Christy v. Pennsylvania Turnpike Com'n, Civ. A. No. 93-CV-3346.
| Decision Date | 09 March 1994 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 93-CV-3346. |
| Citation | 845 F. Supp. 1097 |
| Parties | Charles CHRISTY v. PENNSYLVANIA TURNPIKE COMMISSION, Robert Brady, John Boschi, Vincent Greco and John Stewart. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
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Imogene E. Hughes, John P. Hickey, Kenneth D. Kleinman, Kleinbard, Bell & Brecker, Philadelphia, PA, Joseph F. Lawless, Jr., Newtown Square, PA, for plaintiff.
Andrew Newman Howe, Michael M. Baylson, Duane, Morris & Heckscher, Philadelphia, PA, for defendants PA Turnpike Com'n, a Duly Organized and Existing Agency of the Com. of PA, Robert Brady, Individually and as a Com'r of the PA Turnpike Com'n, Vincent Greco, John A. Stewart, Individually and as Asst. Deputy Executive Directors — Maintenance of the PA Turnpike Com'n.
Andrew N. Howe, Duane, Morris & Heckscher, Lisa G. DiPietro, Reed, Smith, Shaw & McClay, Michael M. Baylson, Duane, Morris & Heckscher, David S. Fortney, Reed, Smith, Shaw & McClay, for defendant John Boschi, Individually and as Deputy Executive Director — Maintenance of the PA Turnpike Com'n.
Andrew Newman Howe, Duane, Morris & Heckscher, Philadelphia, PA, for defendants James J. Dodaro, Howard Yerusalim, Frank A. Ursomarso, James F. Malone, III, John L. Sokol, Jr., S. Michael Palermo, Joseph L. Dirienzo, Samuel S. Carnabuci, Melvin M. Shelton, Deborah Koval, Individually and in their Official Capacity, George Pilecki and Sean Pilecki, Individually.
By way of the motions presently before the Court, the defendants in this civil action seek the entry of summary judgment in their favor on all counts of the plaintiff's complaint against them. For the reasons set forth in the following paragraphs, the motions are denied.
On June 22, 1993, the plaintiff, Charles Christy, commenced this case against the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and its individual commissioners and personnel committee members pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985 and for the common law tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress for the defendants' alleged failure/refusal to give him a promotion solely on political grounds.1
According to the pleadings, the plaintiff has been employed by the Turnpike Commission since 1976 in various positions and has been employed since 1983 as an Auto Mechanic 1. On November 4, 1992, the Commission posted a job vacancy notice for the position of Paint Crew Foreman. Charles Christy subsequently applied for that position and on January 19, 1993, he was interviewed therefor by the defendants Boschi, Greco and Stewart. Although the pleadings and the record in this matter are silent as to the number of applicants who applied for the paint crew foreman job, it appears that the plaintiff was one of three final candidates found to be qualified by Boschi, Greco and Stewart and whose name was forwarded on to the commission's personnel committee for consideration. According to the plaintiff, regardless of the fact that he was the most qualified person for the job, the paint crew foreman position was awarded to one Sean Pilecki, who had only been employed by the Commission for the preceding 4 and ½ years but whose father, George Pilecki, had political ties to various high-ranking officials of the Philadelphia County branch of the Democratic Party. Plaintiff further alleges that he was also turned down for political reasons when he applied for the position of Eastern Division Equipment Supervisor in early 1993.
In response to the plaintiff's allegations of political bias, the defendants first contend that they made their hiring decisions on the basis of which candidate was the most and best qualified person for the job(s) for which the applications were being made. In addition, Defendants have raised a number of affirmative defenses to the plaintiff's lawsuit, including the defense of immunity from suit.
Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c) prescribes the appropriate principles to be applied by the district courts in determining motions for summary judgment. That rule states, in pertinent part:
... The judgment sought shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. A summary judgment, interlocutory in character, may be rendered on the issue of liability alone although there is a genuine issue as to the amount of damages.
Under this rule, the courts must look beyond the bare allegations of the pleadings to ascertain if they have sufficient factual support to warrant their consideration at trial. Liberty Lobby, Inc. v. Dow Jones & Co., 838 F.2d 1287 (D.C.Cir.1988), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 825, 109 S.Ct. 75, 102 L.Ed.2d 51 (1988). In making this determination, all of the facts must be viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and all reasonable inferences must be drawn in favor of that party as well. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); U.S. v. Kensington Hospital, 760 F.Supp. 1120, 1126-1127 (E.D.Pa. 1991).
This is not to say, however, that the non-moving party may rest upon the allegations contained in his or her pleading in defense of a summary judgment motion. To the contrary, Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e) states:
When a motion for summary judgment is made and supported as provided for in this rule, an adverse party may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of the adverse party's pleading, but the adverse party's response, by affidavits or as otherwise provided in this rule, must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. If the adverse party does not so respond, summary judgment, if appropriate, shall be entered against the adverse party.
Thus, while the moving party bears the initial burden of demonstrating the absence of a genuine issue of material fact, the non-movant must then establish the existence of each element of its case. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); J.F. Feeser, Inc. v. Serv-A-Portion, Inc., 909 F.2d 1524, 1531 (3rd Cir.1990), cert. denied, 499 U.S. 921, 111 S.Ct. 1313, 113 L.Ed.2d 246 (1991). In other words, for a plaintiff to avoid summary judgment, there must be sufficient evidence from which a jury could find for the plaintiff. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., supra, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. at 2510; Laidley v. McClain, 914 F.2d 1386, 1390 (10th Cir.1990).
At the outset, the defendants allege that they are entitle to the entry of judgment in their favor as a matter of law by virtue of the immunity provisions contained in the Eleventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Specifically, that Amendment reads:
The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.
Nevertheless, there are two methods by which a state's eleventh amendment immunity may be overcome. First, Congress may explicitly legislate to abrogate this immunity; and second, the state may voluntarily waive its eleventh amendment immunity. McConnell v. Adams, 829 F.2d 1319, 1328 (4th Cir.1987). Absent waiver, neither a State nor agencies acting under its control may be subject to suit in federal court. Puerto Rico Aqueduct & Sewer Authority v. Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., ___ U.S. ___, ___-___, 113 S.Ct. 684, 687-688, 121 L.Ed.2d 605 (1993). This principle applies with equal force to bar a civil rights suit in federal court that names the state or a state department or agency having no existence apart from the state as a defendant. See: Laskaris v. Thornburgh, 661 F.2d 23, 25 (3rd Cir.1981), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 886, 105 S.Ct. 260, 83 L.Ed.2d 196 (1984); Jimenez v. Lakelands Racing Association, Inc., 567 F.Supp. 1298, 1301 (W.D.Pa.1983).
The Supreme Court, however, has held that Congress did not intend by the general language of Section 1983 to override the traditional sovereign immunity of the States and, as the provisions of 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 8521 make clear, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has not consented to waive its eleventh amendment immunity:
Quern v. Jordan, 440 U.S. 332, 342, 99 S.Ct. 1139, 1145, 59 L.Ed.2d 358 (1979).
In those cases where the bar of the eleventh amendment is raised and there has been no waiver of the immunity arising thereunder, it thus becomes incumbent upon the Court to ascertain whether or not the agency raising the defense has a sufficiently close nexus with the state to render it immune from suit as well. Whether or not an agency or instrumentality is the alter ego of the state and, therefore, immune from suit by virtue of the eleventh amendment is a question of federal, not state law and turns upon facts widely variant from case to case. Smith v. New Jersey Transit Corp., 691 F.Supp. 888, 889 (E.D.Pa.1988); Harris v. Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, 410 F.2d 1332, 1337 (3rd Cir.1969), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 1005, 90 S.Ct. 558, 24 L.Ed.2d 497 (1970). However, state decisions concerning the relationship of an agency to the state may be an important,...
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Christy v. PENNSYLVANIA TURNPIKE COM'N
...denied the original Defendants, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, Brady, Boschi, Greco and Stewart's Motion for Summary Judgment. 845 F.Supp. 1097. This ruling was affirmed on interlocutory appeal by the Third Circuit in 1995 and certiorari denied by the United States Supreme Court. 54 ......