Manion v. Michigan Bd. of Medicine
| Decision Date | 24 June 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 84-1053,84-1053 |
| Citation | 765 F.2d 590 |
| Parties | Dr. John Joseph MANION, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. MICHIGAN BOARD OF MEDICINE (formerly Medical Practice Board); Donald H. Kuiper, M.D.; James C. Brenaman, M.D.; James L. Fenton, M.D.; John F. Fennessey, M.D.; Henry A. Kallet, M.D.; Carol E. Pearson, M.D.; F. Ann Pillote, M.D.; Addison E. Prince, M.D.; Margaret J. Thoms; James B. Dresbach; Karen D. Kotch, P.A.; Norman J. Rotter, M.D.; Edward R. Weddon, M.D.; Sondra C. Shaw; Bert C. Brennan; Leslie N. Greenwald; and James C. Burdick, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Frank J. Kelley, Atty. Gen. of Michigan, and Max R. Hoffman, Jr., argued, Lansing, Mich., for defendants-appellants.
Jeffrey L. Hampel, argued, Wyoming, Mich., for plaintiff-appellee.
Before LIVELY, Chief Judge, MERRITT, Circuit Judge, and HORTON, District Judge. *
The issue certified to this Court by the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan is whether members of the Michigan Board of Medicine, sued in their individual capacities under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, are entitled to claim the defense of immunity, either absolute or qualified, in the discharge of their statutory duties pertaining to the licensure of persons to practice medicine in the state of Michigan.
We answer the question as follows: Members of the Board of Medicine are not entitled to claim the defense of absolute immunity. We find their duties do not rise to that level of governmental responsibility justifying the protection of absolute immunity. However, we hold Board members are entitled to claim the defense of qualified immunity. We find qualified immunity to be appropriate because Board members do perform discretionary acts in the performance of their statutory duties and qualified immunity is adequate to their protection. The entitlement to claim a defense of qualified immunity, however, depends upon an appraisal of the objective legal reasonableness of an official's conduct, as measured by reference to clearly established law. Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2739, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982).
We think the District Court recognized Board members' right to claim the defense of qualified immunity. We think the Court's ruling denying the Board's motion for summary judgment on this issue was correct, based upon the facts then before the Court.
This lawsuit was filed by Dr. John Joseph Manion, a physician, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan against the State of Michigan, its Board of Medicine (Board), individual members of the Board and Bert C. Brennan, then acting Executive Director of the Board. Dr. Manion claimed his constitutional rights were violated by: (1) the Board's failure to inform him he was licensed to practice medicine in Michigan in 1977; (2) the Board's failure to investigate allegations that he was not fit for licensure to practice medicine from 1977 to 1981; (3) termination of his license in 1978; (4) failure in 1978, to give him proper notice of the requirement to renew his license and the manner in which to renew it; and (5) failure to license him to practice medicine in Michigan from 1978 to the present time. The Board, seeking dismissal of all Dr. Manion's claims, asserted numerous reasons, one of which was the defense of immunity.
The District Court, citing Wilkerson v. Johnson, 699 F.2d 325 (6th Cir.1983), ruled members of the Board were not entitled to the protection of absolute immunity. Additionally, the District Court ruled Board members had failed to show sufficient facts to support a finding of good faith qualified immunity. Therefore, the District Court denied dismissal of the lawsuit upon either the doctrine of absolute immunity or that of qualified immunity. However, the District Court concluded that "the question of defendant's claim of immunity presents a question of law for which there is substantial ground for difference of opinion, and is also a controlling question of law, the resolution of which will materially advance the ultimate termination of this litigation," and consequently found that "the question is properly certifiable for appeal."
Board members present two approaches to their claim of immunity. First, they claim they are entitled to absolute immunity. In the alternative, Board members claim they are entitled to qualified immunity.
Board members claim they are entitled to absolute immunity because in the course of their licensing duties, under Michigan law, they perform (1) an investigative function and (2) an adjudicative function. Board members claim they are required by statute to authorize investigations to determine qualifications of applicants for medical licensure and to determine whether, after hearing, when necessary, applicants are qualified to practice medicine in Michigan.
The doctrine of immunity grew out of a determination that officials of government should be free to exercise their duties unencumbered by fear of a lawsuit with respect to acts done in the course of their duties. Barr v. Mateo, 360 U.S. 564, 79 S.Ct. 1335, 3 L.Ed.2d 1434 (1959); Howard v. Lyons, 360 U.S. 593, 79 S.Ct. 1331, 3 L.Ed.2d 1454 (1959); Tenney v. Brandhove, 341 U.S. 367, 71 S.Ct. 783, 95 L.Ed 1019 (1951). On the whole, immunity has been thought to encourage fearless public service more than it invites brazen excess. Barr, supra, 360 U.S. at 571, 79 S.Ct. at 1339. See also, Laurence Tribe, American Constitutional Law Sec. 4-13 (Foundation Press New York 1978). Yet officials, like any other citizen, are charged with knowledge of the law and should be held accountable, where feasible, for their personal misconduct. Halperin v. Kissinger, 424 F.Supp. 838, 843 (D.D.C.1976).
The findings of the District Court reflect the conflict and confusion surrounding this area of law. This Court will trace the history and status of this doctrine in both of its forms, absolute and qualified, and then attempt to guide the District Court by showing how we arrive at the answer to the question certified on this appeal. In performing the latter task, the Appellate Court must rely on the District Court's findings of fact. Owen v. Lash, 682 F.2d 648 (7th Cir.1982).
The procedural difference between absolute and qualified immunity is important. An absolute immunity defense defeats a lawsuit at the outset, if the official's acts were within the scope of the immunity; on the other hand, the fate of an official entitled to qualified immunity depends upon the circumstances and motivations of his actions, as established by the evidence at trial. Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 419 n. 13, 96 S.Ct. 984, 989 n. 13, 47 L.Ed.2d 128 (1976).
The Supreme Court has indicated some state officials may be entitled to absolute immunity, while others may be entitled only to a qualified immunity. The distinction is based upon "functional" comparability "with a person" entitled to some immunity. Verner v. Colorado, 533 F.Supp. 1109 (D.Colo.1982). The difficulty in such cases is that "lower federal courts are hopelessly split as to the type of immunity to be accorded to local officials." See, Robert Freilich and Richard Carlisle, Sword and Shield Section 1983 280 (American Bar Assoc. Press 1983).
Absolute immunity is a doctrine of law which prevents a lawsuit from being maintained against a defendant because of his status and is based upon acts performed within the scope of his authority. The policy underlying absolute immunity is a concern with the chilling effect of potential section 1983 damages litigation upon the exercise of discretionary decision-making. Sheldon Namod, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Litigation, Sec. 7.01 (Shepards/McGraw-Hill 1979).
The Supreme Court has specified that persons such as judges, Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, 98 S.Ct. 1099, 55 L.Ed.2d 331 (1978) and Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 87 S.Ct. 1213, 18 L.Ed.2d 288 (1967), and prosecutors, Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 96 S.Ct. 984, 47 L.Ed.2d 128 (1976), are immune from suit under section 1983 if the remedy sought is damages.
Occasionally, however, it becomes necessary to decide whether institutions or individuals who analogize themselves to a Court or prosecutor are also protected. Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, supra, at Sec. 7.08. If they perform judicial or prosecutorial duties so functionally comparable to those duties performed by judges and prosecutors that public policy dictates absolute immunity is essential for the conduct of public business, then the Court will be obligated to grant them absolute immunity. Butz v. Economu, 438 U.S. 478, 98 S.Ct. 2894, 57 L.Ed.2d 895 (1978).
A trial court with full knowledge of all the facts, must decide in each case whether these functions are sufficiently analogous. The general topic of official liability and immunity is not limited to narrow legal principles, but involves broad considerations of public policy weighed against the actual functions of the official. Sword and Shield, supra, at 313. Moreover, "officials who seek absolute exemption from personal liability for unconstitutional conduct must bear the burden of showing that public policy requires an exemption of that scope." Butz, 438 U.S. at 506, 98 S.Ct. at 2910. Therefore, in order to determine whether absolute immunity exists in any given situation, the Court must focus not on the title of the official but the particular conduct and circumstances that gave rise to the claim of liability. Lawrence v. Acree, 665 F.2d 1319, 1327 (D.C.Cir.1981); see also Hoke v. Board of Medical Examiners, 445 F.Supp. 1313, 1314 (W.D.N.C.1978).
In the present case, Board members contend they are entitled to absolute immunity because they perform investigative and adjudicative functions. The Court will address these two alleged...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Bettencourt v. Board of Registration In Medicine of Com. of Mass.
...Colo., 822 F.2d 1508, 1515 (10th Cir.1987) (As judges, medical board members function in adjudicatory roles.); Manion v. Michigan Bd. of Medicine, 765 F.2d 590, 596 (6th Cir.1985) (similar); cf. Cleavinger v. Saxner, 474 U.S. 193, 204, 106 S.Ct. 496, 503, 88 L.Ed.2d 507 (1985) (denying abso......
-
Watts v. Burkhart
...or revocation of a physician's license, are protected by quasi-judicial immunity. Relying on our decision in Manion v. Michigan Bd. of Medicine, 765 F.2d 590 (6th Cir.1985), the district court answered the question in the negative. A majority of the three-judge panel that initially heard th......
-
Schopler v. Bliss
...discretion, see Horwitz v. State Bd. of Medical Examiners, 822 F.2d 1508, 1515 (10th Cir.1987); but see Manion v. Michigan Bd. of Medicine, 765 F.2d 590, 596 (6th Cir.1985), that immunity would not extend to conduct occurring outside the performance of these functions. See Marx, 855 F.2d at......
-
Achterhof v. Selvaggio
...298 (1979)). The distinction has continued to be a pivotal part of immunity analysis in this Circuit. See, e.g., Manion v. Michigan Bd. of Medicine, 765 F.2d 590 (6th Cir.1985); Joseph v. Patterson, 795 F.2d 549 (6th Cir.1986); Grant v. Hollenbach, 870 F.2d 1135 (6th Cir.1989). In accord wi......