Danfelt v. Bd. County Com'Rs of Washington County

• Decision Date: 19 March 1998
• Docket Number: Civil No. Y-98-215.
• Parties: Frank L. DANFELT v. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, MARYLAND
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

Page 606

998 F.Supp. 606

Frank L. DANFELT v. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, MARYLAND

Civil No. Y-98-215.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

March 19, 1998.

Gregory C. Bannon, Hagerstown, MD, for Plaintiff.

Frank L. Kollman, Randi Klein Hyatt, Baltimore, MD, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JOSEPH H. YOUNG, Senior Judge.

I.

This suit is the result of Defendant's termination of Plaintiff Frank L. Danfelt as a Washington County, Maryland bus driver. Plaintiff filed a three-count complaint in the Circuit Court for Washington County, Maryland, alleging breach of contract (Count I), wrongful discharge based on a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. (Count II), and wrongful discharge based on a violation of the Family Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq. (Count III). Defendant filed a notice of removal, and Plaintiff filed an opposition thereto, which the Court will treat as a motion to remand. Williams v. Williams, 427 F.Supp. 557, 558 & n. 1 (D.Md. 1976). Additionally, Defendant filed a motion to dismiss or for summary judgment. For the reasons explained more fully herein, the Court will grant Plaintiff's motion and remand the case to state court. Because the Court's inquiry into subject-matter jurisdiction necessarily precedes any inquiry into the merits of the suit, see Oregon v. Hitchcock, 202 U.S. 60, 68, 26 S.Ct. 568, 50 L.Ed. 935 (1906), the Court need not consider the arguments raised in Defendant's motion.

II.

A.

Initially, the Court notes that its removal jurisdiction is "scrupulously confined", Shamrock Oil & Gas Corp. v. Sheets, 313 U.S. 100, 109, 61 S.Ct. 868, 85 L.Ed. 1214 (1941), and "[i]f federal [removal] jurisdiction is doubtful, a remand is necessary." Mulcahey v. Columbia Organic Chem. Co., 29 F.3d 148, 151 (4th Cir.1994). The party seeking removal jurisdiction bears the burden of stating facts in its notice of removal demonstrating an entitlement to removal jurisdiction. Egle Nursing Home, Inc. v. Erie Ins. Group, 981 F.Supp. 932, 933 (D.Md.1997).

Defendant's notice of removal is based solely on the presence of federal question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331. Defendant argues that federal question jurisdiction exists because Counts I and II are premised upon a violation of two federal statutes — the ADA and the FMLA. Accordingly, Defendant contends these two counts "arise under" the laws of the United States. Defendant also asserts the Court has supplemental jurisdiction over the breach of contract claim, and that a separate and independent claim removable under § 1441(c) exists should any of the claims not be removable under § 1331.

28 U.S.C. § 1441(a) permits a defendant to remove a case to federal court which would fall within the Court's federal question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 if originally filed in federal court. Davis v. North Carolina Dep't of Correction, 48 F.3d 134, 138 (4th Cir.1995). The Court must look to the plaintiff's properly-pleaded complaint to determine the presence or absence of a federal question for jurisdictional purposes under § 1331 and, concomitantly, for removal under § 1441(a). Rivet v. Regions Bank of La., ___ U.S. ___, 118 S.Ct. 921, 922, 139 L.Ed.2d 912 (1998). To bring a case within the original federal question jurisdiction of this Court, "a right or immunity created by the Constitution or laws of the United States must be an element, and an essential one, of the plaintiff's cause of action." Id. (quoting Gully v. First Nat. Bank in Meridian, 299 U.S. 109, 112, 57 S.Ct. 96, 81 L.Ed. 70 (1936)). However, a plaintiff may not defeat removal jurisdiction by artfully pleading his case to omit essential federal questions. Id. (citing and quoting Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Construction Laborers Vacation Trust for S. Cal., 463 U.S. 1, 22, 103 S.Ct. 2841, 77 L.Ed.2d 420 (1983)). Applying these general rules, it is well-established that, in the ordinary case, federal question jurisdiction lies under § 1331 where federal law either creates the cause of action or "where the vindication of a right necessarily turn[s] on some construction of federal law." Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Thompson, 478 U.S. 804, 808-09, 106 S.Ct. 3229, 92 L.Ed.2d 650 (1986) (quoting Franchise Tax Bd., 463 U.S. at 9).

This case, however, presents a variant of the question first considered in Merrell Dow — "the presence of a federal issue in a state-created cause of action." Id. 478 U.S. at 810. It is undisputed that Maryland tort law creates Plaintiff's claims in Counts II and III under the well-pleaded complaint rule. However, federal law is an indispensable element of these claims. To prevail in a wrongful discharge suit under Maryland law, the plaintiff must plead and prove that the alleged conduct violated a specific statute or rule of law. Kern v. South Baltimore Gen. Hosp., 66 Md.App. 441, 444-45, 504 A.2d 1154 (1986) (citing Adler v. American Standard Corp., 291 Md. 31, 43, 47, 432 A.2d 464 (1981)). In this case, Plaintiff alleges wrongful discharge based on the ADA and the FMLA, and must, therefore, prove a substantive violation of these statutes to prevail on Counts II and III. Thus, federal law provides, in a literal sense, the "essential element" of Plaintiff's wrongful discharge claims.

B.

This bare conclusion does not necessarily suffice to sustain federal question jurisdiction, for "the mere presence of a federal issue in a state cause of action does not automatically confer federal-question jurisdiction." Merrell Dow, 478 U.S. at 813. In Merrell Dow, which also considered a state law claim containing federal law as an essential element, the Court held that the statute's failure to provide a private cause of action in favor of the plaintiff precluded federal question jurisdiction because the absence of such a private remedy rendered the federal law at issue an insubstantial element of the plaintiff's claim. Id. at 814-15. The Court reasoned that a contrary holding would flout Congress' decision not to grant a private cause of action for violations of the statute, and emphasized that in every case, commonsense analysis and judgment must determine the presence or lack of federal question jurisdiction. Id. at 813.

This case presents an issue not presented in Merrell Dow — whether federal jurisdiction over a state-created claim with an embedded federal component will lie when the federal statute at issue does create a private cause of action. Unlike the statute in Merrell Dow, both the ADA and the FMLA expressly create private causes of action available to Plaintiff in this case. See 42 U.S.C. § 12117(a) (adopting Title VII civil remedies in ADA cases); 29 U.S.C. § 2617(a)(2) (providing private cause of action in FMLA cases). In such a case, the "ultimate question" is whether Congress intended to permit the case to proceed in federal court. Mulcahey, 29 F.3d at 152.

Although the Supreme Court has not directly addressed this question, the Fourth Circuit's Mulcahey decision and relevant Supreme Court precedent together mandate a finding that federal jurisdiction is lacking in this case. In Mulcahey, the plaintiffs filed suit in South Carolina state court seeking injunctive relief and damages caused by the discharge of hazardous substances into the environment on a state law theory of negligence per se. Id. at 150-51. The asserted basis of federal question jurisdiction upon removal was that the violation of certain federal environmental statutes constituted an essential element of the state law negligence claim — the violation of a statute demonstrating duty and its breach. Id. at 150. Unlike the statute at issue in Merrell Dow, the relevant environmental statutes in Mulcahey authorized private causes of action in favor of the plaintiffs. Id. The Fourth Circuit, focusing on the question of whether Congress intended that these statutes provide federal question jurisdiction when their presence was a necessary element of a state law cause of action, found no federal question jurisdiction. Id. at 152, 154. The court noted that the statutes forbade the compensatory damages sought by the plaintiffs in the South Carolina action, that the plaintiffs were either procedurally or substantively barred from proceeding under any of the statutes, and that other theories of relief not dependent on federal law also supported the claim. Id. at 152-53.

This case contains impediments to original federal question and removal jurisdiction similar to those in Mulcahey. Plaintiff's well-pleaded complaint indicates that Plaintiff is procedurally barred from pursuing an action under the ADA because he has not satisfied the exhaustion requirement contained in that statute by reference to Title VII. 42 U.S.C. § 12117(a) (referring to 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5). Section 2000e-5 requires Title VII and ADA plaintiffs to bring the case to the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission before suit may be brought in this Court. E.g., Davis, 48 F.3d at 137. Plaintiff's complaint does not indicate that he has satisfied this burden. Accordingly, Plaintiff, had he proceeded directly under the ADA, would be procedurally barred from bringing this claim for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. Id. Indeed, his failure to exhaust would deprive this Court of subject-matter jurisdiction. Id. at 139-40.

Plaintiff cannot proceed directly under this statute, and a private cause of action does not exist within the meaning of Merrell Dow, because his failure to exhaust administrative remedies, which would both procedurally bar an independent Title VII suit and deprive this Court of jurisdiction over such a suit, renders the federal element of Plaintiff's claim insubstantial. Mulcahey, 29 F.3d at 152-53. As in Merrell Dow, a contrary holding would permit litigants to make an "end run" around the ADA's strict exhaustion requirement. Accordingly, the pragmatic, judicious inquiry mandated by Merrell Dow leads the...