Opinion ID: 587012
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Right

Text: 17 The district court's findings/conclusions make clear that the defendant violated the plaintiff's civil rights by not providing a sufficiently racially neutral work environment for Ruffin and other blacks at Great Dane, and by failing to take some affirmative and effective corrective action in light of the racially offensive environment at the Great Dane shop. Although it is true that a mere determination that a civil rights plaintiff's rights have been violated does not per se make the plaintiff a prevailing party for purposes of 42 U.S.C. § 1988, see Rhodes v. Stewart, 488 U.S. 1, 4, 109 S.Ct. 202, 203, 102 L.Ed.2d 1 (1988); Hewitt v. Helms, 482 U.S. 755, 762, 107 S.Ct. 2672, 2676, 96 L.Ed.2d 654 (1987); Walker v. Anderson Electrical Connectors, 944 F.2d 841, 846-47 (11th Cir.1991), pet. for cert. filed, 60 U.S.L.W. 3862 (May 8, 1992), the district court's ruling in this case provided Ruffin with more than a bare declaration that his rights had been violated.