Farnworth v. Femling

• Decision Date: 02 March 1994
• Docket Number: No. 20109,20109
• Citation: 125 Idaho 283,869 P.2d 1378
• Parties: Eugene FARNWORTH, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. J. Walter FEMLING and Blaine County, Defendants-Respondents. November 1993 Term
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

Page 1378

869 P.2d 1378

125 Idaho 283

Eugene FARNWORTH, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. J. Walter FEMLING and Blaine County, Defendants-Respondents.

No. 20109.

Supreme Court of Idaho Twin Falls,

November 1993 Term.

March 2, 1994.

E. Lee Schlender, Hailey, for plaintiff-appellant.

Hamlin & Sasser, Boise, for defendants-respondents. James D. Carlson argued.

JOHNSON, Justice.

This is a public employment case. We affirm the trial court's summary judgment dismissing the employee's claims for breach of implied contract of employment and for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. We conclude that the trial court should not have granted summary judgment dismissing the employee's federal civil rights First Amendment claim and the employee's tort of wrongful discharge claim.

I.

THE BACKGROUND AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS.

Eugene Farnworth was hired in 1977 as a deputy sheriff for Blaine County (the county). Farnworth worked for the county until 1988, when there was an election for sheriff. The incumbent sheriff, J. Walter Femling, announced his candidacy for sheriff on approximately April 1, 1988. Farnworth unsuccessfully opposed Femling in the primary election in May. Farnworth then switched parties and unsuccessfully opposed Femling in the general election in November.

During the election campaign, Femling says he received numerous complaints from citizens and co-workers about Farnworth's conduct and performance as deputy sheriff. Femling wrote "letters of concern" concerning these complaints and placed them in Farnworth's personnel file. The first of these letters is dated April 4, 1988.

Following the general election, Femling met with Farnworth and informed Farnworth that Femling did not intend to reappoint Farnworth as a deputy sheriff when Femling commenced his new term as sheriff. In this conference, Femling said Farnworth had attacked Femling during the campaign by running ads stating, "Elect a Sheriff that will be a Sheriff for all of Blaine County." Femling offered Farnworth a hearing to review the reasons for his dismissal and to give Farnworth an opportunity to respond to the charges against him. Among the charges was the following:

In September and October, 1988, Officer Farnworth made public and written statements concerning the present Blaine County administration. For example, Officer Farnworth's campaign ads stated "Elect a sheriff that will be a sheriff for all of Blaine County" and "Elect a hard working and honest sheriff."

Farnworth chose not to attend the hearing and offered his explanation concerning the charges by a letter from his attorney. After reviewing this letter, Femling determined that Farnworth had not adequately refuted the charges against him and suspended Farnworth with pay until Femling appointed a new deputy to replace him.

By a letter dated February 21, 1989, Farnworth filed a notice of claim with the county, pursuant to the Idaho Tort Claims Act (ITCA). On March 7, 1989, Farnworth sued Femling and the county seeking damages for wrongful termination under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Farnworth also requested that he be allowed to amend the complaint "to add additional actions and tort claims as may be necessary upon denial of a tort claim filed against Blaine County for torts and actions not specifically limited to those provided for by 42 U.S.C. § 1983, upon denial of said claim by Blaine County."

Femling and the county moved for summary judgment.

Farnworth moved for leave to amend his complaint. The trial court granted Farnworth's motion, and on May 21, 1990, Farnworth filed an amended complaint, restating the allegations of the original complaint and adding claims for: (1) breach of an express employment contract; (2) breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; and (3) the tort of wrongful discharge. Femling and the county renewed their motion for summary judgment.

The trial court, District Judge May presiding, granted summary judgment to both Femling and the county on all issues. Several weeks later, the trial court issued an amended decision denying summary judgment on the breach of express employment contract and the breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing claims. Shortly after issuing this decision, Judge May disqualified himself, and the case was assigned to District Judge Hart.

Nearly two years later, Femling and the county filed another motion for summary judgment. In this motion Femling and the county argued that no genuine issue of material fact existed with regard to Farnworth's claims for breach of an express employment contract and for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Shortly thereafter, Farnworth filed a motion asking that the court construe his amended complaint to include a tort claim pursuant to ITCA. Farnworth also filed a motion for reconsideration of Judge May's order granting summary judgment.

The trial court denied summary judgment on the breach of express employment contract claim and granted summary judgment to Femling and the county on the breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing claim. The trial court reaffirmed the summary judgment on Farnworth's federal civil rights claims against Femling and the county. The trial court concluded that the civil rights claim against Femling was barred under the doctrine of qualified immunity, and that the civil rights claim against the county failed to articulate a fundamental constitutional right which had been violated as required by Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978).

The trial court also concluded that Farnworth's ITCA claim was barred because the amended complaint related back to the date of the original complaint. The trial court said Farnworth's ITCA claim therefore violated the requirement of ITCA that a claimant wait ninety days after filing a notice of claim with the county before filing a lawsuit.

Subsequently, the trial court ruled that Farnworth had not pleaded a claim for breach of implied contract of employment. Pursuant to a stipulation of the parties, the trial court dismissed Farnworth's breach of express employment contract claim.

Farnworth appealed.

II.

THERE ARE GENUINE ISSUES OF MATERIAL FACT CONCERNING THE QUALIFIED IMMUNITY DEFENSE.

Farnworth asserts that the trial court should not have granted summary judgment on his federal civil rights claim against Femling under the First Amendment on the basis of qualified immunity. We agree.

We first note that Farnworth's lack of a right to continued employment is immaterial to the viability of his First Amendment claim. Regardless of the nature of the employment, a public employer "may not deny a benefit to a person on a basis that infringes [the person's] constitutionally protected interests--especially, [the person's] interest in freedom of speech." Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois, 497 U.S. 62, 72, 110 S.Ct. 2729, 2736, 111 L.Ed.2d 52, 65 (1990) (emphasis omitted) (quoting Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 597, 92 S.Ct. 2694, 2697, 33 L.Ed.2d 570, 577 (1972)).

In Arnzen v. State, 123 Idaho 899, 854 P.2d 242 (1993), the Court stated a three-part test to determine whether a party asserting qualified immunity is entitled to the defense:

1. Was there a clearly established law?

2. Did the conduct of the party asserting qualified immunity violate a clearly established right of the party claiming the violation?

3. Was the conduct of the party asserting qualified immunity reasonable?

Id. at 904, 854 P.2d at 247.

In this case, there was a clearly established law. A public employer may not enforce conditions of employment that infringe on an employee's constitutional right of free speech. Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138, 142, 103 S.Ct. 1684, 1687, 75 L.Ed.2d 708, 716-17 (1983); Gardner v. Evans, 110 Idaho 925, 933, 719 P.2d 1185, 1193 (1986).

Whether Femling's conduct violated Farnworth's First Amendment rights depends on whether Femling took adverse action against Farnworth because Farnworth exercised these rights. The resolution of this question first requires us to examine whether Farnworth's speech that was noted by Femling in his charges against Farnworth was speech protected under the First Amendment. Whether Farnworth's speech was constitutionally protected entails a balancing of the interests of Farnworth in commenting upon matters of public concern against the employer's interest in promoting the "efficiency of the public services it performs through its employees." Pickering v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 563, 568, 88 S.Ct. 1731, 1735, 20 L.Ed.2d 811, 817 (1968). Under this analysis, Farnworth has the initial burden to show that his conduct was constitutionally protected. Mt. Healthy City Board of Ed. v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 287, 97 S.Ct. 568, 576, 50 L.Ed.2d 471, 484 (1977).

In Lubcke v. Boise City/Ada Cty. Hous. Auth., 124 Idaho 450, 860 P.2d 653 (1993), the Court recently noted: "[I]t is clearly settled law that government officials cannot terminate public employees for exercising their First Amendment rights to speak on a matter of public concern except in limited circumstances." Id. at 465, 860 P.2d at 668. Citing Pickering, 391 U.S. at 570 n. 3, 88 S.Ct. at 1735 n. 3, 20 L.Ed.2d at 818 n. 3, the Court stated:

[D]ismissal for the exercise of First Amendment rights might be permissible in cases where the need for confidentiality is great or in cases where the relationship between the "superior and subordinate is of such a personal and intimate nature that certain forms of public criticism would seriously undermine the effectiveness of the working relationship between them."

Lubcke, 124 Idaho at 465, 860 P.2d at 668.

The Court also noted that "[t]he inquiry into the protective status of the speech is one of law, not fact." Id. (quoting Connick, 461 U.S. at 148 n. 7, 103 S.Ct. at 1690 n. 7, 75 L.Ed.2d at 720 n. 7).

In deciding whether Farnworth's speech...