Akande v. Grounds
| Decision Date | 09 February 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 07-3800.,07-3800. |
| Citation | 555 F.3d 586 |
| Parties | Adetunji AKANDE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Randall GROUNDS, Terry Guy, Jeanie Campanella, and Dee Dee Brookhart, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
James P. Baker, J. Phillip Krajewski (argued), Baker, Baker & Krajewski, Springfield, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Paul Berks, Brett E. Legner (argued), Office of the Attorney General, Chicago, IL, for Defendants-Appellees.
Before FLAUM, WOOD, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.
Adetunji Akande alleged that the defendants—all employees of the Illinois Department of Corrections—deprived him of a property interest in his employment in violation of the due process clause of the Constitution. The district court granted summary judgment to defendants, finding that they were entitled to qualified immunity because Akande could not establish that he had been subject to a constitutional violation. For the reasons explained below, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
Akande began working for the Illinois Department of Corrections ("IDOC") in March 1990. After eighteen months, he was transferred to Robinson Correctional Center in Robinson, Illinois, where he worked in the clinical services division. The clinical services division was responsible for providing psychological, vocational and substance abuse counseling to prison inmates as well as attending to some inmate disciplinary matters. The division was comprised of three levels of employees: the clinical services supervisor, who oversaw the division; clinical casework supervisors, who served as intermediate managers; and correctional counselors. During the 1990s, Akande rose through the ranks at Robinson and in January 2003 he was promoted to the position of clinical casework supervisor. The clinical casework supervisor position was subject to the Illinois Personnel Code, 20 ILCS 415/1 et seq., which provided that employees could not be terminated or demoted without cause.
Clinical casework supervisors at Robinson had a number of responsibilities. They were involved in making recommendations to the warden to resolve disciplinary allegations (or "tickets") against inmates. Typically, correctional counselors heard "minor tickets" while "major tickets" were heard by a two-member panel known as the Adjustment Committee. One of the job duties of the clinical casework supervisor was to serve as a member of the Adjustment Committee. Corrections counselors were to enter reports on minor tickets into Robinson's Disciplinary Tracking System ("DTS"), while clinical casework supervisors were expected to enter the major ticket reports. Each DTS entry took about ten minutes, and there were approximately five to ten major ticket hearings per day.
Among other responsibilities, the clinical casework supervisor job description listed duties such as "supervis[ing] delivery of counseling services," "assign[ing] work," and "complet[ing] and sign[ing] performance evaluations" for correctional counselors. In addition to these duties, the job description also tasked the clinical casework supervisor with "serv[ing] on various institutional committees" (including the Adjustment Committee). The job description also included a "catch-all" clause stating that a clinical casework supervisor "[p]erforms other duties as required or assigned which are reasonably within the scope of those enumerated above."
As mentioned above, Akande began his employment as a casework supervisor at Robinson in January 2003. At this time, Richard Cervantes ("Cervantes") was also serving as a clinical casework supervisor. However, in the fall of 2003, Cervantes was promoted to the position of acting clinical services supervisor, leaving Akande as the only clinical casework supervisor.
In late 2003 or early 2004, Randall Grounds was appointed warden of Robinson. Grounds consulted with Cervantes about Akande's job performance and came to believe that Akande was not performing his duties well. Specifically, Grounds was made aware of complaints that Akande was not inputting Adjustment Committee hearing reports into the DTS. Based on this information, Grounds directed Akande to personally enter data regarding major and minor ticket disciplinary hearings into the DTS at the end of each day, regardless of whether he was a hearing officer at that proceeding.1 According to Akande, this task consumed most of his time and he began delegating this work to corrections counselors. Grounds again ordered Akande to enter all major and minor tickets into DTS. However, Akande continued to delegate this responsibility to corrections counselors.
Because he refused to follow Warden Grounds's order, Akande was referred for discipline. The prison held hearings on each disciplinary referral. In his defense, Akande claimed that he was entitled to delegate the task of inputting DTS tickets notwithstanding Warden Grounds's instruction to the contrary. Three separate disciplinary officers rejected Akande's defense. Plaintiff received an oral reprimand, a written reprimand, and a three-day suspension. In response, Akande filed six separate grievances under his union's collective bargaining agreement, claiming that he had been unfairly subjected to discipline. These complaints were settled or resolved prior to arbitration.
In January 2004, Grounds informed Akande that he would no longer have responsibility for supervising correctional counselors. However, Akande continued to perform some of his regular duties, including presiding over major ticket disciplinary hearings and making recommendations regarding ticket dispositions, reviewing inmates' requests for transfer and recommending transfer dispositions, and scheduling and lecturing in the Pre-Start Program (a series of classes that prepared inmates for their release).2
On March 3, 2004, Warden Grounds presented Akande with a memorandum entitled "Responsibilities of Casework Supervisor." It stated that all data entry for major (though not minor) disciplinary tickets was the responsibility of the casework supervisor. Grounds asked Akande to sign the memo, but Akande refused. Akande left work, claiming that he had a headache. That same day, Akande went on extended disability leave following a diagnosis of depression. He never returned to his job at Robinson. On leave, Akande received disability payments that were significantly less than his salary at the correctional center.
In November 2005, Akande brought the present lawsuit. He alleged that beginning in late 2003 he was effectively removed from his position as a casework supervisor in which he had a constitutional property interest. The district court granted summary judgment to defendants, concluding that they were entitled to qualified immunity. Specifically, the district court held that Akande had "simply failed to present evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude that he was deprived of a protected interest." Because it concluded that Akande was not deprived of a property interest, it did not address whether Akande was provided sufficient process and that Akande's alleged constitutional right was not clearly established.
We review an order granting summary judgment de novo, construing all facts and drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party. Russell v. Harms, 397 F.3d 458, 462 (7th Cir.2005). Summary judgment is appropriate if "`the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is not genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.'" Isbell v. Allstate Co., 418 F.3d 788, 793 (7th Cir. 2005) (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)).
Qualified immunity shields government officials from liability for civil damages where their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known. Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). In Saucier v. Katz, the Supreme Court established a two-step inquiry for courts ruling upon the qualified immunity issue.3 See Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151, 150 L.Ed.2d 272 (2001). To determine whether an official is entitled to qualified immunity, courts decide (1) whether the facts alleged or shown by the plaintiff make out a violation of a constitutional right, and (2) if so, whether that right was "clearly established" at the time of the defendant's alleged misconduct. Id. at 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151. If it is clear that there has been no constitutional injury, we need not proceed to the second step: the officials are entitled to immunity. Id.
The threshold question for a procedural due process claim is whether there has been an unconstitutional deprivation of life, liberty, or property. Akande claims that he was deprived of a property interest in his position as a casework supervisor at Robinson. In evaluating Akande's claim on appeal, it is important to understand that property interests are not created by the United States Constitution. Rather, they are created and defined by existing rules or understandings that stem from an independent source such as state law-rules. Ulichny v. Merton Community School Dist., 249 F.3d 686, 700 (7th Cir. 2001) (citations omitted); Atterberry v. Sherman, 453 F.3d 823, 826 (7th Cir.2006) (citation omitted). Here, state law defines Akande's property right as the right not to be removed, discharged, demoted, or suspended for more than thirty days without cause. 20 ILCS 415/11 (2006); 20 ILCS 415/8b.16; see also Atterberry, 453 F.3d at 826 (). Illinois law defines demotion as the "assignment of an employee to a vacant position in a class having a lower maximum permissible salary or rate than the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Paine v. Johnson
...person would have known." Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982); see Akande v. Grounds, 555 F.3d 586, 589 (7th Cir.2009). The availability of qualified immunity turns on a two-part analysis: (1) whether the facts alleged or shown by the plaintiff mak......
-
Carlson v. City of Delafield
...the facts taken in the light most favorable to Carlson establish that his constitutional rights were violated. Akande v. Grounds, 555 F.3d 586, 589 n. 3 (7th Cir.2009).Property Interest Claim Carlson's first claim for relief is that he was deprived of a property interest in his position as ......
-
Casna v. City of Loves Park
...first demonstrate that she had a constitutionally protected property interest in her employment with Loves Park. See Akande v. Grounds, 555 F.3d 586, 590 (7th Cir.2009); Allen v. Martin, 460 F.3d 939, 946 (7th Cir.2006). That determination is grounded in Illinois law. Akande, 555 F.3d at 59......
-
McLaughlin v. Casler
...not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Akande v. Grounds, 555 F.3d 586, 589 (7th Cir. 2009). At the outset, we note that Casler and Fritz are entitled to qualified immunity since, as discussed above, McLaughlin has ......