Fielder v. Gehring

• Decision Date: 18 July 2000
• Docket Number: Civil No. 99-00350 SOM/BMK.
• Parties: William Robert FIELDER, Plaintiff, v. Howard B. GEHRING; Stephen Thompson; and Nancy Murphy, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Hawaii

110 F.Supp.2d 1312

William Robert FIELDER, Plaintiff, v. Howard B. GEHRING; Stephen Thompson; and Nancy Murphy, Defendants.

Civil No. 99-00350 SOM/BMK.

United States District Court, D. Hawaii.

July 18, 2000.

Jack F. Schweigert, Michael G.M. Ostendorp, Honolulu, HI, for plaintiff.

Pamela Keiko Matsukawa, Dept of the Attorney General, Honolulu, HI, for defendants.

ORDER DISMISSING OFFICIAL CAPACITY AND EQUAL PROTECTION CLAIMS; ORDER DENYING SUMMARY JUDGMENT AS TO DUE PROCESS CLAIMS IN THE DEFENDANTS' INDIVIDUAL CAPACITIES

MOLLWAY, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION.

On May 14, 1999, Plaintiff William Robert Fielder ("Fielder") filed a Complaint. The Complaint was amended on October 20. Fielder claims that Howard B. Gehring ("Gehring"),¹ Stephen Thompson ("Thompson"),² and Nancy Murphy ("Murphy")³ (collectively "Defendants"), in their individual and official capacities, violated his constitutional rights under the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses by not issuing a mooring permit to him. Defendants have moved for judgment on the pleadings, or, in the alternative, for summary judgment.

To the extent Fielder brings his claims against the Defendants in their official capacities, Defendants' motion is granted. Defendants have Eleventh Amendment immunity from those claims. Accordingly, the claims against Defendants in their official capacities are dismissed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1).⁴

On Fielder's claims that Defendants, in their individual capacities, violated the Equal Protection clause of the United States Constitution, Defendants are awarded judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Rule 12(c). Fielder has not alleged that he was treated differently from similarly situated persons.

This court considers Defendants' motion regarding Fielder's Due Process claims against Defendants in their individual capacities as having been brought under Rule 56(c) because the motion requires examination of evidence outside the pleadings. Defendants' motion is denied with respect to those claims because there is an issue of fact as to whether Fielder was entitled to the mooring permit that he sought. If Fielder was entitled to the mooring permit, he had a property interest protected by the Due Process clause of the United States Constitution.

II. STANDARDS.

A. Motion to Dismiss Standard.

A motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(1) may either attack the allegations of the complaint as insufficient to confer upon the court subject matter jurisdiction, or may attack the existence of subject matter jurisdiction in fact. Thornhill Publ'g Co., Inc. v. General Tel. & Elecs. Corp., 594 F.2d 730, 733 (9th Cir.1979). When the motion to dismiss attacks the allegations of the complaint as insufficient to confer subject matter jurisdiction, all allegations of material fact are taken as true and construed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.⁵ Federation of African Amer. Contractors v. City of Oakland, 96 F.3d 1204, 1207 (9th Cir.1996). When the motion to dismiss is a factual attack on subject matter jurisdiction, however, no presumptive truthfulness attaches to the plaintiff's allegations, and the existence of disputed material facts will not preclude the trial court from evaluating for itself the existence of subject matter jurisdiction in fact. Thornhill, 594 F.2d at 733. The present motion attacks the allegations of Fielder's Complaint as being insufficient to confer upon the court subject matter jurisdiction.

B. Judgement on the Pleadings Standard.

Rule 12(c) states:

After the pleadings are closed but within such time as not to delay the trial, any party may move for judgment on the pleadings. If, on a motion for judgment on the pleadings, matters outside the pleadings are presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as provided in Rule 56, and all parties shall be given reasonable opportunity to present all material made pertinent to such a motion by Rule 56.

The standard governing a Rule 12(c) motion for judgment on the pleadings is essentially the same as that governing a Rule 12(b)(6) motion. The motion will be granted if, accepting as true all material allegations contained in the nonmoving party's pleadings, the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Lake Tahoe Watercraft Recreation Association v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 24 F.Supp.2d 1062, 1066 (E.D.Cal.1998). For a Rule 12(c) motion, the allegations of the nonmoving party must be accepted as true, while any allegations made by the nonmoving party that have been denied are assumed to be false. Hal Roach Studios v. Richard Feiner & Co., Inc., 896 F.2d 1542, 1550 (9th Cir.1989). Judgment on the pleadings is proper when the moving party clearly establishes on the face of the pleadings that no material issue of fact remains to be resolved and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id. However, judgment on the pleadings is improper when the district court goes beyond the pleadings to resolve an issue; such a proceeding must properly be treated as a motion for summary judgment. Id.

C. Summary Judgment Standard.

Summary judgment shall be granted when:

the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); see Addisu v. Fred Meyer, Inc., 198 F.3d 1130, 1134 (9th Cir. 2000). One of the principal purposes of summary judgment is to identify and dispose of factually unsupported claims and defenses. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-24, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

Summary judgment must be granted against a party who fails to demonstrate facts to establish what will be an essential element at trial. Id. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548. The burden initially lies with the moving party to identify for the court "those portions of the materials on file that it believes demonstrate the absence of any genuine issue of material fact." T.W. Electrical Service, Inc. v. Pacific Electrical Contractors Ass'n, 809 F.2d 626, 630 (9th Cir.1987) (citing Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548). "When the moving party has carried its burden under Rule 56(c), its opponent must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) (footnote omitted). The nonmoving party may not rely on the mere allegations in the pleadings and instead must set forth "specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." Id. At least some "`significant probative evidence tending to support the complaint'" must be produced. Id. (quoting First Nat. Bank v. Cities Serv. Co., 391 U.S. 253, 290, 88 S.Ct. 1575, 20 L.Ed.2d 569, reh'g denied, 393 U.S. 901, 89 S.Ct. 63, 21 L.Ed.2d 188 (1968)); Addisu, 198 F.3d at 1134 ("A scintilla of evidence or evidence that is merely colorable or not significantly probative does not present a genuine issue of material fact"). "[I]f the factual context makes the non-moving party's claim implausible, that party must come forward with more persuasive evidence than would otherwise be necessary to show that there is a genuine issue for trial." California Architectural Bldg. Prods., Inc. v. Franciscan Ceramics, Inc., 818 F.2d 1466, 1468 (9th Cir.1987) (citing Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., 475 U.S. at 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1006, 108 S.Ct. 698, 98 L.Ed.2d 650 (1988). Accord Addisu, 198 F.3d at 1134 ("There must be enough doubt for a `reasonable trier of fact' to find for plaintiffs in order to defeat the summary judgment motion").

However, when "direct evidence" produced by the moving party conflicts with "direct evidence" produced by the party opposing summary judgment, "the judge must assume the truth of the evidence set forth by the nonmoving party with respect to that fact." T.W. Elec. Services, 809 F.2d at 631. All evidence and inferences must be construed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Id. Inferences may be drawn from underlying facts not in dispute, as well as from disputed facts that the judge is required to resolve in favor of the nonmoving party. Id.

III. BACKGROUND FACTS.

In April 1999, Fielder sailed his vessel, the "Meander," into the Keehi Small Boat Harbor ("Keehi").⁶ Complaint ¶ 8 (indicating that Fielder sailed his vessel into Keehi on April 10, 1999); Declaration of William Robert Fielder (June 29, 2000) ¶ 2 (indicating that Fielder sailed his vessel into Keehi on April 12, 1999); Affidavit of Nancy Murphy (May 24, 2000) ¶ 2 (indicating that Fielder sailed the Meander into Keehi on April 12, 1999).⁷ On April 13, 1999, Fielder went to the DLNR-DOBOR's office located at Keehi to obtain a mooring permit. Fielder Decl. ¶ 3; Murphy Aff ¶ 3. Fielder was not issued a permit at that time because Murphy had reservations regarding whether the Meander's bell satisfied Coast Guard requirements. Fielder Decl. ¶¶ 3, 5; Murphy Aff. ¶ 4.

Fielder obtained a proper bell and passed inspection on April 16, 1999. Fielder Decl. ¶¶, 5-6; Murphy Aff. ¶ 5. On April 22, Fielder was notified that the paperwork for his mooring permit was completed and that he would have to pay $240.14 to obtain that permit. Affidavit of Debra Dudoit (May 24, 2000) ¶ 2; Letter from Debra Dudoit to William R. Fielder (dated April 21, 1999, but apparently mailed April 22, 1999). Fielder also says that Murphy told him on April 24 that, although his application for a mooring permit had been approved, he still had to pay a permit fee as well as the mooring fee for the next month. Fielder Decl. ¶¶ 8-10.

Fielder says that he objected to having to pay the permit fee charged to nonresidents as well as the next month's mooring fee. Fielder...