James Reeves, James A. Harrell, James B. Dean, Jr., and Others, Plaintiffs-Intervenors-Appellees v. Ray Wilkes

HATCHETT, Circuit Judge:

In this employment discrimination case we must determine whether the district court erred in allowing intervention several years after entry of a consent decree and implementation of a remedial plan. Finding error, we reverse.

On March 24, 1978, James Reeves, a black male employed as a deputy sheriff in the Bibb County Sheriffs Department, commenced this litigation. On behalf of himself and all black deputy sheriffs then employed by the Bibb County Sheriffs Department and a class composed of all past, present, and future black applicants for employment, Reeves alleged…