DeLoreto v. Ment

• Citation: 944 F.Supp. 1023
• Decision Date: 02 August 1996
• Docket Number: No. 3:96 CV 00859(GLG).,3:96 CV 00859(GLG).
• Parties: Ellamarie DeLORETO et al., Plaintiffs, v. Aaron MENT and Robert D. Coffey, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut

944 F.Supp. 1023

Ellamarie DeLORETO et al., Plaintiffs, v. Aaron MENT and Robert D. Coffey, Defendants.

No. 3:96 CV 00859(GLG).

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

August 2, 1996.

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John R. Williams, New Haven, CT, for Plaintiffs.

Richard Blumenthal, Attorney General, State of Connecticut by Carolyn Kyle Querijero, David M. Teed, Henry S. Cohn, Hartford, CT, for Defendants.

OPINION

GOETTEL, District Judge.

Defendants have moved this Court to dismiss Plaintiffs' Complaint pursuant to Rules 12(b)(1) and (6), Fed.R.Civ.P., on the following grounds:

(1) Eleventh Amendment immunity;

(2) Abstention;

(3) Failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted;

(4) Qualified immunity; and

(5) Mootness.

For the reasons set forth below, Defendants' Motion (Doc. # 6) is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART.

The Facts

Plaintiffs are eleven former employees of the State of Connecticut Judicial Department employed most recently as Deputy Clerks in Geographical Area Courts in the State of Connecticut. On March 29, 1996, each Plaintiff was terminated from his or her employment. Defendant Ment is a Judge and the Chief Court Administrator of the State of Connecticut, and Defendant Coffey is the Director of the Human Resource Management Unit of the State Judicial Branch.

Plaintiffs allege that Defendants "deliberately and intentionally chose to terminate persons occupying positions staffed primarily by females, primarily by persons over the age of 40, and primarily by persons who are perceived to be union activists and leaders among the clerical staff." At oral argument, we were advised that all persons occupying the position of Deputy Clerk were terminated, and that the named Plaintiffs in this action are eleven of those terminated. Thus, they claim that each of the Plaintiffs was terminated because of his or her position as a Deputy Clerk, a job classification that was eliminated by Defendants because it was staffed primarily with women, with persons over 40 years of age, and with union activists, although Plaintiffs concede that not all of the Plaintiffs are women or over 40.

Plaintiffs allege that Defendants failed to afford Plaintiffs proper notice, a hearing, and other procedural rights prior to their termination. They further allege that Defendants have since embarked on a program to hire persons who are disproportionately male and younger than Plaintiffs and who are not perceived as being union activists.¹ They claim that these new hires are being paid, in many instances, higher salaries than Plaintiffs were receiving at the time they were terminated.

Plaintiffs have brought this civil rights action under section 1983 of Title 42 of the United States Code.² They assert that their termination by Defendants violated their constitutional rights to procedural due process and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment, and their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of association. They also contend that their termination by Defendants violated Connecticut's Fair Employment Practices Act, C.G.S.A. § 46a-60 et seq., and state commonlaw by intentionally inflicting extreme emotional distress on Plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs seek as relief compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney's fees and costs pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988, and a temporary and permanent injunction requiring Defendants to reinstate Plaintiffs with full back pay and benefits, and for such other relief as this Court should consider fair and equitable.

Plaintiffs allege that, at all times relevant to their Complaint, Defendants were acting in their official capacities. Plaintiffs allege specifically in their Complaint, however, that they are suing Defendants in their official capacities only as to Plaintiffs' request for injunctive relief and attorney's fees; they are sued in their individual capacities with respect to Plaintiffs' demand for compensatory and punitive damages, as well as their request for attorney's fees.

The Law

The function of a motion to dismiss is to test the legal sufficiency of a complaint, not to assay the weight of the evidence which might be offered in support thereof. Ryder Energy Distribution Corp. v. Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc., 748 F.2d 774, 779 (2d Cir.1984), aff'd after remand, 865 F.2d 492 (2d Cir.1989). When deciding a motion to dismiss, we are required to accept all well-pleaded allegations of the complaint as true and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the Plaintiffs. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1686, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). A complaint should not be dismissed unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiffs can prove no set of facts in support of their claims that would entitle them to relief. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-02, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957).

Abstention

Although not the first issue raised by Defendants, we initially address their abstention argument, as our decision on this issue could obviate the need to reach the remaining issues. Defendants assert that the abstention doctrine, as set forth in Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971), and its progeny, bars this action in its entirety.

Based upon the Affidavit of William F. Risley, Manager of Labor Relations for the Connecticut Judicial Branch, filed in conjunction with their Motion to Dismiss, Defendants state that, several weeks before the present action was filed with this Court, Plaintiffs initiated grievance procedures through their union, raising some of the same issues that are involved in this action. Three grievances were filed. Two have been denied,³ and we were advised at oral argument that the union is pursuing arbitration at least as to one and possibly both; the third is still pending. They further assert that the Plaintiffs' union filed a grievance with the Connecticut State Board of Labor Relations raising issues that are also present in this case.⁴ The union has also filed a federal action against the State, and the Plaintiffs have sued their union in this Court alleging violations of federal labor statutes.

Citing the seminal case of Younger v. Harris, they claim that federal courts should abstain from deciding a case that would interfere with pending proceedings in state courts or state administrative agencies. Whether to abstain, they argue, turns on three critical issues: (1) whether the federal plaintiff has a full and fair opportunity to litigate his or her constitutional claim; (2) whether the agency's procedure is judicial in nature; and (3) whether the state administrative proceedings vindicate important state interests. See Middlesex County Ethics Committee v. Garden State Bar Association, 457 U.S. 423, 429, 102 S.Ct. 2515, 2519-20, 73 L.Ed.2d 116 (1982); Ohio Civil Rights Commission v. Dayton Christian Schools, Inc., 477 U.S. 619, 106 S.Ct. 2718, 91 L.Ed.2d 512 (1986); Cullen v. Fliegner, 18 F.3d 96, 103-04 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 115 S.Ct. 480, 130 L.Ed.2d 393 (1994). All of these factors, they claim, are met in this case.

Plaintiffs retort that Younger abstention is not appropriate when the only ongoing state proceeding is a labor arbitration under a collective bargaining agreement, citing AFSCME v. Tristano, 898 F.2d 1302, 1304 (7th Cir.1990). Further, they assert that abstention is contrary to the public policy articulated in Connecticut's General Statutes, which in section 31-51bb provides:

No employee shall be denied the right to pursue, in a court of competent jurisdiction, a cause of action arising under the ... federal constitution ... solely because the employee is covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

Lastly, they object to our consideration of matters outside the record in ruling on the motion to dismiss.

We do not find the Connecticut statute cited by Plaintiffs dispositive of the abstention issue. The purpose of that statute was to overturn a Connecticut Supreme Court decision, Kolenberg v. Board of Education, 536 A.2d 577, 206 Conn. 113, cert. denied, 487 U.S. 1236, 108 S.Ct. 2903, 101 L.Ed.2d 935 (1988), that required a plaintiff covered by a collective bargaining agreement to exhaust all grievances and arbitration procedures before pursuing any statutory remedies. Genovese v. Gallo Wine Merchants, Inc., 628 A.2d 946, 949, 226 Conn. 475, 481 (1993). This statute does not control whether a federal court should abstain from hearing a case involving plaintiffs who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

Further, we do not agree with Plaintiffs that we cannot consider matters outside the pleadings in ruling on Defendants' abstention argument. Consideration of a motion to dismiss on abstention grounds is akin to a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, in which a court is not restricted to the face of the pleadings, but may review affidavits and other evidence to resolve factual disputes concerning its jurisdiction to hear the action. 2A Moore's Federal Practice ¶ 12.07[2.-1]. To adopt Plaintiffs' position would require us, in considering whether to abstain from hearing this case, to ignore pending state or administrative proceedings, unless specifically pled by Plaintiffs in their Complaint. This would clearly be unwarranted and contrary to the teachings of Ohio Civil Rights Commission v. Dayton Christian Schools, 477 U.S. at 627, 106 S.Ct. at 2722-23, and Christ the King Regional High School v. Culvert, 815 F.2d 219, 223 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 830, 108 S.Ct. 102, 98 L.Ed.2d 63 (1987). The only affidavit before this Court is the affidavit of William Risley, which we consider only with respect to the abstention issue.

In considering whether abstention is appropriate, we begin with the proposition that only under "exceptional circumstances" may federal courts eschew their duty to exercise jurisdiction over all cases properly before them. Colorado River Conservation...