King v. United States

• Decision Date: 13 February 2017
• Docket Number: No. 07-589C,07-589C
• Parties: JEFFREY B. KING, SCOTT A. AUSTIN, KEVIN J. HARRIS, and JOHN J. HAYS, on their own behalf and on behalf of a class of others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. Claims Court

JEFFREY B. KING, SCOTT A. AUSTIN, KEVIN J. HARRIS, andJOHN J. HAYS, on their own behalf and on behalf ofa class of others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant.

No. 07-589C

United States Court of Federal Claims

*Opinion originally filed under seal on February 1, 2017

February 13, 2017*

Back Pay Act; 5 U.S.C. § 5596; Class Action; FBI Police; 28 U.S.C. § 540C; Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment; RCFC 56

Joseph V. Kaplan, Washington, DC, for plaintiffs.

Alexander O. Canizares, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington, DC, with whom were Martin F. Hockey, Jr., Assistant Director, Robert E. Kirschman, Jr., Director, and Benjamin C. Mizer, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, for defendant.

OPINION

FIRESTONE, Senior Judge.

Pending before the court are cross-motions for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Rules of the Court of Federal Claims ("RCFC") filed by named plaintiffs Jeffrey B. King, Scott A. Austin, Kevin J. Harris, and John J. Hays, on behalf of a certified class of current and former police officers employed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") and defendant the United States ("the government"). The plaintiffs allege that they are owed back pay and other relief under the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1491(a), and the Back Pay Act, 5 U.S.C. § 5596, on the grounds that the FBI has established a police force under 28 U.S.C. § 540C ("section 540C") but has failed to pay police officers in accordance with the terms of section 540C.

Section 540C states that "[s]ubject to the supervision of the Attorney General, the Director [of the FBI] may establish a permanent police force, to be known as the FBI police." 28 U.S.C. § 540C(b)(1). The statute authorizes the police force to perform certain protective duties "[i]n accordance with regulations prescribed by the Director [of the FBI] and approved by the Attorney General." Id. § 540C(b)(2), (4).¹ It then provides that the FBI Director "may appoint uniformed representatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation as FBI police." Id. at § 540C(b)(3). With regard to compensation for members of the permanent FBI police force, the statute states that the rates of pay and benefits "shall be equivalent to the rates of basic pay, salary schedule, pay provisions, and benefits applicable to members of the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division, id. § 540C(b)(5)(A), and that "[p]ay and benefits . . . shall be established by regulation," id. at § 540(b)(5)(B)(i).²

The government argues that it is entitled to summary judgment on the grounds that the undisputed evidence shows that no FBI Director has ever issued a formal statement exercising discretion to establish a "permanent police force" under section 540C. The government also argues that the undisputed evidence shows that section 540C was never implemented through regulations as required by section 540C. Specifically, the government argues that the FBI never promulgated regulations detailing the powers of an FBI police force or pay regulations for an FBI police force, as required by section 540C. The government contends that the undisputed evidence demonstrates that police officers employed by the FBI both past and present have been authorized to carry out their police duties under delegations from the General Services Administration ("GSA"), the United States Department of Homeland Security ("DHS"), and the United States Marshals Service ("USMS"). Finally, the government argues that the undisputed evidence shows that none of the plaintiffs were ever "appointed" to an FBI police force under section 540C. Rather, the plaintiffs' personnel records show that they were generally appointed under the legal authority in 28 U.S.C. § 536, which states that "[a]ll positions in the [FBI] are excepted from the competitive service," and their positions were classified under the General Schedule ("GS") pay system occupational series for federal police officers, GS-0083.

The plaintiffs argue in their motion that regardless of whether the FBI Director formally established an FBI police force, promulgated regulations to implement section 540C, or formally appointed police officers working for the FBI to a police force established under section 540C, they are nonetheless entitled to the pay authorized undersection 540C. Plaintiffs argue that undisputed evidence shows that they have been performing the functions identified in section 540C and that various FBI manuals and legal memoranda have referenced section 540C as authority for certain activities conducted by police officers working for the FBI. The plaintiffs contend in their motion for summary judgment that these documents prove that the FBI has established an FBI police force under section 540C and that the government cannot deny officers the pay prescribed by statute by failing to implement section 540C through regulations or appoint them as police officers under section 540C. The plaintiffs argue that section 540C's pay provisions are mandatory and self-implementing.

For the reasons that follow, the government's motion for summary judgment is GRANTED. The plaintiffs' cross-motion for summary judgment is DENIED.

I. BACKGROUND

A. The FBI's employment of police officers

The following facts are undisputed unless expressly noted. Since the 1980s, the FBI has employed police officers to provide security at the FBI's J. Edgar Hoover Building (FBI headquarters), Washington Field Office, and Criminal Justice Information Services Division ("CJIS") in Clarksburg, West Virginia. These police officers have also been stationed at other locations in the Washington, DC area; the FBI Academy at the U.S. Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia; and the FBI New York Field Office in New York City. Police officers working for the FBI have also been assigned to protect FBI personnel or assets at special events and to provide personal protection for the Attorney General and the Director of the FBI. Def.'s Mot. for Summ. J. App'x ("Def.'sApp'x") A380-81 (Decl. of Clifford Holly, Assistant Director, Security Division, FBI (June 18, 2015)) ("Holly Decl."). The police officers working for the FBI are part of the FBI's "Security Division." The Unit Chief of these police reports to the Security Operations Section Chief, who reports to the Deputy Assistant Director of the Security Division, who in turn reports to an FBI Assistant Director. Def.'s App'x A82 (Decl. of Kevin C. Donovan, Former Chief, FBI Police Unit (June 5, 2015)) ("Donovan Decl."), A380 (Holly Decl.).

The police officers working for the FBI are federal employees. They were generally appointed under the legal authority 28 U.S.C. § 536, which states that "[a]ll positions in the [FBI] are excepted from the competitive service." Def.'s App'x A1400 (Decl. Valerie Parlave, Executive Assistant Director, Human Resources Branch, FBI (Aug. 19, 2016)) ("Parlave Decl."), A1416-98 (plaintiffs' SF-50s and other personnel documents); ECF No. 182 (Def.'s Suppl. App'x with additional SF-50s and other personnel documents). During the relevant time period, their positions have been classified consistently in the GS system under occupational series for federal police officers, GS-0083. See Def.'s App'x A1400-02, A1416-98; ECF No. 182; see also Def.'s App'x A178 (Decl. of Donald Bryce Baker, Senior Advisor to OPM's Deputy Associate Director for Pay and Leave (June 16, 2015)) ("Baker Decl."), A896-97 (Dep. of Kevin R. Wood, supervisory police officer, FBI (Feb. 25, 2015)) ("Wood Dep."), A1105-06 (Dep. of Scott Giroux, supervisory police officer, FBI (Mar. 11, 2015)) ("Giroux Dep."), A1171-79 (position description for federal "police officer" position under series GS-0083); Pls.' Mot. for Summ. J. ("Pls.' MSJ") 3.³ With regard to compensation, these police officers generally enter on duty at the GS-5 through GS-8 grade levels. Def.'s App'x A768 (FBI careers website for police officer positions), A937 (Dep. of Thomas J. LaCrosse, supervisory police officer, FBI (Mar. 2, 2015)) ("LaCrosse Dep."), A1416-98 (personnel documents). There are separate pay systems, such as one for federal law enforcement officers, which do not apply to the plaintiffs. See, e.g., id. at A682 (Dep. of Jeffrey B. King (Aug. 6, 2014)) ("King Dep."). In particular, the pay system applicable to the Secret Service Uniformed Division, "LE," is not applicable to the police officers working for the FBI. Id. at A1401-02 (Parlave Decl.). As discussed below, since 2003 plaintiffs have been paid under a special salary table established for certain federal police officers. Id. at A642-46 (plaintiffs' responses to interrogatories), A682 (King Dep.), A734 (Dep. of Scott A. Austin (Aug. 6, 2014)) ("Austin Dep."), A753-54 (Dep. of John J. Hays (Aug. 5, 2014)) ("Hays Dep."), A774-75 (Dep. of Kevin J. Harris (Aug. 5, 2014)) ("Harris Dep.").

The credentials held by police officers employed by the FBI initially referred to authority delegated from GSA, under 40 U.S.C. § 318, and then from DHS, under 40 U.S.C. § 1315. The police officers' credentials do not refer to section 540C. Def.'s App'x A646-49 (plaintiffs' responses to interrogatories), A665 (plaintiffs' responses todocument requests), A668 (plaintiffs' responses to requests for admission); Pls.' Reply 12-13.

The delegations granted from GSA to the FBI ended in 2002 after passage of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Congress, in the Homeland Security Act, transferred authority to provide security at federal buildings from GSA to DHS. See Homeland Security Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-296, §§ 403, 1706, 116 Stat. 2135 (amending 6 U.S.C. § 203; 40 U.S.C. § 1315); see also Pub. L. No. 107-217, 116 Stat. 1062 (2002) (amending 40 U.S.C. §§ 318, 1315, among other parts of title 40).⁴ A savings provision ensured that existing delegation agreements continued in effect. See Homeland Security Act § 1512 (codified at 6 U.S.C. § 552). DHS extended GSA's existing...