Nail v. Community Action Agency of Calhoun County

Appellant Dorothy Nail brought an action against her former employer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that she had been illegally discharged. Her employer, the Community Action Agency of Calhoun, Cleburne and Cherokee Counties, Inc., (hereinafter referred to as ""Agency"") filed a motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, for summary judgment. The Agency contended that Ms. Nail failed to allege any facts demonstrating that it was an agent of the State of Alabama or the federal government, and therefore failed to show that her dismissal was done under color of law. The district court granted the Agency's motion on January 7, 1986. It then relented and gave Ms. Nail ten days in which to file additional evidence. After evaluating this additional material, the district court issued a final order granting the Agency's motion for summary judgment, and dismissed the action with prejudice. The Agency is a non-profit private corporation, and it was incorporated under the laws of Alabama governing nonprofit corporations. Ms Nail was employed with the Agency as a teacher's aide in the Headstart Program from 1970 to 1984. In 1984, Ms. Nail filed a grievance with the Agency in which she expressed dissatisfaction with her pay increases. Her grievance was processed through the appropriate local channels without any significant problems. However, after Ms. Nail's grievance left the local level, she did not receive any word on the status of her complaint. She finally called an official of the national headquarters of Headstart to discuss her grievance. Soon thereafter she was fired for allegedly violating the stated grievance procedures. Ms. Nail then filed her complaint in district court.