Hall v. Medical College of Ohio at Toledo

• Decision Date: 28 August 1984
• Docket Number: No. 83-3256,83-3256
• Citation: 742 F.2d 299
• Parties: 19 Ed. Law Rep. 917 Robert HALL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MEDICAL COLLEGE OF OHIO AT TOLEDO, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 299

742 F.2d 299

19 Ed. Law Rep. 917

Robert HALL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MEDICAL COLLEGE OF OHIO AT TOLEDO, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 83-3256.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued March 7, 1984.

Decided Aug. 28, 1984.

Michael N. Vaporis, Gordon A. Senerius, argued, Toledo, Ohio, for plaintiff-appellant.

John F. Hayward, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, Renee Birnbaum, argued, Ronald S. Moening, argued, Robison, Curphey & O'Connell, Toledo, Ohio, for defendants-appellees.

Before MERRITT and KRUPANSKY, Circuit Judges, and WEICK, Senior Circuit Judge.

WEICK, Senior Circuit Judge.

Robert Hall, Plaintiff-Appellant, has appealed to this Court from a summary judgment of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division, dismissing his civil rights complaint which he has filed against the Medical College of Ohio at Toledo (MCO) and its administrative and faculty personnel. In that complaint, Hall sought damages and reinstatement as a medical student of the College, following his dismissal therefrom on June 26, 1978, for academic dishonesty, after notice of the charges and hearing thereon and an administrative appeal. Hall alleged racial discrimination by MCO and its personnel, in violation of 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1981, 1983, and 2000d, and a violation of his constitutional due process rights.

Hall filed a motion for partial summary judgment, and MCO and its personnel also filed a motion for summary judgment. The District Court, in a carefully prepared opinion and order, denied Hall's motion for partial summary judgment and granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment. The court held that MCO is an agency, arm and alter ego of the State of Ohio, and that suit against the school and its officers is barred by the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution, which provides as follows:

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.

With respect to the school personnel, the court held that they had a complete defense of qualified immunity from personal liability for damages for acts performed within the scope of their official duties. Wood v. Strickland, 420 U.S. 308, 95 S.Ct. 992, 43 L.Ed.2d 214 (1975). The court then entered judgment dismissing Hall's entire complaint, including his claim for reinstatement.

The appeal has been heard by this Court on the briefs, appendices and arguments of counsel. For the reasons stated, we affirm the judgment of the District Court.

I

Eleventh Amendment

A

A suit by a private party which, for past acts or omissions, seeks to impose legal or equitable liability payable from state funds, is barred in a federal court by the Eleventh Amendment. Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 94 S.Ct. 1347, 39 L.Ed.2d 662 (1974). This is so even when only individual state officials are the nominal defendants but the state is the real, substantial party in interest. Ford Motor Co. v. Department of Treasury, 323 U.S. 459, 464, 65 S.Ct. 347, 350, 89 L.Ed. 389 (1945).

When an action is brought against a public agency or institution, and/or the officials thereof, the application of the Eleventh Amendment turns on whether said agency or institution can be characterized as an arm or alter ego of the state, or whether it should be treated instead as a political subdivision of the state. Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 280, 97 S.Ct. 568, 572, 50 L.Ed.2d 471 (1977). Municipalities, counties and other political subdivisions (e.g., public school districts) do not partake of the state's Eleventh Amendment immunity. Id.; Lincoln County v. Luning, 133 U.S. 529, 530, 10 S.Ct. 363, 33 L.Ed. 766 (1890). See also Lake Country Estates v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 440 U.S. 391, 401, 99 S.Ct. 1171, 1177, 59 L.Ed.2d 401 (1979). Therefore, the question here is whether MCO can be considered an "arm" or "alter ego" of the State of Ohio, entitled to the immunity afforded by the Eleventh Amendment, or whether it is merely a political subdivision which enjoys no such immunity.

The great majority of cases addressing the question of Eleventh Amendment immunity for public colleges and universities have found such institutions to be arms of their respective state governments and thus immune from suit. See, United Carolina Bank v. Board of Regents, 665 F.2d 553 (5th Cir.1982) (Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas); Rutledge v. Arizona Board of Regents, 660 F.2d 1345 (9th Cir.1981) (Arizona State University), aff'd sub nom. Kush v. Rutledge, 460 U.S. 719, 103 S.Ct. 1483, 75 L.Ed.2d 413 (1983); Perez v. Rodriquez Bou, 575 F.2d 21 (1st Cir.1978) (University of Puerto Rico); Jagnandan v. Giles, 538 F.2d 1166 (5th Cir.1976) (Mississippi State University), cert. denied, 432 U.S. 910, 97 S.Ct. 2959, 53 L.Ed.2d 1083 (1977); Prebble v. Brodrick, 535 F.2d 605 (10th Cir.1976) (University of Wyoming); Long v. Richardson, 525 F.2d 74 (6th Cir.1975) (Memphis State University); Brennan v. University of Kansas, 451 F.2d 1287 (10th Cir.1971); Walstad v. University of Minnesota Hospitals, 442 F.2d 634 (8th Cir.1971); Moxley v. Vernot, 555 F.Supp. 554 (S.D.Ohio 1982) (University of California at Irvine); Vaughn v. Regents of University of California, 504 F.Supp. 1349 (E.D.Cal.1981); Weisbord v. Michigan State University, 495 F.Supp. 1347 (W.D.Mich.1980); An-ti Chai v. Michigan Technological University, 493 F.Supp. 1137 (W.D.Mich.1980); Zentgraf v. Texas A & M University, 492 F.Supp. 265 (S.D.Tex.1980); Bailey v. Ohio State University, 487 F.Supp. 601 (S.D.Ohio 1980); Henry v. Texas Tech University, 466 F.Supp. 141 (N.D.Tex.1979). But see Goss v. San Jacinto Junior College, 588 F.2d 96 (5th Cir.1979); Dyson v. Lavery, 417 F.Supp. 103 (E.D.Va.1976) (Virginia Polytechnic Institute); Gordenstein v. University of Delaware, 381 F.Supp. 718 (D.Del.1974); Samuel v. University of Pittsburgh, 375 F.Supp. 1119 (W.D.Pa.1974), aff'd in part, rev'd in part, 538 F.2d 991 (3d Cir.1976). However, "[e]ach state university exists in a unique governmental context, and each must be considered on the basis of its own peculiar circumstances." Soni v. Board of Trustees, 513 F.2d 347, 352 (6th Cir.1975), cert. denied, 426 U.S. 919, 96 S.Ct. 2623, 49 L.Ed.2d 372 (1976).

The District Court, in determining that MCO is an arm of the state, employed the two-pronged analysis set forth in Unified School District No. 480 v. Epperson, 583 F.2d 1118, 1121-22 (10th Cir.1978): (1) To what extent does the institution, although carrying out a state mission, function with substantial autonomy from the state government; and (2) To what extent is it financed independently of the state treasury? While this test does address the two principal factors that are most crucial in applying the Eleventh Amendment, we believe the more specific nine-point analysis employed by the Third Circuit in Blake v. Kline, 612 F.2d 718 (3d Cir.1979), cert. denied, 447 U.S. 921, 100 S.Ct. 3011, 65 L.Ed.2d 1112 (1980), is the better approach for examining the "peculiar circumstances" of different colleges and universities.

In Blake, Judge Rosenn utilized the following criteria to examine the position of Pennsylvania's Public School Employees' Retirement Board vis-a-vis the Commonwealth itself:

* * * [L]ocal law and decisions defining the status and nature of the agency involved in its relation to the sovereign are factors to be considered, but only one of a number that are of significance. Among the other factors, no one of which is conclusive, perhaps the most important is whether, in the event plaintiff prevails, the payment of the judgment will have to be made out of the state treasury; significant here also is whether the agency has the funds or the power to satisfy the judgment. Other relevant factors are whether the agency is performing a governmental or proprietary function; whether it has been separately incorporated; the degree of autonomy over its operations; whether it has the power to sue and be sued and to enter into contracts; whether its property is immune from state taxation, and whether the sovereign has immunized itself from responsibility for the agency's operations.

612 F.2d 722 (quoting Urbano v. Board of Managers, 415 F.2d 247, 250-51 (3d Cir.1969), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 948, 90 S.Ct. 967, 25 L.Ed.2d 129 (1970)). We will now proceed to examine these factors with respect to the Medical College of Ohio.

B Status and Nature of MCO under Ohio Law?

In 1964, the Ohio General Assembly created the Toledo State College of Medicine (renamed the Medical College of Ohio at Toledo in 1967). 130 Ohio Laws pt. 2, at 183 (1964) (codified at Ohio Rev.Code Ann. Secs. 3350.01-.05 (Page 1980)). Although, as Hall accurately contends, MCO is not included within the definition of "state university" found in Ohio Revised Code section 3345.011, it is included in the definition of "state university or college" found in section 3345.12(A)(1), and the school is governed by the provisions of Revised Code chapter 3345, entitled "State Universities--General Powers." See generally Ohio Rev.Code Ann. Secs. 3345.01-.99 (Page 1980 & Supp.1983). ¹

We also see that Ohio considers such colleges and universities to be part of the "State" for purposes of its sovereign immunity. In Thacker v. Board of Trustees, 35 Ohio St.2d 49, 298 N.E.2d 542 (1973), overruled in part on other grounds, Schenkolewski v. Cleveland Metroparks System, 67 Ohio St.2d 31, 36 & n. 4, 426 N.E.2d 784, 787 & n. 4 (1981), the state supreme court reaffirmed an earlier holding that Ohio State University and its hospital "are instrumentalities of the state of Ohio and as such are not suable in tort." Two years later, the legislature passed the Court of Claims Act, Ohio Rev.Code Ann. Secs. 2743.01-.20 (Page 1981 & Supp. 1983), by which "[t...