Scala v. City of Winter Park

• Decision Date: 10 July 1997
• Docket Number: No. 96-3121,96-3121
• Citation: 116 F.3d 1396
• Parties: 73 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 45,343, 13 IER Cases 44, 11 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C 144 William D. SCALA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF WINTER PARK, a municipality, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 1396

116 F.3d 1396

73 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 45,343, 13 IER Cases 44,

11 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C 144

William D. SCALA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF WINTER PARK, a municipality, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 96-3121.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eleventh Circuit.

July 10, 1997.

Thomas J. Pilacek, Thomas J. Pilacek & Associates, Maitland, FL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Charles Robinson Fawsett, Shutts & Bowen, Orlando, FL, for Defendant-Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Before CARNES, Circuit Judge, and HENDERSON and GIBSON ^*, Senior Circuit Judges.

CARNES, Circuit Judge:

It is well-established that a municipality may be held liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for a single illegal act committed by one of its officers, but not on a theory of respondeat superior. Instead, § 1983 liability may be premised upon a single illegal act by a municipal officer only when the challenged act may fairly be said to represent official policy, such as when that municipal officer possesses final policymaking authority over the relevant subject matter. The dispositive issue in this appeal is whether the City of Winter Park's City Manager and his subordinate, the Public Safety Director, are final policymakers with respect to employment termination decisions at the City's fire department. We hold that they are not, because their decisions are subject to meaningful administrative review by the City Civil Service Board.

I. BACKGROUND FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

William Scala worked for the City of Winter Park Fire Department as a paramedic and firefighter from 1979 until he was fired in 1992. By 1985, he had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant. In 1989, Scala outwardly and strongly supported mayoral hopeful Russell Troutman in his run against the eventual winner of that office, David Johnson. According to Scala, his support of Troutman led to a campaign within the fire department to have him discharged. ¹

In September 1991, Battalion Chief James Knackert charged Scala with insubordination at a fire scene. Later, Knackert attempted to withdraw that charge, because he felt he had been pressured by other battalion chiefs to make the charge in the first place. However, City Manager Anthony Barrett refused to allow Knackert to withdraw the charge. As a result of the insubordination charge, Scala was suspended for three days and demoted from lieutenant to firefighter. As he was entitled to do under the City Charter and applicable Civil Service Code, Scala appealed his suspension and demotion to the City Civil Service Board. On January 29, 1992, the Board reversed the demotion, but added fifteen days to the suspension.

On March 11, 1992, City Manager Barrett appointed James Younger to the position of Public Safety Director. In that position, Younger served simultaneously as the chief of the City's fire and police departments. At the time of Younger's appointment, Scala had a good relationship with him. However, that relationship deteriorated quickly after Younger began to pursue a romance with, and possibly harass, a married female fire inspector named Lyn Wright. Scala told Younger that it was unwise to pursue a relationship with Wright and that Scala would have to tell the truth about the situation if trouble ever arose over it.

On April 20, 1992, new Battalion Chief Bobby Ferrell leveled ten disciplinary charges against Scala. A committee was assembled to investigate those charges, the most serious of which was that Scala had lied in his prior disciplinary proceeding. Younger took personal responsibility for investigating the untruthfulness charge, and the remaining charges were investigated by the committee. The committee recommended that Scala be found guilty of five of the nine charges it was assigned to investigate, and it recommended that Scala be terminated. Although he had never interviewed Scala about the matter, Younger concluded that Scala was also guilty of the untruthfulness charge. Thereafter, Younger notified Scala that he was proposing that Scala be terminated on the basis of the six charges.

About three weeks later, on June 22, 1992, Fire Inspector Wright complained to Younger about his alleged sexual harassment of her and demanded that it stop. A meeting was then set up for discussion of Wright's complaint in City Manager Barrett's office. That meeting was scheduled for July 3, 1992. Because Younger feared Scala's previously-stated support for Wright, Younger wanted Scala out of the department.

On June 25, 1992, Scala met with Younger and attempted to respond to the six charges that the committee and Younger had found to have merit. Afterward, Younger informed City Manager Barrett that Scala had failed to refute any of the charges. Younger and Barrett then mutually agreed that Scala should be terminated. On June 29, 1992, Younger gave Scala written notice of his termination. As with his prior suspension and demotion, Scala appealed his termination to the City Civil Service Board. The Board held a public hearing on the issue and unanimously upheld Scala's termination.

After the Board upheld Scala's termination, Scala filed a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim against the City. In his complaint, Scala alleged that his termination was in violation of his First Amendment rights to free speech and free association. The free speech claim was based on the theory that his termination was motivated to suppress speech about Younger's alleged sexual harassment of Wright. The free association claim was based on the theory that the termination was motivated by Scala's support of Troutman in the 1989 mayoral race. Yet, Scala did not sue Younger, Barrett, or any other municipal official. He sued only the City.

The district court granted summary judgment to the City on the ground that neither Younger nor Barrett were final policymakers with respect to employment termination decisions at the fire department, because the decision to terminate Scala was subject to plenary review by the City Civil Service Board. This appeal followed.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

This Court applies a de novo standard of review to a district court's grant of summary judgment. See, e.g., Jones v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., 977 F.2d 527, 535 (11th Cir.1992). Summary judgment is appropriate if the record shows no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See, e.g., Eberhardt v. Waters, 901 F.2d 1578, 1580 (11th Cir.1990). "All evidence and reasonable factual inferences drawn therefrom are reviewed in the light most favorable to the party opposing the [summary judgment] motion." Warren v. Crawford, 927 F.2d 559, 561-62 (11th Cir.1991) (citation omitted).

This appeal requires us to decide whether City Manager Barrett or Public Safety Director Younger are final policymakers with respect to terminations from the fire department, such that the City may be held liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 if their decisions are unconstitutional. As the Supreme Court has made plain, that issue presents a question of law:

As with other questions of state law relevant to the application of federal law, the identification of those officials whose decisions represent the official policy of the local governmental unit is itself a legal question to be resolved by the trial judge before the case is submitted to the jury. Reviewing the relevant legal materials, including state and local positive law, as well as custom or usage having the force of law, the trial judge must identify those officials or governmental bodies who speak with final policymaking authority for the local governmental actor concerning the action alleged to have caused the particular constitutional or statutory violation at issue.

Jett v. Dallas Indep. Sch. Dist., 491 U.S. 701, 737, 109 S.Ct. 2702, 2724, 105 L.Ed.2d 598 (1989) (emphasis added) (original emphasis omitted) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). As with all conclusions of law related to the grant of summary judgment, we review de novo the district court's determination that neither Barrett nor Younger are final policymakers with respect to terminations from the fire department. See, e.g., Bannum, Inc. v. City of Fort Lauderdale, 901 F.2d 989, 996 (11th Cir.1990).

III. ANALYSIS

A. MONELL

'S "POLICY OR CUSTOM" REQUIREMENT

In Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), the Supreme Court held that municipalities may not be held liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on a theory of respondeat superior. Instead, municipalities may only be held liable for the execution of a governmental policy or custom. As the Monell Court explained:

[I]t is when execution of a government's policy or custom, whether made by its lawmakers or by those whose edicts or acts may fairly be said to represent official policy, inflicts the injury that the government as an entity is responsible under § 1983.

Id. at 694, 98 S.Ct. at 2037-38 (emphasis added).

Later, in Pembaur v. City of Cincinnati, 475 U.S. 469, 106 S.Ct. 1292, 89 L.Ed.2d 452 (1986), the Supreme Court clarified Monell's "policy or custom" requirement. In Pembaur, the Court explained that "municipal liability may be imposed for a single decision by municipal policymakers under appropriate circumstances." Id. at 480, 106 S.Ct. at 1298 (majority opinion) (emphasis added). In particular, "where action is directed by those who establish governmental policy, the municipality is equally responsible whether that action is to be taken only once or to be taken repeatedly." Id. at 481, 106 S.Ct. at 1299 (majority opinion) (emphasis added). Thus, liability may arise from "a course of action tailored to a particular situation and not intended to control decisions in later situations," id. at 481, 106 S.Ct. at 1299 (majority opinion), provided that "the decisionmaker possesses final authority to establish municipal policy with respect to the action ordered," id. at...