Davis v. Reagan, Civ. No. 78-106-D.

• Decision Date: 19 March 1980
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 78-106-D.
• Citation: 485 F. Supp. 1255
• Parties: Robert DAVIS, Individually and on behalf of his wife, Victoria Davis, his two children, Robert and Janel Davis, Plaintiffs, Jane Jensen, Plaintiff-Intervenor, v. Michael REAGAN, Individually and as Commissioner of the Iowa Department of Social Services, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Iowa

485 F. Supp. 1255

Robert DAVIS, Individually and on behalf of his wife, Victoria Davis, his two children, Robert and Janel Davis, Plaintiffs Jane Jensen, Plaintiff-Intervenor, v. Michael REAGAN, Individually and as Commissioner of the Iowa Department of Social Services, Defendant.

Civ. No. 78-106-D.

United States District Court, S. D. Iowa, C. D.

February 13, 1980.

On Application for Stay and Motion to Amend Judgment March 19, 1980.

Mark S. Schaffner of HELP Legal Assistance, Davenport, Iowa and Timothy J. Casey, Center on Social Welfare Policy and Law, Inc., New York City, for plaintiffs.

Michael B. Trister, Washington, D. C., for plaintiff-intervenor.

Thomas J. Miller, Atty. Gen., Stephen C. Robinson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Des Moines, Iowa, for defendant.

RULING AND ORDER

STUART, Chief Judge.

This matter came to trial before the Court on January 17, 1980. At such time, the parties filed a Stipulation of Facts, and as a result, no material facts are disputed. Appearances are noted in the Clerk's minutes.

The Iowa Department of Social Services (hereinafter "IDSS") administers the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (hereinafter "AFDC") program for which it receives federal moneys. The AFDC program is designed to provide financial assistance to families with dependent children in financial need in cases where one parent is dead, absent from the home, incapacitated or unemployed. As a corollary to the AFDC program, Congress created the WIN program which is an employment and employment referral program for AFDC families. In Iowa, the WIN program is operated through the Iowa Department of Job Services pursuant to an agreement between such agency and the Secretary of Labor. In some counties, the WIN program is mandatory. In other counties, it may be voluntary or non-operational. In mandatory WIN counties, nonexempt AFDC persons must register in the WIN program to receive AFDC benefits. AFDC persons in voluntary WIN counties may register in the WIN program, or with the Job Service of Iowa in its capacity as a state public employment agency to qualify for benefits.

Robert Davis initiated this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201-2202 and 42 U.S.C. § 1983, requesting declaratory and injunctive relief on behalf of himself, his wife, their minor children, and all persons similarly situated. In his complaint, the plaintiff alleges that the defendant Commissioner of IDSS, presently Michael Reagan as successor to Victor Preisser, improperly terminated all AFDC payments to his family under the unemployed fathers component of the AFDC program because he was "deregistered" from the WIN program for his failure to participate.

The plaintiff contends that the defendant's actions pursuant to the above-mentioned state regulations were invalid (1) as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (a) because deregistration of a parent for failure to participate in WIN without good cause deprives all members of the needy family of AFDC while deregistration of caretaker relatives other than a parent for the same reason only reduces AFDC payments because such relatives needs are not considered in computing the amount; (b) because AFDC assistance is terminated to the innocent family members when a parent refuses an employment offer, but not if AFDC qualification is based on the parent's death, continued absence or incapacity; (2) as a violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because needy dependent children are punished for the alleged wrongdoing of their fathers; and (3) as void under the Supremacy Clause because the state standards are inconsistent with the federal standards set forth in 42 U.S.C. § 602 and 45 C.F.R. § 224.51 (1978). The parties stipulate that Davis's termination was based upon his refusal of an offer of employment and Section IV-D of the IDSS Employees Manual which requires termination of AFDC-UF benefits to all family members where the unemployed parent refuses an offer of employment without good cause. There is no dispute that Davis in fact refused employment without good cause or that the procedures outlined in the IDSS manual were properly followed.

On December 13, 1979, the Court granted Jane Jensen's Application to Intervene and her complaint was filed December 20, 1979. In this complaint, the plaintiff-intervenor alleges that the family's AFDC benefits were improperly terminated as a result of her husband's refusal without good cause of an offer of employment. The parties stipulate that Russell Jensen, the plaintiff-intervenor's husband, registered with the Job Service of Iowa in its capacity as a state public employment office since his county of residence was a voluntary WIN area. Upon questioning by the Court, the defendant's counsel admitted that Jensen was registered with Job Service at the time benefits to himself and his family were terminated, and therefore, was not deregistered. As was the case with the plaintiff, there is no dispute that Russell Jensen refused without good cause an offer of employment. As defendant does not claim any authority to "deregister" a person registered with Job Service, Davis and Jensen are not identically situated. This distinction, however, is not significant under the courts view and further reference to plaintiffs will apply to both.

JURISDICTION

The Court will first consider the defendant's jurisdictional challenge. The complaint alleges that jurisdiction is conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3), (4), and states that the action is authorized by 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The defendant contends that Chapman v. Houston Welfare Rights Org., 441 U.S. 600, 99 S.Ct. 1905, 60 L.Ed.2d 508 (1979) requires the Court to find it lacks jurisdiction because (1) section 1983, found to be remedial and not substantive in nature, does not provide for the "protection of civil rights, . . ." within the meaning of § 1343(3), and (2) the allegation of incompatibility between federal and state statutes does not give rise to a claim "secured by the Constitution" within section 1343(3). In Chapman, however, the plaintiffs failed to assert any constitutional claim. The plaintiffs in the present matter allege that the defendant's actions were taken in violation of the equal protection and due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. In Hagans v. Lavine, 415 U.S. 528, 536-37, 94 S.Ct. 1372, 1378-79, 39 L.Ed.2d 577 (1974), the Supreme Court held that a constitutional claim will support pendant jurisdiction if such claim is not "wholly insubstantial", "obviously frivolous", or "no longer open to question". The Court is of the opinion that the constitutional claims asserted in this case are sufficient to satisfy this standard. The Court, therefore, has jurisdiction to consider the constitutional claims pursuant to section 1343(3), and may exercise pendant jurisdiction over the plaintiffs' other claims.

CLASS CERTIFICATION

Because the Court has found that it has jurisdiction to consider this matter, the Court must next consider the plaintiff's request for class certification. The plaintiffs in their Class Action Memorandum filed January 15, 1980, state that they bring the action on behalf of themselves and the following persons:

. . . The class of innocent family members in Iowa families qualifying for AFDC on the basis of a parent's unemployment whose AFDC benefits have been or might be terminated because the unemployed parent refused an offer of employment or to otherwise comply with an AFDC employment, employment referral, or training requirement.

The plaintiffs allege that the class meets all the requirements for certification found in Rule 23(a) and (b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The defendant filed no written objections to the request, and at trial, the defendant's counsel suggested only that the numerosity requirement may not be satisfied in light of the information contained in the defendant's answers to interrogatories filed January 17, 1980.

After careful consideration, the Court is of the opinion that the plaintiffs' request for certification of the above-defined class should be granted. The only issue raised by defendant is whether the numerosity requirement is satisfied. Rule 23(a)(1) states:

One or more members of a class may sue or be sued as representatives on behalf of all only if (1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable, . . ..

According to defendant's answers to interrogatories filed January 17, 1980, a substantial number of Iowa families receive AFDC based upon a parent's unemployment. In addition, these answers indicate that from January 1, 1978 to December 1979, fifty-three nonmandatory WIN households were terminated from benefits for failure of one parent to cooperate with Job Services, failure to maintain current registration, or failure to accept offers of employment or training. (See Defendant's Answers of January 17, 1980, Attachment 2). During the period November 1978 to November 1979, three mandatory WIN households were sanctioned for failure to cooperate with the WIN program or failure to accept offers of employment or training. (See Defendant's Answers of January 17, 1980, Attachment 3). The plaintiffs note in their class action memorandum that the defendant informed them that at least fifteen mandatory WIN households were denied assistance as a result of a parent's deregistration during Fiscal Year 1978 in the twenty-five mandatory WIN counties in Iowa. (See Defendant's Answers of January 7, 1980, Interrogatory 6). The Court believes that these statistics indicate that the policy in question has and could be applied to a group of families sufficiently large to make joinder impracticable. In addition, the particular individuals and families affected change from time to time. Therefore, class certification is granted.

VALIDITY OF STATE REGULATIONS

Plaintiffs claim that the defendant's actions which denied AFDC to the entire...