Olsen v. Idaho State Bd. of Medicine

Decision Date07 April 2004
Docket NumberNo. 02-35796.,02-35796.
Citation363 F.3d 916
PartiesLorna A. OLSEN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. IDAHO STATE BOARD OF MEDICINE; Idaho State Board of Medicine Board of Professional Discipline; Michael E. Estess, in his official capacity as member of the Idaho State Board of Professional Discipline, and in his individual and personal capacity; Jane Doe Estess, in her individual and personal capacity; Darlene Thorsted, Executive Director of the Idaho State Board of Medicine in her official capacity, and in her individual and personal capacity; John Doe Thorsted, in his individual and personal capacity; Jane Bennett-Munro, M.D., in her official capacity and in her individual and personal capacities; John Doe Munro, in his individual and personal capacity; Michael E. Bell, M.D., in his official capacity and in his individual and personal capacities; Jane Doe Bell, in her individual and personal capacities; Donald R. Bjornson, in his official capacity and in his individual and personal capacities; Jane Doe Bjornson, in her individual and personal capacities; Kathleen Brodie, in her official capacity and in her individual and personal capacities; John Doe Brodie, in his individual and personal capacities; James R. Swartley, M.D., in his official capacity and in his individual and personal capacities; Jane Doe Swartley, in her individual and personal capacities; David Anderson, M.D., in his official capacity and in his individual and personal capacities; Jane Doe Anderson, in her individual and personal capacities; Nancy Kerr, in her official capacity and in her individual and personal capacities; John Doe Kerr, in his individual and personal capacities; Cathy Delany, in her official capacity and in her individual and personal capacities; John Doe Delany, in his individual and personal capacities; Jean Uranga, in her official capacity and in her individual and personal capacities; John Doe Uranga, in his individual and personal capacities, Defendants-Appellees.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Brett M. Hager, Sanders & Parks, P.C., Phoenix, AZ, for the plaintiff-appellant.

James D. Carlson, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, ID, for the defendants-appellees.

David R. Lombardi, Givens Pursley LLP, Boise, ID, for defendant-appellee Jean Uranga.

Emily A. Durkee, Givens Pursley LLP, Boise, ID, for defendant-appellee Jean Uranga.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Idaho; Mikel H. Williams, Magistrate, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-01-00269-MHW.

Before: TROTT, FISHER, and GOULD, Circuit Judges.

TROTT, Circuit Judge:

Lorna A. Olsen brought this action against the Idaho State Board of Medicine ("Board"), the Idaho State Board of Professional Discipline ("BOPD"), the individual members and counsel of the Board and BOPD, and the Executive Director of the Board (collectively "appellees"), alleging both state law and federal statutory and constitutional violations. Specifically, Olsen alleges that beginning in 1996, appellees engaged in a protracted administrative process motivated by religious discrimination, which precluded the reinstatement of her physician assistant's license, and thereby deprived her of her equal protection and due process rights, as secured by the United States Constitution. Accordingly, Olsen brought suit, asserting claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1985 and Idaho state law.

The district court granted appellees' motion for summary judgment and dismissed Olsen's claims. Because the district court correctly ruled that appellees are functionally comparable to judges and prosecutors and are accordingly entitled to the protections of absolute immunity for their quasi-judicial and quasi-prosecutorial acts, we affirm. We conclude also that none of appellees' alleged administrative acts supports a cognizable § 1983 claim and that Olsen's claim under § 1985 fails to allege sufficient facts to support a cause of action for conspiracy. Finally, we conclude that Olsen cannot state a claim under the Idaho Free Exercise of Religion Act because the Idaho legislature did not intend the Act to apply retroactively to conduct occurring prior to the statute's enactment.

I. BACKGROUND

Lorna Olsen registered with the Idaho State Board of Medicine as a physician assistant in 1993.1 As required by applicable Idaho regulations, Olsen practiced under a supervising physician until 1996, when Olsen's registration was terminated.2 That termination arose out of Olsen's overdose on a combination of prescription and over-the-counter drugs on January 7, 1996. Olsen's supervising physician then withdrew sponsorship, automatically terminating Olsen's registration, as mandated by then-applicable Idaho regulations. See IDAPA 22.01.03.037.03 (1996) ("[U]pon termination of an employment relationship between a physician's assistant and his supervising physician, the Board shall be notified and the registration shall be automatically canceled, if written notice of a new employment relationship ... [is] not received and approved by the Board.") (emphasis added).3

Following her overdose and while Olsen was still in the hospital, a representative for the Board encouraged her to attend a three-day, in-patient medical evaluation to determine if she had a substance abuse condition. She submitted to the evaluation, the results of which are still disputed. Thereafter, on May 31, 1996, the Board issued a formal disciplinary complaint against Olsen arising out of her improper drug use. Appellee Jean Uranga ("Uranga"), counsel for the Board and BOPD, then informed Olsen by letter that she would need to secure a new supervising physician before any request for reinstatement could be processed. The BOPD initiated a disciplinary action by filing a formal complaint against Olsen on September 19, 1996, and a subsequent amended complaint in December 1996, alleging, inter alia, that Olsen improperly continued to practice as a physician assistant and to prescribe medication even after her registration had been canceled. On February 13, 1997, Olsen and the BOPD settled by entering into a Stipulation and Order. In that Stipulation and Order, the parties agreed that Olsen's license could be reinstated "subject to the rules governing all physician assistants" if she submitted to random drug testing, monitored by her supervising physician.

Olsen subsequently applied for a license to practice in Utah. Though Utah's licensing authorities possessed copies of the Idaho complaint and the Stipulation and Order, Olsen alleges that the Executive Director of the Board, appellee Darlene Thorsted ("Thorsted"), verbally informed the executive director of the Utah Board of Medicine that Olsen was guilty of the charges detailed in the Idaho complaint. Olsen asserts that this exchange between Utah and Idaho authorities delayed her licensing in Utah until 2002.

In September 1998, Olsen also applied and interviewed for a physician assistant position in Twin Falls, Idaho. In November 1998, Olsen attempted to re-register with the Board, requesting that her license to practice in Idaho be reinstated. In conjunction with this request, Olsen appeared before the BOPD for a personal interview on January 9, 1999. Olsen alleges that during this interview she was asked inappropriate questions about her religion and lifestyle. In a certified letter dated February 4, 1999, Thorsted informed Olsen that the Board intended to deny her request for reinstatement and invited her to request an evidentiary hearing. Olsen did request such a hearing, by letter dated February 26, 1999, which included a request for copies of her public records. In connection with that records request, Uranga sent Olsen's attorney a billing statement for $617.50 on July 13, 1999.

The Board appointed an independent hearing officer to review Olsen's request for reinstatement. That officer's recommendation to the Board concluded that Olsen was not entitled to the requested hearing because Olsen had "no existing license" and therefore "neither the Medical Practices nor the Rules and Regulations of the Board nor the Administrative Procedures Act confer [sic] any right to any hearing to Ms. Olsen regarding her November 12, 1998 application for reinstatement." Specifically, the hearing officer found that there was no license to reinstate because either 1) her license had automatically terminated, under applicable regulations, when her supervising physician withdrew in 1996 or, in the alternative, 2) her license had lapsed for failure to submit the required annual renewal application or re-register within two years following cancellation as allowed by applicable Board rules. See IDAPA 22.01.03.051.02-.03 (1998).4

The Board then issued a final order on August 12, 1999, denying Olsen's application for reinstatement and adopting the hearing officer's second rationale that her license had lapsed for failure to file the annual renewal application. Specifically, the Board found that because Olsen "did not request renewal of her license within the two year period of the date her license was last in effect (June 30, 1996), she is not entitled to reinstatement of her license ... nor is she entitled to a hearing on the issue." Olsen filed a motion for reconsideration, which the Board denied on September 10, 1999.

Olsen then appealed the Board's denial of reinstatement by filing a lawsuit in Idaho state court, requesting judicial review of the Board's decision as well as both injunctive relief and a declaratory judgment. On May 19, 2000, the state court dismissed all claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, except the claim for judicial review of the Board's decision. Olsen voluntarily dismissed that remaining claim. Olsen also filed a new application for a license in late 1999, the processing of which has not been completed by the Board, owing to Olsen's failure to respond to information requests sent by the Board on December...

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