Black v. North Panola School District

• Decision Date: 18 August 2006
• Docket Number: No. 04-60204.,04-60204.
• Citation: 461 F.3d 584
• Parties: Bobby J. BLACK and Jane Doe, by and through her mother and next friend, Bobby J. Black, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. NORTH PANOLA SCHOOL DISTRICT, Bonnie Smith, Jesse Orange and Finis Sanders, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

461 F.3d 584

Bobby J. BLACK and Jane Doe, by and through her mother and next friend, Bobby J. Black, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. NORTH PANOLA SCHOOL DISTRICT, Bonnie Smith, Jesse Orange and Finis Sanders, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 04-60204.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

August 18, 2006.

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Ralph Stewart Guernsey (argued), Oxford, MS, David G. Hill, David L. Minyard, Hill & Minyard, Oxford, MS, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Wilton V. Byars, III, Timothy Michael Peeples (argued), Daniel, Coker, Horton & Bell, Oxford, Ms, for Defendants-Appellees.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.

Before SMITH and STEWART, Circuit Judges, and CRANE, District Judge.^*

CRANE, District Judge:

Bobby J. Black sued North Panola School District, Bonnie Smith, Jesse Orange and Finis Sanders (collectively "NPSD") asserting various claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of NPSD on all claims, and Black appealed. We now affirm.

I. Background

Black is the mother and next friend of Jane Doe, who contracted an illness as an infant that left her developmentally disabled. During the 2000-01 school year, Jane was enrolled as a special education student at Como Middle School within NPSD. In April 2001, she was the only female of five students in Finis Sanders's fourth period special education math class. Sanders's fourth period class lasted from 10:40 a.m. until 11:30 a.m, with a five minute break between classes. Due to problems during break time in the second floor boys' restroom, Como Middle School Principal Jesse Owens required a male teacher to supervise the restroom between classes. Sanders was assigned the area near the boys' restroom, which was approximately fifty feet from his classroom. Another teacher, Leroy Richardson, supervised the hallway area between his classroom and Sanders's. Sanders's classroom contained two bookshelves located three feet from the back wall. Carpet was placed in the hidden space created by the bookshelves. Black claims that two male classmates sexually assaulted Jane in the back of Sanders's classroom during the break time between classes.

After the alleged assault on Jane, Black filed suit in Mississippi state court against NPSD, its superintendent, Bonnie Smith, Orange, Sanders, and ten John Does. Black asserted negligence claims under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act, MISS.CODE ANN. §§ 11-46-1, et seq. (West 2006) ("MTCA"). After a bench trial, the trial court entered judgment in favor of Black and awarded her $20,197.03 for past medical and therapy bills and future therapy treatment. The court dismissed the claims against the defendants in their individual capacities because they could not be held personally liable under the MTCA for acts or omissions occurring within the course and scope of their employment. The Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's judgment. Doe ex. rel. Doe v. North Panola Sch. Dist., 906 So.2d 57 (Miss.Ct.App.2004).

While her state court appeal was pending, Black filed suit against NPSD, Smith, Orange and Sanders in the Northern District of Mississippi. Black's complaint, nearly identical to her state court petition, alleged that Doe was sexually assaulted by two male classmates in Sanders's classroom during break time between classes. Black asserted recovery based on 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12131, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 794, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000d.¹

NPSD moved to dismiss Black's claims, or in the alternative, for summary judgment, on the grounds that Black's federal action was barred by res judicata. Black timely responded to NPSD's motion; however, she subsequently moved to permit supplementation of her response, arguing that her federal claims were barred from her prior state court action by the MTCA. The district court denied Black's motion to permit supplementation, agreed that her claims were barred by res judicata, and dismissed Black's suit by judgment entered on February 9, 2004.

II. Standard of Review

We review the grant of summary judgment, legal determination of res judicata and Eleventh Amendment immunity de novo. See Vera v. Tue, 73 F.3d 604, 607 (5th Cir.1996) (summary judgment); Procter & Gamble Co. v. Amway Corp., 242 F.3d 539, 546 (5th Cir.2001) (res judicata); Cozzo v. Tangipahoa Parish Council-President Gov't., 279 F.3d 273, 280 (5th Cir.2004) (Eleventh Amendment immunity).

III. Discussion

A. Res Judicata Generally

To determine the preclusive effect of a state court judgment in a federal action, "federal courts must apply the law of the state from which the judgment emerged." Amica Mut. Ins. Co. v. Moak, 55 F.3d 1093, 1096-97 (5th Cir.1995). Under Mississippi law, the doctrine of res judicata bars parties from litigating claims "within the scope of the judgment" in a prior action. Anderson v. LaVere, 895 So.2d 828, 832 (Miss.2004). "This includes claims that were made or should have been made in the prior suit." Id. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). Res judicata "reflects the refusal of the law to tolerate a multiplicity of litigation." Little v. V & G Welding Supply, Inc., 704 So.2d 1336, 1337 (Miss.1997). "It is a doctrine of public policy designed to avoid the expense and vexation attending multiple lawsuits, conserve judicial resources, and foster reliance on judicial action by minimizing the possibilities of inconsistent decisions." Harrison v. Chandler-Sampson Ins., Inc., 891 So.2d 224, 232 (Miss.2005) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

Under Mississippi law, four identities must be present before the doctrine of res judicata will apply: (1) identity of subject matter; (2) identity of the cause of action; (3) identity of the parties; and (4) identity of the quality or character of a person against whom a claim is made. Id.; see also Green v. Amerada Hess Corp., 707 F.2d 201, 206-07 (5th Cir.1983). If these four identities are present, the doctrine of res judicata will prevent the parties from relitigating all issues that were decided or could have been raised in the previous action. Harrison, 891 So.2d at 232.

B. The Four Identities

a. Subject Matter and Cause of Action

Although Mississippi courts have not defined explicitly the identity of subject matter, they have defined the identity of cause of action. The identities are distinct but related, and as such, examination in tandem illustrates their distinctions more readily. In older cases, the Mississippi Supreme Court referred to subject matter identity as identity "in the thing sued for." Forbes v. Columbia Pulp & Paper Co., 340 So.2d 734, 736-37 (Miss. 1976); Pray v. Hewitt, 254 Miss. 20, 179 So.2d 842, 844 (1965); Campbell v. Campbell, 231 Miss. 658, 97 So.2d 527, 528 (1957). Most recently, the Mississippi Supreme Court defined subject matter as the "substance" of the lawsuit. Harrison, 891 So.2d at 232-33.

In contrast, "[i]dentity of the cause of action exists when there is a commonality in the underlying facts and circumstances upon which a claim is asserted and relief is sought from the two actions." City of Jackson v. Lakeland Lounge of Jackson, Inc., 688 So.2d 742, 749 (Miss. 1996) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). In other words, in the res judicata context, a cause of action is a group of operative facts that entitles a petitioner to seek remedy in court. See LaVere, 895 So.2d at 835. The requirement that the litigation "involve the same claim premised upon the same body of operative fact as was previously adjudicated" comports with the prohibition against claim-splitting protected by res judicata. Harrison, 891 So.2d at 234. When making this notably difficult determination, Mississippi courts "look[ ] past the legal bases asserted and [rely] more on the factual and transactional relationship between the original action and the subsequent action." Id. This court applies a similarly transactional approach. See id.; see also Smith v. Safeco Ins. Co., 863 F.2d 403, 404 (5th Cir.1989) (finding that because the claims arose out of a common nucleus of operative fact, they comprised one transaction, and res judicata barred a second suit).

Several Mississippi cases analyzing res judicata further illustrate the relationship between the identities of subject matter and cause of action. In Lakeland Lounge, an adult-entertainment club owner sought to declare a city ordinance that regulated his business unconstitutional under the First Amendment. 688 So.2d at 744. After the federal district court declared the ordinance unconstitutional, the city filed a state action to enjoin the club owner's operations, arguing that he violated the ordinance. Id. at 744-45. The state trial court ruled that the ordinance was unconstitutionally vague and violated the equal protection clause. Id. at 746. In holding that res judicata barred the state action challenging the ordinance's constitutionality, the Mississippi Supreme Court found identity of subject matter: the zoning ordinance and its constitutionality. Id. at 749. Furthermore, although "the federal court cases determined the constitutionality of the [c]ity's public policy determinations involving the secondary effects of adult entertainment and the pending ordinance doctrine, the underlying issue was topless entertainment." Id. Because the underlying facts were the same, the city did not destroy the identity of cause of action by raising a new legal theory in the state action. See id.

In Black v. City of Tupelo, 853 So.2d 1221, 1223 (Miss.2003), the plaintiff filed suit in federal court alleging various misconduct by city police officers. After the suit was dismissed, the plaintiff filed suit in state...