Opinion ID: 23608
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Title VII Defendants

Text: 16 Title VII allows employees to sue their employers for discriminatory employment decisions. See 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(a), 2000e-5. An employer under Title VII is a person in an industry affecting commerce who has fifteen or more employees . . .. 42 U.S.C. 2000e(b). A person includes one or more individuals, governments, governmental agencies, [or] political subdivisions . . .. 42 U.S.C. 2000e(a). The trial court failed to designate which of the three defendants was Deputy Oden's employer. 6 17 Federal law controls whether a person is an employer under Title VII, but courts can look to state law to understand the nature of the employment relationship. See, e.g., Calderon v. Martin County, 639 F.2d 271, 273 (5th Cir. Unit B 1981) (determining whether plaintiff constituted an employee under Title VII). Mississippi law allows a sheriff to appoint, remove, and fix the compensation of his deputies, subject to the county board of supervisor's approval of the sheriff's budget. See Miss. Code Ann. 19-25-19. Sheriff Bryan was solely responsible for hiring, promoting, and establishing the deputies' wages. The County's only responsibility was to approve the Sheriff's budget and allocate the necessary funds. Because Sheriff Bryan was the elected official who made all decisions concerning promotions within the Sheriff's Department, he was Deputy Oden's employer for purposes of Title VII. 7 We therefore reverse the district court's judgment against Oktibbeha County and Sheriff Dolph Bryan individually under Title VII.