Moffitt v. Town of Brookfield, 1769

• Decision Date: 20 December 1991
• Docket Number: No. 1769,D,1769
• Citation: 950 F.2d 880
• Parties: James S. MOFFITT, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. TOWN OF BROOKFIELD, Brookfield Police Commission, John W. Anderson individually and in his capacity as Chief of the Brookfield Police Department, William R. Marcy, John Martino, Alfred Kosloffsky, Peter Sanderson, and Joseph Siklos, in their individual capacities and as members of the Board of Police Commissioners, Ralph Fortmiller in his official capacity as Captain of the Brookfield Police Department, and Detective Sergeant John Lucas, in his individual capacity as well as a member of the Brookfield Police Department, Defendants-Appellants. ocket 91-7329.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Page 880

950 F.2d 880

21 Fed.R.Serv.3d 545

James S. MOFFITT, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. TOWN OF BROOKFIELD, Brookfield Police Commission, John W Anderson individually and in his capacity as Chief of the Brookfield Police Department, William R. Marcy, John Martino, Alfred Kosloffsky, Peter Sanderson, and Joseph Siklos, in their individual capacities and as members of the Board of Police Commissioners, Ralph Fortmiller in his official capacity as Captain of the Brookfield Police Department, and Detective Sergeant John Lucas, in his individual capacity as well as a member of the Brookfield Police Department, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 1769, Docket 91-7329.

United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit.

Argued July 24, 1991.

Decided Dec. 20, 1991.

Edward T. Lynch, Jr., New Britain, Conn. (Eisenberg, Anderson, Michalik & Lynch, of counsel), for defendants-appellants.

Dawn M. Dittmar, Ridgefield, Conn., for plaintiff-appellee.

Before WINTER, ALTIMARI and MAHONEY, Circuit Judges.

MAHONEY, Circuit Judge:

Defendants-appellants Town of Brookfield (the "Town"), Brookfield Police Commission (the "Commission"), and Commission members William R. Marcy, John Martino, Alfred Kosloffsky, Peter Sanderson, and Joseph Siklos (collectively the "Commissioners") appeal from a decision of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, Warren W. Eginton, Judge, affirming on reconsideration the district court's prior denial of their motion for summary judgment. ¹ The Commissioners contend that the action should have been dismissed as to them (in their individual capacities) on the basis of qualified immunity as a matter of law, and maintain that we accordingly have appellate jurisdiction and should reverse on this issue. The Town and the Commission seek reversal as an exercise of pendent appellate jurisdiction.

We dismiss the appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction.

Background

Plaintiff-appellee James S. Moffitt brought this action, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1988), claiming deprivation of a property interest without due process of law in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Moffitt also asserted that the conduct constituting that deprivation violated Connecticut law in a number of respects.

The following facts are not disputed by the parties. Moffitt, a resident of New Milford, Connecticut, was a police officer with the Brookfield Police Department (the "Department") from April 15, 1985 until April 26, 1987. On Sunday, April 26, 1987, four members of the Department arrived at Moffitt's home in New Milford with an arrest warrant for Moffitt's wife, Rebecca Moffitt, charging her with three counts of forgery arising from her "propensity for bouncing checks," and a letter from defendant John W. Anderson, Chief of the Department, ordering Moffitt to report for duty. Moffitt obeyed the order and reported to the Department. Moffitt then met with Chief Anderson, defendant Ralph Fortmiller, the Captain of the Department, and defendant John Lucas, a detective sergeant in the Department.

Moffitt's amended complaint alleges that Anderson, Fortmiller, and Lucas berated Moffitt, called him "stupid," and accused him of being aware of his wife's criminal conduct. Moffitt claims that Anderson, Fortmiller, and Lucas ordered him to sign a letter of resignation which they had previously prepared on Department letterhead, and threatened that he would otherwise face immediate suspension, departmental charges, and criminal prosecution. Moffitt states that he expressed a desire to speak to his union representative, but was prevented from doing so, and that he finally signed the letter of resignation under duress, without reading the letter, fearing for his safety and well-being, as well as that of his wife and three children. The text of the letter is: "For personal reasons, I am resigning my position as a Brookfield Police Department Officer effective this date, April 26, 1987."

Moffitt alleges that defendants had been conducting a secret investigation of him in contravention of the pertinent collective bargaining agreement. Moffitt filed a motion for leave to amend his complaint to add an allegation that defendants illegally searched his bank records on or about April 1, 1987, but the district court denied the motion. Moffitt alleged, and it was admitted, that "[d]efendants" had been investigating complaints that Moffitt was involved with his wife's criminal conduct, had prepared affidavits for an arrest warrant, had provided them to the New Milford Police Department, and had sought Moffitt's arrest. Moffitt also claims that approximately eight days after the meeting with Anderson, Fortmiller, and Lucas, "[d]efendants" wrongfully charged him with conspiracy to commit larceny in the first degree in New Milford. This charge was subsequently dismissed on November 6, 1987.

In their answer, defendants deny that Anderson, Fortmiller, and Lucas berated Moffitt and denied him union representation at the meeting on April 26, 1987. They admit having previously prepared a letter of resignation for his signature, do not deny ordering him to sign it, and admit that he did so. Fortmiller asserted during deposition testimony that Moffitt read his resignation twice before signing it. Defendants also claim in their answer that Moffitt resigned voluntarily as a matter of law. ²

On or about May 15, 1987, ³ Moffitt wrote to the Commission and Anderson appealing his termination and requesting reinstatement. Moffitt asserted violations of the rules and regulations of the Department, of the pertinent collective bargaining agreement, and of "certain rights guaranteed me under the Constitution of the State of Connecticut and the Constitution of the United States." He quoted a provision of the collective bargaining agreement which specified that he could not be "discharged ... without just cause," and asserted that his resignation had been unjustly coerced "because of the emotional state of mind and mental duress [Moffitt] was placed in on ... April 26, 1987." In doing so, he spelled out in considerable detail his version of the events of April 26, 1987, asserting, inter alia, that he was at that time "extremely emotionally upset," that his "wife had just been arrested," and then continuing:

Sgt. Lucas had stated that I must have known what my wife was doing because I was married to her and that if I resigned no criminal charges would be brought against me. Chief Anderson then stated that if I did not resign I would face immediate suspension, departmental charges and criminal prosecution. By now I felt like my whole world was coming to an end. I was being given a choice with no choice. My career was being taken away. I was being told that I would be arrested when I had no idea what was going on. The mother of my children was in jail with a bond that I could in no way make. I asked Chief Anderson if I was to resign, what kind of recommendation would I get from him. Chief Anderson stated that he would not give me any kind of a recommendation. Capt. Fortmiller and Det. Sgt. Lucas were both encouraging me to resign saying that it was for the best. Chief Anderson then pushed a piece of paper in front of me and without ever actually reading it, I signed it. By this time I had completely emotionally broken down. I had three children to worry about and know [sic] idea how I was going to take care of them.

In a letter dated June 24, 1987, the Commission declined to hear Moffitt's appeal on the ground that it lacked jurisdiction. This position was premised upon advice of counsel, who had reviewed applicable labor law, that Moffitt's appeal "was not a properly filed grievance and should not be entertained by the Police Commission" because "Moffitt had resigned and was not employed by the police department at the time the grievance was filed."

Moffitt thereafter commenced this action against the Town, the Commission, the five Commissioners, and Anderson, Fortmiller, and Lucas. All individual defendants were sued in their individual and official capacities except Fortmiller, who was sued only in his official capacity. ⁴ In their answer, defendants raised the affirmative defenses of qualified immunity with respect to Anderson, Fortmiller, Lucas, and the Commissioners; immunity from respondeat superior liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1988) with respect to the Commission; and, as previously noted, voluntary resignation by Moffitt "as a matter of law" with respect to all of the defendants.

Defendants moved for summary judgment. The district court denied the motion as to all defendants-appellants in an opinion and order entered August 17, 1989. The court found, with respect to the qualified immunity claim, that "there is a genuine issue of material fact regarding the reasonableness of defendants' actions in both their official and individual capacities." As to the respondeat superior claim, the court found "that there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the alleged acts of the defendants created a policy which violated the rights of Moffitt."

Defendants thereafter moved for reconsideration of the denial of their motion for summary judgment. The district court granted reconsideration, but affirmed the prior denial. This appeal from that ruling followed.

Discussion

As indicated earlier, only the Commissioners appeal from the denial of their motion for summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity. The Town and the Commission have no entitlement to the defense of qualified immunity, and the Commissioners may assert that defense only as to the claims asserted against them in their individual, as distinguished from their official, capacities. See Hafer v. Melo, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 358, 364, 116 L.Ed.2d 301 (1991).

As a threshold matter, we must consider whether we have jurisdiction to hear this appeal. Ordinarily, the denial of a motion for summary judgment is not an appealable "final...