Greene v. Johns Hopkins University

• Decision Date: 11 April 1979
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. N-78-761.
• Citation: 469 F. Supp. 187
• Parties: Kenneth Allen GREENE v. The JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY and Employment Security Administration.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

469 F. Supp. 187

Kenneth Allen GREENE v. The JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY and Employment Security Administration.¹

Civ. A. No. N-78-761.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

April 11, 1979.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Kenneth Allen Greene, plaintiff pro se.

Estelle A. Fishbein, of Baltimore, Md., for defendant The Johns Hopkins University.

Stephen H. Sachs, Atty. Gen. of Maryland, Joel J. Rabin and Sherry L. Kendall, Asst. Attys. Gen., Baltimore, Md., for defendant Employment Security Administration.

NORTHROP, Chief Judge.

This is an action brought by Kenneth Allen Greene a pro se plaintiff charging the Johns Hopkins University with violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 214(b)(4)(A), and the Civil Rights Statutes, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983, and 1985, for allegedly failing to place him under the proper employment classification, firing him for a discriminatory reason, and conspiring with the Maryland Employment Security Administration (ESA) to deprive him of unemployment compensation benefits. The plaintiff asserts that 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1337, and 1343 are the jurisdictional bases upon which this Court can entertain the case.

On May 30, 1978, defendant, Johns Hopkins University (Hopkins), filed a motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, a motion for partial summary judgment on all but the § 1981 claim. In ruling on this kind of motion, the Court must view the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and must accept the truthfulness of the factual allegations in the complaint. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974); Jenkins v. McKeithen, 395 U.S. 411, 421-22, 89 S.Ct. 1843, 23 L.Ed.2d 404 (1969). Furthermore, the plaintiff's status as a pro se civil rights litigant requires that the Court carefully examine the complaint to see whether the facts alleged, or the set of facts that the plaintiff could be able to prove, may provide a basis for recovery under the Civil Rights Acts or other "heads of jurisdiction in the federal arsenal for redress of constitutional deprivations." Gordon v. Leeke, 574 F.2d 1147, 1151 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 99 S.Ct. 464, 58 L.Ed.2d 431 (1978).

On September 15, 1978, the Court held a hearing on the defendant Hopkins' motion to dismiss or for alternative relief. At the conclusion of oral argument, the Court issued an oral opinion in which it ruled that the plaintiff's first substantive claim, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 214(b)(4)(A), was defective. The opinion set forth the reasons for that conclusion:

A reading of the statute and the legislative history of the Fair Labor Standards Act leads this Court to conclude that the certification procedure and maximum hours limitations of that section are applicable only to full-time students who are employed at less than the minimum wage. The pleadings in this case show that the plaintiff was employed at a wage rate higher than the minimum wage throughout his period of employment with the University.

From the legislative history, it appears that Congress intended that the certification procedure and maximum work hours limitation would insure that student employment would not detrimentally affect members of the full time work force seeking employment. It seems logical that employment of students at rates greater than the minimum wage would not seriously damage the opportunities of members of the normal work force and, therefore, this Court concludes that 29 U.S.C. § 214(b)(4)(A) is inapplicable to this plaintiff under any interpretation of the statutory language and legislative history.

Transcript at 4. The Court also stated that insufficient facts had been pleaded to permit a determination of whether a cause of action might lie under either § 1983 or § 1985 of the civil rights statutes. To obtain sufficient facts to resolve the threshold state action inquiry under § 1983, the Court directed the defendant to provide the following information: (1) an affidavit outlining state and federal funds received by the University from 1972 through 1978; and (2) documents that show the source of funding for the plaintiff's employment. The Court also requested the parties to file memoranda outlining the factual and legal bases supporting or negating state action in this case.²

To further clarify the possibility of jurisdiction on the basis of § 1985, the Court directed the plaintiff to amend his complaint to include the director of Maryland's Employment Security Administration as a defendant and "to supplement, with specificity, his allegations of conspiratorial activity on the part of the University and the Employment Security Administration." Transcript at 6. Finally, the Court asked the defendant to re-examine the plaintiff's § 1981 claim in light of the decision to dismiss the Fair Labor Standards Act claim. See Transcript at 3.

In response to the Court's directions, the plaintiff filed a pleading on October 2, 1978, which outlined his arguments in support of a finding of state action in this case. Defendant Hopkins answered with a motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, a motion for summary judgment on all of the claims in the complaint. On November 3, 1978, the plaintiff filed an amended complaint that named both the Johns Hopkins University and the Employment Security Administration as defendants. On November 16, 1978, the plaintiff requested leave of the court to file another amended complaint that would add Robert J. Schuerholz (plaintiff's supervisor at the University) as a defendant and allege a Title VII claim (42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.), as well as all of the other claims previously delineated in prior complaints. The defendant has opposed this amendment to the complaint. See defendant Hopkins' Answer to Motion for Leave to File an Amended Complaint, filed November 27, 1978.

The plaintiff has explained his recurring amendments as a misinterpretation of the Court's directions at the September 15, 1978 hearing. The Court finds this mistake highly unlikely considering plaintiff's education, the quality of his pleadings, and his repeated assertions at the hearing that he understood exactly what the Court had requested from him. Nevertheless, due to the liberality allowed to the pro se civil rights litigant by the law of this circuit, see Gordon v. Leeke, supra, the Court will accept plaintiff's amended complaints filed on October 2, 1978, November 3, 1978, and November 16, 1978. However, the Court will not accept any further amendments of the complaint in this case.

The Court will now proceed to rule on the outstanding motions. In judging the relative merit of the plaintiff's claims, the Court will consider the additional evidence furnished by the parties subsequent to the September 1978 hearing and, where appropriate, will grant summary judgment on particular issues. See 5 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure, Civil § 1366 (1969).

Factual Background

The plaintiff first became associated with the Johns Hopkins University as a student in the Spring of 1973 when the University accepted his application for enrollment in the undergraduate class matriculating in the Fall of 1973. From that time until his graduation in May 1977, Mr. Greene received substantial financial aid from the University — $12,200 in grants and $4,300 in loans. See Defendant's Memorandum in Support of Motion to Dismiss, filed May 30, 1978. Mr. Greene's employment with the University began in September 1974 when he applied for the position of part-time telephone operator. At the time of his hiring, Mr. Greene was found eligible for work-study funds and was classified as a temporary undergraduate assistant, with a starting wage of $2.42 per hour. As his employment continued during his undergraduate career at the University, Mr. Greene's wage rate increased several times; his hours worked increased as well, especially after February 28, 1975 when he was given permission to work more hours than the normal amount allowed a full-time student.

In May 1977, the plaintiff graduated from Johns Hopkins University. After graduation, he continued his employment with the University as a part-time telephone operator. He asked his supervisors during this period whether he would receive the personnel benefits given to permanent University employees. His supervisors allegedly informed him that he would not receive these benefits since he was still a casual employee. Mr. Greene, however, continued in the classification "temporary undergraduate assistant," until October 10, 1977 when he was reclassified as a casual employee. At that time, University personnel officers informed him that he would still be unable to receive personnel benefits since they were given only to permanent, and not casual, employees. Plaintiff contends that this position was erroneous since University personnel policy required the personnel office to reclassify him as a permanent employee, either full or part-time, and thus make him eligible for personnel benefits.

In January 1978, the plaintiff had several negative employment experiences. First, on January 13, 1978, University security police officers received a telephone call from the University Rathskellar that the telephone operator had not responded to a call for a security escort. University security officers proceeded to the Communications Center where they found the plaintiff asleep at the switchboard. The officers also allegedly detected the odor of marijuana in the plaintiff's work area. The same situation occurred on January 20, 1978, when the plaintiff again failed to answer the Rathskellar call and University security officers again found him asleep at the switchboard. These incidents were reported to Mr. Greene's supervisor, Mr. Robert J. Schuerholz.³ On January 20, 1978, Mr. Greene fell down some icy steps leading to his work area. He reported his injuries to his immediate supervisor on that day and presented a...