Kiddy-Brown v. Blagojevich
| Decision Date | 13 July 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 04-2283.,04-2283. |
| Citation | 408 F.3d 346 |
| Parties | Sandra KIDDY-BROWN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Rod BLAGOJEVICH, individually and as Governor of the State of Illinois, Roger E. Walker, Jr., individually and as Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, Julie Curry, individually and as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor of the State of Illinois, et al., Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Scott A. Schimanski (argued), Joliet, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Jeffrey D. Colman (argued), Jenner & Block, Chicago, IL, for Defendants-Appellants.
Before COFFEY, RIPPLE and MANION, Circuit Judges.
After her employment as warden at an Illinois state prison was terminated, Sandra Kiddy-Brown brought this action against several Illinois state officials. She asserted claims based on 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that her rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution had been violated. The defendants moved for judgment on the pleadings and asserted a qualified immunity defense with respect to each of Ms. Kiddy-Brown's claims. The district court denied the defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings and denied them a qualified immunity defense. The defendants then appealed to this court. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we now affirm in part and reverse in part the judgment of the district court, and we remand the case for further proceedings.
Prior to her termination in December 2003, Ms. Kiddy-Brown had been employed by the Illinois Department of Corrections ("IDOC") for more than nineteen years. During her employment, she had occupied various positions within IDOC: clerk, residence counselor, correctional counselor, center supervisor, coordinator and assistant warden. Most recently, Ms. Kiddy-Brown had held the position of warden at the Decatur Correctional Center ("DCC"), a position to which she was promoted in August 2001. From the time Ms. Kiddy-Brown's employment with IDOC began until 2003, the State of Illinois had been led by governors who were members of the Republican party. In January 2003, Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, was inaugurated as Governor of the State of Illinois.
Ms. Kiddy-Brown's original complaint was filed on February 19, 2004. On March 15, 2004, Ms. Kiddy-Brown filed a first amended complaint. The first amended complaint named as defendants Governor Rod Blagojevich, individually and as Governor of the State of Illinois, Roger Walker, Jr., individually and as Director of IDOC, Julie Curry, individually and as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor of the State of Illinois, and Debbie Denning, individually and as Deputy Director of IDOC (collectively, "the State defendants").1
The amended complaint alleged five counts; three of these counts are at issue in this appeal. Count I claimed that the State defendants had engaged in politically-motivated patronage dismissal of Ms. Kiddy-Brown in violation of the First Amendment. Count II asserted that the State defendants terminated, in violation of the First Amendment, Ms. Kiddy-Brown's employment in retaliation for her speech on matters of public concern. This count alleged that she spoke out on several matters, "including violations by State of Illinois employees of federal and state requirements for filling employment vacancies within IDOC[,] ... the unwillingness of Defendants BLAGOJEVICH and WALKER to staff IDOC facilities at appropriate levels[,] ... the safety of IDOC facilities[,] ... [and] reorganization of IDOC." R.6 at 8, ¶¶ 53-58. Count III alleged that defendants Blagojevich and Walker had violated Ms. Kiddy-Brown's right to due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal Constitution by depriving Ms. Kiddy-Brown of a property interest in continued employment.2
On April 28, 2004, the State defendants filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c). They contended that they were entitled to replace Ms. Kiddy-Brown as warden at DCC with "a political loyalist" because the express written duties of the position included "substantial policy functions." R.14 at 2. The State defendants asserted that, with respect to Count I, the political patronage claim, even assuming the truth of Ms. Kiddy-Brown's allegations, they were entitled to consider political affiliation when terminating her employment. With respect to Count II, the retaliation claim, they contended that they were entitled to judgment because Ms. Kiddy-Brown was "a confidential policy-maker [who] allegedly openly criticized the State Officials and their policies," and, thus, they properly had terminated her employment after the alleged criticisms. R.14 at 2. With respect to Count III, the due process claim, they submitted that they were entitled to judgment because Ms. Kiddy-Brown did not have a protected property interest in continued employment as the warden at DCC. The State defendants also contended that they were entitled to qualified immunity with respect to each of Ms. Kiddy-Brown's claims.
The district court denied the State defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings. With respect to the claim of political patronage dismissal, the district court reviewed the description of the warden position at DCC that had been developed by the Illinois Department of Central Management Services ("CMS position description") and noted that aspects of that description resembled the description of a position for which this court had found political affiliation was an appropriate requirement. See Thompson v. Illinois Dep't of Prof'l Regulation, 300 F.3d 750, 757-58 (7th Cir.2002).3 The district court also observed, however, that this court has cautioned against making generalizations, based on job descriptions, about the appropriateness of political affiliation as a requirement for a particular employment position. See Meeks v. Grimes, 779 F.2d 417, 420 (7th Cir.1985). Therefore, the district court determined that, at the pleadings stage of the proceedings, there simply was not enough information to determine whether the warden position at DCC was a position for which political affiliation was an appropriate requirement.
The district court then turned to Count II, which alleged that the State defendants had terminated Ms. Kiddy-Brown's employment in retaliation for her speech on matters of public concern. The district court determined that, because the record did not permit a conclusion that the warden of DCC was a policymaking employee, Ms. Kiddy-Brown had stated a claim upon which relief could be granted. Therefore, the district court denied the State defendants judgment on Count II.
The district court then addressed Count III, which alleged a violation of Ms. Kiddy-Brown's due process rights when her employment as warden was terminated without an opportunity to be heard. The State defendants had argued that Ms. Kiddy-Brown had no protected property interest in continued employment. However the district court observed that the arguments in support of the State defendants' position required the court to assume facts beyond those alleged in the pleadings in order to analyze promises which Ms. Kiddy-Brown claimed had been made by Governor Blagojevich. The court determined that, construing the facts alleged in Ms. Kiddy-Brown's complaint in the light most favorable to her, the first amended complaint stated a claim for relief. Therefore, the district court denied the State defendants judgment as to Count III.
The district court also denied the State defendants the defense of qualified immunity. Taking as true Ms. Kiddy-Brown's allegations that she had no close contact with IDOC policymakers, no autonomous or discretionary authority and no participation in policymaking, the district court determined that Ms. Kiddy-Brown was protected from patronage dismissal based on the law of the Seventh Circuit which was clearly established at the time Ms. Kiddy-Brown's employment was terminated. On this basis, the district court denied the State defendants qualified immunity as to Counts I and II of Ms. Kiddy-Brown's amended complaint.4
With respect to Count III, Ms. Kiddy-Brown's due process claim, the district court observed that clearly-established law gave Ms. Kiddy-Brown "a constitutional right to continued employment in the face of an inappropriate patronage dismissal." R.35 at 13. The court reasoned that, whether or not Ms. Kiddy-Brown had a right to continued employment, it still "would be a due process violation to terminate Kiddy-Brown for reasons of political patronage, if she is the type of employee for which patronage dismissals are forbidden." R.35 at 13. Thus, construing all allegations in Ms. Kiddy-Brown's favor, the district court determined that the State defendants were not entitled to qualified immunity as to Count III of Ms. Kiddy-Brown's amended complaint.
Government officials performing discretionary functions are entitled to qualified immunity from suit "as long as their actions could reasonably have been thought consistent with the rights they are alleged to have violated." Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 638, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987). The issue of qualified immunity is to be resolved at the earliest stages of litigation. See Delgado v. Jones, 282 F.3d 511, 515 (7th Cir.2002) (citing Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818-19, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982)).
Although the district court's denial of the State defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings did not put an end to this case in the district court, this court nonetheless has jurisdiction to review the limited question of whether the district court properly denied judgment on the pleadings on qualified immunity grounds. See ...
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