Opinion ID: 782573
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Jenkins Case

Text: 12 The underlying case here, Jenkins v. BellSouth Corp., is a class-action race discrimination action. The plaintiffs allege that BellSouth employs a selection process for promotion into managerial positions that discriminates against African-Americans in violation of Title VII and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. The case was filed on April 29, 2002, in the Northern District of Alabama. 13 As required by Local Rule, the plaintiffs filed a civil cover sheet accompanying their Complaint, which asked whether the case was related to any pending litigation in the Northern District. The plaintiffs indicated that the case was related to Wright v. South Central Bell, a class-action employment discrimination case in which Judge Clemon had conducted a bench trial but not yet issued a decision. The newly filed Jenkins case was also assigned to Judge Clemon. 14 Eleven days after the Complaint was docketed, an Entry of Appearance was docketed for Price — now a partner in the Birmingham firm of Lehr Middlebrooks Price & Proctor (LMPP) — and two out-of-town attorneys from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. The notice of appearance was not part of an Answer or other pleading, but rather was filed as a stand-alone document. 15 The plaintiffs moved to disqualify Price and LMPP from participating in the case. They alleged that BellSouth deliberately chose Price and his firm so as to compel Judge Clemon to disqualify himself. In response, BellSouth filed a notice of newly discovered fact, stating in part that defense counsel had become aware that another of Judge Clemon's nephews, Billie Clemons Jr., was an hourly employee at BellSouth and thus a potential member of the plaintiff class, which would require Judge Clemon to recuse regardless of Price's participation. 16 Judge Clemon directed that the motion to disqualify counsel be assigned to another district judge. The Clerk's Office randomly assigned the motion to United States District Judge C. Lynwood Smith, Jr. Judge Smith conducted an evidentiary hearing to elicit testimony both about the circumstances of BellSouth's hiring of LMPP and about whether plaintiff's counsel improperly steered the Jenkins case to Judge Clemon by falsely claiming that it was related to the Wright case. As to the latter issue, the Chief Deputy Clerk of Court testified that assignments are randomly generated regardless of whether a party claims another case is related, so that the plaintiff's entry on the intake form had no effect on the selection.