Crain v. Board of Police Com'rs of Metropolitan Police Dept. of City of St. Louis

• Decision Date: 11 February 1991
• Docket Number: No. 89-2101,89-2101
• Citation: 920 F.2d 1402
• Parties: 55 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 40,415 Daniel CRAIN; George Buckner, III, Appellants, v. BOARD OF POLICE COMMISSIONERS OF the METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT OF the CITY OF ST. LOUIS; Robert J. Bauer; John J. Frank; James E. Mosbacher; William H. Young, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 1402

920 F.2d 1402

55 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 40,415

Daniel CRAIN; George Buckner, III, Appellants, v. BOARD OF POLICE COMMISSIONERS OF the METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT OF the CITY OF ST. LOUIS; Robert J Bauer; John J. Frank; James E Mosbacher; William H. Young, Appellees.

No. 89-2101.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

Submitted April 12, 1990.

Decided Dec. 12, 1990.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc

Denied Feb. 11, 1991.

Ross H. Briggs, St. Louis, Mo., for appellants.

Phillip I. Morse of Danis, Boyce & Morse, St. Louis, Mo., for appellees.

Before JOHN R. GIBSON and BOWMAN, Circuit Judges, and HENLEY, Senior Circuit Judge.

BOWMAN, Circuit Judge.

Daniel Crain and George Buckner III, a former and present police officer respectively, brought this action for injunctive and declaratory relief under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 (1982) against the Board of Police Commissioners of the Metropolitan Police Department of the City of St. Louis and certain police commissioners in their official capacities only (hereinafter referred to collectively as "Police Board"). Crain and Buckner allege that certain provisions of the sick leave regulations of the St. Louis Police Department are unconstitutional. In addition, Crain sues for damages and equitable relief, including reinstatement to the police force, on the grounds that his discharge from employment for violating the sick leave regulations infringed on his rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The District Court ¹ entered summary judgment in favor of the Police Board on all three counts. ² We affirm.

I.

Crain and Buckner argue that the sick leave regulations at issue, which prohibit an officer on sick leave from leaving his residence except to obtain medical treatment or attention, impinge on a variety of constitutional rights, including their rights to free exercise of religion, to vote, to travel, and to freely associate. Crain, who was discharged for violating the sick leave regulations, further claims that his discharge was in retaliation for his filing a grievance concerning the sick leave regulations, in violation of his First Amendment rights, and that the procedure used by the Police Board in discharging him violated his right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. Before proceeding to the merits of these claims, we address the standing and mootness issues raised by the Police Board in its motion for summary judgment. ³

In its motion for summary judgment, the Police Board argued that Crain did not have standing to challenge the sick leave regulations because his discharge on February 14, 1986, could not be traced to the sick leave policy since Crain also was fired for an entirely separate violation of police regulations--absenting himself from duty without leave. The Police Board further argued that because Crain was fired on the same date for a violation of police regulations that were totally separate from the sick leave policy, his claims alleging retaliation and a denial of due process regarding his discharge were moot. According to the record, Crain was charged with two separate violations of police regulations: leaving his residence while on sick leave for purposes other than obtaining medical treatment and absenting himself from duty without leave. On September 12, 1985, Crain was afforded separate and individual evidentiary hearings on each of the two charges. Following the hearings, the Hearing Officer prepared two separate Recommended Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, finding Crain guilty of both violations. The decision as to what punishment was appropriate for the infractions, however, was made in a single Police Board meeting held on February 14, 1986.

The District Court addressed the issue of Crain's standing in its order granting summary judgment and found Crain had standing because he suffered direct injury as a result of an application of the challenged sick leave regulations. Implicit in the District Court's conclusion is the finding that, although each individual violation with which Crain was charged was punishable with discharge, Crain was ultimately discharged as a result of the combined infractions. This finding is not clearly erroneous as both violations were before the Board when it decided Crain's fate and it is reasonable that both would be taken into account in its decision. We therefore conclude, as did the District Court, that Crain has standing to challenge the sick leave regulations and his claims regarding his discharge are not moot. We now turn to the merits raised in this appeal, addressing first the constitutionality of the sick leave regulations and then Crain's individual claims.

II.

We review a decision to grant a motion for summary judgment de novo and will affirm only when "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." United Tel. Co. v. Johnson Publishing Co., 855 F.2d 604, 607 (8th Cir.1988) (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)). Where, as here, the unresolved issues are primarily legal rather than factual, summary judgment is particularly appropriate. Lomar Wholesale Grocery v. Dieter's Gourmet Foods, 824 F.2d 582, 585 (8th Cir.1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1010, 108 S.Ct. 707, 98 L.Ed.2d 658 (1988). We note that both parties moved for summary judgment below and appellants do not argue that the issue before this Court involves anything other than a legal determination as to the constitutionality of the challenged sick leave regulations.

The full text of the regulations at issue, Police Manual Rule 7.011(m) and Special Order 71-S-1, is set out in the margin. ⁴ The regulations prohibit an officer on sick leave from leaving his residence except to obtain medical treatment or attention or for therapeutic exercise at the direction of his physician and with the prior approval of the office of the Chief of Police. ⁵ Officers who are on sick leave continue to be paid their full salaries.

We first address the question of what standard of review should be applied in analyzing these regulations. Appellants assert that, because the regulations infringe on their constitutional rights to free exercise of religion, to vote, to travel, and to freely associate with others, the Police Board must articulate a compelling state interest in order to justify the restrictions. The Police Board argues that the rational relationship standard applies and that the regulations are rationally related to the department's interests in public safety and department morale. We conclude that the Police Department's sick leave regulations must be reviewed deferentially and that appellants must show that the regulations bear no rational relationship to a legitimate state interest.

Several courts have considered whether similar sick leave policies implemented by public employers are unconstitutional, and all but one have concluded that regulations of this type do not violate the constitutional rights of police officers or other public employees. See Hambsch v. Department of Treasury, 796 F.2d 430, 434 (Fed.Cir.1986) (regulations which prohibit secret service agents on sick leave from leaving the Washington D.C. metropolitan area are rationally related to "Service's interest in fostering public safety by contributing to the efficient operations of the Service" and are not an unconstitutional violation of agents' right to travel); Korenyi v. Department of Sanitation, 699 F.Supp. 388 (E.D.N.Y.1988) (analyzing each constitutional right separately, court found that sick leave regulations did not unconstitutionally infringe on sanitation workers' rights to travel, consult with counsel, associate freely, vote, and freely exercise their religion); Voorhees v. Shull, 686 F.Supp. 389, 394-95 (E.D.N.Y.1987) (standard of review "depends not on the nature of right involved, but on the character of the challenger;" rational relationship standard is appropriate when challenger is municipal employee and restrictive sick leave regulations are rationally related to police department's interest in public safety and efficiency); Serge v. City of Scranton, 610 F.Supp. 1086 (M.D.Pa.1985) (rational relationship standard is proper standard for reviewing sick leave regulations when plaintiff is not average citizen but employee of the police force; case remanded for more detailed pleadings); Philadelphia Lodge No. 5, Fraternal Order of Police v. City of Philadelphia, 599 F.Supp. 254 (E.D.Pa.1984) (rational relationship standard used to judge regulations promulgated by city as employer; sick leave regulations that restrict police officers' and firefighters' rights to vote, travel, privacy, and free exercise of religion are rationally related to city's interest in providing sufficient staffing, reducing costs, and improving morale), aff'd sub nom., Local 22, Int'l Ass'n of Firefighters v. City of Philadelphia, 779 F.2d 43 (3rd Cir.1985); Loughran v. Codd, 432 F.Supp. 259 (E.D.N.Y.1976) (because plaintiff is employee of New York City Police Department and not ordinary citizen, proper standard of review is rational relationship test and sick leave regulations are unquestionably rationally related to city's interest in efficiently managing the department and preventing abuses). But see Pienta v. Village of Schaumburg, 710 F.2d 1258 (7th Cir.1983) (applying strict scrutiny to regulations which impact on rights protected by specific provisions of the Bill of Rights and finding that the city did not articulate a compelling interest to justify the police department's sick leave regulations). With the exception of Pienta, courts reviewing these policies have recognized the broad deference that must be accorded a municipality charged with the efficient management of its departments, and have been mindful of the need to prevent abuses of liberal sick leave policies wherein absent employees continue to be paid with taxpayer money.

While it...