Benson v. Allphin
| Decision Date | 16 July 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 77 C 3212,77 C 3713.,77 C 3212 |
| Citation | 544 F. Supp. 464 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
| Parties | William J. BENSON, Plaintiff and Counter-Defendant, v. Robert H. ALLPHIN, Defendant and Counter-Plaintiff. William J. BENSON, Lorraine Benson, Jerrald A. Benson and Mark E. Benson, Plaintiffs, v. Robert H. ALLPHIN, Former Director of the Illinois Department of Revenue, Robert M. Whitler, Director of the Illinois Department of Revenue, Daniel J. Lenckos, Assistant Director of the Illinois Department of Revenue, George T. Rummel, Former Associate Director of the Illinois Department of Revenue, John Gallagher, Former Supervisor of Investigations Division for the Illinois Department of Revenue, Philip Mitchel, Manager of Investigation Division for the Illinois Department of Revenue, Robert Motta, Investigator and Property Officer for the Illinois Department of Revenue, George Diaz, Trooper for the Illinois State Police, William Troller, Investigator for the Department of Law Enforcement, and Unknown Defendants, acting as Agents, Subordinates and Employees of the aforementioned defendants, Defendants. |
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Andrew B. Spiegel, Steven Ackerman, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiffs.
John E. Angle, Kirkland & Ellis, David L. Carden, Coffield, Ungaretti, Harris & Slavin, Samuel J. Betar, Paul J. Petit, Betar & Petit, Chicago, Ill., for defendants.
Plaintiffs, William, Lorraine, Mark and Jerrald Benson brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against defendants Robert Allphin, Robert Whitler, Daniel Lenckos, George Rummel, John Gallagher, Philip Mitchel, Michael Berry, Robert Motta, George Diaz, William Troller and various unknown others, all former officials or employees of the Illinois Department of Revenue. William Benson, a former Investigator for the Department of Revenue, alleges in Count I of his complaint in 77 C 3712 that following his discharge from employment with the Department, defendants conspired to harass him in retaliation for his exercise of First Amendment rights in connection with his disclosure of particular improprieties in the collection of cigarette taxes by Department of Revenue officials. Lorraine, Mark and Jerrald Benson allege that they were also victimized by overt acts carried out by Diaz and Troller and various unknown defendants. Plaintiffs seek declaratory relief and $14,000,000 in punitive damages. William Benson alleges in Count II of his complaint in 77 C 3713 that he was fired from his position with the Department of Revenue without due process of law and in retaliation for his disclosures to other law enforcement agencies and the news media. Benson seeks declaratory relief, reinstatement, restitution and punitive damages in Count II.
Presently before the Court are defendants' motions to strike certain allegations contained in Count I and for summary judgment on the balance of Count I. Defendants have also moved for summary judgment on Count II of the complaint. For the reasons discussed below, defendants' motion to strike and their motion for summary judgment on Count II will be denied. Defendants' motion for summary judgment on Count I will be granted in part and denied in part.
Defendants first seek to strike plaintiffs' allegations that Allphin, Motta, Mitchel, Berry, Rummel, Gallagher, Diaz and Troller conspired to harass and punish William Benson for his disclosures concerning the Department of Revenue's alleged improprieties by falsely stigmatizing him publicly as a "confidential informant."1 Defendants' motion is predicated on the general principle, established by the Supreme Court in Paul v. Davis, 424 U.S. 693, 708-710, 96 S.Ct. 1155, 1164-1165, 47 L.Ed.2d 405 (1976), that defamation by a state official does not constitute an actionable claim under § 1983 unless it occurs in conjunction with the plaintiff's termination of employment. In the present case, defendants argue that the defamation could not have occurred in conjunction with the termination of William Benson's employment because the defamation occurred several months after the termination. Accordingly, defendants contend, these allegations must be stricken as insufficient to state a claim for relief under § 1983.
Defendants' argument is misconceived for several reasons. First, the Supreme Court's decision in Paul v. Davis does not, as defendants suggest, establish that defamation rises to the level of an actionable claim under § 1983 only when accompanied by a termination of plaintiff's employment.2 Rather, Paul established that because individuals do not normally enjoy a constitutionally cognizable liberty or property interest in their good name or reputation, 424 U.S. at 712, 96 S.Ct. at 1165, defamation by a state official acting under color of law does not, standing alone, rise to the level of a constitutional deprivation for purposes of § 1983. The stigma resulting from official defamation must itself result in a further deprivation of a right otherwise protected by the Bill of Rights or state law. 424 U.S. at 710-712, 96 S.Ct. at 1164-1165. Accordingly, this Circuit and others have devised a "stigma-plus" standard against which to measure the sufficiency of a plaintiff's defamation claim under § 1983. Moore v. Otero, 557 F.2d 435, 437 (5th Cir. 1977); Sullivan v. Brown, 544 F.2d 279, 283-84 (6th Cir. 1976); Colaizzi v. Walker, 542 F.2d 969, 973-74 (7th Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 960, 97 S.Ct. 1610, 51 L.Ed.2d 811 (1977); Stretten v. Wadsworth Veterans Hospital, 537 F.2d 361, 365-66 (9th Cir. 1976). The "plus" required under this standard typically includes, but is not limited to, the termination of plaintiff's employment.
In the present case, the "plus" associated with defendants' allegedly stigmatizing charge is the deprivation of William Benson's First Amendment right to disclose the improprieties of the Illinois Department of Revenue. The deprivation alleged in the complaint results from defendants' retaliation against William Benson for the exercise of his First Amendment rights in the past as well as the continuing threat of future retaliations for future disclosures. An official act in retaliation for the exercise of a constitutionally protected right is actionable under § 1983, even if the act, when taken for a different reason, might otherwise have been proper. Mount Healthy Board of Education v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 283, 97 S.Ct. 568, 574, 50 L.Ed.2d 471 (1977); Buise v. Hudkins, 584 F.2d 223, 229-30 (7th Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 916, 99 S.Ct. 1234, 59 L.Ed.2d 466 (1979).
Defendants seek summary judgment on those portions of Count I which allege that the conspiracy to harass plaintiffs was carried out, in part, by "unknown defendants" who committed various hostile acts against William, Jerrald, Mark and Lorraine Benson.3 Although this case was filed five years ago and extensive discovery has taken place since that time, plaintiffs have failed to produce any evidence concerning either the identity of these unknown defendants or their connection to the named defendants.4 While the non-moving party plaintiffs are entitled to all reasonable inferences in their favor on a motion for summary judgment, plaintiffs cannot create an issue of material fact through conjecture or speculation as to what evidence might be adduced at trial or what might be turned up by still further discovery. Abiodun v. Martin Oil Service, Inc., 475 F.2d 142, 144 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 866, 94 S.Ct. 57, 38 L.Ed.2d 86 (1973); Automotive Wholesalers of Illinois v. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, 501 F.Supp. 1205, 1211-12 (N.D.Ill.1980). See generally Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e). Without any evidence connecting these overt acts to either the named defendants or to the conspiracy alleged in the complaint, the mere occurrence of hostile acts against the Bensons does not support the finding of a conspiracy involving the named defendants.5Cf. Hickey v. New Castle County, 428 F.Supp. 606, 611 (D.Del. 1977). Accordingly, the Court will grant summary judgment to the named defendants as to their liability under plaintiff's conspiracy allegations for acts perpetrated against the Bensons by unknown defendants.6
Defendants also seek summary judgment on those portions of Count I which allege that defendants Diaz and Troller conducted surveillance of the Bensons including, presumably, Jerrald, Mark and Lorraine Benson as well as William Benson; assaulted Mark and Lorraine Benson; drew a service revolver and used vile language against Mark Benson; and issued and prosecuted a traffic citation against Mark Benson in bad faith. Amended and Supplemental Complaint, ¶ 19, g, h, i, j, k, l, n, o, p. Defendants argue that Jerrald, Mark and Lorraine Benson, even if the victims of defendants' conspiracy to harass William Benson, lack standing to sue derivatively for the alleged deprivation of William Benson's First Amendment rights. Plaintiffs contend, on the other hand, that Diaz and Troller's conduct deprived Jerrald, Mark and Lorraine Benson of their own constitutional rights, independent of these rights allegedly deprived William Benson. Specifically, Jerrald, Mark and Lorraine Benson allege that defendants' conduct deprived them of the "right to be free in their persons, house, papers, and effects from unreasonable searches and seizures."7 Amended and Supplemental Complaint, ¶ 20.
Plaintiffs' conclusory allegations concerning the nature of their personal deprivation are not sufficient to state a claim upon which relief can be granted under § 1983.8 Jerrald, Mark and Lorraine Benson do not explain how their Fourth Amendment rights were threatened by defendants' conduct. Indeed, as described in the complaint, the overt acts taken by Diaz and Troller against these plaintiffs...
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