Blair v. Wills, 04-2434.

• Decision Date: 25 August 2005
• Docket Number: No. 04-2540.,No. 04-2434.,No. 04-2539.,04-2434.,04-2539.,04-2540.
• Citation: 420 F.3d 823
• Parties: Jordan BLAIR, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Bob WILLS, also known as W.B. Wills, also known as Bobby Ray Wills; Betty ue Wills; Sam Gerhardt; Deborah Gerhardt; Bo Gerhardt; Julie Gerhardt; Drew Parrish; Robert O'Brient; Robert Kennedy, doing business as Mountain Park Boarding Academy; Palm Lane Baptist Church, Inc., Defendants-Appellees. Jordan Blair, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Bob Wills, also known as W.B. Wills, also known as Bobby Ray Wills; Betty Sue Wills; Sam Gerhardt; Deborah Gerhardt, Defendants-Appellants, Bo Gerhardt, Defendant, Julie Gerhardt; Drew Parrish; Bill Cavitt; Robert O'Brient; Aaron Smith; Robert Kennedy; Mike Pardos, doing business as Mountain Park Boarding Academy; Palm Lane Baptist Church, Inc., Defendants-Appellants. Jordan Blair, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Bob Wills, also known as W.B. Wills, also known as Bobby Ray Wills; Betty Sue Wills; Sam Gerhardt; Deborah Gerhardt, Defendants, Bo Gerhardt, Defendant-Appellant, Julie Gerhardt; Drew Parrish; Robert O'Brient; Robert Kennedy, doing business as Mountain Park Boarding Academy; Palm Lane Baptist Church, Inc., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

420 F.3d 823

Jordan BLAIR, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Bob WILLS, also known as W.B. Wills, also known as Bobby Ray Wills; Betty ue Wills; Sam Gerhardt; Deborah Gerhardt; Bo Gerhardt; Julie Gerhardt; Drew Parrish; Robert O'Brient; Robert Kennedy, doing business as Mountain Park Boarding Academy; Palm Lane Baptist Church, Inc., Defendants-Appellees.

Jordan Blair, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Bob Wills, also known as W.B. Wills, also known as Bobby Ray Wills; Betty Sue Wills; Sam Gerhardt; Deborah Gerhardt, Defendants-Appellants, Bo Gerhardt, Defendant, Julie Gerhardt; Drew Parrish; Bill Cavitt; Robert O'Brient; Aaron Smith; Robert Kennedy; Mike Pardos, doing business as Mountain Park Boarding Academy; Palm Lane Baptist Church, Inc., Defendants-Appellants.

Jordan Blair, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Bob Wills, also known as W.B. Wills, also known as Bobby Ray Wills; Betty Sue Wills; Sam Gerhardt; Deborah Gerhardt, Defendants, Bo Gerhardt, Defendant-Appellant, Julie Gerhardt; Drew Parrish; Robert O'Brient; Robert Kennedy, doing business as Mountain Park Boarding Academy; Palm Lane Baptist Church, Inc., Defendants.

No. 04-2434.

No. 04-2539.

No. 04-2540.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: March 15, 2005.

Filed: August 25, 2005.

Oscar Amos Stilley, argued, Fort Smith, AR, for appellant/cross-appellee.

John D. Briggs, argued, St. Louis, MO, for Bob Wills, Appellee/Cross-Appellant.

John L. Oliver, argued, Cape Girardeau, MO, for Bo Gerhardt, Appellee/Cross-Appellant.

Before ARNOLD, BOWMAN, and RILEY, Circuit Judges.

BOWMAN, Circuit Judge.

Jordan Blair sued the Appellees, alleging that they violated various federal and state laws while Blair was a student at boarding schools in Missouri and Florida. Prior to trial, the District Court granted the Appellees' motion to dismiss Blair's claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2000) and the Appellees' motion for summary judgment on Blair's state-law claim of false imprisonment. The District Court also granted summary judgment on Blair's state-law battery claim with respect to all Appellees except for Bo Gerhardt. During trial, the District Court granted the Appellees' motion for judgment as a matter of law on Blair's claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219 (2000). Blair's battery claim against Bo Gerhardt was submitted to the jury, which returned a verdict against Gerhardt and awarded Blair $20,000 in damages. The District Court denied Gerhardt's motion for a new trial. Blair appeals the District Court's adverse rulings as to his claims, and we affirm. Bo Gerhardt cross-appeals the District Court's denial of his motion for a new trial. We reverse the District Court's judgment with respect to Gerhardt's motion and remand for a new trial.

I.

In October 2001, Blair, who was sixteen years old at the time, was arrested in Crawford County, Arkansas, and charged with terroristic threatening and criminal mischief. Blair's parents asked the Juvenile Division of the Circuit Court of Crawford County, Arkansas (Juvenile Court), to place Blair on probation and order him to complete a residential term at a Baptist boarding academy in lieu of sentencing him to a term of confinement at a juvenile detention facility. At Blair's juvenile adjudication hearing, the Juvenile Court ordered that Blair be placed on probation and that, as a term of his probation, Blair complete "in-patient/residential treatment at Baptist Boys Academy in Missouri (or like facility)." Joint. App. at 250 (Order of Juvenile Court dated October 24, 2001).

Blair's parents had previously submitted an application for Blair's enrollment at Mountain Park Boarding Academy in Missouri (Mountain Park) and had executed a power of attorney delegating parental authority to school administrators. School administrators recommended that Blair be transferred to Mountain Park's sister school, Palm Lane Academy in Florida (Palm Lane), after a brief stay at Mountain Park, and Blair's parents agreed. Pursuant to his parents' wishes, Blair was transported to Mountain Park immediately after the adjudication hearing and remained at the school from October 24, 2001, until November 9, 2001, at which time he was transferred to Palm Lane. He resided at Palm Lane until he left without permission on March 15, 2002.

Mountain Park and Palm Lane are Baptist boarding schools offering students an "Accelerated Christian Education" curriculum. In conjunction with this curriculum, students attending the schools are required to perform various chores, including laundry, cleaning, lawn-mowing, brush-clearing, painting, general maintenance, and other tasks. School administrators testified that performing the various chores is an integral part of the learning environment at Mountain Park and Palm Lane and is intended to instill in each student a sense of teamwork, responsibility, accomplishment, and pride.

Blair alleges that, pursuant to the Appellees' policies, he was physically and psychologically abused while residing at Mountain Park and Palm Lane. Among other allegations, he maintains that the Appellees denied him reasonable bathroom privileges; forced him to remain on school premises; assaulted him; subjected him to systematic sleep deprivation; required him to attend religious services; and forced him to work without pay in Appellees' for-profit businesses. This alleged mistreatment forms the basis of Blair's various claims.

II.

Blair first argues that the District Court erred in dismissing his § 1983 claim under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. As a preliminary matter, we note that although the District Court described its ruling as a dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6), it appears that the Appellees offered affidavits and other documents outside the pleadings in support of their motion and that the District Court considered these submissions in making its ruling. Because the court considered matters outside the pleadings, the Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss is treated as a Rule 56 motion for summary judgment. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b). In such a case, notice to the nonmoving party — whether actual or constructive — is typically required. See Angel v. Williams, 12 F.3d 786, 788 (8th Cir.1993) (noting that Rule 12(b) "does not require the court to give affirmative notice to the parties of its intent to consider matters outside the complaint"; constructive notice is sufficient when plaintiff has adequate time to respond). In the circumstances of this case, any lack of formal notice by the District Court that it would treat the motion filed by the Appellees as a motion for summary judgment rather than a motion to dismiss was harmless. The Appellees filed their motion to dismiss on July 19, 2002. Blair filed his response on August 7, 2002. The District Court granted Blair leave to amend his complaint on August 29, 2002 — well after the Appellees submitted their facts. The court did not rule on the Appellees' motion until December 2, 2002, over three months after Blair filed his First Amended Complaint. Blair had ample opportunity to respond to the Appellees' motion, and there has been no showing that material facts were disputed or missing from the record. See Madewell v. Downs, 68 F.3d 1030, 1048 (8th Cir.1995) (stating lack of formal notice is harmless if the nonmoving party had an adequate opportunity to respond to the motion, and material facts were neither disputed nor missing from the record); Davis v. Johnson Controls, Inc., 21 F.3d 866, 867 (8th Cir.) (same), cert, denied, 513 U.S. 964, 115 S.Ct. 426, 130 L.Ed.2d 340 (1994).

Having determined that the District Court's Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal should be treated as a Rule 56 grant of summary judgment, we must determine whether it was properly granted. We review de novo the District Court's grant of summary judgment. Shanklin v. Fitzgerald, 397 F.3d 596, 602 (8th Cir.2005). Summary judgment is proper only where there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id. (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)). We view the evidence and the inferences that may reasonably be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Id.

To proceed on his § 1983 claim, Blair was required to establish that the Appellees deprived him of his constitutional rights while acting "under color of state law." See Adams ex rel. Harris v. Boy Scouts of Am.-Chickasaw Council, 271 F.3d 769, 777-78 (8th Cir.2001) (noting that conduct of private party may be attributed to state where state has "situated itself in a position of interdependence with" private party). Blair attempts to satisfy this requirement by arguing that, because the Juvenile Court ordered him to attend Mountain Park, state action may be imputed to the school. The District Court found this argument unavailing and so do we. At the request of Blair's parents, the Juvenile Court ordered that Blair complete treatment at "Baptist Boys Academy in Missouri (or like facility)." Joint App. at 250 (Order of Juvenile Court dated October 24, 2001) (emphasis added). Contrary to Blair's assertions, the Juvenile Court did not place Blair at Mountain Park or Palm Lane. Rather, the choice of boarding school was left to Blair's parents, who completed an application for Blair's admission at Mountain Park, consented to Blair's transfer to Palm Lane, and signed a power of attorney delegating authority over Blair to school administrators. Blair did not establish that Mountain Park or Palm Lane received state-provided funds or accepted referrals or placements directly from state courts. Because Blair presented no evidence that the Appellees were acting under color of state law, the District Court did not err in granting the Appellees' motion for summary judgment on Blair's § 1983 claim.

III.

Blair next argues that the District Court erred in granting the Appellees' motion for summary judgment on his...