Samuel CONERLY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORP. Et Al., Defendants-Appellees

Conerly appeals from the dismissal of his civil rights action for employment discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 against Westinghouse. The district court dismissed Con-erly’s action because it had not been filed until twenty-seven years after the alleged act of discrimination had occurred, and was therefore barred by the statute of limitations.

When Conerly was hired by Westinghouse on January 4, 1949, he was the only black employee in his division. He was subsequently laid off on January 10, 1950. On July 3, 1950, Conerly returned to work at Westinghouse. He continued working for Westinghouse until 1970 when he was placed on a disability retirement pension.

Conerly claims that the only reason he was laid off was because of his race. Although the 1950 layoff was supposed to be under the “last hired, first fired” concept, Conerly alleges that there were white employees in his division with less seniority who were not laid off. Because of the layoff, Conerly lost his seniority status, at least as it dated from 1949. Since later promotions and salary increases were determined by seniority status, Conerly claims that the whites who were not laid off (but should have been instead…