Fitzgerald v. Larson

Decision Date25 May 1984
Docket NumberNo. 83-3493,83-3493
Citation769 F.2d 160
Parties119 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2061 Francis W. FITZGERALD, Appellant, v. Thomas LARSON, Individually and as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation; John Harhigh, Individually and as Director of the Bureau of Human Resources; Robert Rowland, Individually and as District Engineer, Engineering District 6-0; Samuel Arrigo, Individually and as Maintenance Manager, Maintenance District 6-1, Bucks County; Louis O'Brien, Individually and as Director, Bureau of Maintenance; Joseph Wade, Individually and as Assistant District Engineer; Honorable Richard Thornburgh, Individually and as Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

Ronald Jay Smolow, Trevose, Pa., for appellant.

James J. Kutz, Deputy Atty. Gen., Harrisburg, Pa., for appellees.

Before GARTH, SLOVITER, Circuit Judges, and FISHER, District Judge. *

OPINION OF THE COURT

SLOVITER, Circuit Judge.

This matter is before us on remand from the Supreme Court which vacated our decision, reported at 741 F.2d 32 (3d Cir.1984), for further consideration in light of Wilson v. Garcia, --- U.S. ----, 105 S.Ct. 1938, 85 L.Ed.2d 254 (1985), regarding the borrowing of state statutes of limitations for actions brought under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 (1982). Larson v. Fitzgerald, --- U.S. ----, 105 S.Ct. 2108, 85 L.Ed.2d 424 (1985). Our prior decision reversed the order of the district court dismissing plaintiff's complaint. Upon reconsideration we will affirm the district court.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Francis Fitzgerald was a nontenured employee of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation who was dismissed on June 7, 1979. He filed suit against appellees in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on October 1, 1979, claiming that the sole reason for his discharge was his affiliation with the Democratic Party, and that such termination violated the First Amendment. He sought reinstatement, backpay and benefits, attorney's fees and costs. On April 2, 1981, the district court held that defendants were sued in their official capacities and that plaintiff's claim for monetary relief was barred by the Eleventh Amendment, but that he could maintain an action for reinstatement. Fitzgerald v. Larson, No. 79-3741 (E.D.Pa. April 3, 1981). Fitzgerald filed a motion to amend the complaint to state claims against defendants in their individual capacities, which the district court denied on June 8, 1981. Brief for Appellant at 5.

On May 5, 1982 Fitzgerald filed the present action in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, seeking essentially the same relief against the same defendants, but adding an allegation against defendants as individuals. App. at 18a. Defendants removed the action to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The parties agreed to hold the prior action filed in the Eastern District in suspension pending resolution of this action. App. at 12a.

Defendants moved to dismiss the removed action, claiming that the action was barred either by application of the six-month limitation period of 42 Pa.Cons.Stat.Ann. Sec. 5522(b)(1) (Purdon 1981) for actions against government officials, or by the We reversed. Applying this circuit's then-governing precedent for the choice of limitations periods for Sec. 1983 actions, we sought to characterize "the essential nature of the federal claim within the scheme created by the various state statutes of limitation" and to apply "the limitation which would be applicable in the courts [of Pennsylvania] had an action seeking similar relief been brought under state law." Fitzgerald v. Larson, 741 F.2d at 35 (citations omitted). We concluded, relying heavily on Knoll v. Springfield Township School District, 699 F.2d 137 (3d Cir.1983), vacated and remanded in light of Wilson v. Garcia, --- U.S. ----, 105 S.Ct. 2065, 85 L.Ed.2d 275 (1985), on remand, 763 F.2d 584 (3d Cir. June 7, 1985), that Fitzgerald's claim was more analogous to a state law action for wrongful discharge or interference with contractual or economic rights, for which we concluded there was no specific limitation period in the Pennsylvania statute. We followed Knoll in rejecting application of the six-month provision, even if analogous, as too short to serve the remedial purpose of the federal civil rights statutes. Fitzgerald v. Larson, 741 F.2d at 34. Therefore we concluded, as in Knoll, that the most appropriate provision to borrow was the six-year residuary statute for civil actions that are not subject to another specified limitation, 42 Pa.Cons.Stat.Ann. Sec. 5527(6) (Purdon 1981). Accordingly, we held that Fitzgerald's claim was timely filed. Id. at 36.

two-year limitation period of 42 Pa.Cons.Stat.Ann. Sec. 5524(2) (Purdon 1981) for personal injury actions. The matter was referred to a magistrate who recommended dismissal under the two-year statute, reasoning that plaintiff's claim was non-contractual and most analogous to the state law tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress which is governed by the two-year personal injury limitation. App. at 31a-32a. The district court adopted the magistrate's report and recommendation and dismissed the case.

In Wilson v. Garcia, --- U.S. ----, 105 S.Ct. 1938, 85 L.Ed.2d 254 (1985), the Supreme Court resolved the differences among the circuits and held that federal courts, in choosing the most analogous state law limitation for purposes of Sec. 1983, should characterize all such claims as personal injury actions. It thus rejected the approach this court had taken in its earlier cases in characterizing each such claim individually. We now reconsider this case in light of the Supreme Court's decision.

We have recently held in applying Wilson v. Garcia, that the two-year Pennsylvania limitation for personal injury actions of 42 Pa.Const.Stat.Ann. Sec. 5524 governs all Sec. 1983 actions brought in Pennsylvania. See Smith v. City of Pittsburgh, 764 F.2d 188, 194 (3d Cir. 1985); see also Johnson v. Swyka, 763 F.2d 602, 603 (3d Cir. 1985); Knoll v. Springfield Township School District, 763 F.2d 584, 585 (3d Cir. June 7, 1985). The parties here, who have been given the opportunity to comment, agree that because this action was filed more than two years after the injury accrued, Pennsylvania's two-year statute of limitations for personal injury actions would require dismissal if Wilson v. Garcia applies retrospectively. Thus we turn to the issue of retrospective application.

II. RETROSPECTIVE APPLICATION

In Smith v. City of Pittsburgh, we followed the Supreme Court's criteria for retrospective application announced in Chevron Oil Co. v. Huson, 404 U.S. 97, 92 S.Ct. 349, 30 L.Ed.2d 296 (1971), to conclude that Wilson v. Garcia applied retrospectively to bar Smith's Sec. 1983 claim for unconstitutional termination of his employment relationship by the City of Pittsburgh. Chevron sets forth a three-part test:

First the decision to be applied nonretroactively must establish a new principle of law, either by overruling clear past precedent on which litigants may have relied, or by deciding an issue of first impression whose resolution was not clearly foreshadowed. Second, it has been stressed that "we must ... weigh the merits and demerits in each case by 404 U.S. at 106-07, 92 S.Ct. at 355-56 (citations omitted). We must evaluate these factors in light of Fitzgerald's claim.

                looking to the prior history of the rule in question, its purpose and effect, and whether retrospective operation will further or retard its operation."    Finally, we have weighed the inequity imposed by retrospective application, for "[w]here a decision of this Court could produce substantial inequitable results if applied retroactively, there is ample basis in our cases for avoiding the 'injustice or hardship' by a holding of nonretroactivity."
                
A. The Change from Prior Law

In Smith we found that Wilson v. Garcia did overturn established precedent of this circuit and that the decision had not been signalled or foreshadowed by prior Supreme Court precedent. 764 F.2d at 194. Nevertheless, we concluded that the first Chevron factor required that the prior precedent be sufficiently clear that a plaintiff could have reasonably relied upon it in delaying suit, a criterion that was not met where the law was erratic and inconsistent. 764 F.2d at 194. See Perez v. Dana Corp., 718 F.2d 581, 585-88 (3d Cir.1983); Bronze Shields, Inc. v. New Jersey Department of Civil Service, 667 F.2d 1074, 1085 (3d Cir.1981), cert. denied, 458 U.S. 1122, 102 S.Ct. 3510, 73 L.Ed.2d 1384 (1982). In Smith we concluded that, given the uncertainty of the Pennsylvania limitations provisions, the absence of a definitive holding of this court applying the six-year statute to a claim of termination of employment without due process, and the support in district court opinions for concluding that the six-month or two-year Pennsylvania limitations periods might apply, there was no clear precedent on which it would have been reasonable for Smith to rely in delaying filing suit for more than two years. 764 F.2d at 194-95.

This case differs from Smith in that Fitzgerald alleges he was discharged in violation of his First Amendment rights whereas Smith had alleged discharge without procedural due process. The status under Pennsylvania law of actions alleging wrongful discharge for exercise of First Amendment rights thus presents a somewhat different question than that which was before us in Smith. In applying Pennsylvania's statute of limitations provisions before their substantial revision in 1976, we had held that a claim of wrongful failure to renew an employment contract in violation of the First Amendment was governed by the general six-year residuary provision...

To continue reading

Request your trial
57 cases
  • Ulrich v. Corbett
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 3th Circuit. United States District Court of Middle District of Pennsylvania
    • July 28, 2014
    ...a civil rights action in Pennsylvania. See Bougher v. University of Pittsburgh, 882 F. 2d 74, 78-79 (3d Cir. 1989); Fitzgerald v. Larson, 769 F. 2d 160, 162 (3d Cir. 1985); Martin v. Red Lion Police Dept., Civil No. 00-16122, M.D. Pa. (October 26, 2004 Memorandum), pp. 5-6; Beattie v. Dept.......
  • Al-Khazraji v. Saint Francis College, AL-KHAZRAJI
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit)
    • April 4, 1986
    ...to except a particular holding from the presumption favoring retroactivity, favors retroactive application of Ricks. See Fitzgerald v. Larson, 769 F.2d 160 (3d Cir.1985); Smith v. City of Pittsburgh, 764 F.2d 188 (3d Cir.), cert. denied --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 349, 88 L.Ed.2d 297 (1985). W......
  • Juzwin v. Asbestos Corp., Ltd.
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit)
    • May 9, 1990
    ...See Goodman v. Lukens Steel Co., 777 F.2d 113 (3d Cir.1985), aff'd, 482 U.S. 656, 107 S.Ct. 2617, 96 L.Ed.2d 572 (1987); Fitzgerald v. Larson, 769 F.2d 160 (3d Cir.1985); and Smith v. City of Pittsburgh, 764 F.2d 188 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 950, 106 S.Ct. 349, 88 L.Ed.2d 297 (1985......
  • CHRIS N. v. BURNSVILLE, MINN.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 8th Circuit. United States District Court of Minnesota
    • May 13, 1986
    ...... plaintiff could have reasonably relied upon it in delaying suit, a criterion that is not met where the law was erratic and inconsistent." Fitzgerald v. Larson, 769 F.2d 160, 163 (3d Cir.1984). In Wycoff the Eighth Circuit expressly found that " Wilson overruled no `clear past precedent on ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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