Lee v. Western Reserve Psychiatric Habilitation Center

• Decision Date: 06 November 1984
• Docket Number: No. 83-3421,83-3421
• Citation: 747 F.2d 1062
• Parties: George T. LEE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WESTERN RESERVE PSYCHIATRIC HABILITATION CENTER and David A. Sorensen, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 1062

747 F.2d 1062

George T. LEE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WESTERN RESERVE PSYCHIATRIC HABILITATION CENTER and David A.

Sorensen, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 83-3421.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued May 7, 1984.

Decided Nov. 6, 1984.

George W. Spittal, argued, Akron, Ohio, for plaintiff-appellant.

Deborah A. Piperni, Asst. Atty. Gen., argued, Columbus, Ohio, for defendants-appellees.

Before EDWARDS and JONES, Circuit Judges, and PHILLIPS, Senior Circuit Judge.

NATHANIEL R. JONES, Circuit Judge.

The plaintiff, George T. Lee, appeals from the district court's dismissal of his civil rights complaint arising under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. Upon consideration of the issues presented by this appeal, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I.

The plaintiff was discharged from his position as a probationary employee at Western Reserve Psychiatric Habilitation Center (Western Reserve), a State facility for the mentally ill, after being accused of engaging in oral sex with a patient there. The plaintiff alleged that he was denied due process because he was discharged "without a hearing in which he could have cross-examined witnesses and called witnesses and done so before an impartial decision maker."

On February 23, 1983 the plaintiff received a letter from David Sorensen, Western Reserve's Superintendent. The letter contained the allegation that the plaintiff had engaged in oral sex with a patient while working at Western Reserve. The plaintiff appeared before the Patient Abuse Committee on February 24, 1983 to answer questions concerning this allegation, but he was not given the opportunity to call and cross-examine witnesses or to be represented by counsel. As a result of its inquiry, the Patient Abuse Committee determined that the plaintiff had, in fact, engaged in oral sex with one of the patients. David Sorensen informed the plaintiff of the Committee's findings and the plaintiff was discharged three days later.

The plaintiff thereafter initiated this action in the district court under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. He sought a permanent injunction enjoining Western Reserve and David A. Sorensen from discharging employees without first giving them an opportunity to be heard and represented by counsel along with the right to call and cross-examine witnesses, and the right to present one's case before an impartial decision maker. The plaintiff also requested compensatory and punitive damages, declaratory relief, reinstatement, and attorney's fees.

The defendants filed a motion to dismiss based upon three grounds. First, they contended that the district court lacked jurisdiction over the case because the State of Ohio had not consented to the suit. Accordingly, the defendants claimed that the suit was barred by the Eleventh Amendment. Second, the defendants moved to dismiss the case pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Third, defendant Sorensen contended that the suit should be dismissed with respect to him for insufficiency of service of process. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 4(d). The district court granted the defendants' motion to dismiss, in part, because of the Eleventh Amendment, but primarily for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The district court found the third ground without merit. This appeal follows.

II.

In cases involving the dismissal of a complaint, the complaint is to be construed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and its allegations taken as true. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). The complaint should not be dismissed unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957).

a. Eleventh Amendment

The plaintiff concedes that the defendants are state entities and that his request for compensatory and punitive damages against the defendants is barred by the Eleventh Amendment. He contends, however, that an award of injunctive or declaratory relief would not violate the Eleventh Amendment. The Eleventh Amendment, which grants sovereign immunity to states under certain circumstances, provides:

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.

Despite its limited language, the Supreme Court in Hans v. Louisiana, 134 U.S. 1, 10 S.Ct. 504, 33 L.Ed. 842 (1890), held that the Eleventh Amendment bars a federal court from entertaining a suit brought by a citizen against his own State. Furthermore, it is well-settled that a suit may be barred by the Eleventh Amendment even though a state official rather than the State itself is the named party. Ford Motor Co. v. Department of Treasury, 323 U.S. 459, 65 S.Ct. 347, 89 L.Ed. 389 (1945). As the Court in Ford Motor stated:

[W]hen the action is in essence one for the recovery of money from the state, the state is the real, substantial party in interest and is entitled to invoke its sovereign immunity from suit even though individual officials are nominal defendants.

323 U.S. at 464, 65 S.Ct. at 350. As a general rule, therefore, the Eleventh Amendment bars an action against a state official. In the case at bar, then, the fact that the State of Ohio was not named as a party does not render the Eleventh Amendment inapplicable. Western Reserve is a state facility, Ohio Rev.Code ch. 5122, and David Sorensen is a state official who is being sued in his official capacity. Since the state is the "real, substantial party in interest," 323 U.S. at 464, 65 S.Ct. at 350, the defendants can, under appropriate circumstances, invoke Eleventh Amendment protection.

There is, however, a narrow but important exception to a state's sovereign immunity created by the Eleventh Amendment. In Ex Parte Young, 209 U.S. 123, 28 S.Ct. 441, 52 L.Ed. 714 (1908) the Supreme Court held that the Eleventh Amendment did not bar a suit alleging that state officials had acted contrary to the United States Constitution. See also Pennhurst v. Halderman, 104 S.Ct. at 909. As the Court explained in Pennhurst

The theory of [Young ] was that an unconstitutional enactment is "void" and therefore does not "impart to [the officer] any immunity from responsibility to the supreme authority of the United States." [209 U.S.] at 160, 28 S.Ct. at 454. Since the State could not authorize the action, the officer was "stripped of his official or representative character and [was] subjected to the consequences of his official conduct."

Id. at 909.

The Young exception to the sovereign immunity doctrine has been narrowly construed. See, e.g., Pennhurst State School & Hospital v. Halderman, --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 900, 79 L.Ed.2d 67 (1984); Cory v. White, 457 U.S. 85, 91, 102 S.Ct. 2325, 2329, 72 L.Ed.2d 694 (1982). It is, for example, limited to allegations that state officials violated federal rather than state law. Pennhurst, 104 S.Ct. at 910. Furthermore, the Young exception is limited to the award of prospective injunctive relief. Retroactive relief and damages are barred under the Eleventh Amendment. Pennhurst, 104 S.Ct. at 909; Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. at 677, 94 S.Ct. at 1362. Some cases, however, have upheld prospective injunctive relief even where it had a great impact on state treasuries. Cf. Graham v. Richardson, 403 U.S. 365, 91 S.Ct. 1848, 29 L.Ed.2d 534 (1971) (State officials were prohibited from denying welfare benefits to otherwise qualified recipients who were aliens); Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254, 90 S.Ct. 1011, 25 L.Ed.2d 287 (1970) (State officials were enjoined from adhering to state procedures which authorized the termination of welfare benefits without a prior hearing). The "ancillary effect" on the state treasuries in such cases was simply the result of state officials being forced to comply with federal law under a Young injunction. Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 668, 94 S.Ct. 1347, 1358, 39 L.Ed.2d 662 (1974).

In the case at bar, the plaintiff contends that David Sorensen, a state official, violated the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Young exception is therefore potentially applicable. The key issue in this case is whether the injunctive and declaratory relief requested by the plaintiff falls within the Young exception to the Eleventh Amendment. As the Court acknowledged in Edelman, "the difference between the type of relief barred by the Eleventh Amendment and that permitted under Ex parte Young will not in many instances be that between day and night." 415 U.S. at 667, 94 S.Ct. at 1357.

In the case at bar, the plaintiff seeks a permanent injunction enjoining the defendants from adhering to their present discharge procedures in the future. This request for injunctive relief falls within the purview of the Young exception. The plaintiff has alleged that the defendants' policy of discharging employees prior to affording them a full hearing violates the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Since the plaintiff has alleged that David Sorensen, a state official, is engaging in ongoing conduct which violates the United States Constitution, his request for prospective injunctive relief is permitted under Young. See also Pennhurst v. Halderman, 104 S.Ct. 900, 909; Banas v. Dempsey, 742 F.2d 277 (6th Cir.1984). In addition, were we to grant the plaintiff's request for declaratory relief it would simply be ancillary to his request for injunctive relief. Accordingly, declaratory relief would fall within the Young exception as well. Furthermore, the Eleventh Amendment does not protect the State from having to pay an award of attorneys fees. Hutto v. Finney, 437 U.S. 678, 98 S.Ct. 2565, 57 L.Ed.2d 522 (1978). Since prospective injunctive relief and attorneys fees may be awarded...