Orma Rinehart Smith

This case was a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of all school-age handicapped children in Mississippi, alleging that state officials violated the Education of the Handicapped Act, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Fourteenth Amendment, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in administering special education programs. After extensive discovery, the court granted plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment in 1977, and in 1979 approved a comprehensive consent decree resolving all claims except attorneys' fees. Plaintiffs then moved for interim attorneys' fees and expenses under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 as the prevailing party. The court awarded a total of $165,263.39 after applying the Johnson v. Georgia Highway Express factors, local billing standards, and reviewing itemized time records and expenses, finding the amounts reasonable and necessarily incurred.

civil rightsprocedure

In Cantrell v. Vickers, a public school teacher sued the Starkville Municipal Separate School District after her dismissal, seeking reinstatement and damages under federal civil rights law. The court had previously granted a preliminary injunction and, after a three-day trial, made it permanent while awarding the plaintiff $2,500 in compensatory damages plus costs. The present decision addresses the plaintiff's motion for attorney's fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988. Applying the twelve Johnson factors from the Fifth Circuit, the court found some duplication of effort and excessive time charges, then awarded reduced fees totaling $11,578.75 to the three attorneys involved along with $2,482.34 in approved out-of-pocket expenses.

civil rightslabor & employmentprocedure

In this case, plaintiffs who had prevailed in a civil rights lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, obtaining injunctive relief for alleged violations of First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, sought an award of attorney's fees and litigation expenses under 42 U.S.C. § 1988. The court found the plaintiffs were prevailing parties entitled to fees with no special circumstances barring recovery and applied the Johnson v. Georgia Highway Express factors to determine a reasonable fee amount. It reduced the total claimed hours from 832.5 to 750 to account for duplication of effort among counsel and the use of estimates rather than actual records, set an hourly rate of $75 for lead counsel, and approved certain documented expenses while disallowing others such as undocumented research costs. The decision awarded specific sums for fees and expenses based on these calculations.

civil rightsprocedure

In Thompson v. F. W. Woolworth Co., a Tennessee resident sued the seller and two out-of-state manufacturers in Mississippi federal court after sustaining injuries in Tennessee when a shotgun fell from a gun rack in his vehicle and discharged. The manufacturers moved to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, arguing that Mississippi’s long-arm statute did not authorize service on non-resident defendants in a case with no connection to Mississippi. The court granted the motions, holding that the statute permits non-residents to invoke it only when the tort occurs in whole or in part within the state; prior case law and the 1980 amendment confirmed that the statute does not extend jurisdiction over foreign corporations merely doing unrelated business in Mississippi for out-of-state claims.

proceduretorts & liability

The case involved a lawsuit by plaintiff Wildmon against Hustler Magazine and others for libel, slander, and invasion of privacy based on an article published in the November 1978 issue of Hustler. The defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing the claim was barred by Mississippi's one-year statute of limitations for such actions. The court granted the motion, holding that under the single publication rule adopted by Mississippi courts, the limitations period began to run from the date of first publication no later than October 5, 1978, making the October 9, 1979 filing untimely.

torts & liabilityprocedure

This case is a wrongful death action brought by the son of a pedestrian struck and killed by the defendant's pickup truck in Mississippi, seeking damages for the decedent's children and widow under the state's wrongful death statute. The court found that the defendant was negligent for dimming his headlights unnecessarily, which reduced visibility, and for failing to maintain proper control and lookout to avoid the collision. It also determined that the decedent was negligent by walking in the center of an unlit, wet road while intoxicated and failing to yield the right-of-way. Because the parties were equally at fault, the court applied Mississippi's contributory negligence rule to reduce the total damages by 50 percent. The awarded amount, covering lost life value, pain and suffering, medical and funeral expenses, and loss of companionship, was halved to $22,742.73.

torts & liability

The case involved a former maintenance employee at a Ramada Inn in Oxford, Mississippi, who alleged he was terminated in 1976 due to racial discrimination after refusing certain assignments and who filed an EEOC charge naming the Inn as his employer. After receiving a right-to-sue letter in 1979, he sued the current owner, Chan Yu Chen, who had acquired the property through multiple intervening owners via a 1979 sales contract that assigned pre-closing employment obligations to the sellers. The district court granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment, holding that successor liability does not apply because there was no substantial continuity of the business enterprise, at least three ownership changes occurred between the termination and the purchase, and the new owner had no knowledge of the prior discrimination charge. The court noted that each successor-liability case turns on its specific facts and that the record showed only one employee remained from the plaintiff's era when Chen took over.

civil rightslabor & employmentprocedure

This case involved a challenge by PRI Pipe Supports, an unsuccessful bidder on a contract for nonseismic pipe supports at TVA's Yellow Creek Nuclear Plant, to TVA's award of the contract to a competitor. PRI alleged its bid was the lowest and sought damages or a declaration that the award was invalid, claiming jurisdiction under federal question and Administrative Procedure Act provisions. The court granted TVA's motion for summary judgment, finding that PRI's bid was properly rejected as nonresponsive because it failed to meet bid conditions requiring at least 50% of costs in a labor surplus area and prohibiting separate living and travel expenses. TVA acted within its statutory discretion under 16 U.S.C. § 831h(b) to impose and enforce such conditions on bids, and the court's review of the agency's procurement decisions is limited.

business & regulatoryfederal powerprocedure

This case involved a public school teacher, Carol Cantrell, who sued the Starkville Municipal Separate School District, its superintendent, and board trustees under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 after her contract was not renewed for the 1979-80 school year. Parents had complained about her and a colleague's methods with accelerated third-grade students, including excessive pressure and verbal abuse; although evaluations rated her performance satisfactory and renewal was initially recommended, the board acted on the complaints without renewing her. The court found that the non-renewal violated her due process rights, as she received no adequate notice or opportunity to respond before the decision. It awarded her nominal compensatory damages of $2,500 against the school district only, denied punitive damages due to lack of malice, and indicated an injunctive order would follow. The decision rested on evidence of her prior satisfactory record and the procedural deficiencies in handling the parental grievances.

civil rightslabor & employmentprocedure

This case involved a dispute between J. Russell Flowers, Inc. and Itel Corp. over whether a February 26, 1979 letter constituted a binding contract for lease financing of 45 barges. Flowers sought partial summary judgment claiming the letter formed an enforceable agreement, while Itel cross-moved for summary judgment arguing no contract existed due to unresolved essential terms. The court denied Flowers' motion and granted Itel's, holding that the letter contemplated a more definitive document addressing material points like operation standards and maintenance, which remained in dispute, and the subsequent May 29 letter did not evidence mutual assent to all terms. Applying Mississippi law, the court found the necessary elements of a binding contract were missing.

business & regulatory

This case involved a prisoner at the Mississippi State Penitentiary who sued various prison officials under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985, alleging violations of his constitutional rights related to religious accommodations for his Muslim beliefs, confinement in punitive isolation, and inadequate medical care for tuberculosis. The defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing qualified immunity and lack of personal involvement. The court granted the motions, finding no genuine issues of material fact, as the record showed the officials implemented court-ordered reforms, provided medical treatment, and did not personally deny the plaintiff's requests, thus entitling them to qualified immunity.

criminal lawcivil rightsreligious libertyhealthcare

This case involved a black female former employee at the North Mississippi Retardation Center who was terminated while in the third trimester of pregnancy after reports of patient mistreatment. She sued claiming that the termination violated her due process rights because she received only a limited meeting with the administrator, was not shown evidence or witness names beforehand, and was directed to pursue further appeals through state merit procedures. The court dismissed the complaint, finding that the center's procedures—including paid suspension, a chance to respond, and access to an evidentiary hearing before the Merit Council—satisfied constitutional due process. The Title VII claim was separately dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies by obtaining a right-to-sue letter.

labor & employmentcivil rightsprocedure

The case involves a class action lawsuit under the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, where plaintiffs J.B. and Doris Hester and other purchasers of lots in the Hidden Valley Lakes subdivision alleged that defendants Hidden Valley Lakes, Inc., and its officers violated the Act by selling lots without an effective Statement of Record on file and by using property reports with fraudulent statements or omissions. The parties stipulated to facts showing that sales began in 1970 without registration until August 1971, with different property reports used thereafter, and that interstate mail solicitations occurred. The court decided that the defendants were liable under the Act for these violations, as the stipulated facts established unlawful sales practices affecting all class members uniformly. The core reasoning was that the absence of proper registration and compliance with disclosure requirements constituted statutory violations, allowing the class action to proceed on liability while reserving damages for further determination by a special master.

business & regulatoryproperty

This consolidated diversity action involved Arkansas rice farmers who sued a Mississippi seed and grain drying business for damaging their 1974 rice crop through allegedly improper drying, aeration, temperature control, and over-acceptance of rice at the facility. The defendants counterclaimed for economic losses stemming from a pretrial court order that had directed release of the stored rice. After a non-jury trial, the court entered judgment denying all recovery to the plaintiffs on their claims and to the defendants on the counterclaim. The decision rested on findings that the plaintiffs failed to prove the defendants' handling caused the claimed damage and that the defendants did not meet their burden to show the release order was improper or to establish damages with reasonable certainty.

business & regulatorytorts & liability

The case involved authors, educators, students, and school officials challenging the Mississippi textbook rating committee's refusal to recommend the history book Mississippi: Conflict and Change for statewide adoption in public schools while approving a more traditional alternative. Plaintiffs alleged that the rejection violated their rights under the First, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Amendments and related civil rights statutes by discriminating against perspectives that addressed racial conflict and change in Mississippi history. After an eight-day nonjury trial, the court issued findings of fact on the parties, the statutory textbook adoption process under Mississippi Code § 37-43-21, and the relief requested, which included orders to approve the book and reform procedures. The court ruled that the rating committee's actions were unconstitutional, granting relief based on evidence that the decision rested on improper criteria rather than scholarly merit or curriculum needs.

civil rightsfree speech

The case involved black and female plaintiffs, including a class of job applicants, suing the Mississippi State Employment Service, its officials, and federal labor defendants for alleged discrimination based on race and sex in classifying applicants and making employment referrals, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related constitutional provisions. After a fourteen-day trial on the merits, the court dismissed the complaint in full, ruling that the plaintiffs had not shown by a preponderance of the evidence that they or class members had suffered or were likely to suffer such discrimination. The core reasoning was that the Specific Aptitude Test Batteries (SATBs) used by the local office had no demonstrated adverse impact on minorities or women, were properly validated through empirical research in line with EEOC and professional standards, and did not violate applicable law.

civil rightslabor & employment

This case concerns a class action filed in Mississippi state court by Hughes Construction Company against out-of-state water heater manufacturers, alleging violations of state antitrust statutes through a price-fixing conspiracy affecting indirect purchasers from 1963 to 1977. The defendants removed the action to federal district court on the basis of diversity jurisdiction, prompting the plaintiff's motion to remand under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c) due to the presence of fictitious defendants alleged to be Mississippi residents and the fact that some class members' claims fell below the $10,000 amount-in-controversy threshold. The court denied the motion to remand, holding that the complaint's allegations against the fictitious defendants were too general and nominal to destroy diversity, that the time for removal had not run as to unserved defendants, and that no federal question was properly presented in the complaint.

procedure

This case involves a Mississippi resident who sued aircraft manufacturer Grumman and engine remanufacturer Engine Support after an engine failure caused his cropduster to crash, alleging negligence in the manufacture and assembly of the aircraft. Defendant Engine Support, a Delaware corporation based in Florida with minimal direct contacts to Mississippi, moved to dismiss the claims and cross-claims against it for lack of personal jurisdiction under the state's long-arm statute. The court denied the motions, holding that in personam jurisdiction was proper because Engine Support had placed the remanufactured engine into the stream of commerce with the expectation that it would be purchased and used by consumers in states like Mississippi. The decision relied on due process precedents such as International Shoe and World-Wide Volkswagen, as well as Mississippi case law recognizing stream-of-commerce jurisdiction in product liability matters.

proceduretorts & liability

This case concerned the award of attorney's fees to plaintiffs who had successfully challenged Mississippi Code § 37-41-3 as unconstitutional on its face and as applied to school transportation. After the statute was amended during appeal, rendering the merits moot, the Fifth Circuit remanded for determination of fees, including time spent litigating the fee claim and handling appeals. The court awarded an additional $3,750 for 75 hours of work at $50 per hour plus 8% interest per annum on the original and new awards. The decision rested on the district court's discretion under 42 U.S.C. § 1988, applying the Johnson v. Georgia Highway Express factors such as time required, skill involved, and results obtained to ensure adequate compensation for civil rights litigation.

civil rightsprocedure

In this case, Warren G. Cousin, a black educator employed by the Houston Municipal Separate School District, alleged that the district and its board discriminated against him on the basis of race by demoting him from principal to assistant principal after school integration and by repeatedly failing to promote him to principal positions in later years. The court reviewed extensive statistical evidence on the racial composition of the district's faculty from 1969 through 1980, along with details of the 1977 selection process for a middle school principal where another candidate received higher assessment scores. After considering testimony on qualifications, experience, and the biracial assessment process, the court determined that the district's decisions were not motivated by race. The court therefore concluded that Cousin was not entitled to any relief.

civil rightslabor & employment