Opinion ID: 342263
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Contract or Tort?

Text: 11 Appellant incorrectly asserts that the district court decision was based on Ala.Code tit. 7, § 26(1), which prescribes a one year period for recovery of wages. 3 This court held § 26(1) to be unconstitutional with respect to back pay actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act in Caldwell v. Alabama Dry Dock, 161 F.2d 83 (5th Cir. 1947). To begin with, the continued vitality of Caldwell is questionable. 4 More important, the district court opinion cannot reasonably be construed as relying on § 26(1). We need not discuss whether that court could have relied on § 26(1), and if so whether it should have done so. Rather, we confine ourselves to the question whether the lower court erred in applying § 26, because under either § 26(1) or § 26 the one year statute of limitations would preclude Ingram's suit in the case at bar. 5 12 The appellant urges that the ostensible unconstitutionality of § 26(1) leaves open the field for the Alabama statutes of general application for actions based on implied and written contracts, which bear respective six and three year limitations. See Ala.Code tit. 7, §§ 21, 24. The district court applied the one year provision in Ala.Code tit. 7, § 26, applicable to tort actions not arising from a contract or specifically enumerated rights. Our choice among these statutes will be determined by whether an action for reinstatement and back pay for the employer's discharge of an employee for constitutionally prohibited reasons constitutes an action based on a contract (ex contractu ) or on a right arising independently of the parties' agreement (ex delicto ). 13 We think it clear that under the circumstances of this case Ingram's assertion of his rights under § 1981 and the fourteenth amendment arose independently of any agreement between him and his employer. Consequently his action was ex delicto, and the district court properly applied § 26. 14 We are aware that there is some conflicting authority. Compare Buckner v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 476 F.2d 1287 (5th Cir. 1973), adopting lower court opinion and aff'q 339 F.Supp. 1108, 1118 (N.D.Ala.1972) (applicable statute of limitations in § 1981 suit is § 26 because action is essentially ex delicto ); with Boudreaux v. Baton Rouge Marine Contracting Co., 437 F.2d 1011, 1017 n.16 (5th Cir. 1971) (dictum that action under § 1981 is essentially ex contractu ). We think the analysis in Buckner is superior, and we should in any event be bound to the holding in that case, as opposed to the dictum in Boudreaux. Moreover, the approach taken in Buckner reflects the approach adumbrated in Shaw v. McCorkle, supra. In Boudreaux, the court categorizes the federal right in federal terms as one designed to make and enforce contracts. That is of course true, but it is inconsistent with the McCorkle court's suggestion that a federal court substantially rely on state law in categorizing the essential nature of the claim presented. 15 The Buckner court may be said to have relied on this categorization of the federal right in state terms. It bases its decision not on the language of § 1981 but rather on whether the right arose from a breach of promise or from a statutory duty independently of what the parties may or may not have agreed. 339 F.Supp. at 1118. See generally Chambers v. Birmingham Trust & Savings Co., 232 Ala. 609, 168 So. 893 (1936). Answering this question in the affirmative, the court properly concludes that § 1981 is analogous to an ex delicto action in Alabama courts. The conclusion is both sound and entirely consistent with prior and subsequent authority. See Watkins v. Scott Paper Co., supra, 530 F.2d at 1196-97 (assuming Caldwell still applies, district court correctly limited Title VII action by § 26); EEOC v. Griffin Wheel Co., 511 F.2d 456, 458 n.4 (5th Cir. 1975) (applicable limitation period in Title VII back pay suit is § 26); Sewell v. Grand Lodge of International Association of Machinists, 445 F.2d 545 (5th Cir. 1971), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 1024, 92 S.Ct. 674, 30 L.Ed.2d 674 (1972) (§ 26 applies to complaint under Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, 29 U.S.C. § 401, et seq., alleging wrongful discharge from union position for exercise of first amendment rights).