In July 1987, a class of past, present, and future employees of the City of Auburn, Alabama, filed a putative class-action lawsuit against the City and its officials in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. The plaintiff alleged a continuing pattern and practice of discrimination arising from the City Fire Chief's policy of favoritism within the fire department, as well as discrimination tacitly approved by the other defendants. The plaintiffs claimed they had been deprived of equal protection and due process rights at the whim of the Fire Chief, which violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments and of 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

The complaint alleged these violations were manifested through denials of access to public records, denial of access to the courts, unfair promotion practices, denial of merit pay increases, denial of overtime pay and sick pay, denial of equal access to schools and seminars, and denial of the opportunity to fully benefit from the State's retirement system. An important subset of allegations stated the racial discrimination claims of a subclass of black plaintiffs pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment. 953 F.2d 1355 (11th Cir. 1992).

The case docket only starts with entry #278 and information before that is limited, so this summary focuses on events happened after February 1991.

On February 15, 1991, Judge Robert E. Varner approved a Settlement Agreement from November 1990 and directed all the parties to implement the terms of conditions of the class settlement. On August 20, 1992, Judge Varner dismissed the petition for attorney’s fees and closed the case.

However, in September 1993, the defendant filed a motion for instructions for lack of jurisdiction by this court, so the case was reopened as of September 20, 1993. On October 27, 1993, Judge Varner denied this motion for instructions and closed the case on the same day.

Sichun Liu - 01/13/2020


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