Kufalk v. Hart
| Decision Date | 18 March 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 84 C 20077.,84 C 20077. |
| Citation | 610 F. Supp. 1178 |
| Parties | Robert L. KUFALK, Plaintiff, v. Donald W. HART, Fred W. Kraiss, Richard F. Kunnert, Patricia A. McGrail, Randall J. Manus, Steven L. Nordquist, Anne M. Brannon, Michael C. Sabo, Beatrice Preston, and Barbara Olson School of Hope, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
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Thomas Z. Hodson, Connolly Hickey & Oliver, Rockford, Ill., for plaintiff, Kufalk.
Edward M. Maher, Paddock, McGreevy & Johnson, Rockford, Ill., for Steven L. Nordquist, third party plaintiff.
Ronald E. Brandt, Asst. Atty. Gen., State of Ill., Eugene Brassfield, Rockford, Ill., for third party defendant.
Peter S. Switzer, Rockford, Ill., for defendants.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Background __________________________________________________ 1182
II. Discussion __________________________________________________ 1184
A. § 1983 Claims ____________________________________________ 1184
1. State Action __________________________________________ 1184
a. State Defendants ___________________________________ 1184
b. Hope Defendants ____________________________________ 1185
1) State Funding ___________________________________ 1185
2) State Function __________________________________ 1185
3) Concerted Action ________________________________ 1186
2. Deprivation of a Protected Right ______________________ 1186
a. First Amendment ____________________________________ 1187
b. Due Process ________________________________________ 1189
1) Liberty Interest ________________________________ 1189
2) Property Interest _______________________________ 1190
3. State Remedies ________________________________________ 1190
B. Punitive Damages Claim ___________________________________ 1191
1. § 1983 Claim __________________________________________ 1191
2. State Tort Claim ______________________________________ 1191
C. Pendent State Claims _____________________________________ 1191
1. Malicious Interference with Employment Relationship ___ 1191
2. Breach of Employment Agreement ________________________ 1193
D. State Defendants' Immunity _______________________________ 1193
1. Absolute Immunity _____________________________________ 1194
2. Qualified Immunity ____________________________________ 1195
III. Conclusion _________________________________________________ 1195
Before the court are defendants' motions to dismiss. The court's subject matter jurisdiction is asserted to rest upon 28 U.S.C. § 1343 (1982) and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1982). For the reasons set forth herein, defendants' motions are denied.
Plaintiff's complaint alleges a violation of § 1983 and also alleges pendent state tort and contract actions. For purposes of the present motions, the facts alleged in the plaintiff's complaint must be accepted as true. The relevant factual allegations are essentially as follows.
Plaintiff, Robert L. Kufalk, was employed as executive director of the defendant, Barbara Olson School of Hope ("School of Hope"), from September 2, 1974 until June 9, 1983. The defendant, School of Hope, is a not-for-profit corporation providing day training, work activity programs and sheltered workshop programs for developmentally disabled adult clients. At least since 1974, a "major portion" of the operating funds of the defendant, School of Hope, have been provided by the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities ("DMH"). These funds are provided for the purpose of affording education, training and supervision for developmentally disabled wards of the state.
Since at least 1979, plaintiff alleges he has verbally criticized the conduct of various DMH employees, including defendants, Donald W. Hart, Fred W. Kraiss and Richard F. Kunnert. Plaintiff alleges he has orally criticized those defendants for their interpretation of laws and regulations regarding the reporting of physical abuse and other violations of developmentally disabled clients' human rights, and for their application and interpretation of regulations concerning the prevention of abuse. Plaintiff allegedly complained that "these subversions and misuses had adversely affected the clients these regulations were supposed to protect by causing excessive staff turnover..., by causing a climate of racial tension and other personal conflicts, by causing abusive use of drugs, by causing concealment and shifting of blame for true cases of abuse, and by discouraging appropriate care and attention for difficult patients"
As a result of his criticisms, plaintiff alleges he became the object of a conspiracy to injure him in his employment and to deprive him of rights secured by the First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. The paticipants in the alleged conspiracy included defendants, Hart, Kraiss and Kunnert, along with defendants, Patricia A. McGrail and Randall J. Manus, employees of the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission (collectively referred to as "the state defendants"). The state defendants allegedly conspired with the defendant, School of Hope, and with defendants, Steven L. Nordquist, Anne M. Brannon and Michael C. Sabo, officers and directors of the School of Hope, and Beatrice Preston, a member of the School of Hope's education Committee (collectively referred to as the "Hope defendants").
According to the allegations in the complaint, in June 1982, the state defendants issued findings based upon an investigation of the defendant, School of Hope. Those findings disclosed that over one hundred confirmed reports of physical injuries to clients "resulting from accident or abuse had been made since January, 1982." The tone of the report was critical of the plaintiff's personnel policies and of the administration's failure to agree on the issues. Plaintiff alleges various reasons why the state defendants "knew or should have known upon reasonable inquiry that said findings were false, misleading, and pretextual."
On April 22, 1983, plaintiff alleges the state defendants caused a letter to be sent to the defendant, School of Hope's, Board of Directors referring to him as the "administration" and charging him with a "lack of cooperation", "defensiveness", and an incorrect "behavioral attitude" concerning the issue of client abuse. In addition, the letter allegedly stated that recommended policy and procedural changes could not be successfully implemented "until the attitude and philosophy of the administration changes to provide a more appropriate treatment environment within the agency." Plaintiff again alleges various reasons why state defendants, Manus and McGrail, the authors of the letter, "knew or should have known upon reasonable inquiry that the statements concerning plaintiff in the said letter of April 22, 1983, were false, misleading, and pretextual."
On or about April 29, 1983, defendant, Hart, allegedly notified defendant, Nordquist, then president of the School of Hope's Board of Directors, that DMH funding would be held up pending resolution of "serious issues". Without citing any specific provisions, plaintiff alleges there "were no issues justifying withholding the funding under the law or constitution of the State of Illinois." Plaintiff alleges the "alleged issues were merely pretextual reasons to pressure plaintiff's employer to punish plaintiff for his expression of his opinions in disagreement with those of the state defendants."
On May 19, 1983, certain of the state defendants met with certain of the Hope defendants to discuss the withholding of DMH funds. At that meeting, plaintiff alleges that state defendants, Hart, Kraiss and Kunnert, "made certain false, misleading, and pretextual statements concerning the withholding of funding ... and concerning plaintiff's suitability as executive director" Specifically, plaintiff alleges state defendant, Kraiss, expressed dissatisfaction "with how $20,000 of a prior state appropriation had been spent by plaintiff." Once again, citing various reasons, plaintiff alleges the state defendants "knew or should have known upon reasonable inquiry that said statements of May 19, 1983 were false, misleading and pretextual."
On May 20, 1983, at a Board of Directors meeting, plaintiff alleges Hope defendants, Nordquist and Preston, "acting in concert with the state defendants and in furtherance of their plan to interfere with plaintiff's employment, made certain false, misleading and pretextual statements" concerning the events transpiring at the May 19, 1983 meeting. Specifically, plaintiff alleges defendant, Preston, stated the plaintiff "had misused $20,000 of funds received under a contract with the state." Plaintiff alleges the Hope defendants "knew or should have known upon reasonable inquiry that their said statements of May 20, 1983 were false, misleading and pretextual."
On or about May 28, 1983, plaintiff alleges an ad hoc meeting of the defendant, School of Hope's, Board of Directors was held to investigate the withholding of funds. At the meeting, the plaintiff alleges the state defendants "repeated and added to the earlier, false, misleading and pretextual statements concerning the plaintiff." Plaintiff alleges the state defendants' statements were intended to convince the Directors that DMH funds "would not be released unless plaintiff was fired from his position with the defendant, School of Hope."
On June 8, 1983, plaintiff alleges that similiar statements were made by state defendants, Manus and McGrail, at another special meeting of the Board of Directors. Earlier that day, plaintiff alleges Hope defendants, Nordquist, Brannon and Sabo, had asked the plaintiff for the documents he had prepared in response to the...
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