Kramer v. Van Dyke Public Schools

• Decision Date: 19 March 1996
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 94-40574.
• Citation: 918 F. Supp. 1100
• Parties: Lynette J. KRAMER, Plaintiff, v. VAN DYKE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, The Board of Education of Van Dyke Public Schools, CNA Insurance Companies and Continental Casualty Company, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan

918 F. Supp. 1100

Lynette J. KRAMER, Plaintiff, v. VAN DYKE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, The Board of Education of Van Dyke Public Schools, CNA Insurance Companies and Continental Casualty Company, Defendants.

Civil Action No. 94-40574.

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division.

March 19, 1996.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

David Melkus, Flint, MI, for Lynette J. Kramer.

Ann L. VanderLaan, Hardy, Lewis & Page P.C., Birmingham, MI, William G. Albertson, Pollard & Albertson, Bloomfield Hills, MI, for Van Dyke Public Schools, Board of Education of Van Dyke Public Schools.

Roy H. Christiansen, Kerr, Russell & Weber, Detroit, MI, Christian A. Preus, Meagher & Geer, Minneapolis, MN, for CNA Ins. Co., Continental Casualty Company.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS', VAN DYKE PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND BOARD OF EDUCATION OF VAN DYKE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, MOTION TO DISMISS OR FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

GADOLA, District Judge.

The plaintiff, Lynette Kramer, filed a three count complaint with the Circuit Court of Ingham County, Michigan on November 17, 1994. The defendants removed the case to this court on December 21, 1994, based upon various alleged due process violations and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims contained in the complaint. By order entered January 19, 1995, this court remanded the state law claims contained in the complaint to the Ingham County Circuit Court and retained federal question jurisdiction over Kramer's alleged federal claims. This court also dismissed defendants CNA Insurance Company and Continental Casualty Company by order entered February 28, 1995, as no federal claims were pending against those defendants in this court. The remaining defendants, Van Dyke Public Schools and the Board of Education of Van Dyke Public Schools (collectively "School District"), bring this motion to dismiss the plaintiff's complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c) or 56(c). This court has considered the pleadings and has determined that oral argument is not necessary to the disposition of this motion. Local Rule 7.1(e)(2) (E.D.Mich. Jan., 1992). For the reasons stated below, this court will grant the defendants' motion and dismiss the plaintiff's complaint.

I. Background

Lynette Kramer, a tenured teacher with the Van Dyke Public Schools, filed an appeal with the State Tenure Commission ("Commission") in 1980, challenging the School District's failure to return Kramer to active employment following her leave of absence during the 1976-77 school year. Kramer was restored to her employment for the 1979-80 school year and remains a tenured teacher to date. Her appeal with the Commission sought recovery of salary lost during the 1977-78 and 1978-79 school years.

The Commission dismissed Kramer's petition in October 1980, finding that Kramer's 30 day appeal period had commenced in August of 1979 when she was reemployed by the school and notified that the Michigan Tenure Act defined her rights to challenge any actions of the school district. The Michigan Court of Appeals reversed that determination in May of 1984 and remanded the matter to the Commission for consideration of the merits. Kramer v. Van Dyke Public Schools, 134 Mich.App. 479, 351 N.W.2d 572 (1984).

After a protracted discovery period, the Commission conducted a hearing on the merits in March of 1986. Following this hearing, Kramer filed a post-hearing brief which identified for the first time the teaching assignments she claimed she should have been given during the two school years in dispute. Specifically, Kramer claimed that she should have been placed in the assignment of Diane Balos in the 1977-78 school year and Marlene Dayne for the 1978-79 school year, as both Balos and Dayne had fewer years of seniority than Kramer.

In November of 1986, the Commission issued its decision on the merits. The Commission concluded that the School District had implemented a bona fide reduction in personnel during Kramer's year-long leave of absence and that the School District properly did not recall Kramer to work for the following two school years due to this reduction. Moreover, the Commission concluded that neither of the positions occupied by Balos or Dayne was a "vacancy" available for Kramer's recall under the Michigan Tenure Act.

In an unpublished opinion issued in April of 1990, the Michigan Court of Appeals held that the Commission erred in concluding that the positions occupied by Balos and Dayne were not "vacancies" to which Kramer should have been considered for recall based upon qualifications and seniority. On remand, the Commission held an evidentiary hearing on March 8, 1994 to determine whether either of the Balos and Dayne positions were vacant and whether Kramer had the seniority and qualifications such that she should have been recalled to fill either of these vacancies. In its October 28, 1994 Decision and Order, the Commission concluded that no vacancy existed in the 1977-78 school year, but that, under the Court of Appeals' definition of the end of school year, Kramer should have been recalled to work during the 1978-79 school year instead of Dayne. Accordingly, the Commission awarded Kramer back pay and benefits for the 1978-79 school year only.

Dissatisfied by this result, Kramer filed a civil action against the defendants on November 17, 1994. In count I of that complaint, entitled "Petition for Review," Kramer appeals the October 28, 1994 decision of the Commission denying her request for relief for the 1977-78 school year. Count II asserts a claim for damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 based upon the School District's refusal to return Kramer to active employment "at the start of the 1977-78 and 1978-79 school years, its adoption and enforcement of a policy and practice of subordinating the recall rights of teachers on leave of absence ... and its conduct which misled Kramer into not filing an earlier Tenure action," which "constituted a `taking' of her property and a deprivation of Kramer's due process rights." Count III alleges that the current administrative interpretations of the Commission, which entitle Kramer to only 5% per annum interest in her claims against the School District, unconstitutionally deprive her of the 12% statutory interest rate provided in M.C.L.A. § 600.6013 and M.C.L.A. § 500.2006.

In its motion to dismiss, the School District contends that Kramer's Fourteenth and Fifth Amendment due process claims under section 1983 are not viable for seven different reasons, including that this action is barred by Michigan's three year statute of limitations permitted for section 1983 claims and that there has been no cognizable deprivation of a constitutional interest without due process of law. The School District submits that Kramer's complaint is nothing more than an appeal of the adverse ruling of the Commission. Accordingly, the School District moves for a judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Rule 12(c).

II. Standard of Review

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c) authorizes any party to a civil action to move for a judgment on the pleadings. The standard under Rule 12(c) is identical in substance to the standard for summary judgment under Rule 56(c), as both procedures are concerned with the substance of the parties' claims and defenses and are directed towards a final adjudication on the merits. Alexander v. City of Chicago, 994 F.2d 333, 336 (7th Cir.1993) (citing 5A Charles A. Wright and Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1369 at 535 (1990)). When a motion for judgment on the pleadings essentially challenges the legal basis of the complaint, the motion may also be treated under the standards for motions to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. Moxley v. Vernot, 555 F.Supp. 554, 556 (S.D.Ohio 1982); Amersbach v. City of Cleveland, 598 F.2d 1033 (6th Cir.1979).

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) authorizes the district courts to dismiss any complaint which fails "to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." Rule 12(b)(6) affords a defendant an opportunity to test whether, as a matter of law, the plaintiff is entitled to legal relief even if everything alleged in the complaint is true. In applying the standards under Rule 12(b)(6), the court must presume all well-pleaded factual allegations in the complaint to be true and draw all reasonable inferences from those allegations in favor of the nonmoving party. Mayer v. Mylod, 988 F.2d 635, 638 (6th Cir.1993). The court need not, however, accord the presumption of truthfulness to any legal conclusion, opinions or deductions, even if they are couched as factual allegations. Western Mining Council v. Watt, 643 F.2d 618, 629 (9th Cir.1981); Mitchell v. Archibald & Kendall, Inc., 573 F.2d 429, 432 (7th Cir.1978); Sexton v. Barry, 233 F.2d 220, 223 (6th Cir.1956).

Where a motion for judgment on the pleadings or to dismiss for failure to state a claim is made under Rule 12 and "matters outside the pleadings are presented and not excluded by the court, the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as provided in Rule 56." Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6); Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c). Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that summary judgment "shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Summary judgment is appropriate where the moving party demonstrates that there is no genuine issue of material fact as to the existence of an essential element of the non-moving party's case on which the non-moving party would bear the burden of proof at trial. Martin v. Ohio Turnpike Commission, 968 F.2d 606, 608 (6th Cir.1992). As the Supreme Court has stated:

The plain language of Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary

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