Lizzi v. WMATA

• Decision Date: 22 December 2003
• Docket Number: No. 420,420
• Citation: 845 A.2d 60,156 Md. App. 1
• Parties: Christopher T. LIZZI v. WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY.
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

845 A.2d 60

156 Md. App. 1

Christopher T. LIZZI v. WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY.

No. 420, September Term, 2002.

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

December 22, 2003.

Reconsideration Denied March 8, 2004.

Argued before JAMES R. EYLER, BARBERA and THEODORE G. BLOOM (specially assigned), JJ.

BARBERA, Judge.

Appellant, Christopher T. Lizzi, sued appellees, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ("WMATA") and seven individuals employed by WMATA, for unlawful termination of employment. On motion of appellees, the Circuit Court for Prince George's County dismissed all three counts of appellant's complaint on the ground of res judicata, and the third count on the additional ground of state sovereign immunity.

Appellant appeals and raises the following issues for our review:

I. Whether the federal court's dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction of appellant's claims against WMATA in the federal court lawsuit is res judicata as to appellant's claims against WMATA in this case.

II. Whether the federal court's dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction of appellant's claims against the individual defendants in their official capacities in the federal court lawsuit is res judicata as to appellant's claims against the individual defendants in their individual capacities in this case.

III. Whether sovereign immunity bars appellant's claims against any of the appellees.

IV. Whether appellant's state constitutional law claim is barred by the statute of limitations?

We conclude that appellant's complaint was barred by sovereign immunity, and therefore affirm the judgment of the circuit court.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

Because this appeal is from the dismissal of appellant's complaint, the facts are as alleged by him. Appellant was employed by WMATA as a Metro wheelchair life mechanic at all times relevant to this action. During the summer of 1997, he missed several weeks of work due to a number of medical conditions that arose within the same two-month period.

WMATA directed appellant to submit to a medical examination on August 14, 1997. He refused, explaining that he was taking delusive medication for his periodontal problems, and therefore unable to drive himself to the examination. WMATA warned him that if he failed to submit to the examination, he would be terminated.

On August 18, 1997, appellant appeared for a medical examination conducted by a physician regularly employed by WMATA. When the physician requested that appellant return the next day for an independent medical examination, appellant refused, again citing the delusive effects of his medication. Upon appellant's failure to submit to the second examination, WMATA notified him that he "was under investigation which [could] lead to his dismissal."

According to his complaint, appellant thereafter applied for leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") for periods from June 20 to July 5, 1997, and August 9 to August 23, 1997. On the day he filed his FMLA leave application, appellant was notified that he was terminated for having violated the requirement that he submit to the independent medical examination.

Within the next several weeks, appellant filed suit in both the United States District Court for the District of Maryland and the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, alleging in both actions that WMATA and seven individual defendants, all of whom were employees of WMATA, had violated his rights under FMLA. Appellant subsequently amended his state court complaint to add a claim for breach of contract. WMATA and the individual defendants answered the amended complaint asserting, among eighteen affirmative defenses, the defenses of sovereign immunity, res judicata, and collateral estoppel.

In March 2001, the circuit court ordered a stay of the state court action pending the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in the federal action. The federal district court had previously ruled that Eleventh Amendment immunity barred appellant's claims against WMATA, but that FMLA permits appellant to bring an action against the employees of WMATA in their individual capacities. The question on appeal was whether appellant's claims as to all defendants in federal court were barred on the ground of Eleventh Amendment immunity.¹

In an opinion decided June 20, 2001, the Fourth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court's ruling. The Fourth Circuit held that the entirety of appellant's complaint must be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because the individual defendants as well as WMATA were immune from suit in federal court. Lizzi v. Alexander, et al., 255 F.3d 128 (4th Cir.2001), cert. denied sub nom. Lizzi v. Washington Metro. Area Transit Auth., 534 U.S. 1081, 122 S.Ct. 812, 151 L.Ed.2d 697 (2002).

Following issuance of the Fourth Circuit's opinion, WMATA filed a motion to (1) lift the stay in the state court action and (2) dismiss the entire action. The parties appeared for a motions hearing on January 4, 2002. On the morning of the hearing, counsel for appellant filed a second amended complaint, adding a third count claiming violations by the individual defendants of appellant's state constitutional rights.²

At the close of arguments, the court dismissed Counts I and II of appellant's complaint on the ground of res judicata. The court did not rule on the then-newly-added Count III of the second amended complaint, affording WMATA the opportunity to respond to it.

WMATA filed a motion to strike the second amended complaint or, in the alternative, to dismiss Count III on the grounds of sovereign immunity, res judicata, and statute of limitations. The motion came on for a hearing on March 29, 2002. After hearing arguments, the court dismissed Count III on two grounds, sovereign immunity and res judicata.

This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

We are asked to decide whether the circuit court correctly dismissed all three counts of appellant's complaint on the ground of res judicata and, insofar as Count III is concerned, the additional ground of sovereign immunity. We shall affirm the circuit court's dismissal of appellant's complaint but, at least insofar as Counts I and II are concerned, for reasons other than those relied upon by that court.

The standards governing the grounds for filing a motion to dismiss, the grant of such a motion, and the appellate courts' review of the ruling are well settled.

Under Maryland Rule 2-322(b)(2) (1996), a defendant may seek a dismissal on the ground that the complaint fails "to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." When moving to dismiss, a defendant is asserting that, even if the allegations of the complaint are true, the plaintiff is not entitled to relief as a matter of law. Thus, in considering a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, the circuit court examines only the sufficiency of the pleading. "The grant of a motion to dismiss is proper if the complaint does not disclose, on its face, a legally sufficient cause of action." This Court, therefore, shall assume the truth of all well-pleaded relevant facts as alleged in appellant's complaint and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom.

Heritage Harbour, L.L.C. v. John J. Reynolds, Inc., 143 Md.App. 698, 704-05, 795 A.2d 806 (2002). Moreover, in reviewing a court's grant of a motion to dismiss, we must determine whether the decision was legally correct. Porterfield v. Mascari II, Inc., 142 Md.App. 134, 139, 788 A.2d 242 (2002), aff'd, 374 Md. 402, 823 A.2d 590 (2003). Thus, so long as the complaint, on its face, does not state a claim upon which relief can be granted, we may affirm the dismissal of the complaint, even if on a ground not relied upon by the circuit court. Society of Am. Foresters v. Renewable Natural Res. Found., 114 Md.App. 224, 233 n. 3, 689 A.2d 662 (1997).

As we have said, the circuit court dismissed all three counts of the complaint on the ground of res judicata, and Count III on the additional ground of sovereign immunity. Appellant vigorously attacks the circuit court's reliance upon res judicata in dismissing the state action. Appellant argues preliminarily that, because the dismissal of the federal suit was for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, it was without prejudice and, therefore, is not a judgment "on the merits"; consequently, it had no preclusive effect on his state suit. Appellant further argues that the federal court's decision, with respect to both WMATA and the individual defendants, was grounded on Eleventh Amendment immunity and, since Eleventh Amendment immunity only bars suit in federal court, the Fourth Circuit's decision did not decide the different question of whether appellant is precluded from suing these same defendants in state court.

WMATA and the individual appellees respond with equal vigor. They argue, inter alia,³ that the federal court's judgment is a judgment on the merits, and that it was not based merely on Eleventh Amendment immunity but on the broader ground of sovereign immunity. Therefore, appellees argue, the circuit court was legally correct in dismissing the state action on the grounds of res judicata.

It is not necessary that we decide whether res judicata bars appellant's suit on the ground that the federal court ruled the appellees immune. This is because we hold that WMATA and the individual appellees are shielded from suit in state court by the doctrine of sovereign immunity, and that WMATA has not waived that immunity for claims such as those brought by appellant.⁴ WMATA was created by interstate compact with the consent of the United States Congress in 1966. The signatories to the WMATA Compact ("the Compact") are Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. See Md.Code (1977, 2001 Rep. Vol.), § 10-203 of the Transportation Article.⁵ Because the Compact was created by Congressional consent, issues relating to its...