3 Fair empl.prac.cas. 347, 3 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 8164 John M. Blaze v. Franklin B. Moon, Dist. Eng'r, Galveston, Texas Dist., U.S. Corps of Engineers, 440 F.2d 1348 (5th Cir. 1971). · Go Syfert
3 Fair empl.prac.cas. 347, 3 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 8164 John M. Blaze v. Franklin B. Moon, Dist. Eng'r, Galveston, Texas Dist., U.S. Corps of Engineers, 440 F.2d 1348 (5th Cir. 1971). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
29 citation events across 13 distinct courts.
Strongest positive: Wright v. National Archives and Records Service (mdd, 1975-01-24)
Treatment trajectory · 1971 → 2026 · click a year to view as-of
1971 1998 2026
Top citers, strongest first. 5 distinct citers. How cited ↗
examined Cited as authority (rule) Wright v. National Archives and Records Service (3×) also: Cited "see, e.g."
D. Maryland · 1975 · confidence medium
See Penn v. Schlesinger, 490 F.2d 700 , 702 n. 7 and accompanying text (1973), rev’d on other grounds, 497 F.2d 970 (5th Cir. 1974) (en banc); Blaze v. Moon, 440 F.2d 1348, 1349 (5th Cir. 1971).
cited Cited "see, e.g." Gaballah v. Roudebush
N.D. Ill. · 1976 · signal: compare · confidence low
Cal.1975); compare Blaze v. Moon, 440 F.2d 1348 (5th Cir. 1971); Beale v. Blount, 461 F.2d 1133 (5th Cir. 1972.) .
discussed Cited "see, e.g." Baca v. Butz
D.N.M. · 1975 · signal: see also · confidence low
See also McQueary v. Laird, 449 F.2d 608 (10th Cir. 1971). *894 Gnotta was followed in Blaze v. Moon, 440 F.2d 1348 (5th Cir. 1971), dismissing a racial discrimination suit by an employee of the Corps of Engineers seeking injunctive relief and Beale v. Blount, 461 F.2d 1133, 1137 (5th Cir. 1972), dismissing a count for injunctive relief against individuals in the Post Office Department to refrain from racially motivated employment practices.
discussed Cited "see, e.g." Legal Aid Society of Alameda County v. Brennan
N.D. Cal. · 1974 · signal: see also · confidence low
See also Adams v. Richardson, supra. Finally, defendants argue that the executive order does not create a private right of action against either government officials or private contractors, relying on Blaze v. Moon, 440 F.2d 1348 (5th Cir. 1971); Gnotta v. United States, 415 F.2d 1271 (8th Cir. 1969), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 934 , 90 S.Ct. 941 , 25 L.Ed.2d 115 (1970); Farkas v. Texas Instrument, Inc., supra; Farmer v. Philadelphia Electric Co., 329 F.2d 3 (3d Cir. 1964) ; and CORE v. Commissioner, 270 F.Supp. 537 (D.Md.1967).
cited Cited "see, e.g." Penn v. United States
M.D. Ala. · 1972 · signal: see, e.g. · confidence medium
See, e. g., Blaze v. Moon, 440 F.2d 1348, 1349 (5th Cir. 1971), and cases cited therein.
Retrieving the full opinion text from the archive…
3 Fair empl.prac.cas. 347, 3 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 8164 John M. Blaze
v.
Franklin B. Moon, District Engineer, Galveston, Texas District, U.S. Corps of Engineers
30494_1.
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Apr 5, 1971.
440 F.2d 1348
Published

440 F.2d 1348

3 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 347, 3 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 8164
John M. BLAZE, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
Franklin B. MOON, District Engineer, Galveston, Texas
District, U.S. Corps of Engineers, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 30494.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

April 5, 1971.

Overton C. Jefferson, Clarke Gable Ward, Houston, Tex., for plaintiff-appellant.

Anthony J. P. Farris, U.S. Atty., William L. Bowers, Jr., James R. Gough, Asst. U.S. Attys., Houston, Tex., for defendant-appellee.

Before COLEMAN, SIMPSON and RONEY, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

1

This is an appeal taken by the plaintiff-appellant John M. Blaze from a district court order reported at 315 F.Supp. 495, dismissing the action for lack of jurisdiction. We affirm.

2

The Negro plaintiff is a former temporary employee of the United States Corps of Engineers (the Corps) for the Galveston, Texas, District. He was dismissed by the Corps in September of 1967 and thereupon filed his complaint with the Corps alleging discrimination on the basis of his race. The Equal Employment Opportunity officer of the Department of the Army found the plaintiff's allegations to be without merit, and this finding was upheld by the Civil Service Commission.

3

Plaintiff then brought this action in the district court alleging racial discrimination in employment practices of the Corps of Engineers. Essentially, the appellant claims that the Corps hires Negroes for temporary jobs only, reserving permanent positions for white applicants. An injunction against the alleged discriminatory practices was sought. Jurisdiction was asserted on the following grounds:

5

2. 26 Fed.Reg. 1977 (Executive Order No. 10,925 dated May 8, 1961) and 5 C.F.R. 1401.

6

3. 28 U.S.C. 1346(a)(2)(b) and 26 Fed.Reg. 1977 and the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

7

The United States was not named as a defendant in these proceedings, but a federal agency, the United States Corps of Engineers and Colonel Moon, the District Engineer, an official of the agency, were made parties. The defendants moved the district court to dismiss the action for lack of jurisdiction by reason of sovereign immunity, and on that basis the action was dismissed.

8

The United States cannot be sued without its consent. See, e.g., Malone v. Bowdoin, 1962, 369 U.S. 643, 82 S.Ct. 980, 8 L.Ed.2d 168; Dalehite v. United States, 1953, 346 U.S. 15, 73 S.Ct. 956, 97 L.Ed. 1427; Larson v. Domestic and Foreign Finance Corporation, 1949, 337 U.S. 682, 69 S.Ct. 1457, 93 L.Ed.1628. The United States can, of course, waive its sovereign immunity and consent to be sued. But we find no indication in any of the plaintiff's jurisdictional citations that the United States has consented to be sued in the situation presented here. The Eighth Circuit has held under similar circumstances that a similar suit was a suit against the sovereign and was precluded by the sovereign's immunity. See Gnotta v. United States, 8 Cir. 1969, 415 F.2d 1271, cert. denied 397 U.S. 934, 90 S.Ct. 941, 25 L.Ed.2d 115. The plaintiff there alleged discrimination against him by the Corps of Engineers because of his Italian ancestry. We note that the alleged discrimination in Gnotta was for failure to promote the plaintiff who held a permanent position with the Corps of Engineers as opposed to the allegations here of discrimination in initial employment by the Corps of Engineers. This is a distinction which makes no difference in determining the power of United States Courts to entertain a suit against the sovereign.

9

Appellant urges that the Supreme Court has sanctioned suits against the United States where racial discrimination is involved, citing Bolling v. Sharpe, 1954, 347 U.S. 497, 74 S.Ct. 693, 98 L.Ed. 884. Bolling was one of the companion cases to Brown v. Board of Education, 1954, 347 U.S. 483, 74 S.Ct. 686, 98 L.Ed. 873. The Supreme Court there held that the Fifth Amendment imposed the same burden on the District of Columbia to eradicate racial discrimination in public education as was imposed on the States by the Fourteenth Amendment. Perhaps Bolling is authority for the proposition that the United States and its officials can be sued where racial discrimination is involved, but the text of the opinion contains no indication that the question of sovereign immunity was ever raised or considered by the Supreme Court. In this situation we defer to Gnotta, since the issue was there directly presented and ruled upon.

10

Not asserted below and therefore not presented for our consideration is the knotty question of whether federal jurisdiction exists under Chapter 7 of Title 5 U.S.Code (Sections 701-706 of the Administrative Procedure Act), and Title 28, U.S.C. Section 1361. Jurisdiction under these statutes was asserted in Gnotta and Judge (now Mr. Justice) Blackmun for the Eighth Circuit decided the point adversely to the plaintiff. See the lengthy discussion of the matter, 415 F.2d at 1275-1279. We of course intimate no views as to this problem. That should be undertaken by this Court only in the event that the question is presented to and decided by the district court and we are called upon thereafter to review such decision on appeal. Our holding here is simply that the lower court was not in error in dismissing this lawsuit as now formulated.

11

Affirmed.