Bolden v. Pennsylvania State Police
Citation | 371 F. Supp. 1096 |
Decision Date | 08 March 1974 |
Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 73-2604. |
Parties | William BOLDEN, III, et al., Plaintiffs, v. PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE, Defendant. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
Harold I. Goodman, Community Legal Services, Inc., Robert J. Reinstein, Philadelphia, Pa., for plaintiffs.
Benjamin Lerner, Harrisburg, Pa., for defendant.
This is a civil suit commenced by the named plaintiff, William H. Bolden, III, as a class action in order to enjoin an alleged past and continuing pattern of employment discrimination against minorities by the Pennsylvania State Police. This action charges violation of rights under the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments and 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 1981, 1983, 1985(3) and 1988. The jurisdiction of this Court is invoked under 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 1331 and 1343 and, in addition, this Court's pendent jurisdiction is invoked.
Plaintiff's individual claim involves his dismissal from the State Police. Presently before the Court is plaintiff's claim for final relief limited to two legal theories without prejudice to other theories he might assert.1
Plaintiff is a black citizen of the United States and a resident of the state of Pennsylvania.
Prior to his employment with the State Police, plaintiff was employed from January, 1964 to January, 1972 with the Philadelphia Police Department.
Plaintiff was appointed as a Cadet with the Pennsylvania State Police on January 27, 1972, and, as is customary, served six months as a Cadet. Plaintiff was then made a Trooper on July 13, 1972.
During his employment, plaintiff served commendably and with distinction, having received satisfactory evaluations from his supervisors and having been praised by members of the community.
At 9:35 A.M. on July 27, 1973, plaintiff received by hand a letter informing him that he was dismissed from the Pennsylvania State Police. This letter is dated July 24, 1973, and states that plaintiff is dismissed effective midnight, Wednesday, July 25, 1973. The letter states that a review of an investigation into his financial problems revealed that he had violated section 1:31 of the State Police Field Regulations, and the action purports to be in compliance with section 205 of the Administrative Code of Pennsylvania concerning the Pennsylvania State Police, 71 P.S. § 65(f) (pocket part). We set out the state law at length for it is fully dispositive of the issues involved.
Section 1:31 provides:
Section 205 of the Administrative Code provides, subsection (f):
"All new cadets and troopers shall serve a probationary period of eighteen months from date of original enlistment, during which time they may be dismissed by the commissioner for violations of rules and regulations, incompetency, and insufficiency without action of a court martial board or the right of appeal to a civil court."
However, subsection (e) of that same section provides:
"No enlisted member of the Pennsylvania State Police shall be dismissed from service or reduced in rank except by action of a court martial board held upon the recommendation of the Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police and the Governor."
71 P.S. § 65(e), (f) (pocket part).
This latter provision is further explicated in section 711 of the Administrative Code, 71 P.S. § 251(b)(1), (2), (4) (pocket part):
In addition, pursuant to the authority vested in his office by section 711(a) of the Administrative Code, 71 P.S. § 251(a) (pocket part), the commissioner has promulgated disciplinary regulations for the State Police concerning less serious sanctions than dismissal, reduction in rank or refusal of reenlistment and procedures for disciplinary action. However, these regulations were apparently not effective at the time of the transactions involved herein. Thus, we do not rely upon them; however, we note that our disposition of this case is fully consistent with these regulations.
We have concluded that plaintiff's dismissal violated both his rights under the applicable provisions of the Pennsylvania Code set out above and under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
The basis for the discharge in this case involved an alleged inability to pay debts. The parties are in dispute as to whether, in fact, plaintiff was in violation of this regulation; however, we only refer to this insofar as necessary to illuminate the procedural issues with which we must presently deal.
The investigation which led to dismissal was prompted by a letter, dated May 15, 1973, from a lawyer to the State Police Commissioner concerning an allegedly delinquent account of plaintiff with a particular commercial establishment. The information contained in this letter was, at least in part, factually incorrect and apologies were made and clarifying letters sent to the State Police. Nevertheless, a general investigation was performed about which plaintiff was informed by a superior officer, and plaintiff did submit information on some of his debts on request.
However, from said time until his dismissal, plaintiff did not receive a request for information on or clarification of his entire debt structure, nor was plaintiff informed that as a result of the investigation, it had been concluded that disciplinary action was appropriate in his case, and finally plaintiff was not afforded a hearing to explain his debt structure; information concerning which was the basis of his dismissal.
First, we conclude that plaintiff was entitled to the procedural rights set out above for enlisted members before being dismissed from the State Police. It is undisputed that the plaintiff was not afforded the same.
The controversy in this regard is over the question of whether or not plaintiff was a probationary or enlisted member of the ...
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McKnight v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transp. Authority, Civ. A. No. 76-3060.
...Johnson v. Board of Regents, 377 F.Supp. 227 (W.D. Wis.1974), aff'd mem., 510 F.2d 975 (7th Cir. 1975); Bolden v. Pennsylvania State Police, 371 F.Supp. 1096 (E.D.Pa.1974); and Monti v. Flaherty, 351 F.Supp. 1136 (W.D.Pa. 1972), as well as the following language from Perry v. Sindermann, 40......
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Lane v. Bonin
...continued employment for which due process requires a hearing, " (emphasis added). Blanding at 1307; citing Bolden v. Pennsylvania State Police, 371 F. Supp. 1096 (M.D. Pa. 1974). Further, this Court has held "that the terms of the collective bargaining agreement ["CBA"] between the Commonw......
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Foxworth v. Pennsylvania State Police
...to note that, unrelated to Plaintiff's case, the PSP's hiring practices have in the past been challenged. See Bolden v. Pa. State Police, 371 F.Supp. 1096 (E.D.Pa.1974). In the Bolden litigation, a class action commenced more than thirty years ago and alleging discrimination in employment a......
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Lane v. Bonin
...continued employment for which due process requires a hearing,” ( emphasis added ). Blanding at 1307; citing Bolden v. Pennsylvania State Police, 371 F.Supp. 1096 (M.D.Pa.1974). Further, this Court has held “that the terms of the collective bargaining agreement [“CBA”] between the Commonwea......