Eisfelder v. Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources

• Decision Date: 16 November 1993
• Docket Number: No. 5:92-CV-73.,5:92-CV-73.
• Parties: Wanda M. EISFELDER, Plaintiff, v. MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, a Governmental Entity, Jointly and Severally; Roland Harmes, Director of the Department of Natural Resources, Jointly and Severally; Nathaniel Lake, Jr., Appointing Authority/Personnel Director of the Department of Natural Resources, Jointly and Severally; Robert R. Ring, Chief Labor Relations, Jointly and Severally; Wanda Brown, Labor Relations Officer, Jointly and Severally; Cordree McConnell, Equal Employment Opportunity Executive, Jointly and Severally; Herbert Burns, Chief Law Enforcement Division of Department of Natural Resources, Jointly and Severally; Wayne Kangas, Assistant Chief of the Law Enforcement Division of the Department of Natural Resources, Jointly and Severally; Timothy Fournier, Analyst and Supervisor in the Law Enforcement Division of the Department of Natural Resources, Jointly and Severally; Laura A. Willard, Analyst and Supervisor in the Law Enforcement Division of the Department of Natural Resources, Jointly and Severally, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Michigan

847 F. Supp. 78

Wanda M. EISFELDER, Plaintiff, v. MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, a Governmental Entity, Jointly and Severally; Roland Harmes, Director of the Department of Natural Resources, Jointly and Severally; Nathaniel Lake, Jr., Appointing Authority/Personnel Director of the Department of Natural Resources, Jointly and Severally; Robert R. Ring, Chief Labor Relations, Jointly and Severally; Wanda Brown, Labor Relations Officer, Jointly and Severally; Cordree McConnell, Equal Employment Opportunity Executive, Jointly and Severally; Herbert Burns, Chief Law Enforcement Division of Department of Natural Resources, Jointly and Severally; Wayne Kangas, Assistant Chief of the Law Enforcement Division of the Department of Natural Resources, Jointly and Severally; Timothy Fournier, Analyst and Supervisor in the Law Enforcement Division of the Department of Natural Resources, Jointly and Severally; Laura A. Willard, Analyst and Supervisor in the Law Enforcement Division of the Department of Natural Resources, Jointly and Severally, Defendants.

No. 5:92-CV-73.

United States District Court, W.D. Michigan, S.D.

November 16, 1993.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Douglas J. Robson, Holt, MI, Gerald M. Eisfelder, DeWitt, MI, for plaintiff.

Gary P. Gordon, Asst. Atty. Gen., Leo H. Friedman, Frank J. Kelley, Atty. Gen., Public Employment & Elections Div., Lansing, MI, for Mich. Dept. of Natural Resources.

Gary P. Gordon, Asst. Atty. Gen., Leo H. Friedman, Lansing, MI, for Roland Harmes, Nathanial Lake, Jr., Robert R. Ring, Wanda Brown, Cordree McConnell, Herbert Burns, Wayne Kangas, Timothy Fournier, Laura A. Willard.

OPINION

BENJAMIN F. GIBSON, Chief Judge.

This matter is before the Court on defendants' motion for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. For the reasons stated below, the motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I.

This action alleges employment discrimination beginning in 1989. Plaintiff is a longtime employee of the State of Michigan, who was assigned to the Department of Natural Resources ("DNR") as a bookkeeper in 1984. In 1989, she took medical leave from her position for the purpose of surgery on her left leg. After returning to her job, she learned that her supervisor had reassigned some of her duties to a new employee, which resulted in her being given the duties of receptionist for a portion of her day. She was also informed that her work hours were changed from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (with a half-hour lunch) to 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (with an hour lunch). This change in work hours had the effect of preventing plaintiff from getting rides to work, which in turn required her to walk further to work.

Due to these events, plaintiff filed a two-count complaint in Ingham County Circuit Court against the DNR in the spring of 1990 for violation of civil service rules (count I) and the Michigan Handicappers' Civil Rights Act (count II). Count I of the complaint was subsequently dismissed due to plaintiffs failure to exhaust her administrative remedies. Count II was settled at a pretrial conference on March 5, 1991, at which time the parties agreed to dismissal of count II in exchange for the payment of $750.00 to the plaintiff and adjustment of her work hours to 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (with an hour lunch). A final order of dismissal embodying the settlement was entered on June 26, 1991. However, plaintiff objected to the language of the order and has appealed the dismissal to the Michigan Court of Appeals.

Despite the settlement, plaintiff's hours were not adjusted until January 27, 1992. The DNR claims that this delay was simply caused by oversight on its part. However, during this time, plaintiff continued to complain about her work hours and had her physician send a letter to the DNR in November of 1991 stating that she needed to have her work hours modified because she had contracted multiple sclerosis.

In June 1992, plaintiff and the DNR came to a final impasse. At that time, plaintiff complained to her supervisor that unknown persons were leaving written "cripple jokes" and memoranda relating to early retirement on her desk. Defendants allegedly investigated these reports without results. However, they also on June 25, 1992, gave to plaintiff a formal counseling memorandum stating that she was to meet for a disciplinary conference on June 29, 1992, to receive a written reprimand for unacceptable work (a reprimand which she says would have been unjustified). Apparently due to the stress caused by these events, plaintiff left work and was unable to return to work. On June 30, 1992, her husband dropped off at the DNR personnel office a copy of a letter from her doctor advising that plaintiff needed medical leave for two months to cope with her medical condition. Some time in the next few weeks (the exact time is disputed), the DNR considered the request for a two-month leave. On July 9, 1992, the DNR denied the request for the reason that plaintiff had already used up her six months of allotted medical leave under the collective bargaining agreement, and placed plaintiff on medical layoff. Apparently at that time, plaintiff had two months of annual leave accumulated which she was not allowed to use for medical purposes. In light of this situation, plaintiff opted to take early retirement on July 14, 1992 (one day before her option to do so closed out), and she then brought this action.

II.

Summary judgment is appropriate only where no genuine issue of fact remains to be decided so that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Historic Preservation Guild v. Burnley, 896 F.2d 985 (6th Cir.1989). No genuine issue of material fact exists unless, in viewing the evidence in favor of the nonmoving party, a reasonable fact finder could return a verdict for that party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Supreme Court decisions encourage granting summary judgments where no genuine issue of material fact exists. Historic Preservation, 896 F.2d at 993. "If the evidence is merely colorable or is not significantly probative, summary judgment may be granted." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. at 2511 (citations omitted). Mere allegations are insufficient. The party with the burden of proof must provide concrete evidence in support of a claim and thereby demonstrate the existence of a genuine issue of material fact. Cloverdale Equipment Co. v. Simon Aerials, Inc., 869 F.2d 934, 937 (6th Cir.1989).

The party moving for summary judgment bears the initial responsibility of informing the court of the basis of its motion and identifying those portions of the record which demonstrate the absence of a material issue of fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Once this has been done, the nonmoving party must come forward with specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue of material fact on which the nonmoving party will bear the burden of proof at trial. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e); Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322-24, 106 S.Ct. at 2552-53. If after adequate discovery the party bearing the burden of proof fails to make a showing sufficient to establish an essential element of his claim, summary judgment is appropriate. Id.

III.

Plaintiff's complaint for handicap employment discrimination is stated in six counts: count I under the Civil Rights Act (42 U.S.C. § 1983), count II under the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. § 794), count III under the Michigan Handicappers' Civil Rights Act (M.C.L.A. §§ 37.1101 et seq.), and counts IV and V under the Americans With Disabilities Act ("ADA") (42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 et seq.). Defendants' motion for summary judgment as to the various counts raises several issues, including: the eleventh amendment, the effect of the state court judgment, the effective dates of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the effect of the collective bargaining agreement.

IV.

Generally speaking, the eleventh amendment prohibits a plaintiff from bringing claims against a state and its departments in federal court. When the eleventh amendment applies, the courts are without subject matter jurisdiction to determine the claim. Henry v. Metropolitan Sewer District, 922 F.2d 332, 336 (6th Cir.1990). However, a consideration of the eleventh amendment is more complicated than defendants might have this Court believe. Whether the eleventh amendment will bar suit in a particular case depends on the identity of the person being sued, the capacity in which they are sued, and the statutes under which they are sued. E. Chemerinsky, Federal Jurisdiction § 7.0-7.7 (1989 & Supp.). For this reason, the Court must examine plaintiff's claims separately.

A.

Count I seeks relief under Title 42 United States Code Section 1983. However, the eleventh amendment case law is clear that a state and its agencies cannot be sued under section 1983 consistent with the eleventh amendment. Quern v. Jordan, 440 U.S. 332, 339-40, 99 S.Ct. 1139, 1144-45, 59 L.Ed.2d 358 (1979). Accordingly, count I must be dismissed as to defendant DNR due to lack of jurisdiction.

The question of whether the individual defendants must be dismissed is more complicated. In the case of Hafer v. Melo, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 112 S.Ct. 358, 364-65, 116 L.Ed.2d 301 (1991), the Supreme Court held that a plaintiff could sue a state employee, acting in his official capacity, for money damages for which the officer was to be personally liable.

However, to bring such a suit, it must be clear from the complaint that the individual defendants are sued in their "individual capacities." Wells v. Brown, 891 F.2d 591, 592 (6th Cir.1989); Thiokol Corp. v. Dept. of Treasury, 987 F.2d 376, 383 (6th Cir.1993). In this case, neither the face of the complaint nor its allegations make clear that any of the individual defendants are being sued in their individual capacities. Accordingly, the Court...