Hadfield v. McDonough

• Decision Date: 11 May 2005
• Docket Number: No. 04-2020.,04-2020.
• Citation: 407 F.3d 11
• Parties: Russell J. HADFIELD, Plaintiff, Appellant, Joseph M. Palombo; Kevin Dalton; George B. Madsen, Jr., Plaintiffs, v. Joseph McDONOUGH, in his individual and official capacity as Sheriff of Plymouth County; Matthew Hanley, in his individual and official capacity as Special Sheriff of Plymouth County; Charles Lincoln, in his individual and official capacities; Coleman McDonough, in his individual and official capacities; John P. Reardon, in his official capacity as Commissioner of the County of Plymouth; Robert J. Stone, in his official capacity as County Commissioner of the County of Plymouth; Peter G. Asiaf, Jr., in his official capacity as Commissioner of the County of Plymouth; John F. McLellan, in his official capacity as the Treasurer of the County of Plymouth, Defendants, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

407 F.3d 11

Russell J. HADFIELD, Plaintiff, Appellant Joseph M. Palombo; Kevin Dalton; George B. Madsen, Jr., Plaintiffs, v. Joseph McDONOUGH, in his individual and official capacity as Sheriff of Plymouth County; Matthew Hanley, in his individual and official capacity as Special Sheriff of Plymouth County; Charles Lincoln, in his individual and official capacities; Coleman McDonough, in his individual and official capacities; John P. Reardon, in his official capacity as Commissioner of the County of Plymouth; Robert J. Stone, in his official capacity as County Commissioner of the County of Plymouth; Peter G. Asiaf, Jr., in his official capacity as Commissioner of the County of Plymouth; John F. McLellan, in his official capacity as the Treasurer of the County of Plymouth, Defendants, Appellees.

No. 04-2020.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard January 6, 2005.

Decided May 11, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Ross D. Ginsberg with whom Richard D. Vetstein and Gilman, McLaughlin & Hanrahan, LLP were on brief for appellant.

Kevin F. Moloney with whom Roger T. Manwaring, Barron & Stadfeld, P.C., Thomas M. Hoopes and Kelly, Libby & Hoopes, P.C. were on brief for appellee Joseph F. McDonough.

Kenneth H. Anderson with whom Thomas Drechsler and Finneran, Byrne & Drechsler, L.L.P. were on brief for appellees Matthew Hanley, Charles Lincoln and Coleman McDonough.

Before LYNCH, Circuit Judge, CAMPBELL, Senior Circuit Judge, and HOWARD, Circuit Judge.

HOWARD, Circuit Judge.

In November 2000, Joseph McDonough defeated incumbent Charles Decas for the office of Plymouth County Sheriff. Shortly after assuming office, McDonough fired Russell J. Hadfield from his position as Assistant Deputy Superintendent in Field Services for Training ("ADS for Training"). Hadfield brought this federal action claiming that the termination violated his constitutional rights. He alleged that the Sheriff and three of his associates, Coleman McDonough, Matthew Hanley, and Charles Lincoln, unlawfully fired him on account of his support for Decas in the 2000 election. He also alleged that the Sheriff and the Plymouth County Commissioners illegally denied him a hearing concerning his termination in violation of his due process rights. The district court awarded all defendants summary judgment. We affirm.

I.

We present the facts in the light most favorable to Hadfield. See O'Neill v. Baker, 210 F.3d 41, 44 (1st Cir.2000). The Plymouth County Massachusetts Sheriff's Department has three primary responsibilities. It operates the Plymouth County Correctional Center, provides support to local police and fire departments, and oversees the service of civil process and other legal documents. The Department is headed by a popularly elected Sheriff and employs over 500 people.

Hadfield worked for the Department in various capacities from 1983 until his termination. In May 2000, Hadfield was made ADS for Training, a position in which he was supervised by the Department's Director of Training. Among his duties, Hadfield supervised instructors, developed resources, arranged classes, researched curricula, and taught various courses.

In the period before the November 2000 election, Hadfield worked for Decas' reelection. To help in the effort, Hadfield held Decas signs at various rallies. On November 4, 2000, on his way to a Decas rally, Hadfield passed a rally at which he noticed many people holding signs supporting McDonough. Hadfield attended this rally while holding a Decas sign. At the rally, Hadfield was approached by two of McDonough's supporters, Charles Lincoln and Coleman McDonough. After telling Hadfield that he should not be attending the rally, Coleman McDonough told Hadfield, "Bad move, Bubba, bad career move." In a similarly threatening vein, Lincoln told Hadfield, "You weren't even on the list. Now you're at the top of the list."

After McDonough took office in December 2000, he initiated a Department reorganization. As part of this process, he and his staff interviewed senior holdovers from the prior administration, including the Assistant Deputy Superintendents. Hadfield's interview took place in February 2001. Soon thereafter, Hadfield received a letter from McDonough informing him that he was immediately discharged from his post as ADS for Training.

McDonough did not provide Hadfield with notice or a hearing before taking this action. After receiving the termination letter, Hadfield sent a written hearing request to the Plymouth County Board of Commissioners, which serves as the county personnel board. The Commissioners denied Hadfield's request. Hadfield did not appeal this decision to the Massachusetts state courts.

Instead, in April 2001, Hadfield filed this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action claiming political discrimination in violation of the First Amendment and the denial of procedural due process in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. After a period for discovery, all defendants moved for summary judgment.

The discrimination defendants argued that Hadfield occupied a position for which political affiliation was a requirement and that he therefore was not entitled to bring a claim of unlawful political discrimination. See, e.g., Galloza v. Foy, 389 F.3d 26, 28 (1st Cir.2004) (stating that the First Amendment protection against politically motivated discharges does not extend to positions for which political affiliation is an appropriate requirement). The due process defendants argued that Hadfield was not entitled to a hearing because he did not have a property interest in continued employment under Massachusetts law, and that, even if he did have a right to hearing, his due process claim is barred by the so-called Parratt-Hudson doctrine. See Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527, 101 S.Ct. 1908, 68 L.Ed.2d 420 (1981); Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517, 104 S.Ct. 3194, 82 L.Ed.2d 393 (1984) (stating that a federal procedural due process claim may not be based on the random and unauthorized conduct of government officials so long as the state has provided an adequate postdeprivation remedy).

In a brief order, the district court awarded summary judgment for all defendants. The court agreed with the discrimination defendants that political loyalty was a legitimate job requirement for the position of ADS for Training. As to the procedural due process claim, the court concluded that, even if Hadfield was entitled to a hearing, his federal rights were not violated because any deprivation of process to which Hadfield was entitled resulted from random and unauthorized conduct and the state provided adequate postdeprivation remedies. This appeal followed.

II.

A. Standard of Review

We review the entry of summary judgment de novo, viewing the record in the light most hospitable to the party opposing summary judgment. See Padilla-Garcia v. Guillermo Rodriguez, 212 F.3d 69, 73 (1st Cir.2000). We do not credit "conclusory allegations, improbable inferences, and unsupported speculation" in this analysis. Medina-Munoz v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 896 F.2d 5, 8 (1st Cir.1990). Summary judgment is proper only if the record, read favorably to the non-moving party, reflects no genuine issues of material fact and the undisputed facts indicate that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c).

B. Political Discrimination

We begin by considering whether the discrimination defendants met their summary judgment burden of demonstrating that the ADS for Training was a position for which political affiliation was an appropriate basis for dismissal.¹ As mentioned above, we perform this analysis by drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of Hadfield. But the question of whether a position is subject to political discharge is a legal question for the court, even if it presents a close call. See Flynn v. City of Boston, 140 F.3d 42, 44 (1st Cir.1998); McGurrin Ehrhard v. Connolly, 867 F.2d 92, 93 (1st Cir.1989).

The First Amendment right to association includes a qualified right to be free from discharge from public employment merely because of political affiliation. See Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347, 359-60, 96 S.Ct. 2673, 49 L.Ed.2d 547 (1976). But the right does not extend to all public employees. See id. at 360, 96 S.Ct. 2673. In Elrod, the Court recognized that the wholesale protection of public employees could undermine representative government by forcing those who win elective office to employ individuals who disagree with the prevailing candidate's (and presumably the electorate's) goals. See id. at 367, 96 S.Ct. 2673; Flynn, 140 F.3d at 46. To permit the prevailing candidate sufficient leeway to enact his or her programs individuals in policymaking and confidential positions were held to be excluded from the prohibition against politically motivated discharges. See Elrod, 427 U.S. at 367 & 375, 96 S.Ct. 2673.

Four years later, in Branti v. Finkel, 445 U.S. 507, 518, 100 S.Ct. 1287, 63 L.Ed.2d 574 (1980), the Court reaffirmed the constitutional protection against patronage dismissals but expanded upon the "policymaker/confidential employee" test. The Court instructed that a public employee is not protected from a politically motivated discharge if "the hiring authority can demonstrate that party affiliation is an appropriate requirement for the effective performance of the public office involved." Id.

After Branti, this court and others have engaged in the process of developing a somewhat evolving standard for identifying those positions that fit within the exception articulated by the Supreme Court. See Flynn, 140 F.3d at 45 (describing the "porridge" of general statements and tests that have been applied in the wake of Branti). We have tended to ask (1) if the position deals with issues over which there can be partisan differences and (2) if the specific responsibilities of the position resemble those of a policymaker or other officeholder whose functions are such that party affiliation is...