John E. FERGUSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. the FLYING TIGER LINE, INC., Defendant-Appellee

Plaintiff appeals from the judgment and order of the district court, 491 F.Supp. 1348 , granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment. We reverse.

Plaintiff is a black male who unsuccessfully sought employment as a flight engineer with defendant, Flying Tiger Line, Inc. Plaintiff filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in June 1974, alleging that he was denied employment due to his race. In settlement of this charge, a Pre-Determination Settlement Agreement [Agreement] was entered into by plaintiff and defendant. The Agreement was approved by the EEOC District Director in April, 1977.

The Agreement provided that the defendant would hire plaintiff as a flight engineer (“second officer”) and would thereafter “make flying assignments .. . without regard to race, sex, [or] color . .. [and] give [Plaintiff] the first available flying assignment based on his seniority.” Paragraph 12 of the Agreement further provided that

Pursuant to the Agreement, plaintiff began working for defendant as a second officer trainee in April 1977. Within two months plaintiff completed ground training and passed his initial aircraft check ride. Thereafter, whenever a…