Stewart v. Commercial Vehicles of South Florida, Inc.

Jesse Raymond Stewart filed this civil action asserting federal claims in Count One and a state-law claim in Count Two. The district court granted the Defendants summary judgment on the federal claims in Count One, and for that reason declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state-law claim in Count Two. At issue on this appeal is the propriety of the grant of summary judgment on the federal claims in Count One.

Count One of the Amended Complaint (R.35) alleges that the Defendants conspired “to remove STEWART from servicing OAKLEY TRANSPORT and other customers of FREIGHTLINER OF TAMPA on account of his race” {Id. at 8.)

Count One’s conspiracy claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) asserted: (1) violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981; (2) violation of the Thirteenth Amendment; and (3) violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Only the first two are at issue on this appeal. The district court concluded that § 1985(3) creates no rights, and that a § 1985(3) claim cannot be based upon a deprivation of rights guaranteed by § 1981(a). (R.80 at 5-6.) We agree. And, the district court found that the Plaintiff alleges no facts supporting the claim that the Defendants infringed the Plaintiffs Thirteenth Amendment right to be free from involuntary servitude. {Id. at 6-7.) We find no error in that conclusion.

AFFIRMED.