(Download) "Bullard v. Sercon Corp." by United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit * eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Bullard v. Sercon Corp.
- Author : United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- Release Date : January 13, 1988
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 59 KB
Description
POSNER, Circuit Judge. Melvin Bullard appeals from a judgment for the defendants, Sercon Corporation and Local 81 of the International Laborers' Union, entered after a bench trial in which Bullard tried to prove that the defendants had discriminated against him because of his race, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq., and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. Bullard was employed by Sercon, which had a contract with Bethlehem Steel Corporation to maintain various facilities at Bethlehem's steel works in Burns Harbor, Indiana. Between 1977 and his layoff on April 30, 1982, Bullard worked at the coke ovens. At the time of his layoff he was one of a crew of 10 or 11 workers, four of whom, including Bullard, were black. In 1982 Bethlehem closed one of the coke ovens for repairs, and as a result fewer workers were needed at the ovens. Jim Lehner, Bethlehem's maintenance foreman at the Burns Harbor works, decided that Bullard should go, because he was a slow worker and was spending too much time in the bathroom. Bullard was not the least senior member of the crew, but, oddly, Sercon's contract with Local 81 gave workers no rights based on seniority. Sercon did not assign Bullard to any other work, instead placing him on indefinite layoff status from which he has never been recalled.