Epps v. Watson

• Decision Date: 18 July 2007
• Docket Number: No. 06-13378. Non-Argument Calendar.,06-13378. Non-Argument Calendar.
• Citation: 492 F.3d 1240
• Parties: Donna O. EPPS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Louise WATSON, as Tax Commissioner of Madison County and Individually, Defendant-Appellant, Madison County, Georgia, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

492 F.3d 1240

Donna O. EPPS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Louise WATSON, as Tax Commissioner of Madison County and Individually, Defendant-Appellant Madison County, Georgia, Defendant.

No. 06-13378. Non-Argument Calendar.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

July 18, 2007.

Lynda Womack Kenney, Hall, Booth, Smith & Slover, P.C., Atlanta, GA, Phillip E. Friduss, Landrum & Friduss, L.L.C., Jasper, GA, for Defendant-Appellant.

Nancy Val Preda, Hoschton, GA, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

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

Before EDMONDSON, Chief Judge, and BIRCH and WILSON, Circuit Judges.

BIRCH, Circuit Judge:

Madison County Tax Commissioner Louise Watson brings an interlocutory appeal arguing that the district court erred in determining that: (1) Donna Epps' Amended Complaint adequately pleads a First Amendment Freedom of Association claim; (2) the Tax Commissioner's conduct would violate clearly established Freedom of Association law; and (3) Epps' Amended Complaint adequately pleads a procedural due process violation and her allegations overcome Watson's qualified immunity defense. We AFFIRM.

I. BACKGROUND¹

According to her Amended Complaint, Epps "was employed by the County as a clerk in the Tax Commissioner's Office." R-12, Exh. A at 3. Watson, the tax commissioner for Madison County, Georgia, supervised Epps. Epps "was not in any decision making role within the department." Id. at 4. "All ministerial decisions relating to the Tax Commissioner's Office were made by Defendant Watson." Id.

During the 2004 election for tax commissioner, in which Watson ran as the incumbent, Epps allowed Watson's opponent to place campaign signage on her private property. Watson knew that Epps historically had allowed political candidates to place such signage on her property and Watson did not at anytime request permission to place campaign signage on Epps' property.

In 2004, Watson was the incumbent in an election campaign and after Watson was re-elected, Watson stated "I am going to clean house." Id. at 5. Watson dismissed Epps from her staff the day after her re-election. Watson stated that Epps was "doing a good job," but stated the reason for Epps' termination was "a cold environment." Id. at 6. Epps sought to appeal her dismissal but could not because the tax commissioner's staff is not subject to the appeals process of Madison County. Epps subsequently filed suit in district court against Watson, both individually and as tax commissioner, alleging that she was dismissed from Watson's staff because she had allowed Watson's opponent to display political campaign signage on her private property and that she was denied due process in attempting to appeal her dismissal. Epps, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, sought to recover monetary damages from Watson, alleging that Watson violated her rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

Watson filed a pre-answer motion to dismiss Epps' claims on the basis of qualified immunity from suit in her individual capacity. The district court denied Watson's motion and she filed a timely appeal.

II. DISCUSSION

"We have jurisdiction to review the denial of the defense of qualified immunity on interlocutory appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291." Gonzalez v. Reno, 325 F.3d 1228, 1233 (11th Cir.2003) (citation omitted). We review a district court's decision to deny the defense of qualified immunity de novo, "accepting the factual allegations in the complaint as true and drawing all reasonable inferences in the plaintiff's favor." Id. (citation omitted). Our circuit, however, imposes a heightened pleading requirement in section 1983 claims against individuals and plaintiffs cannot rely on "vague or conclusory" allegations. See GJR Invs., Inc. v. County of Escambia, 132 F.3d 1359, 1367 (11th Cir. 1998) ("Some factual detail in the pleadings is necessary to the adjudication of § 1983 claims. This is particularly true in cases involving qualified immunity, where we must determine whether a defendant's actions violated a clearly established right."); Fullman v. Graddick, 739 F.2d 553, 556-57 (11th Cir.1984) (holding that in civil rights actions "a complaint will be dismissed as insufficient where the allegations it contains are vague and conclusory." (citations omitted)).² In such cases, the complaint must allege the relevant facts "with some specificity." Id. (citation omitted). "We must also keep in mind the fact that we generally accord official conduct a presumption of legitimacy.'" Dalrymple v. Reno, 334 F.3d 991, 996 (11th Cir.2003) (alterations omitted) (citing United States Dep't of State v. Ray, 502 U.S. 164, 179, 112 S.Ct. 541, 550, 116 L.Ed.2d 526 (1991)).

Within the context of a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, as there is no record beyond the complaint, the well-pleaded factual allegations in the plaintiff's complaint are the focus of the determinations. Id. at 994-95. "Unless the plaintiff's allegations state a claim of violation of clearly established law, a defendant pleading qualified immunity is entitled to dismissal before the commencement of discovery." Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 526, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 2815, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985) (citation omitted); Behrens v. Pelletier, 516 U.S. 299, 309, 116 S.Ct. 834, 840, 133 L.Ed.2d 773 (1996) ("At [the 12(b)(6)] stage, it is the defendant's conduct as alleged in the complaint that is scrutinized for `objective legal reasonableness.'").

"The Supreme Court has urged us to apply the affirmative defense of qualified immunity at the earliest possible stage in litigation because the defense is immunity from suit and not from damages only." Marsh v. Butler County, Ala., 268 F.3d 1014, 1022 (11th Cir.2001) (en banc) (citations omitted). We have applied the qualified immunity defense at the 12(b)(6) stage before. See, e.g., Chesser v. Sparks, 248 F.3d 1117 (11th Cir.2001) (reversing the district court's denial of official's motion to dismiss plaintiff's freedom of expression and freedom of association claims on the basis of qualified immunity); Denno v. Sch. Bd. of Volusia County, 218 F.3d 1267 (11th Cir.2000) (affirming the district court's Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of plaintiff's § 1983 claim for the deprivation of First Amendment rights against the individual defendants); Maggio v. Sipple, 211 F.3d 1346 (11th Cir.2000) (reversing the district court's failure to grant 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss because defendants were entitled to qualified immunity).

A public official who asserts a defense of qualified immunity must establish that he was "engaged in a `discretionary function' when he performed the acts of which the plaintiff complains." Holloman ex rel. Holloman v. Harland, 370 F.3d 1252, 1264 (11th Cir.2004) (citation omitted). Where there is no dispute as to the discretionary nature of the actions complained of, like here, we look to determine (1) whether the plaintiff has factually alleged the deprivation of a constitutional right; and (2) whether that right was clearly established at the time of the violation. Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151, 2156, 150 L.Ed.2d 272 (2001); Holloman, 370 F.3d at 1264. The plaintiff bears the burden of proof as to both of these determinations. Dalrymple, 334 F.3d at 995 ("Once the government official has established that she was acting within her discretionary authority, the burden shifts to the plaintiff [ ] to show that qualified immunity is not appropriate." (citation omitted)). With this two-step inquiry in mind, we turn to the question of whether Watson's decision to terminate Epps' employment violated the First Amendment right involved here—the freedom of association—in such a manner that a reasonable government official would have known.³

A. Epps' First Amendment Claim

In her Amended Complaint, Epps alleged that she allowed Watson's opponent to place campaign signage on her private property. Moreover, Epps alleged that Watson knew that Epps had historically allowed political candidates to place such signage on her private property and Watson did not at anytime request permission to place campaign signage on Epps' property. Epps alleged that she was fired the day of Watson's re-election and was told by Watson that she was performing well at the time she was dismissed and the reason for the dismissal was a "cold environment." R-12, Exh. A at 5-6. Watson contends Epps' First Amendment claim fails because the allegations in her Amended Complaint do not show a violation of freedom of association, and even if they did, Epps has not established that Watson had fair warning that dismissing Epps would violate clearly established law.

1. Sufficiently Alleged Constitutional Violation

Epps alleged that she allowed Watson's opponents to place campaign signage on her property during Watson's 2004 campaign and the day after Watson won re-election she fired Epps. It is reasonable to infer from Epps' Amended Complaint that Epps contended that her indication of public support for Watson's challenger was the reason that Watson fired her.

In examining whether the Epps has alleged a constitutional violation, we first note that we agree with both the district court and counsel that this case is best construed as a pure political patronage case. See Terry v. Cook, 866 F.2d 373, 377 (11th Cir.1999) (holding that when public employment is "absolutely conditioned on political allegiance and not upon the content of expressions of political beliefs," the political patronage analysis is appropriate). In such cases, we use the Elrod-Branti analysis in determining if patronage discharges were constitutional. In Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347, 373, 96 S.Ct. 2673, 2689, 49 L.Ed.2d 547 (1976), a plurality of the Supreme Court declared patronage dismissals unconstitutional, because the practice limited political belief and association, and therefore violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The Court, however, created a narrow exception, allowing...