Chmielinski v. Massachusetts

Decision Date22 January 2008
Docket NumberNo. 07-1652.,07-1652.
Citation513 F.3d 309
PartiesAndrew CHMIELINSKI, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. Commonwealth of MASSACHUSETTS Office of the Commissioner of Probation; Commonwealth of Massachusetts Trial Court; John J. O'Brien, Individually; Anthony R. Sicuso, Individually, Defendants, Appellees.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Mitchell J. Notis for appellant.

Sarah M. Joss, Assistant Attorney General, with whom Martha Coakley, Attorney General, was on brief for appellee.

Before LYNCH, LIPEZ, and HOWARD, Circuit Judges.

LYNCH, Circuit Judge.

Andrew Chmielinski, the Chief Probation Officer of the Milford, Massachusetts, District Court, was fired by the Commissioner of Probation after a hearing on charges he had abused his office. That termination was upheld on administrative appeal to the Chief Justice for Administration and Management ("CJAM") of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Trial Court and then to the Trial Court's Advisory Committee on Personnel Standards.

Chmielinski filed a civil rights action in federal district court alleging that his procedural due process rights had been violated. The district court dismissed the action for failure to state a claim. We affirm the dismissal, although our take on the case is different. We focus on whether the initial hearing, which did not involve full trial rights, violated due process guarantees and conclude it did not.

I.

Because this appeal comes to us on a motion to dismiss, we accept all well-pleaded factual allegations in the complaint as true and view all reasonable inferences in the plaintiff's favor. Rucker v. Lee Holding Co., 471 F.3d 6, 8 (1st Cir.2006).

Chmielinski started working as a temporary Probation Officer for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Trial Court in 1976. He became a permanent Probation Officer in 1979 and worked in the Dorchester District Court until 1996. In 1996, he was promoted to be the Chief Probation Officer in the Milford District Court and continued in that role until his discharge on February 20, 2004.

A. Pre-termination Proceedings

On April 15, 2003, Chmielinski learned that his supervisors had complaints regarding his work performance, but he did not become aware of the specific nature of the complaints. The same day, he received a letter from defendant Anthony J. Sicuso, the Deputy Commissioner/Legal Counsel of the Office of the Commissioner of Probation, stating that allegations of misconduct had been made against Chmielinski.1 At a meeting between Chmielinski and Sicuso on May 13, 2003, Sicuso reiterated that allegations had been made, but refused to provide any specifics to Chmielinski or his counsel.

On May 16, 2003, Sicuso provided Chmielinski with a letter stating that he had been placed on involuntary paid administrative leave effective immediately. This letter still did not describe what the allegations were, but it informed Chmielinski that while the allegations had not been proved, Sicuso believed they were "plausible." The letter also set out "directives" with which Chmielinski was ordered to comply on penalty of further disciplinary action, including that he not appear at the premises of the Milford District Court, not contact any employees or former employees of the Milford District Court, and that he "rdefrain from all conflict, intimidating/retaliatory behavior and from any behavior which creates the appearance of conflict, of intimidation or retaliation." From the prohibitions in this letter, Chmielinski received some warning of the nature and sources of the claims against him.

During May and June 2003, a representative of the Trial Court/Commissioner of Probation investigated the allegations of misconduct against Chmielinski, which led to a report drafted by Regional Supervisor Elizabeth Slaney, at Sicuso's direction. This report contained "embedded hearsay." The complaint alleges the investigation was improper.

After the report was completed, the Trial Court/Commissioner of Probation, by letter dated September 4, 2003, charged Chmielinski with multiple acts of misconduct: (1) that Chmielinski had shoplifted on September 12, 2002; (2) that he improperly obtained a "blue light permit" and mounted the light in his personal vehicle; (3) that he made improper disclosures of court records; (4) that activities undertaken by Chmielinski relating to a speeding ticket of his brother created the appearance of impropriety; (5) that he carried a firearm while on duty approximately four years earlier; and (6) that he was involved in improper interactions with other employees.

A two-day hearing on the allegations was conducted on January 12, 2004, and January 21, 2004, four months after the charges were made. Defendant John J. O'Brien, the Commissioner of Probation, presided over the hearing. At this hearing, Chmielinski and his counsel presented evidence on Chmielinski's own behalf and had the opportunity to question the evidence against him. The complaint alleges this was the only hearing which took place before his termination, and his only opportunity to "present evidence on his behalf or to question, other than through oral argument or written argument, the evidence, conclusions or findings" against him.2

On February 20, 2004, O'Brien issued his decision on the charges made against Chmielinski. While he found in favor of Chmielinski on some of the charges, he found against him on others, and ordered Chmielinski be terminated effective immediately.

B. Chmielinski's Post-termination Appeals

On March 1, 2004, Chmielinski appealed O'Brien's decision to the CJAM pursuant to Massachusetts state law and the Trial Court's human resources policy. See Mass. Gen. Laws ch, 211B, § 9(xxviii) ("[T]he chief justice for administration and management shall review all appointments and dismissals governed by [applicable personnel] standards ... for noncompliance with such standards and shall rescind any such appointment or dismissal that does not comply with said standards."); Policies and Procedures Manual of the Human Resources Department of the Administrative Office of the Trial Court § 16.600 [hereinafter Trial Court Policies and Procedures] ("Disciplinary Process For Complaints Against Probation Officers").

In his written appeal, Chmielinski alleged that the decision was arbitrary and capricious, and that the process violated his rights. He asserted that the failure to hold an evidentiary hearing on appeal was itself a violation of his rights. As to his termination hearing, he argued that his rights were violated on multiple grounds: there was no pre-hearing discovery; witnesses were not sworn; witnesses were not sequestered; various categories of evidence were improperly admitted; Sicuso's letter prohibiting contact with any co-workers resulted in preventing Chmielinski from conducting an investigation and preparing a defense; leading questions were asked of witnesses; certain of his evidence was ignored by O'Brien; the result of his hearing was predetermined; O'Brien lunched with counsel for the Trial Court/Office of the Commissioner on one of the hearing days, which was indicative of bias; and, O'Brien issued his decision only one day after Chmielinski's counsel received a copy of the transcript of the hearing preventing counsel from making a written submission after the hearing. On August 19, 2004, the CJAM denied the appeal and upheld the termination decision.

Chmielinski then exercised his statutory right to appeal further the termination decision to the Trial Court's Advisory Committee on Personnel Standards. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211B, § 8 ("[If an] employee has served three full years in [an] [applicable] position, ... he shall have the right to appear personally before the committee before said committee reaches its decision as to whether or not to affirm his removal."). Oral argument was held before the Advisory Committee on November 19, 2004, at which Chmielinski presented again his allegations of procedural inadequacies.

The Advisory Committee affirmed Chmielinski's termination and informed the CJAM by letter dated November 23, 2004. Chmielinski, through his counsel, was made aware of the Advisory Committee's affirmance by a letter dated November 29, 2004.

C. Federal Lawsuit

On July 6, 2005, Chmielinski brought suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in federal district court against the Office of the Commissioner of Probation, the Trial Court, and O'Brien and Sicuso in their individual capacities, alleging that Chmielinski's termination violated his, right to procedural due process. He sought compensatory and punitive damages from the individual defendants and reinstatement to his former position plus compensatory and punitive damages from the Commonwealth defendants.

The defendants filed a joint motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. The motion to dismiss was referred to a magistrate judge, who recommended that the suit be dismissed because Chmielinski, even on the most favorable reading of, the complaint, had received constitutionally adequate process.3 The district court accepted and adopted the magistrate's recommendation granting the defendants' motion to dismiss.

II.

Chmielinski appeals the district court's dismissal of his damages claims against the individual defendants, Sicuso and O'Brien; he does not appeal the dismissal of his claims against the Commonwealth agencies. Our review of the district court's granting of the motion to dismiss is de novo. Rodriguez-Ortiz v. Margo Caribe, Inc., 490 F.3d 92, 95 (1st Cir.2007). In order to survive a motion to dismiss, the complaint must allege "a plausible entitlement to relief." Id. (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, ___ U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 1967, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)) (internal quotation marks omitted).

A. Jurisdiction and Immunity

The defendants made a jurisdictional argument, which was correctly rejected by the...

To continue reading

Request your trial
55 cases
  • Feliciano v. Puerto Rico State Ins. Fund
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico
    • 13 Octubre 2011
    ...an unwarranted extent on the government's interest of an expeditious removal of an unsatisfactory employee. In Chmielinski v. Massachusetts, 513 F.3d 309, 316–318 (1st Cir.2008), the First Circuit held: The Supreme Court made clear in Loudermill that when an employee is entitled to some pro......
  • Pollard v. Georgetown Sch. Dist.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts
    • 17 Septiembre 2015
    ...Dep't of Correction , No. 10–cv–10213–DJC, 2011 WL 4436761, at *5 (D.Mass. Sept. 21, 2011) (quoting Chmielinski v. Massachusetts , 513 F.3d 309, 316 n. 5 (1st Cir.2008) ) (internal quotation mark omitted). Count V is dismissed with prejudice.E. Plaintiff Fails to State a Claim under the Fir......
  • P.R. Office of the Ombudsman v. Puerto Rico
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico
    • 22 Octubre 2009
    ...of state administrative remedies is not a prerequisite to filing an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Chmielinski v. Mass. Office of the Comm'r of Prob., 513 F.3d 309, 314 (1st Cir.2008) (internal citations omitted). However, PROOE's claims under the ADA do not fall under the purview of § 1983......
  • San Gerónimo Caribe Project, Inc. v. Acevedo–Vil
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit
    • 24 Julio 2012
    ...its argument before the en banc court was brief, consisting of two paragraphs which cited as authority only the definition in § 2102 and Chmielinski. Basic issues necessary to assess SGCP's due process claim against the Governor, such as the Governor's authority to direct administrative age......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles
  • Prisoners' Rights
    • United States
    • Georgetown Law Journal No. 110-Annual Review, August 2022
    • 1 Agosto 2022
    ...of public defender service absolutely immune when appointing attorneys to represent indigents). But see, e.g., Chmielinski v. Mass., 513 F.3d 309, 313-14 & n.3 (1st Cir. 2008) (commissioner of probation not absolutely immune when terminating employee because acted in employer capacity not j......

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT