Floyd v. Waiters, Civ. A. 91-47-2-MAC (WDO).
| Decision Date | 20 August 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. Civ. A. 91-47-2-MAC (WDO).,Civ. A. 91-47-2-MAC (WDO). |
| Citation | 831 F. Supp. 867 |
| Parties | Carol FLOYD, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Iris WAITERS, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Georgia |
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John Paul Batson, Augusta, GA and Sandra J. Popson, Macon, GA, for plaintiffs.
Randall Dennis Russell, Sr., Jerry A. Lumley, and Wallace Warren Plowden, Jr., Macon, GA, for defendants.
Before the court is a motion for summary judgment filed by defendants Massey, Hagler, Nicholson, Tinker, and Bronson. After careful consideration of the arguments of counsel, the relevant case law, and the record as a whole, the court issues the following order.
In February, 1989, defendant William Booker, a security guard for the Bibb County Board of Education ("Board"), falsely imprisoned and assaulted plaintiff Carla Floyd, a fourteen-year-old middle school student. Approximately one week later, Booker kidnapped and raped Carla Floyd's twin sister, Carol Floyd.
Both of these crimes occurred at the "Playhouse," a house on Toombs Street in Bibb County, Georgia. Defendant Iris Waiters, the Security Supervisor for the Board, operated the Playhouse and invited various security guards to join the "club." Waiters, Booker, and other guards used the house for occasional card games, beer drinking, and illicit sex. The Playhouse was used for these activities for over a decade, until it was disbanded in 1989, when Booker's crimes were discovered.
The Board has maintained a security force since 1967. Defendant Waiters was first hired as a Board security guard in 1971 and was promoted to Security Supervisor in 1973. He was terminated from this position in March, 1989, following his arrest for obstruction of justice in relation to Bookers' crimes against the Floyd girls.
Defendant John Nicholson was Waiters' immediate supervisor at the time of these incidents and held the title of Director of Operations. His title has since been changed to Assistant Superintendent for Facilities. He has held this position since August, 1987. His predecessor, defendant Harry Tinker, held the position of Director of Operations from 1976 until his retirement in 1987.
Defendant Thomas Hagler served as Superintendent of Schools for the Bibb County Public School System from 1981 through 1991. Defendant Stephen Massey was the President of the Board at the time at which this action was filed. Defendant Kenneth Bronson is currently employed by the Board as a Campus Police Officer. He formerly held the title of Security Officer.
The evidence shows that in 1984 and 1985, some female students made complaints to Tinker and Waiters that Booker had made suggestive comments to them. The girls were subsequently questioned about their complaints, but no further inquiries were made. Booker was never reprimanded for this conduct.
In addition, Booker was arrested in 1985 for aggravated assault. After an argument with his mistress, he fired his gun through the door of her home, and she filed charges. Waiters and Tinker were aware of the arrest and began an investigation. However, they terminated the investigation after Booker's mistress dropped the charges.
Also, during this time period, there were rumors that Booker was having sex with minor females. These rumors were never substantiated, and neither Waiters nor Tinker conducted any investigation into them. Plaintiffs have produced no evidence of any complaints about Booker's behavior after 1985.
It is undisputed that neither Waiters nor Tinker reported any information about Booker's prior activities to either a higher-ranking administrative official or any member of the Board. There is also no evidence that any administrative official other than Waiters, Booker, and other security guards was aware of the existence of the Playhouse.
Plaintiffs Carla and Carol Floyd, through their next friend, filed this lawsuit on February 5, 1991. In their complaint, they have alleged civil rights violations against defendants Hagler, Nicholson, Bronson, Tinker, Booker, and Waiters, individually and in their official capacities. Defendant Massey has been sued in his official capacity only. Plaintiffs have also filed claims under Title IX and state law against defendants.
Because all defendants have been sued in their official capacities, the Board is a municipal defendant in this case. It has filed a motion for summary judgment on all official capacity claims. This motion has also been filed on behalf of defendants Hagler, Nicholson, Tinker, and Bronson, in their individual capacities.
In this case, plaintiffs are seeking to hold the Board liable as a municipality for the civil rights violations alleged in the complaint. In addition, plaintiffs have filed civil rights claims against defendants Hagler, Nicholson, Tinker, Bronson, Waiters, and Booker, in their individual capacities. Finally, plaintiffs have alleged claims under Title IX and state law against defendants.
Plaintiffs have raised two grounds upon which to base municipal liability in this case. They first contend that the Board is liable because defendants Waiters, Nicholson, and/or Tinker had "final policy-making authority" in supervising the Board security force. Second, plaintiffs contend that the alleged civil rights violations in this case were caused by long-standing customs or practices of the Board.
Under this theory of liability, "a municipal official who has `final policy-making authority' in a certain area of the city's business may by his or her action subject the government to § 1983 liability when the challenged action falls within that authority." Brown v. City of Fort Lauderdale, 923 F.2d 1474, 1480 (11th Cir.1991). Whether an official has final policy-making authority is a question of state law to be decided by the court. Id.; see also Mandel v. Doe, 888 F.2d 783, 793 (11th Cir.1989).
Plaintiffs contend that defendants Waiters, Tinker, and/or Nicholson had final policy-making authority with regard to the Board security department. With this authority, these defendants allegedly established customs or practices within the security force that caused the civil rights violations against plaintiffs.
This argument has no merit. Plaintiffs have presented no evidence that any of these defendants had final policy-making authority with regard to security matters. On the contrary, under the Board bylaws, the Board has final policy-making authority over all "organization, management and control of the Bibb County Public Schools." Board Policy 8100; see also Ga. Laws 1872, p. 388.
Moreover, the bylaws expressly state that the Board "determines policy, delegates executive, supervisory and instructional authority to its employees, and appraises the results achieved in light of the goals of the school system." Board Policy 8300. Thus, the undisputed evidence shows that the Board has final policy-making authority over all school matters.
In addition, the chain of command within the Board establishes that Waiters, Nicholson, and Tinker did not have final policy-making authority. Under the official job description of Security Supervisor, Waiters had no authority to establish anything but routine security procedures. Furthermore, Waiters was under the direct supervision of the Director of Operations (Tinker, from 1976-87, and Nicholson, from 1987-89).
The Director of Operations was responsible for planning, organizing and implementing the security program. However, he was also supervised by and required to report to the Associate Superintendent of Finance and Support on all areas of the Operations program. The Associate Superintendent reported to the Superintendent, who then reported to the Board.
Under this command structure, all actions of Waiters, as Security Supervisor, and Nicholson and Tinker, as Directors of Operations, were subject to review by a higher official. Then, ultimately, actions by all employees were subject to review by the Board.
When a municipality has the power to review a decision of an official, that official has no final policy-making authority. See Manor Healthcare Corp. v. Lomelo, 929 F.2d 633, 638 (11th Cir.), reh'g denied, 942 F.2d 798 (1991).
The mere delegation of authority to a subordinate to exercise discretion is not sufficient to give the subordinate policy-making authority. Rather, the delegation must be such that the subordinate's discretionary decisions are not constrained by official policies and are not subject to review.
Mandel v. Doe, 888 F.2d 783, 792 (11th Cir. 1989) (citing City of St. Louis v. Praprotnik, 485 U.S. 112, 125-28, 108 S.Ct. 915, 925-27, 99 L.Ed.2d 107 (1988)).
Despite this command structure, plaintiffs contend that, in practice, the actions of Waiters, Nicholson, and Tinker were never actually reviewed by the Board and that the security department acted as an independent organization. Thus, according to plaintiffs, these defendants were final policy-makers.
Again, the record does not support this contention. There is no dispute that Nicholson and Tinker, as Directors of Operations, were involved in the operations of the security department. Since the Director of Operations was an administrator outside of the security department, there is no merit to plaintiffs' argument that the department functioned independently from any outside administrative supervision.
In addition, the record shows that actions by Nicholson and Tinker were, in practice, reviewed by the Board. The Director of Operations made a monthly report of the security department's activities to the Board's Fiscal and Support Services Committee. This committee then made a report to the Board. Thus, plaintiffs' contention that Waiters, Nicholson, and Tinker were final policy-makers in any capacity has no merit, and municipal liability cannot be based upon this theory.
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