Collyer v. Darling, s. 94-3442

• Decision Date: 30 September 1996
• Docket Number: Nos. 94-3442,94-3443,s. 94-3442
• Citation: 98 F.3d 211
• Parties: Bruce COLLYER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Gregory DARLING, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 211

98 F.3d 211

Bruce COLLYER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Gregory DARLING, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

Nos. 94-3442, 94-3443.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Decided Sept. 30, 1996.

Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing En Banc Denied Jan. 6, 1997.

Thomas E. O'Toole (argued and briefed), Cleveland, OH, for plaintiff-appellant.

Joseph N. Rosenthal (briefed), Beth C. Shillington (briefed), Jack W. Decker (argued and briefed), Office of Attorney General, Columbus, OH, for Gregory D. Darling, Arthur T. Laney, Jr., William Flaherty, Robert Cobbs, F.A. Lingl, M.D., Ronald I. Ostroff, William B. Edwards, Robert W. Foster, Dorothy Sivis, Tamala A. Solomon, Shirley Grumbling, Charles H. Vann, James G. Nibert, John A. Beattie, Merle Walker, Jerome C. Manuel, Paul D. Guthrie, Jerry Johnson, Patrick J. Rafter, Steve Gulyassy, Magdi S. Rizk, Jocelyn Schweitzer, Stephen A. Perry, Lee Fisher, Attorney General.

Barbara Ann Serve (argued and briefed), Office of Attorney General, Labor Relations Section, Columbus, OH, for Patricia A. Hamilton, J. Richard Lumpe, William E. Hinig.

Before: KEITH, KENNEDY, and SILER, Circuit Judges.

KEITH, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-appellant, Bruce Collyer appeals the district court's order granting summary judgment in favor of the defendants-appellees on his claims of civil rights violations under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985(3) and Ohio State Law. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the district court's ruling.

I.

In May, 1982, Bruce Collyer was hired by the Broadview Developmental Clinic ("BDC"), an institution operated by the Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, as a Therapeutic Program Worker ("TPW"), a position in the classified civil service. As a TPW, Collyer was responsible for implementing programs designed to improve the skills of severely retarded adults. In 1982, Collyer became active on BDC's Human Rights Committee, a group established to deal with patient's rights issues. He also became a representative to the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, Local 11 ("Union"), on the BDC's Health and Safety Committee, chaired by defendant-appellee Arthur T. Laney. During his tenure on those committees, Collyer raised certain concerns involving employee rights and client safety. Collyer claims that unnamed persons told him to cease voicing complaints since such discussions could cause liability and medicaid certification problems for the BDC.

In 1984 Collyer was promoted, but after receiving his third suspension, he was returned to the TPW position. Collyer claims that during this period, two persons not named as defendants harassed him into keeping quiet about patients' concerns and warned that if he did not, he would sacrifice his ability to achieve a promotion to management.

In 1985, Collyer claims that he was subjected to further harassment after the media criticized the BDC for suspected client abuse. At that time Collyer received a fourth suspension for failing to report client abuse. In response, he filed hundreds of reports of possible abuse and reported abuse over a hotline set up by the Ohio Department of Mental Retardation. In 1986, defendant-appellee BDC Chief of Security Charles H. Vann questioned Collyer about his reports and issued his own report concluding that Collyer's claims were unsubstantiated.

Collyer was fired from his TPW position in August 1986. His termination was vacated and he was reinstated in May 1987. However, because Collyer had sudden outbursts of anger some thought to be dangerous to BDC clients, he was reassigned to the position of a doorman. In April 1988, one month after becoming the new Superintendent of the BDC, concerned about the reasons underlying Collyer's placement as a doorman, Gregory D. Darling requested approval from the Ohio Department of Administrative Services to order a psychiatric examination of Collyer.

Before the psychiatric examination was conducted, Collyer had an altercation with BDC Chief of Security Robert Cobbs. Collyer claimed he was in fear of his life because of Cobbs and requested temporary leave. After investigation, Darling determined that Collyer had demonstrated some of the same disturbing behavior noted earlier and that he was not, as he asserted, in danger of losing his life at the hands of Cobbs.

Darling informed Collyer and Collyer's counsel that a psychiatric evaluation would be necessary because of Collyer's behavior at work. Pending this evaluation, Collyer was to remain on administrative leave with pay. The examiner, Dr. Friedrich A. Lingl, an independent psychiatrist with whom the State of Ohio had contracted to conduct this particular examination, concluded that Collyer suffered from a paranoid personality disorder that prevented him from functioning effectively as a TPW.

Darling sent a letter to Collyer's counsel on August 4, 1988, stating that due to Dr. Lingl's report, Collyer would have to be separated from employment in some fashion yet to be determined. Collyer was also instructed to indicate the kind of leave on which he wished to be placed. The BDC then issued a notice of personal conference warning that failure to comply with the August 4 letter might result in disciplinary action. The conference occurred on August 15 and was attended by Collyer, his counsel and a Union representative. As a result of the conference, Collyer's status was changed to "unpaid leave of absence." The BDC retroactively applied Collyer's separation to August 4, 1988.

On October 24, 1988, Collyer filed a complaint in the Northern District of Ohio seeking relief under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985(3) against Darling, Cobbs, Laney, Dr. Lingl, and former director of the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, William Flaherty. Collyer also claimed that the named defendants had deprived him of due process in retaliation for the exercise of his First Amendment rights.

While the 1988 federal case was pending, Collyer applied for and was denied disability benefits by the Ohio Department of Administrative Services. Collyer appealed the decision. On appeal, an Ohio Department of Administrative Services hearing officer determined that Dr. Lingl's report alone was not enough to support Collyer's claims for disability benefits. Collyer appealed to the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas which eventually dismissed his case for lack of prosecution.

When defendant-appellee Ronald I. Ostroff replaced Darling as Superintendent of the BDC in 1989, he ordered Collyer to submit to a second psychiatric examination. This time Dr. Rizk, also an independent psychiatrist with whom the state had contracted, concluded that Collyer suffered from a paranoid personality disorder and was unfit to function as a TPW. Dr. Rizk recommended further testing. Following Dr. Rizk's evaluation, Ostroff conducted a meeting with Collyer and his present counsel prior to a planned imposition of an involuntary separation based upon Dr. Rizk's findings. On February 21, 1990, Ostroff ordered Collyer disability separated.

Collyer appealed his 1990 disability separation to the Ohio State Personnel Board of Review ("SPBR"). On August 7, 1990, the SPBR determined that Collyer should be reinstated with back pay and benefits from August 8, 1988, due to a procedural error committed by the BDC. ¹ The BDC appealed to the Franklin Court of Common Pleas which ultimately determined that the BDC had no right to appeal and that the SPBR's ruling should remain. ²

Pursuant to the SPBR's ruling, in October, 1991, the BDC reinstated Collyer effective February 28, 1990. However, in direct contravention of the SPBR ruling, the BDC did not give Collyer back pay and benefits for the period beginning August 4, 1988 to the 1990 SPBR appeal. Collyer did not seek enforcement of the ruling under Ohio state law. ³

In May, 1992, the district court ruled on the parties' cross motions for summary judgment in Collyer's 1988 case, granting partial summary judgment in Collyer's favor on the claim that he was entitled to and not afforded a predeprivation hearing, rejecting Collyer's claim that such a hearing was required before a psychiatric exam, and denying defendants' motion to dismiss Collyer's First Amendment claim. Collyer's state law claims were dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

On July 27, 1992, Collyer amended his 1988 Complaint and on August 3, 1992, Collyer filed a complaint identical to the amended complaint in a new action. The new pleadings added new defendants and several new §§ 1983 and 1985 claims stating that: (1) SPBR Chairperson Hamilton and Members Lumpe and Hinig (collectively, "SPBR Members") denied Collyer a meaningful postdeprivation hearing in 1990; (2) the SPBR Members failed to provide Collyer a "name-clearing" hearing in 1990; (3) defendants' refusal to pay all of the back pay and benefits ordered by the SPBR Members violated due process; (4) defendant-appellee Lee Fisher, Attorney General of Ohio, was obligated to enforce the civil service laws and order of the SPBR Members; and (5) some or all of the old and new employees conspired to violate Collyer's First Amendment rights by making false charges and physical threats, assigning him to demeaning jobs, terminating his employment, and barring him from attending meetings of advocacy groups on BDC grounds. Collyer also named Dr. Rizk as a defendant, alleging that the doctor had violated his due process rights. ⁴

Shortly after Collyer filed his new complaint, the SPBR Members moved to dismiss the complaint on the basis of quasi-judicial immunity. Dr. Rizk moved for summary judgment claiming that as a psychiatrist, he was entitled to state-law qualified privilege. He also asserted that as a private physician, he could not be held liable under § 1983. Many of the newly added defendants moved for summary judgment on the grounds that the statute of limitations had run. The remaining defendants moved for summary judgment and requested...