Hellstrom v. U.S. Dept. Veterans Affairs
| Decision Date | 01 August 1999 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 99-6076 |
| Citation | 201 F.3d 94 |
| Parties | (2nd Cir. 2000) H. RICHARD HELLSTROM, M.D., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. U.S. DEPT. OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, PHILIP THOMAS, Director, Syracuse Medical Center, E. DOUGLAS HOLYOKE, M.D., and his successor, Chief of Staff, Syracuse Medical Center, CHIEF OF STAFF, SYRACUSE MEDICAL CENTER, Defendants-Appellees |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
MIMI C. SATTER, Satter & Andrews, LLP, Syracuse, NY (Richard A. Maroko, of counsel), for Plaintiff-Appellant.
CHARLES E. ROBERTS, Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York (Thomas J. Maroney, United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, of counsel), for Defendants-Appellees.
Before: KEARSE, McLAUGHLIN, AND KATZMANN, Circuit Judges.
BACKGROUND
Because this is an appeal from a grant of summary judgment for defendants, we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, the nonmoving party. See Bedoya v. Coughlin, 91 F.3d 349, 351 (2d Cir. 1996).
Dr. H. Richard Hellstrom was the laboratory chief at the Veterans Administration Medical Center ("VA") in Syracuse, New York for 16 years. As laboratory chief, Hellstrom supervised approximately 50 people.
In 1995, a job opening at the VA laboratory arose, and Hellstrom met with his Administrative Officer, David Morgan, to discuss whom to interview and hire. One of two veterans who applied for the opening, William Patterson, was from Newark, New Jersey. Apparently, Hellstrom did not want to hire Patterson, and expressed some startling views: (1) "He was born in 1946 - that makes him too old"; (2) "He is a veteran, and I don't want to hire a veteran"; and (3) Hellstrom thus made it clear to Morgan that he did not want to hire veterans blacks or persons over the age of 49. Hellstrom also instructed Morgan "to try to find something that would disqualify" Patterson; and when Morgan received favorable reports about Patterson, Hellstrom instructed him to "intensify efforts to get around" Patterson - if necessary by lowering the GS ranking of the opening in the hope that Patterson would be unwilling to relocate for a position at a lower level. Morgan took exception and told Hellstrom that he believed he was acting "illegally and immorally," and after Hellstrom disagreed, Morgan reported him to the personnel office at the VA.
The Chief of Staff of the VA, E. Douglas Holyoke, M.D., met with Hellstrom and ordered a formal investigation into the matter. Two investigators spent a week at the VA and interviewed 15 staff members. The investigators allegedly discovered evidence of Hellstrom's: (1) racial discrimination in hiring and creation of a hostile work environment; (2) repeated derogatory comments about blacks; (3) inappropriate comments about the Director of the VA, Philip Thomas; and (4) psychological abuse of the staff.
Specifically, VA staff members gave sworn testimony to the investigators that Hellstrom: (1) had a history of blaming blacks for crime, for having too many babies and for seeking welfare; (2) locked a physician out of a meeting; (3) publicly stated that he hated VA Director Philip Thomas, and called him an "enemy" and a "bully"; (4) spread rumors that Thomas had an affair with a staff member; and (5) called employees "idiots," "liars" and "con-men." Staff described the atmosphere in the lab as "intolerable," "dysfunctional" and "awful." Hellstrom gave testimony to the investigators as well, and denied much of the above.
The investigators issued a 500-page report detailing Hellstrom's conduct and concluding that he had: (1) engaged in racially discriminatory hiring practices; and (2) created a hostile work environment. The VA endorsed the recommendation of the report and reassigned Hellstrom to a non-management position.
Hellstrom filed various grievances challenging his reassignment. These grievances, along with his administrative appeal, were eventually denied.
In 1996, in the midst of the grievance proceedings, Hellstrom filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (Scullin, Jr., J.). He sought an injunction barring his reassignment. The district court denied the injunction, directing instead that the parties proceed with their grievance proceedings. In 1998, upon completion of the grievance proceedings, Hellstrom filed an amended complaint alleging that: (1) he was denied a formal hearing; (2) his reassignment was arbitrary and capricious; and (3) his attacks on Philip Thomas were protected speech, he had made protected comments opposing affirmative action and therefore his reassignment violated the First Amendment.
Before Hellstrom was able to take any depositions, or otherwise conduct discovery, the VA filed a summary judgment motion pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 56. The district court granted the motion, dismissed Hellstrom's complaint and found that: (1) Hellstrom was not entitled to a formal hearing; (2) his reassignment was not arbitrary and capricious; (3) his comments about Thomas were personal, and, thus, not protected speech; and (4) he would have been reassigned anyway, regardless of whether he made comments about affirmative action.
Hellstrom now appeals, claiming that the district court erred because: (1) it granted summary judgment to the VA prior to discovery; (2) his reassignment violated the First Amendment; and (3) a procedural error by the VA in relation to Local Rule 7.1(f) (N.D.N.Y.) should have barred summary judgment.
For the reasons set forth below, we vacate and remand.
We review the district court's decision to grant summary judgment de novo. See Bedoya, 91 F.3d at 351.
I. The VA's Motion for Summary Judgment
Hellstrom contends that the district court erred by granting summary judgment to the VA prior to discovery. The VA argues that the district court properly granted summary judgment, and that no discovery was necessary because: (1)...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Burt v. Rumsfeld
...principle that the grant of summary judgment prior to discovery is not to be undertaken lightly. See, e.g., Hellstrom v. U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs, 201 F.3d 94, 97 (2d Cir.2000) (district court may grant summary judgment without discovery "[o]nly in the rarest of cases"); Trebor Sports......
-
Sharp v. Ally Fin., Inc., 6:15-CV-06520 EAW
..." Great Wall De Venezuela C.A. v. Interaudi Bank , 117 F.Supp.3d 474, 492-93 (S.D.N.Y. 2015)(quoting Hellstrom v. U.S. Dep't of Veterans Affairs , 201 F.3d 94, 97 (2d Cir. 2000) ).Here, discovery was not complete when Defendant moved for summary judgment, and, in fact, it has been stayed pe......
-
Garcia v. S.U.N.Y. Health Sciences Center
...employer, see, e.g., Pickering v. Bd. of Educ., 391 U.S. 563, 574-75, 88 S.Ct. 1731, 20 L.Ed.2d 811 (1968); Hellstrom v. U.S. Dep't of Veterans Affairs, 201 F.3d 94, 97 (2d Cir.2000); Morris v. Lindau, 196 F.3d 102, 109-10 (2d The key to the First Amendment analysis of government employment......
-
Williams v. Kfc Nat. Management Co.
...sua sponte, examine the facts in more depth. B. Summary Judgment We review a summary judgment de novo. Hellstrom v. United States Dep't of Veterans Affairs, 201 F.3d 94, 97 (2d Cir.2000). The District Court granted KFC summary judgment on the theory that while Williams raised a genuine issu......
-
Summary judgment
...on a defendant who has opposed discovery and then moves for summary judgment. Accord Hellstrom v. United States Dep’t of Veterans Aৼairs , 201 F.3d 94, 97 (2d Cir. 2000) (only in the rarest of cases may summary judgment be granted against a plainti൵ who has not been a൵orded the opportunity ......