Bell v. Metropolitan School Dist. of Shakamak

Citation582 F. Supp. 3
Decision Date24 August 1983
Docket NumberNo. TH 80-166-C.,TH 80-166-C.
PartiesBetty Charlene BELL, Plaintiff, v. The METROPOLITAN SCHOOL DISTRICT OF SHAKAMAK, Defendant.
CourtU.S. District Court — Southern District of Indiana

William K. Bennett, Lafayette, Ind., for plaintiff.

Sacopulos, Crawford & Johnson, Terre Haute, Ind., for defendant.

ORDER

BROOKS, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court upon the defendant's motion for summary judgment and this order does not directly address the merits of the plaintiff's complaint.

This cause of action is brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and seeks damages stemming from the defendant's decision not to rehire the plaintiff after the 1975-1976 school year. The complaint alleges that the plaintiff, a non-tenured teacher, was not rehired by the defendant, The Metropolitan School District of Shakamak, because she exercised her first amendment rights and it alleges that the decision not to rehire violated the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment.

The defendant insists that the plaintiff's claims are time barred and has moved for dismissal based upon the appropriate statute of limitations and laches. Specifically, the defendant's motion for summary judgment urges dismissal for the following reasons:

(1) applicability of Ind.Code § 34-1-2-2(1), which bars the plaintiff's claim for failure to commence her action within two (2) years of the alleged injury;
(2) applicability of Ind.Code § 34-1-2-1.5, which bars the plaintiff's complaint for failure to commence her action within two (2) years of the action or omission complained of;
(3) applicability of Ind.Code § 34-4-16.5-7, the Indiana Tort Claims Act, which bars the plaintiff's claim for failure to file notice with the defendant within one hundred eighty (180) days after the loss occurs;
(4) applicability of the equitable doctrine of laches;
(5) the failure of the actions of the Board of Trustees of the Metropolitan School District of Shakamak to constitute an official policy, custom, or decision of the Metropolitan School District required by 42 U.S.C. § 1983. See Monell v. Department of Social Services of City of N.Y. 436 U.S. 658, 694 98 S.Ct. 2018, 2037, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978).

In opposition to the defendant's motion, the plaintiff contends the appropriate statute of limitations is Ind.Code § 34-1-2-2(2) which allows the plaintiff's claim as it was filed within five (5) years and is accordingly against a "public officer." Further, the plaintiff argues the inappropriateness of the notice requirement of the Indiana Tort Claims Act, the inapplicability of laches, and the officiality of the decision of the School District.

I

Because Congress did not establish a limitations period for §§ 1981 and 1983 actions federal courts apply the state law of limitations governing the most analogous cause of action. Board of Regents v. Tomanio, 446 U.S. 478, 483-4, 100 S.Ct. 1790, 1794-95, 64 L.Ed.2d 440 (1980); Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc., 421 U.S. 454, 462, 95 S.Ct. 1716, 1721, 44 L.Ed.2d 295 (1975); Movement for the Opportunity v. General Motors Corp., 622 F.2d 1235, 1241 (7th Cir.1980); Beard v. Robinson, 563 F.2d 331, 334 (7th Cir.1977), cert. denied, 438 U.S. 907, 98 S.Ct. 3125, 57 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1978); Hill v. Trustees of Indiana University, 537 F.2d 248, 254 (7th Cir.1976).

The Indiana statutory scheme offers an array of limitation periods from which the Court must select the most appropriate one: one hundred eighty (180) days — Tort Claims Act; two (2) years — personal injury or injury to personal property and employment agreements not in writing; five (5) years — actions against "public officials" six (6) years — written contracts (not specifically pleaded by the plaintiffs); and fifteen (15) years — catch-all provision.

Ultimately, the problem to be considered is whether the two (2) year statute of limitations pursuant to Ind.Code § 34-1-2-1.5 and Ind.Code § 34-1-2-2(1) or the five (5) year statute pursuant to Ind.Code § 34-1-2-2(2) applies to the present cause of action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1976). But prior to that decision the alternative statutory periods must be considered.

II

In selecting the statute of limitations for § 1983 causes of action, "it is the duty of the federal courts to assure that the importation of state law will not frustrate or interfere with the implementation of national policies." Occidental Life Insurance Co. v. EEOC, 432 U.S. 355, 367, 97 S.Ct. 2447, 2455, 53 L.Ed.2d 402 (1977). Therefore, the one hundred eighty (180) day notice requirement can be held inapplicable to the present case because it is not consistent with the federal policy behind this cause of action. See Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, 421 U.S. 454, 465, 95 S.Ct. 1716, 1722, 44 L.Ed.2d 295 (1975); Knoll v. Springfield Tp. School District, 699 F.2d 137, 141 (3d Cir.1983); Childers v. Independent School District No. 1 of Bryan County, 676 F.2d 1338, 1343 (10th Cir.1982); Beard v. Robinson, 563 F.2d 331, 334 (7th Cir.1977).

Several cases have applied a two (2) year statutory period for civil rights claims. Movement for Opportunity and Equality v. General Motors, 622 F.2d 1235 (7th Cir. 1980); Hill v. Trustees of Indiana, 537 F.2d 248 (7th Cir.1976); Minority Police Officers Ass'n v. City of South Bend, Indiana, 555 F.Supp. 921 (N.D.Ind.1983); Sturgeon v. City of Bloomington, 532 F.Supp. 89 (S.D.Ind.1982). Also, a number of cases support the application of a five (5) year statutory period. Blake v. Katter, 693 F.2d 677 (7th Cir.1982); Sacks Brothers Loan Co., Inc. v. Cunningham, 578 F.2d 172 (7th Cir.1978); Bottos v. Avakian, 477 F.Supp. 610 (N.D.Ind.1979). This is the prevailing view in the State of Illinois. Teague v. Caterpillar Tractor Company, 566 F.2d 7 (7th Cir.1977); Beard v. Robinson, 563 F.2d 331 (7th Cir.1977); Wakat v. Harlib, 253 F.2d 59 (7th Cir.1958); Gates v. Montalbano, 550 F.Supp. 81 (N.D.Ill.1982).

The Illinois cases, Wakat, Beard, Teague, and Gates, have applied Illinois' five (5) year residual statute of limitations which has been interpreted to apply to statutorily created causes of action. Indiana has not applied its residual statute with a fifteen (15) year period generally for the same reason that the shorter Tort Claims period is not presently applicable — inconsistency with the underlying federal policy and a resulting lack of uniformity among the states in this circuit and the other circuits. See Movement for Opportunity v. General Motors, 622 F.2d at 1242 (7th Cir. 1980); Gantt v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., 17 Emp.Prac.D. ¶ 8502 (N.D.Ind.1978) (Indiana 15 year statute is not appropriate for § 1981 action). Thus, the Indiana fifteen (15) year residual statutory period can be held similarly inapplicable to the present case.

III

The debate in Movement for Opportunity focuses mainly upon the two (2) year tort statute, Ind.Code § 34-1-2-2, and the six (6) year statute governing contractual actions, Ind.Code § 34-1-2-1.1 That court determined that the two (2) year statute was most appropriate for the § 1981 action where racial and sexual discrimination allegedly occurred in the hiring, job assignment, setting of pay, transfer, and promotion of workers at the defendant's manufacturing plant.

Similarly, as the court did not apply the six (6) year contract statute in Movement for Opportunity for hourly and salaried employees the Court need not apply the six (6) year period upon the present facts. The plaintiff is undisputably without tenure and it is well determined that "nonpermanent teachers have no contractual right to continued employment." Alpin v. Porter School Township of Porter County, 413 N.E.2d 999, 1003 (Ind.Ct.App.1980). The plaintiff's contract expires yearly and it is only upon a vote by the Trustees of the School District that the plaintiff is rehired and her old contract is rekindled into a new one term employment period. Thus, to hold that the plaintiff should benefit from a statute specifically designed for rights less tenuous than the plaintiffs would be incorrect.

IV

Returning to the threshold issue, whether the two (2) year period or the five (5) year period should be applied, an analysis of the Indiana cases which have applied the five (5) year period reveals that each has involved a "public officer" as a named defendant. Blake v. Katter, 693 F.2d 677 (7th Cir.1982); Sacks Brothers Loan Co., Inc. v. Cunningham, 578 F.2d 172 (7th Cir.1978); Bottos v. Avakian, 477 F.Supp. 610 (N.D.Ind.1979). Clearly, the School District is subject to suit pursuant to § 1983 as "persons" under that statute. Monell v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978); Mazanec v. North Judson-San Pierre School Corporation, 552 F.Supp. 873, 876 (N.D.Indiana 1982). But, to apply the five year statute to the present facts, as urged by the plaintiff, the Court must find that the Metropolitan School District of Shakamak is a "public official" as referred to in Ind. Code § 34-1-2-2(2). That statute states:

(2) All actions against a sheriff, or other public officer, or against such officer and his sureties on a public bond, growing out of a liability incurred by doing an act in an official capacity, or by the omission of an official duty, within five 5 years; but an action may be brought against the officer or his legal representatives, for money collected in an official capacity, and not paid over, at any time within six 6 years.

The Blake Court noted a two step analysis for the application of Ind.Code § 34-1-2-2(2) that requires (1) a public officer and (2) the performance of the controversial act while in the official capacity. 693 F.2d at 680. Further the Blake court defined a public officer as "one who holds an office having special duties prescribed by law to serve a public purpose, and that those duties were invested with some of the functions pertinent to sovereignty." Id. Blake and Battos respectively held that police...

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