Darlak v. Bobear
| Decision Date | 20 April 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. 86-3430,86-3430 |
| Citation | 814 F.2d 1055 |
| Parties | Joseph DARLAK, M.D., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. John B. BOBEAR, M.D. and/or Elliot Roberts, Jr. and/or Sandra L. Robinson, M.D., and/or Charity Hospital of Louisiana at New Orleans, and/or Department of Health and Human Resources, and/or William Barkman, M.D., and/or Barbara Hanna, M.D., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Patrick D. Breeden, New Orleans, La., for plaintiff-appellant.
Eavelyn T. Brooks, Arthur J. Finn, Ass't. Attys. Gen., William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., New Orleans, La., for defendants-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Before REAVLEY and RANDALL, Circuit Judges, and MAHON, * District Judge.
Joseph Darlak appeals the district court's grant of the defendants' motions for summary judgment, for dismissal for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, and for dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. We affirm.
Joseph Darlak, M.D., was an associate professor of radiology at the Louisiana State Medical School and a member of the visiting staff at Charity Hospital of Louisiana at New Orleans ("Charity"). Charity Hospital is a part of the Louisiana Department of Health and Human Resources ("DHHR"). See La.Rev.Stat.Ann. Sec. 36:251(c) (West 1985).
On December 7, 1984, Dr. Darlak performed a CT-guided biopsy procedure on Abraham Brown, a patient at Charity. The patient's primary care physicians were Drs. Juan Lastra and Mary Moore Abel, two resident physicians at Charity. On December 11, 1984, Drs. H. William Barkman and Barbara Hanna, two assistant professors of medicine at Tulane Medical Center, wrote a letter to Dr. John Bobear, the medical director of Charity, stating that Dr. Darlak performed the biopsy procedure without verbal or written confirmation and against the wishes of the primary care team and failed to provide adequate guidance and follow-up instructions for the patient's care. 1 On December 17, 1984, Dr. Bobear contacted the primary care physicians, who corroborated the allegations of Dr. Barkman and Dr. Hanna.
On December 18, 1984, Dr. Bobear and Dr. George Meckstroth, the director of professional support services at Charity, met with Dr. Darlak to discuss the allegations contained in the letter of December 17. Based upon this meeting, Dr. Bobear, by letter of December 18, 1984, temporarily suspended Dr. Darlak from hospital privileges at Charity, pending the outcome of a full investigation and a hearing before Charity's Credentials Committee. Dr. Bobear relied upon hospital regulations for the authority to temporarily suspend Dr. Darlak. 2
The Credentials Committee met on January 8, 1985. Evidence was taken at this hearing, and Dr. Darlak was permitted to make a statement. After considering the evidence and the statement of Dr. Darlak, the Committee recommended that Dr. Darlak's privileges at Charity be suspended for two months, effective December 18, 1984, the date that Dr. Darlak was temporarily suspended. The Committee's recommendations were adopted and, by a letter signed by Elliot C. Roberts, the director of Charity, and dated January 10, 1985, Dr. Darlak was suspended from the medical staff at Charity for a period of two months. On January 28, 1985, Dr. Darlak was informed of his right to appeal the suspension decision. On the same date, Dr. Darlak indicated by letter his intent to appeal, and a hearing was scheduled for February 21, 1985. Settlement negotiations ensued, and the appeal date was continued. When no agreement could be reached, Dr. Darlak was notified on October 2, 1985, that appeal proceedings should be reinstated. Dr. Darlak did not seek further appeal.
Instead, Dr. Darlak filed this action on December 5, 1985, under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, claiming that the defendants, under color of state law, had violated his right to procedural and substantive due process of law and to the equal protection of the laws. Dr. Darlak also alleged pendent state law claims sounding in negligence and unfair trade practices. Dr. Darlak sought actual damages of $500,000, punitive damages of $2 million, and an injunction forcing the defendants to void his suspension. Dr. Darlak named the following persons and entities as defendants: (1) DHHR; (2) Charity; (3) Dr. Bobear, the medical director of Charity; (4) Dr. Sandra L. Robinson, the Secretary of DHHR; (5) Elliot Roberts, Jr., the director of Charity; (6) Dr. Barkman; and (7) Dr. Hanna. The individual defendants were sued in both their individual and official capacities.
On January 17, 1986, DHHR, Charity, Dr. Robinson, and Elliot Roberts moved to dismiss Dr. Darlak's complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2) as to DHHR, Charity, and Robinson and Roberts in their official capacities, and for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) as to Robinson and Roberts in their individual capacities. On February 10, 1986, Drs. Bobear and Barkman moved for summary judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, claiming that there were no disputed facts and that as a matter of law Dr. Darlak had received all the process that was due him.
On March 11, 1986, the district court granted these motions. The district court held that the eleventh amendment barred suit against DHHR and Charity. The district court noted that a suit alleging the unconstitutionality of a state official's conduct is not barred by the eleventh amendment, but held that since neither Roberts nor Robinson acted unconstitutionally, the eleventh amendment precluded suit against them. The district court did not discuss its reasons for granting summary judgment in favor of Drs. Bobear and Barkman, but since the district court found no violation of Dr. Darlak's due process rights, the district court probably concluded that these defendants were entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Finally, the district court held that there was no duty on the part of the Credentials Committee to interview Dr. Sarcar, and that the suspension of Dr. Darlak's staff privileges was not an unfair trade practice under Louisiana law. Hence, the only remaining defendant was Dr. Hanna.
On April 11, 1986, Dr. Hanna moved to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The district court, treating Dr. Hanna's motion as one for summary judgment, granted the motion, stating that the motion was being granted for the same reason that Dr. Barkman's motion was granted. In the same minute entry, the district court dismissed without prejudice Dr. Darlak's pendent state law negligence claims against all of the defendants. On May 28, 1986, the district court entered judgment in favor of all defendants and dismissed Dr. Darlak's complaint. On June 3, 1986, Dr. Darlak filed a timely notice of appeal to this court.
On appeal, Dr. Darlak argues that the district court erred in dismissing his complaint on eleventh amendment grounds. He contends that the federal courts have jurisdiction to declare that the hospital regulation that he was initially suspended under is unconstitutional. On appeal, he apparently has given up his claims for damages, and asserts that a federal court can at least grant him prospective injunctive relief forcing the defendants to void his suspension ab initio, despite the bar of the eleventh amendment.
In addressing Dr. Darlak's arguments, we will first consider whether and to what extent the eleventh amendment constitutes a bar to suit against the various defendants. In order to make this determination, we will review the general principles of eleventh amendment constitutional law and will analyze separately the eleventh amendment defenses of the state entities and the state officials. Based upon the above analysis, we will determine which of the defendants the district court properly dismissed on eleventh amendment grounds. After deciding the eleventh amendment issue, we will consider the issue of whether the temporary suspension of Dr. Darlak comported with due process of law. In making this determination, we will consider the United States Supreme Court's latest teaching on this subject: Cleveland Bd. of Educ. v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532, 105 S.Ct. 1487, 84 L.Ed.2d 494 (1985). We turn now to our consideration of the eleventh amendment.
The principles of the eleventh amendment 3 relevant to this case are well settled:
The Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution bars suits in federal court by citizens of a state against their own state or a state agency or department. Claims under federal statutes do not override the Eleventh Amendment bar unless there is a clear showing of congressional intent to abrogate the bar. Section 1983 does not override the Eleventh Amendment bar.
Voisin's Oyster House, Inc. v. Guidry, 799 F.2d 183, 185-86 (5th Cir.1986). Eleventh amendment analysis differs depending upon whether the defendant is a state entity or a state official. "The Eleventh Amendment bars suits against a state entity, as opposed to a state official, regardless whether money damages or injunctive relief is sought." Id. at 186.
In determining whether a particular entity enjoys eleventh amendment immunity, this court engages in an analysis based upon six factors.
The relevant factors include: (1) whether state statutes and case law characterize the agency as an arm of the state; (2) the source of funds for the entity; (3) the degree of local autonomy the entity enjoys; (4) whether the entity is concerned primarily with local, as opposed to statewide, problems; (5) whether the entity has authority to sue and be sued in its own name; and (6) whether the entity has the right to hold and use property.
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