Ferrelli v. River Manor Health Care Center
| Decision Date | 21 March 2003 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 00-9515. |
| Citation | 323 F.3d 196 |
| Parties | Isabella FERRELLI, Plaintiff-Appellant v. RIVER MANOR HEALTH CARE CENTER, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Jonathan H. Romberg (Janet M. Zicarelli and Peter Choy, law students, argued and on the brief) Center for Social Justice, Seton Hall University School of Law, Newark, N.J., for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Carmelo Grimaldi, Kaufman, Schneider & Bianco, LLP, Jericho, N.Y., for Defendant-Appellee.
Before: WALKER, Chief Judge, MINER and CABRANES, Circuit Judges.
This case raises the question of when a court is required to inquire into the mental capacity of a pro se litigant to determine whether, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure ("Rule") 17(c), the court should appoint a guardian ad litem or take other measures to protect the litigant's interests.1 Pro se plaintiff-appellant Isabella Ferrelli sued defendant-appellee River Manor Health Care Center ("River Manor") after being fired from her position as a licensed practical nurse, claiming that she had been terminated on the basis of race in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq.
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Edward R. Korman, Chief Judge) assigned the case to Magistrate Judge Steven M. Gold for pre-trial management. Plaintiff Ferrelli filed an application for court-appointed counsel, which Magistrate Judge Gold denied with leave to renew. Ferrelli then refused to respond to defendant's discovery requests unless she was provided counsel, explaining that she lacked the legal knowledge and mental capacity necessary to cooperate in discovery, and expressing her belief that defendants were involved in a conspiracy to injure or kill her. After warning Ferrelli of the possible consequences of her refusal to supply discovery, Magistrate Judge Gold issued a Report and Recommendation ("the Report") recommending that the district court bar plaintiff from presenting certain evidence at trial. Judge Korman adopted the Report by memo endorsement. River Manor then filed a motion for summary judgment. Ferrelli opposed the motion, continuing to claim that she lacked the mental capacity to proceed pro se. Judge Korman granted summary judgment to the defendant by memo endorsement without addressing plaintiff's opposition.
Plaintiff filed a timely appeal and on April 5, 2001, a different panel of this Court appointed appellate counsel to plaintiff and ordered counsel to consider whether the district court should have inquired into appellant's mental capacity and the appropriateness of appointing a guardian ad litem, pursuant to Rule 17(c), or assigned counsel. For the reasons stated below, we affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment.
Ferrelli worked at River Manor as a licensed practical nurse from January 21, 1993 until November 4, 1997, the day she was terminated. Ferrelli, who is white, contends that she was terminated on the basis of race. River Manor maintains that Ferrelli was terminated for failing to follow the proper procedures for distributing controlled drugs to the resident patients. Ferrelli denies River Manor's misconduct charges and contends that non-white employees "with more serious infractions were not terminated" and that she "was treated in a way that no ... non-white employee was treated prior to and at termination."
Prior to filing the instant suit, Ferrelli contested her termination in several other fora. First, she sought an adjudication by the State of New York Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board ("the Board") that she was not terminated for misconduct, a determination that would entitle her to unemployment benefits. The Board found that River Manor had relied primarily on hearsay to support its finding of misconduct and that Ferrelli's sworn testimony — which the Board held was not inherently incredible — was entitled to greater weight. Accordingly, the Board concluded that Ferrelli should not be disqualified from receiving benefits. Second, Ferrelli filed a grievance through her union, which ultimately resulted in an arbitration decision concluding that Ferrelli had engaged in misconduct, but that the appropriate response was suspension for approximately nineteen months rather than termination. The arbitrator ordered River Manor to reinstate Ferrelli and to pay her approximately two-and-a-half months of back pay. Third, Ferrelli filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which issued a right-to-sue letter on December 12, 1998. Acting pro se, Ferrelli then filed her Title VII complaint in the district court.
Two and a half months after filing her complaint, Ferrelli filed a written application for court-appointed counsel, a request she renewed several times during pretrial proceedings. At the initial pre-trial conference, Magistrate Judge Gold denied her application for court-appointed counsel on the basis that "just looking at the outer circumstances of your case, they don't raise the same likelihood of or indications of likely merit on the surface," and that her case was not "compelling." Ferrelli was given leave to renew her request after discovery, "if the case survive[ed][a] dispositive motion." At a subsequent conference convened to address Ferrelli's failure to cooperate in discovery, Ferrelli renewed her request for counsel, asserting that she could not answer the interrogatories for reasons that "pertain[ ] to my safety." She also informed the magistrate judge that "my life is in danger and I do need federal protection," and that "I don't have the legal knowledge or training to do this." At a later status conference, Ferrelli explained that she could not answer defendant's interrogatories because "this is a conspiracy against me" involving River Manor and others, and that she could not provide any information without the assistance of an attorney.
At all of these conferences, Magistrate Judge Gold informed Ferrelli that she was required to answer defendant's requests to disclose which of defendant's employees had allegedly discriminated against her. At the last conference, the magistrate judge warned her of the likelihood that she would be barred from presenting any witnesses that she did not divulge. Nevertheless, Ferrelli continued to resist answering defendant's discovery requests. Thereupon River Manor filed a motion to preclude Ferrelli from presenting certain evidence related to the information she refused to disclose, and on March 22, 2000 the magistrate judge filed a Report recommending that Judge Korman grant the motion. Ferrelli filed a timely objection to the Report on April 7, 2000 in which she again alleged criminal conduct by the defendant including attempted murder, and stated On April 17, 2000 the district court adopted the magistrate judge's recommendation by memo endorsement.
The defendant then moved for summary judgment, to which Ferrelli's only reply, dated six days after her opposition papers were due, asserted that
[t]he denial of my 14th Amendment Rights by the City and by the State of New York, has been and is contin[u]ous, and on going in the day and in the night without pause and has hampered my ability to maintain a suit within the Federal Court while laboring under such a defect of reason, and mental incapability and to maintain said suit from the onset.
As of February 18, 2000, it has become impossible, and without Federal intervention to stop any further damage to my body, and to stop any further damage to my mind by those employe[d] by New York City, and by the State of New York namely members of the New York City Police Department who have engaged in or have summon[ ]ed on their behalf those who have engaged in the use of children, the use of two Special Agents of the F.B.I., attempted murder, murder, arson, bank robbery, fraud, compromising police investigations, extortion, bombings, conspiracy, and the taking of this community and setting it aside from articles of the constitution gives cause for me to say that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure # 56 is not paramount in this case at this time.
The district court subsequently granted defendant's motion for summary judgment by memo endorsement, and Ferrelli filed a timely appeal. A panel of this court appointed appellate counsel and ordered briefing on "whether, when faced with appellant's claim that she lacked the mental capacity to respond to defendant's motion for summary judgment," the district court should have inquired into appellant's mental capacity and considered appointing a guardian ad litem or assigned counsel.
Ferrelli contends that the district court erred by failing to conduct an inquiry into her mental capacity to determine whether it should appoint a guardian ad litem and by failing to appoint counsel. We review a district court's decisions as to whether to appoint a guardian ad litem under Rule 17(c) and whether to appoint counsel under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(1) for abuse of discretion. See, e.g., Jenkins v. Chem. Bank, 721 F.2d 876, 879 (2d Cir.1983) (appointment of counsel); Developmental Disabilities Advoc. Ctr., Inc. v. Melton, 689 F.2d 281, 285 (1st Cir.1982) ().
Rule 17(c) provides, in relevant part, that "[t]he court shall appoint a guardian ad litem for an infant or incompetent person not otherwise represented in an action or shall make such other order as it deems proper for the protection of the infant or incompetent person." Fed.R.Civ.P. 17(c).2 The rule gives us no guidance...
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