mail room at
Mr. Bradley’s request and take a look and see
what was going on down there?
A Yes, sir. One day he stopped me and asked me
to come in and look at his mail room down there,
and he showed me the mail room.
Q Did you make any comment to him about work or
status of the mail room or promise to do anything
about it?
A I made no promises, no, sir. And I made no
statement that I know of.
Q Mr. Greater, I have here a copy of a document
entered into the record as Defendant Southern
Pacific Exhibit 2, which is a memorandum agreement
between the Southern Pacific and the Brotherhood
of Railway and Airline Clerks dated December 29,
1965, and it bears the signatures of Pat Gibson,
general chairman, assistant general chairman
Mr. Gates and yourself as committeemen. Is that
your signature on the agreement?
A Yes, sir.
Q Are you a member of the systems board?
A Yes, sir.
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Q Were you serving on this committee when you
signed this agreement?
A Yes, sir.
Q As a member of the systems board?
A I am a member of the systems board.
Q Were you appointed to that committee by Mr. Gibsor
do you recall?
A Each local chairman reports to the systems board.
Q But when you sat down to talk to the railroad
about this particular grievance, did Mr. Gibson
ask you to serve on this committee with him?
A Yes.
MR. HIGHSAW: That is all, Your
Honor.
CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MS. MCDONALD:
Q Mr. Greater, you do have authority to settle
grievances on your own, do you not?
A On rules grievances.
Q And you can accept the grievances and resolve them
on your own, if you are able to, is that right?
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A You are talking about the rules agreement?
Q Well, can you settle grievances on your own,
any grievances?
A Some I can.
Q Which ones can you?
A The rules agreements of the handbook.
Q Violations of the contract?
A Yes.
Q Is there a provision in the contract between
Southern Pacific and the Union that says that
there will be no discrimination against any
employee regardless of race or color?
A I am not sure.
Q Mr. Greater, I am going to show you what is in
evidence as Plaintiff's Exhibit 2. Now, this is
now in evidence as a letter that Mr. Bradley
received and which is signed by you. Is this
your signature here?
A Yes, ma’am.
Q In this letter you say, and I am quoting from it,
"Referring to your complaint about your seniority,
title and rate of pay, I have talked to the
general chairman and we have reviewed your file
and we find that you have the correct seniority
date under the rules of the agreement. In
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reference to your title and change in rate of pay,
we find that we cannot change this.”
Now, who is the "We" that you are
talking about in that letter?
A Me and my general chairman. I had talked to my
general chairman on this and we discussed it.
Q And you concurred with the decision of the
general chairman not to change either the
seniority date, the title or the rate of pay
for Mr. Bradley?
A Well, I couldn’t say that I could change it on
my authority, because I don’t have that authority.
Q Well, when you say we, were you including your
self in this letter, Plaintiff’s Exhibit 10?
A We had a conference on this thing.
Q Who is the we, was it you, isn't that what we
means, me and someone else?
A In this conference it was Mr. Gates and myself,
yes.
Q So it was Mr. Gates and yourself who made the
decision?
A By using the term we, I didn’t have the authority
to use it, then.
Q When you said we —
THE COURT: I am getting lost.
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Q All I am trying to find out, were you including
yourself when you said we? Isn’t that what it
means?
A Yes.
Q And who else?
A Mr. Gates, the general chairman.
Q Now, you testified earlier that Mr. Bradley had
not protested his seniority date to you until
you received this letter in July of *67, is that
correct?
A Yes.
Q Now, suppose Mr. Bradley had protested his
seniority date when the roster first went up,
would your decision have been any different?
A I would have to take his complaint and turn it
over to my general chairman, and he would have
to get together with the carrier, because I would
have no authority, as I said before, I would have
to give it to my general chairman and let him
take it up to the carrier.
Q Now, in this letter to Mr. Bradley signed by you,
Plaintiff’s Exhibit 10, "We find we can’t change
your date,” your seniority date. What I'm asking
you, would your decision have been any different
if he protested the seniority when the seniority
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roster first went up?
A Yes, sir, it would be different.
Q You would have suggested that the contract be
amended?
A No, no, I couldn't suggest. As I said, I would
take it over to my general chairman, his
complaint, and let my general chairman get
together with the carrier.
Q What could you have done for Mr. Bradley if he
had protested his seniority within ninety days?
MR. HIGHSAW: That is just what he
answered, Your Honor, I object.
THE COURT: He may answer again.
This is not the first time we have
repeated.
A As I said before, if Mr. Bradley had protested
his seniority, I would directly take it to my
general chairman.
Q That is exactly what you did with this when
Mr. Bradley wrote you in July, 1967?
A Well, I think that has more to it than seniority.
Q That portion of the letter that deals with
seniority, didn't you tell me that you had to
take that to your general chairman, this was what
you did, and you then wrote him a letter,
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Plaintiff s Exhibit 10, saying we can’t change
it. Is that right?
A Yes.
Q Well, now -- okay.
Now, when Mr. Bradley wrote you this
letter dated July 2, 1967, which is in evidence
Plaintifffs Exhibit 9, did you ever write
back a letter to Mr. Bradley telling him you
don't have the authority to help, why don't you
go somewhere else, did you ever write a letter
in that substance?
No. The only letters I have are the two letters
in the file which you have a copy of.
Q
Q
The letters you are referring to is this one
dated December 10, 1967, Plaintiff's Exhibit 10?
MR. HIGHSAW: Your Honor, the
August 13 letter, which was written and
has been introduced in evidence, I intro
duced it yesterday, and the witness
identified it today. It was written on
August 13 and it told Mr. Bradley that
a meeting had been held and Mr. Bradley
testified yesterday he was at the meetin
and he knew what was done.
(By Ms. McDonald.) Now, my question to you, when
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IS
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Mr. Bradley wrote you that letter dated July, f67
setting forth his complaint, did you ever advise
him by mail that you didn't have authority to
help him, that he should go somewhere else? You
said these two letters here and I am referring to
Plaintiff's Exhibit 10 and Union Exhibit 1. Are
these the only two letters you wrote back to him?
A Yes, sir.
MS. McDONALD: I have no further
questions.
MR. HIGHSAW: I have one question.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. HIGHSAW:
Q Mr. Greater, at that meeting when it was
considered, did Mr. Bradley object to the
recommendation of the local lodge that his
matter of adjustment of his seniority status
and job classification be sent to the general
chairman?
A I did not hear from him on it.
MR. HIGHSAW: That is all.
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THE COURT: That is all, thank you,
sir.
(Witness excused.)
THE COURT: Anything further?
MR. HIGHSAW: I have one other
thing that will close out our presentation. I have
here the interrogatories that were filed by Local 589
addressed to Plaintiff Henry Bradley dated April 7,
1969 and filed on or about that date. The answers are
filed to them dated June 19, 1969 and I would just
like to read into the record three of the questions
and answers.
First, I would like to read
Question 13: "State whether plaintiff ever filed an
objection to the grant to him of a seniority date of
January 1, 1966 in Group 1.
"Answer: Yes.
"Question 14: If the answer to
Item 13 is yes, then furnish the following information,
A, the date such an objection was filed.
"Answer: June 9, 1967.
"B. Whether the date of such
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filing was in accordance with his contract of employ
ment .
"Answer: Unknown.
C .: The name or names of persons
with whom such an objection was filed.
"Answer: Mr. P. J. Gibson.
"D.: If such objection was in
writing, please furnish a copy thereof.
"Answer: See Exhibit A."
Exhibit A was the letter of June 9, 1967 which we
have been referring to.
Now, the next one, and the last
one, is Question 18: "State whether plaintiff has
ever bid for a vacancy in a job classified as a
Seniority Group 1 position.
"Answer: No."
THE COURT: All right.
MR. HIGHSAW: That concludes our
presentation, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Is that all the
evidence we have?
Your Honor.
minutes and then I
ms . McDonald : we
THE COURT: Well,
will hear from you
have no rebuttal,
let's take ten
all.
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(Here followed arguments of
counsel.)
(Adjournment at 3:45 p.m.)
* * * * *
CLERK, U. 6. UibirtlCl L O U R I
S O U T H E R N DIS1RICT OF. TEXAS
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT F I L E D
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
HOUSTON DIVISION S E P i 5 19/1
HENRY BRADLEY, X
X
Plaintiff, X
X
vs. X
X
SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY, X
INC., AND BROTHERHOOD OF X
RAILWAY, AIRLINE AND STEAM- X
SHIP CLERKS, FREIGHT HANDLERS,X
EXPRESS AND STATION EMPLOYEES,X
LOCAL 589, X
X
Defendants. X
V. BAILEYf
BY. DEPUT.Y.
ERK
CIVIL ACTION NO. 68-H-1079
McDonald & McDonald (Mrs. Gabrielle K. McDonald),
Houston, Texas, attorneys for Plaintiff.
Baker & Botts (V. R. Burch, Jr., Esq.), Houston,
Texas, attorneys for Southern Pacific Company, Inc.
Brown, Kronzer, Abraham, Watkins & Steeley (Curtiss
Brown, Esq.), Houston, Texas, and James L. Highsaw,
Esq., Washington, D. C., attorneys for Brotherhood
of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight
Handlers, Express and Station Employees, Local 589.
September 15, 1971
£20
M E M O R A N D U M :
FINDINGS OF FACT AND
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
This cause came on for trial on the 18th day
of August, 1971, before the Court sitting without a jury,
and after hearing and considering the evidence, exhibits
and stipulations of the parties and the arguments and
authorities of counsel, and being fully advised in the
premises, the Court now makes the following Findings of
Fact and Conclusions of Law.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1(a) Southern Pacific Transportation Company
(the "Company"), successor to Southern Pacific Company,
the named defendant employer, employs over one hundred
employees in the operation, as a common carrier, of inter
state rail lines in Texas and other states.
(b) The defendant Local 589 of the Brotherhood
of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers,
Express and Station Employees (the "Local") is a labor
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organization whose membership is composed of certain em
ployees of the Company, most of whom are employed in and
about the Company's general offices in Houston, Texas.
(c) The members of the Local are represented
for collective bargaining purposes under the Railway Labor
Act by the Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship
Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees
(the "BRAC") and are covered by a bargaining agreement with
the Company (the "Agreement") executed in their behalf by
BRAC effective July 1, 1956, and amended from time to time.
BRAC was not named as a defendant in the plaintiff's orig
inal complaint, filed January 2, 1969, and plaintiff's
motion to join BRAC as a party defendant, filed July 2,
1971, was denied by this Court because of the imminence
of trial.
(d) Plaintiff Henry H. Bradley (" Bradley" ) , a
Negro, was hired by the Company March 7, 1925, and from
November 1, 1934, until his retirement effective August 1,
1969, was employed in the central mail room of the Houston
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general office building in the position of Mail Room Porter.
Bradley and others employed in the mail room, like certain
other employees within the Company's executive department,
were not covered by BRAC agreements and were not represented
by any labor organization until approximately April 1, 1954,
when the Company and BRAC agreed to add such employees to
the bargaining unit represented by BRAC. In accordance with
the then current Company-BRAC agreement, which required
union membership as a condition of employment, Bradley be
came a member of BRAC Local 1534 shortly after April, 1954.
At that time Local 1534 was all Negro. On April 1, 1966,
Local 1534 was merged into defendant Local 589 (which prior
to that time had been all white); and from April 1, 1966,
until his retirement Bradley was a member of Local 589.
2. There are four positions entitled "Mail Room
Porter" in the central mail room. As of November 1, 1970,
three of these positions paid $607.21 per month; the fourth,
occupied by Bradley from August, 1944, until his retirement,
paid $648.98. These rates typify the differential between
Bradley's rate and that of the other three positions which
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has existed since a number of years prior to August, 1944.
Bradley contends he became "head" of the mail room in
August, 1944, when his predecessor retired. The Company
denies that Bradley had any such title or that he had any
substantial supervisory authority or responsibility, but
does not dispute the fact that Bradley was in effect the
lead employee in the mail room.
3. A substantial volume of incoming and outgoing
mail is handled each day by the Mail Room Porters. Sacks
or bundles of United States and Company mail are carried
in and out of the mail room and hauled by truck between the
Company's office, the United States Post Office and Company
train and truck freight stations. In the mail room mail is
sorted and distributed to pigeonholes for delivery to various
departments and individuals within the Company, mail is
weighed and necessary postage is affixed, certified and
registered mail is received and posted, and envelopes are
sometimes mechanically addressed by use of an "addressograph"
machine. By reason of his seniority, Bradley did not drive
the truck and haul mail between the office and other points
mentioned above, but he participated in all the other
activities in the mail room, spending his time in weigh
ing and sorting mail at the table in the center of the
room and in performing any other work which was necessary.
4. Bradley was expected to take the lead among
the other mail room employees, to coordinate their and his
daily mail handling activities and to assist new employees
in learning the jobs. Bradley testified that under his
former supervisor, who retired in 1958, Bradley in some
instances interviewed and made recommendations regarding
prospective mail room employees and occasionally acted as
an intermediary with the supervisor when other Mail Room
Porters needed time off. It is clear, however, that under
A. J. Moore, Bradley's supervisor since 1958, Bradley neither
possessed nor exercised any substantial degree of supervisory
authority, as distinguished from the leadership normally ex
ercised by a senior, experienced employee occupying a lead
position. Moore, a supervisor and as such exempted from
the coverage of the BRAC agreement, devoted a substantial
part of his attention to operation of the mail room and set
-6 - L' • ■>r-O <.,)
the procedures followed there. Bradley operated within
the procedures established by Moore and exercised little,
if any, independent discretion and judgment, as distinguished
from expert knowledge and proficiency. Since April of 1954
positions in the mail room have been filled on the basis of
seniority in accordance with the bidding procedure of the
Agreement, and Bradley played no part in the selection of
new mail room employees. Neither has he played any part
in handling the grievances of other employees or in arrang
ing for their time off from work, at least since Moore has
been his supervisor. Although Bradley's job, like those of
the other Mail Room Porters, was undoubtedly demanding at
times and always of importance to the Company's operations,
it was largely routine and repetitive in nature.
5. Plaintiff contends in substance that his job
duties were not those of a "porter" and that he should have
been given a different job title, such as "Mail Clerk", and
paid a higher salary. He contends this was the result of
racial discrimination. There is no evidence to support such
a contention. Under the BRAC agreement there are literally
-7- — /
hundreds of positions and job titles, with a multitude of
different salary levels, some higher and some lower than
that of Bradley's former position. There is no evidence
that Bradley was locked into his position, or prevented
from seeking a higher one, by reason of race. Bradley
undertook in his testimony to equate his work as a "mail
porter" with the position of "clerk" in various other com
pany departments, as, for example, accounting department
and rate department. The evidence is undisputed that a
clerk in the accounting department was required to be
familiar with various accounting practices and procedures
the operation of business and accounting machines, etc.
It likewise was undisputed that a clerk in the rate de
partment was required to be familiar with the railroad
freight rates. Bradley was not shown to have competence
in either of these fields. In any event, I find that
neither the salary nor title of Bradley's position was
fixed on the basis of the race of Bradley or any of its
other occupants.
-8 - 6 t
6. Plaintiff also contends, apparently in the
alternative, that he was discouraged from bidding into
higher paying jobs by the existence of an allegedly racially
discriminatory seniority system. I find that during all
times material to this action Bradley had the opportunity
to bid to higher paid jobs, but refrained from doing so for
reasons of his own, and not out of any belief or fear that
if he had bid he would have been penalized under the senior
ity system in effect during his employment. This finding is
based on, inter alia, the following circumstances:
(a) Until July 1, 1971, all employees covered
by the Agreement held seniority in seniority "groups",
numbered 1, 2 and 3. Positions included in Group 1 were
primarily clerical in nature, and most but not all such
positions paid higher salaries than positions in Group 2,
which were generally less skilled in nature and involved
relatively little clerical work as defined by the Agreement.
Historically, approximately half of the employees in Group 2
have been white and half Negro, and many of the white and
Negro employees in Group 1 prior to July 1, 1971, were
-9- 6 0 8
originally employed in Group 2 and later bid to Group 1.
Group 3 included essentially laborer positions. Bradley's
position in the mail room was placed in Group 2 when it
was brought under the Agreement in 1954. Bradley contends
his position would have been included in Group 1 but for
his race and that of other Negro Mail Room Porters, but I
find no evidence to support that contention. Bradley's
position paid substantially as much if not more than a
number of Group 1 positions, and his position was estab
lished in accordance with the applicable labor agreement
and on the basis of its job content. Race was not a factor
(b) In 1963 the Company and BRAC made compre
hensive agreements which permitted the Company certain
flexibility in combining, revising and eliminating cler
ical positions; such agreements also guaranteed certain
categories of employees, including Bradley, continued em
ployment without reduction of rate until retirement. Effec
tive July 1, 1971, Groups 1, 2 and 3 were merged and all
employees were placed on one seniority list for the entire
bargaining unit. Prior to that time, however, Bradley and
-1 0 - 8
all other Group 2 employees, white and Negro, were entitled
to bid on any vacant Group 1 position. Upon acceptance of
such a bid, the employee began accumulating Group 1 senior
ity; while assigned to Group 1 positions, he continued to
hold and accumulate seniority in Group 2. If such an em
ployee was demoted from a Group 1 position, he was required
to exhaust his Group 1 seniority by displacing any junior
employees in that Group; if unable to remain in Group 1,
however, he was entitled to use his Group 2 seniority to
displace any employee in any Group 2 position who held less
Group 2 seniority than his. Bradley was fully aware of such
(1 )bidding opportunities and seniority rights.
1/ Bradley's testimony might tend to show that he was mis
informed as to his seniority rights as a Group 2 employee,
in the event he bid for a Group 1 position. I am of the
view that such was not the case. Bradley was an intelligent
and articulate witness. He was on cordial and friendly terms
with his own superiors in the company and with the Union rep
resentatives. I am convinced he was fully aware of his senior
ity rights, and elected to remain in his Group 2 position in
the mail room. In the event he had bid for a Group 1 position
and thereafter had been bumped, I am of the view that he recog
nized that he could have reverted to his Group 2 seniority,
and been assigned to a Group 2 position with the Company at
no reduction in compensation, but that he might not have re
turned to his position as lead man in the mail room. As he
stated, with only two or three years to go to retirement, he
elected to stay where he was.
-1 1 -
8 3 0
(c) On December 29, 1965, and effective
January 1, 1966, the Company and BRAC agreed that em
ployees who prior to January 1, 1966, had secured senior
ity dates in more than one group, would continue to hold
such dates. Employees who prior to January 1, 1966, did
not have seniority dates in all three groups were assigned
a seniority date of January 1, 1966, in each group in which
they did not have seniority dates. Thus, Bradley was given
a seniority date of January 1, 1966, in Groups 1 and 3,
where he had previously had none. Conversely, each em
ployee in Group 1 who had no earlier date in Group 2 was
given a seniority date in Group 2 of January 1, 1966.
Bradley knew or should have known of such change in his
seniority status, which was reflected in seniority lists
posted in the Company's offices and was announced and dis
cussed in at least one meeting of members of the Local.
(d) On June 7, 1967, Bradley submitted a bid
for the position of Timekeeper, a higher paid Group 1 job.
However, on June 8, 1967, before his bid was acted upon,
Bradley withdrew it. This is the only job bid which Bradley
-1 2 -
ever submitted, and his withdrawal was entirely voluntary.
Approximately 27 Negro employees have bid from Group 2
and 3 positions to Group 1 positions, including eight who
once held the position of Mail Room Porter in the central
mail room. The majority of such employees were junior to
Bradley in Group 2 seniority, and in 1966 and thereafter
Bradley was one of the most senior employees in all of
Group 2 and the most senior by far of the Mail Room Porters.
Bradley knew or should have known that if he had bid into a
Group 1 job he would have been guaranteed continued employ
ment by the Company at not less than his former Mail Room
Porter rate by virtue of the Company-BRAC Agreements and/or
his retained and accumulated Group 2 seniority. Although
Bradley might have preferred to have Group 1 seniority equal
to his total Company service in the mail room, he was not at
any material time prevented from bidding to higher paid
Group 1 jobs by any aspect of the seniority system nor by
any action on the part of the Company, Local or BRAC, and
the Company has successfully engaged in efforts to increase
-13- f* n o
the number of Negroes employed in Group 1 positions
through promotions from Groups 2 and 3, as well as re-
2cruitment of new employees.
| 7. Beginning June 9, 1967, Bradley endeavored
I in effect, primarily through correspondence with various
I union officials, to have his Group 1 seniority dated back
/ to his initial employment in the mail room, to have his
I position in the mail room reclassified and given a title
I other than ’Porter" and to receive greater compensation
in his mail room position. Bradley’s letters were dis
cussed at membership meetings and referred ultimately to
proper officials of BRAG for handling. In due course
Bradley was advised by letter dated January 23, 1963, from
BRAC General Chairman Pat J. Gibson, in substance that
under applicable agreements his seniority date, job classif
ication and rate of pay were proper. This position was con
firmed by letter dated February 13, 1968, from BRAC Inter
national President C. L. Dennis.
2/ It is interesting to note that the witness Renfro Moody,
a Negro and a mail porter with less seniority than the plain
tiff, in 1967 bid for and received a Group 1 job which he has
held continuously since that date. This is precisely what
plaintiff contends he was unable to do, by reason of the
allegedly racially biased seniority system.
-14-
4 S i S 3 3
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. During plaintiff's employment by the Company
he was an "employee", the Company was an "employer" and
the Local was a "labor organization" as those terms are
defined by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (the
"Act"), 78 Stat. 241.
2. Defendants did not violate the Act by main
taining the job title or rates of pay applicable to plain
tiff's position as Mail Room Porter.
3. The question whether the seniority system
in effect prior to July 1, 1971, was unlawful under the
Act is moot by virtue of the modification of such system
effective July 1, 1971, and by virtue of the fact that
Bradley never sought and was never denied an opportunity
for promotion on grounds of the seniority system. In any
event, such seniority system affected both white and Negro
employees in the same manner and has not been shown to
have been maintained in violation of the Act.
-15- 631
■f 10
4. The plaintiff should take nothing against
the defendants and is not entitled to an award of back
wages or any other relief for which he prays.
5. Costs of this action shall be taxed against
the plaintiff, and judgment shall be entered in accordance
with the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.
7i C
Entered at Houston, Texas, this _* *- day of
September, 1971.
United States District Judge
-16- y- // 635
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
HOUSTON DIVISION
- r u i DISTRICT OF 7EX/>: F ( L E D
Ut; 131^0
HENRY BRADLEY,
Plaintiff,
VS.
§
§
§
§
V RAILLY THCM
HV XB,TV% /
CLERt
CIVIL ACTION NO. 68-H-1079
§SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY,INC., AND BROTHERHOOD OF §
RAILWAY, AIRLINE AND STEAM
SHIP CLERKS, FREIGHT HANDLERS,§
EXPRESS AND STATION EMPLOYEES,
LOCAL 589, §
Defendants. §
J U D G M E N T
The above-styled and numbered cause came on for
trial on August 18, 1971, before the Court without a jury,
and the parties having appeared by their respective counsel
and the issues having been duly tried, and the Court having
filed its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law on the
15th day of September, 1971, directing judgment as herein
after provided, it is,
ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED:
1. That the Plaintiff Henry Bradley take nothing
against the Defendant Southern Pacific Company or Defendant
Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight
Handlers, Express and Station Employees, Local 589.
2. That Defendants have and recover from the
Plaintiff their costs in the action, and
3. That this action be and it is hereby dismissed
on the merits.
ENTERED at Houston, Texas, this |^/-day of October,
1971.
/ V <?.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE f
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Vi W. Burch, Jr. C
3000 One Shell Plaza
Houston, Texas 77002
Attorney for Defendant Southern Pacific
/James L / Highs?
631 Tower Building
Washington, D.C. 20004
Company
Attorney for Defendant Brotherhood of Railway,
Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers,
Express and Station Employees, Local 589
-' Mrs. Gabrielle K. McDonald
1834 Southmore Boulevard
Houston, Texas 77002
Attorney for Plaintiff Henry Bradley
-2-
7 o ' 6 3 7
**#
t
IN T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S D IS T R IC T C O U R T
CLERK, U. S. DISTRICT COURT
F O R T H E S O U T H E R N D IS T R IC T OtQUfllStMDISTRICT OE TEXAS
f i l e d
H O U STO N DIVISION NOV 1 o 1971
H EN R Y B R A D L E Y ,
vs.
P la in t i f f ,
S O U T H E R N P A C IF IC C O M P A N Y , IN C .
A ND B R O T H E R H O O D O F R A IL W A Y ,
A IR L IN E A ND S T E A M S H IP C L E R K S ,
F R E I G H T H A N D L E R S , E X P R E S S A ND
S T A T IO N E M P L O Y E E S , L O C A L 589,
D e fe n d a n t s .
N O T IC E O F A P P E A L
V. BAILEY THOMAS. CLERK
C . A . N o . 6 8 -H -1 0 7 9
N o t ic e i s h e r e b y g iv e n t h a t P l a i n t i f f , H e n r y B r a d l e y , h e r e b y a p p e a l s
to th e U n i te d S t a t e s C o u r t o f A p p e a l s f o r th e F i f th C i r c u i t f r o m th e f in a l ju d g
m e n t d i s m i s s i n g P l a i n t i f f ' s a c t i o n a n d d e n y in g a l l o t h e r r e l i e f , an d t a x in g c o s t s
a g a i n s t P l a i n t i f f , e n t e r e d in t h i s a c t i o n on th e 13 th d ay o f O c t o b e r , 1971.
y//c
G A B R IE L L E K . M cD O N A L D
1834 S o u th m o r e B o u le v a r d , S u i t e 203
H o u s to n , T e x a s 77004
(713) 5 2 3 -7 4 2 3
JA C K G R E E N B E R G
W IL L IA M L . ROBINSON
10 C o lu m b u s C i r c l e
N ew Y o r k , N ew Y o r k 10019
(212) 5 8 6 -8 3 9 7
P
t*
C E R T I F I C A T E O F S E R V IC E
T h i s i s to c e r t i f y t h a t th e u n d e r s i g n e d , c o u n s e l f o r P la in t i f f , h a s t h i s
d ay of N o v e m b e r , 1971 , s e r v e d a co p y of th e f o r e g o in g N o t ic e Of A p p e a l
u p o n c o u n s e l f o r D e fe n d a n ts b y m a i l i n g s a m e b y U n i te d S t a t e s m a i l a d d r e s s e d
a s in d i c a t e d .
V . R . B u r c h , J r . , 3000 O ne S h e l l P l a z a , H o u s to n , T e x a s 77004
A t t o r n e y f o r D e fe n d a n t S o u th e r n P a c i f i c C o m p a n y
J a m e s L . H ig h s a w , J r . ,6 3 1 T o w e r B l d g . , W a s h in g to n , D . C . 20004
C u r t i s s B ro w n , 500 H o u s to n F i r s t S a v in g s B ld g . , H o u s to n , T e x a s 77002
A t t o r n e y s f o r D e fe n d a n t B r o t h e r h o o d of R a i l w a y , A i r l i n e & S t e a m
s h ip C l e r k s , F r e i g h t H a n d l e r s , E x p r e s s & S ta t io n E m p l o y e e s , L o c a l
589.
/ J J L ~ a P, a w
GAB R I E L L E K. McDONA L D
6 P S
m
63-11-1079 .D OCKET
cioSe£>
BEN C. CONNALLY
TITLE OF CASE
HENRY BRADLEY
V3
SOUTHER]-! PACIFIC COMPANY, INC, and
BROTHERHOOD OP RAIL'.-/AY. AIRLINE AND
STEAMSHIP CLERKS, FREIGHT HANDLERS,
EXPRESS AND STATION EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 539
basis o f actio n : Civil rights - Job discrominatj.on
JURY TRIAL CLAIMED
ON
ATTORNEYS
For Plaintiff: Qabrielie McDona!
=?-3=-Mais=S=. 183^ Southmcrc
Houaton, Tcx-as— 7700 £ —
For Defendant: Southern pacific
V. R. Burch, Jr., -
For Brotherhood, etc.,
Brovm, Kronzee, etc.,
(Robert L. Steely) 500
Houston 1st Savings Bldg.
For S.P. - Baker, Botts,
(V.R. Burch, Jr.,) Esperson
Bldg. Houston, 2,
DATE PLAINTIFF S ACCOUNT •RECEIVED DISBURSED DATE DEFENDANT’S ACCOUNT RECEIVED DISBURSED
•31-63 V.C.O’Brien 1 5 . 0 3
-/*> A'i
/'V3.v c.\ 0
7-TW /yho *
—■
nr)
7o <&,0-fab v5hr)
ofG O 00
ABSTRACT OF COSTS
TO WHOM DUE RECEIPTS. REMARKS. ETC.
" Hi -
& u
DATE :ngs— p r o c e e d i n g s
AMOUNT REPORTED IN EMOLUMENT RETURNS
- o '■>! £0 - ̂ -Oj Complaint filed In du. ■ 0 373 jISfP*,,-s-09 Summons for service 0 '•-•fondants issued and delivered to
U.S.Marshal
1/15/69 (JI) Order to show cav . filed, (hearing, Jan. 30, 1969 at ):30 am )
Marshal M i l serve abc. defts.) 3 f f
1-21-69 SUMMONS RETD. & PILED 17-69) OH COMPLAINT AND DELIVERING 3it n COPY OF SHOW CAUSE OKD :
1-24-69 Summons retd & fild. : . 1/20/69 (Brotherhood) &
1/27/69 Joint Motion to conti- hearing on application f}or preliminai ic tic
2/5/69 Deft. Southern Pacific ,'s Answer. filed. L->
2-17-69 Motions of the defend Brotherhood of railway, airline and 7
steamship clerks, fre: t handles, express and station employe es
local 589, to dismiss. ' in the alternative, for summary
judgment, filed in du, ate (Not on % r^D)
3-11-69 Application for preli: .••y hearing filed In duplicate ? s
(Moves the court to h: • d determine motions. M/D 4-21-69)
3-21-69 Supplement and amendm. .0 motions of the defendant Brotherhood y
of Railway, Airling a: f.-amship Clerk, Freight Handlers, Exp ress
and Station Emploes Lc : 589, to dismiss, or in the alternati ve,
for summary judgment, ..ad in du/plicate V-*f
3-21-69 Certificate of service "led in duplicate /!>
_(lr_2r- 69 .. Defts 1 INTERROGATOR!;- PItf., filed.___________ //
4-9-69 Motion to remove motic.. om calendar of bhe court filed in du /7-
4-22-69 Motion to extend time answer or object to interrogatories 3-? 6 /5
filed in duolicate
4-22-69: (Jl) Order exteldirng :..e to answer or object to interrogate ?ies /V
filed & entered (Time ended to 6-19-69)
4-22-69 Parties notified purs to Rule 77(d) FRCP
6/19/69 Plf.'s Answer to Intel: •cries, filed. 1*
1-1-70 Transferred to Judge r 11y 's docket this date
'^-/2-70 Motion to Substitute -'or Plrintiff. Gabrielle McDonald it-
in lieu of Vincent 'jn. (Aroroved by Flt.f.) fiic-d. ^¥•9
1-16-70 (BCC) ORDER allowin' .! tut ion of counsel for Pltf. . sisne d / 7
and filed. (c McDonald now attv. for Pltf.l f 3 V>
certified core, ’• 1* ma11 cd to all attorneys.3-3-1-70 Motion to approve chai counsel filed in duplicate *3 3 3
_i i_: ;... 1!. ror t.<- dad Ccmnlcint, filed. M/D : -r.Q-vr■ /f
• n ■»-
Sheet No. 2
CIVILDOCKET 68-H-1079 HENRY BRADLEY VS SOUTHERN PACIFIC CO.,INC.. ET AL
H - 2 0 -7 0
V 2 V 7 0
FILINGS—PROCEEDINGS
Answer of Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and
Steamship Clerk, Freight Handles, Express and
Station Employees, Local 589. in opposition to
motion of plaintiff to file flr3t amended comaplain
filed in duplicate
Plf.'s Memorandum of Law. filed.
V2V70V2"/70
5/22/70
deft.. Southern Pacific's Answer in cpposition
Deft. Southern Pacific Co.,’s response in oppos
CLERK’S FEES
DEFENDANT
'-.O PI
Memorandum of law filed.
Reply of of Railway, fllrlinp
7/8/70
8 / 7 / 7 P
8 / 7 / 7 0
8-10-70
9-14-70
- ---------------------------------------------------- --- - . . WWW.----A -L- J- y IClerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station to Plctxntiff^s Coirtrerrtdrcms iComplaint fi1ed .________
Employ
1 7 5
-lftcc)— Memorandum d_gmd,ng Motion t.o fi 1 p arnsni
in duplicate. Copies arailed to counsel,
j id.. Co. npd
_Notice of Appeal filed in dup.
_Co_st Bond on Notice of Appeal, filed in dup
Certified copy of Notice of Appeal and of Clerl
mailed to U.S.Court of Appeals.
Record on Appeal mailed to U.S.Court of Appeals
12-10-70 Certified copy of Fifth Circuit's ORDER DXSMISi SING
rec'd & filed.
12-10-70 Record on Appeal returned from Ct. of Appeals
1/13/71
1/2S/71
Plaintiff's Interrogatories to Deft. Southern Pacific Co.
Motion to Extend Time to Anser and/or Object to
2/V71
Notice of Hearing Motion. M/D 2/1/71
2/22/71
tl
5-4-71
5-4-71
5-10-71
-X̂ CC)— Order_grantlng motion for gf
Answer Interrogatories filed & entered Parties
Deft. Southern Pacific's Objections to Interrorjatorj
" ' " Ansv/cro to Interrogator)
MOTION for Continuance by "Local", filed.
NOTICE of Placing Motion on Motion Calendar, filed
ANSV.ER of Deft. "Local" filed after obtaining
5-13-71
court to waive its Motion to Dismiss filed
7- 6-71
Pltf’s Request for Continuance, filed.
7-14-71
Plaintiff's Motion to Join The Brotherhood of 1 :wy. ,vir]ine---—— — ■ ■■ ——-------- —---------- ------- v ' Tv y ■ a *X i.
& Steamship Clerks, etc. as a Party Deft.,fil<id (mJ'D:
from(BCC) "At the request of counsel the matter is Advanced
to August TTrand the case will Te~~tme'/sf that time. Pltf’s motion to ioin a new fleft £t fhis
tier
's Di< >cke
Agreed. Deft
.time
not
leav i
17- 39
f.
to
nd
Mot
Plf.
on
AMOUNT REPORTED IN EMOLUMENT RETURNS
*5T
+ <>t
APP2AL,
Intc rro
La
fie
es.
fil
SteanahJLoca]
Amer
■ini
t Ent
;ator i es
.Pad
d.
filedcd.
M/D 5-6-71
open
5?
12
rie
fic
i 3 .
9,
*7?
U77
-2ik.
29
5C
"late date Is denied." Parties nttd 7-15-11 map
7/i"/7:
b*l
y / 7
> 7 f
34
35
37
3 8
FILINGS—PROCEEDINGS
7-14-71 ANSWER of Deft.Local 589 of the B.of Railway S
7-14-71
7-14-71
8-10-71
8-18-71
and of said Brotherhood Opposing Motion of Pltf
Complaint to join the Brotherhood as a Party
AFFIDAVIT of James L. Highsaw.Jr. as attorney for
MEMORANDUM of Points & Authorities in Support
Deft. Local 589, etc, to Motion of Pltf. to
DEPOSITION of Otto John KOCH, filed.
(BCC) CASE TO TRIAL by Court: Appearances: C
McDonald for Pltf.; Regan Burch & Richard Br
Pacific Company; James L. Highsaw & Curtis B
Union 589 Brotherhood, etc. Damages & attorneys
CLERK'S FEES
Airline Clerks
Deft
Brotherhood,
of Oppos
Amend, f
abri< lie
ann tor Southern
rown
taken up later. RULE INVOKED — witnesses sworn.
begun 10:00 am; Pltf rests 4:20 pm. Souther
8-19-71
8-26-71
S-30-71
S-30-71
8-31-71
8-31-71
73/71
guests leave to dictate Motion to Dismiss. Court
hear defts' case first. Local Union 589 joins Mot
Defense evidence begun. Recess 5:30 pm until
(BCC) SECOND DAY TRIAL to Court: Evidence re
S.P. reiterates Motion to Dismiss. Parties
findings & conclusions within one week. Cou
briefs. Court adjourned 3:45 pm.
k^tter from S.P, atty confirming conversation
time to 8/30/71 for filing findings & conclus
Pltf's Proposed Findings of Fact, filed.
Pltf's Proposed Conclusions of Law, filed.
n Pacific Co.
9: 3C
sumec
to srbmi
rt will
v/clerk
3-30-71 MEMORANDUM of Plaintiff, filed.
Deft Southern Pacific Transportation Company's
Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law, received
MEMORANDUM in Support of Deft. Southern Pao-ifi c Co
9/15/71
Southern Pacific's response to Memo of Plf. Of fact ~ ~
takes nothing, costs taxed against Plaintiff,
0---~7LJBCC) JUDGMENT, signed & filed. Pltf. Henry Eradlc;y take
OF LAW signed ft f < 1 edf . £Lai
be entered in accordance with Findings & conclusions7 pa r s—n otrf re d-by- -o/e-,— rlo) “
Nothing against the deft Southern Pacific Con
Brotherhood of Railway, Airline & Steamship C
Handlers, Exc>rcss & Station Employees, Local
ction: ehave & recover from Pltf their costs in the a
action dismissed on the merits.
Parties notified by certified copy of Judgment. (map)
proriose
pany
lerk
589.
to Amend the
DEFENDANT
f ileid
ition
iled.
& Ma:
of
rk
AMOUNT REPORTED IN EMOLUMENT RETURNS
39
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CIVIL DOCKET MO. 68-H-1079 - H .BRADLEY v SOUTHERN PACIFIC!,
DATE FILINGS—PROCEEDINGS CLEr :I' -3 AMOUNT REPORTED IN' EMOLUMENT RETURNSPLAINTIFF CMOANT
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11-10-71 Appeal Bond, filed. 1
12-8-71 Reporter's Transcript of Proceedings, filed (2 wl.) /
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i». c. no
CLERK'S CERTIFICATE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ))
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS )
I* V. BAILEY THOMAS, Clerk of the United States
District Court for the Southern District of Texas, in
the Fifth Circuit and District aforesaid, do hereby
certify the foregoing to be the ORIGINAL PAPERS of the
record and all proceedings had in Cause No. 68-H-1079
on the Civil_____ Docket of this Court at Houston
entitled:
HENRY BRADLEY
VS
SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY, ET. AL.,
as the same now appears on file and of record in my office.
TO CERTIFY WHICH, witness my hand and the Seal of
said Court at _____ Houston_______
in said District, this the aafr/'T -
day of December_______ , 19 71
V. BAILEY THOMAS, CLERK
(Seal) UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT,
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
By— 'f. f a n ?
W. Paul HarrVa, Deputy
LZ * O
CLERK'S CERTIFICATE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ))
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS )
I, V. BAILEY THOMAS. Clerk of the United States
District Court for the Southern District of Texas, in
the Fifth Circuit and District aforesaid, do hereby
certify the foregoing to be the ORIGINAL PAPERS of the
record and all proceedings had in Cause No. 68-H-1079
on the civil_____ Docket of this Court at Houston
entitled:
HENRY BRADLEY
VS
SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY, ET. AL.,
as the same now appears on file and of record in my office.
TO CERTIFY WHICH, witness my hand and the Seal of
said Court at Houston_______
m said District, this the 3gh !y ~
day of December_______, 19 71
(Seal)
V. BAILEY THOMAS, CLERK
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT,
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
W. Paul Harris, Deputy
/* 4 / )O t/*v