Cryder v. Oxendine

• Decision Date: 29 June 1994
• Docket Number: No. 93-9267,93-9267
• Citation: 24 F.3d 175
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit
• Parties: Denise CRYDER, Plaintiff, James Michael Long, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. James OXENDINE, Individually and in his capacity as Chairman of the Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation, Defendant-Appellee, St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company, Dianne Carter, Individually and in her capacity as senior claims adjuster for St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co., Defendants, NATLSCO, and Kemper Insurance Company, Defendants-Appellees.

Page 175

24 F.3d 175

Denise CRYDER, Plaintiff, James Michael Long, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. James OXENDINE, Individually and in his capacity as Chairman

of the Georgia State Board of Workers'

Compensation, Defendant-Appellee,

St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company, Dianne Carter,

Individually and in her capacity as senior claims

adjuster for St. Paul Fire and Marine

Insurance Co., Defendants,

NATLSCO, and Kemper Insurance Company, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 93-9267.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

June 29, 1994.

Laurence L. Christensen, Marietta, GA, Allan Leroy Parks, Jr., Harlan Stuart Miller, III, Kirwan, Goger, Chesin & Parks, C. Lawrence Jewett, Jr., Office of C. Lawrence Jewett, Atlanta, GA, for appellant.

Jeff L. Milsteen, Office of State Atty. Gen., Elaine Smith Newell, Atlanta, GA, for James Oxendine.

Sidney F. Wheeler, Stephen Holger Sparwath, Neal Henry Howard, Long, Weinberg, Ansley & Wheeler, Atlanta, GA, for St. Paul Fire & Marine and Dianne Carter.

Robert R. Potter, W. Allen Evans, Swift, Currie, McGhee & Hiers, Atlanta, GA, for NATLSCO and Kemper Ins. Co.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Before ANDERSON and DUBINA, Circuit Judges, and ESCHBACH ^*, Senior Circuit Judge.

ESCHBACH, Senior Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff James Michael Long appeals from the district court's dismissal of his 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 action challenging the constitutionality of Sec. 34-9-221(i) of the Georgia Workers' Compensation Act ("Act"), Ga.Code Ann. Sec. 34-9-221(i) (Michie 1993). We agree with the district court that the challenged provision of the Act comports with the requirements of due process under the Fourteenth Amendment and therefore affirm.

I. STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On July 15, 1991, while employed by defendant NATLSCO, James Michael Long injured his back setting up food displays in a Georgia grocery store. Nine days later, NATLSCO, through its insurance servicing agent, Kemper Insurance Company, began paying Long $225 per week in workers' compensation benefits. On February 19, 1992, NATLSCO and Kemper filed a notice with the Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation ("Board") that Long's benefits were about to be terminated on the ground of full recovery. Along with the notice, NATLSCO and Kemper filed a supporting medical report prepared by Long's treating physician after his examination of Long on February 14, 1992. Additionally, NATLSCO and Kemper also provided ten days' notice to Long before discontinuing his benefits. Long's workers' compensation payments ceased on March 3, 1992, and Long sought immediate Board review of NATLSCO-Kemper's suspension of benefits. ¹

In October 1992, Long and another plaintiff, Denise Cryder, ² brought an action under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 (1993), alleging that the unilateral termination of their workers' compensation benefits pursuant to Ga.Code Ann. Sec. 34-9-221(i) and Rule 221(i) without a prior hearing violated the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. Cryder sued St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company and one of its adjusters, Dianne Carter. Long sued NATLSCO and Kemper. Both plaintiffs sued James Oxendine in his capacity as Chairman of the State Board of Workers' Compensation.

In a September 1993 order, the district court granted the defendants' motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) on the ground that the plaintiffs had failed to state a claim for either a procedural due process or an equal protection violation. Long filed a timely notice of appeal, challenging only the district court's dismissal of his due process claim. This Court reviews the district court's dismissal of Long's complaint de novo. A dismissal for failure to state a claim is erroneous " 'unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.' " Pataula Elec. Membership Corp. v. Whitworth, 951 F.2d 1238, 1240 (11th Cir.1992) (citing Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1686, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974)). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291.

II. DISCUSSION

Long contends that the Georgia Workers' Compensation Act violates the Due Process Clause. Specifically, he challenges Sec. 34-9-221(i) and Board Rule 221(i) which set out the conditions and methods by which an employer or insurer may terminate an employee's workers' compensation benefits without a prior hearing. He asserts that Georgia's required ten-day notice of the impending termination and its post-termination hearing procedures are constitutionally insufficient to satisfy the requirements of due process.

A Sec. 1983 action alleging a procedural due process clause violation requires proof of three elements: a deprivation of a constitutionally-protected liberty or property interest; state action; and constitutionally inadequate process. Although the appellees contend that Long failed to prove any of the three elements, ³ we assume, for the purposes of this appeal, the existence of both a protected property interest in workers' compensation benefits and state action. While we recognize the serious state action questions raised by Long's suit, we, like the district court, need not address or decide the issue because we find that the Georgia workers' compensation system provides all of the process constitutionally due a claimant.

Due process entitles an individual to notice and some form of hearing before state action may finally deprive him or her of a property interest. Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 333, 96 S.Ct. 893, 901-902, 47 L.Ed.2d 18 (1976). Long does not challenge the sufficiency of notice nor does he allege that the unilateral termination of his benefits was itself a "final deprivation" for as we discuss below, Georgia law provides for a post-termination hearing and retroactive remedies. Rather, he contends that due process requires a hearing before any deprivation of his property interest occurs. We cannot agree. Due process is a flexible concept that varies with the particular situation. The question before us is whether the Georgia system satisfies the fundamental requirement of due process by providing a claimant an opportunity to be heard " 'at a meaningful time and in a meaningful place.' " Mathews, 424 U.S. at 333, 96 S.Ct. at 902 (quoting Armstrong v. Manzo, 380 U.S. 545, 552, 85 S.Ct. 1187, 1191, 14 L.Ed.2d 62 (1965)). We believe it does.

Georgia law does not allow an employer or insurer to summarily terminate an employee's disability benefits for any reason it sees fit. Section 34-9-221(i) of the Georgia Workers' Compensation Act provides:

Where compensation is being paid with or without an award and an employer or insurer elects to controvert on the grounds of a change in condition or newly discovered evidence, the employer shall, not later than ten days prior to the due date of the first omitted payment of income benefits, file with the board and the employee or beneficiary a notice to controvert the claim in the manner prescribed by the board.

Accompanying Board Rule 221(i) limits an employer's or insurer's authority to terminate an employee's benefits without a prior evidentiary hearing to instances where the injured employee has either returned to work without a reduction in compensation or where the employee's authorized treating physician releases the employee to normal work duty after determining full recovery. In either case, the employer or insurer must file a WC-2 form with the Board explaining the ground for terminating benefits and in the latter case, a statement by the employee's treating physician averring to the employee's full recovery must also be...