Margoles v. Tormey
| Decision Date | 18 March 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. 80-1176,80-1176 |
| Parties | Dr. Milton MARGOLES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Dr. Thomas W. TORMEY, Jr. and Leroy L. Dalton, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Dan Walker, Oak Brook, Ill., for plaintiff-appellant.
Charles R. Larsen, Asst. Atty. Gen., Dept. of Justice, Madison, Wis., for defendants-appellees.
Before SPRECHER and CUDAHY, Circuit Judges, and SPEARS, Senior District Judge. *
This appeal presents the question of whether the officials of one state have violated the constitutional rights of an applicant for medical licensure in another state by knowingly providing allegedly false information about the applicant to the licensing authorities of the second state. Plaintiff, Dr. Milton Margoles, appeals from the judgment of the district court awarding judgment notwithstanding the verdict to defendants. We affirm.
For many years prior to 1962, plaintiff was licensed as a physician in Wisconsin and in several other states; he practiced medicine primarily in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In June, 1960, plaintiff was convicted of several violations of the Internal Revenue Code and was sentenced to serve one year in prison and to pay $15,000 in fines. On October 12, 1960, plaintiff was convicted of attempting to influence an officer of the court and to obstruct justice and was sentenced to serve five years in prison and to pay $5,000 in fines. Plaintiff also was acquitted of a charge of attempted bribery. On June 6, 1961, plaintiff was convicted of communicating with a juror and was sentenced to serve six months in prison and to pay $1,000 in fines.
Pursuant to an action commenced by the state district attorney, and pursuant to a recommendation of the Wisconsin State Board of Medical Examiners ("Board"), plaintiff's license to practice medicine and surgery in Wisconsin was revoked on February 26, 1962 by the Circuit Court of Milwaukee County. 1 Following plaintiff's convictions and the revocation of his Wisconsin license, his physician's licenses in other states also were revoked or suspended by those states. Plaintiff was released from prison on parole on September 15, 1962. His parole term expired in September, 1966.
Following plaintiff's release from prison, plaintiff commenced an unsuccessful campaign to regain his Wisconsin medical license. Formal hearings were held in 1965 and 1969 by the Wisconsin State Board of Medical Examiners on plaintiff's applications for relicensure, both resulting in recommendations by the Board that plaintiff be denied relicensure. The latter denial of licensure was upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Margoles v. State Board of Medical Examiners, 47 Wis.2d 449, 177 N.W.2d 353 (1970). Plaintiff also sought, with mixed results, 2 licensure in other states, including Illinois.
This suit concerns plaintiff's attempts in 1964-65 and in 1969 to gain licensure in Illinois. This case, originally filed on June 11, 1970, has taken a tortuous route, 3 culminating in a five day jury trial in December, 1979 before Judge Crabb of the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. The defendants before us now are Dr. Thomas W. Tormey, Jr. and LeRoy L. Dalton, individually and in their official capacities. Tormey served as a member and Secretary of the Board from July, 1953 through July, 1963, and from July 1965 through July, 1973. He was employed by the Board as Executive Secretary from July, 1963 through July, 1965. Throughout this period, Tormey was responsible for handling the correspondence of the Board. Defendant Dalton was employed since 1955 as an assistant attorney general for the State of Wisconsin. Dalton acted as counsel to the Board from June, 1968 through 1970. The Board is responsible for licensing physicians in Wisconsin. It also regularly corresponds with licensing authorities of other states regarding either applicants before the Board or applicants seeking licensure in another state who have some connection to the Wisconsin Board. This suit concerns correspondence by the Board or by Tormey to Illinois licensing authorities during the time plaintiff was seeking licensure in Illinois.
In a pre-trial order entered on December 17, 1979, Judge Crabb ruled that plaintiff would be entitled to relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 if he proved that "defendants, acting under color of state law, and acting from motives of malice, ill will, or vindictiveness, prevented or attempted to prevent him from pursuing his profession." No. 70-C-151, Mem.Op. at 3. Judge Crabb reasoned that plaintiff's " 'liberty' interest would seem to encompass having a fair chance to apply, pursue, or compete for employment opportunities without intentional, malicious interference by state officials." Mem.Op. at 3-4. But Judge Crabb warned that plaintiff would have to prove "defendants' active involvement in or distortion of the licensing procedures" of the other states. Mem.Op. at 4.
Plaintiff's case, as finally presented to the jury, concerned only incidents in 1964 and 1969. The 1964 matter involved an unsolicited letter sent by Tormey on behalf of the Board to the Illinois licensing authorities requesting information about plaintiff's attempts to be licensed in Illinois. The letter incorrectly stated that plaintiff had been convicted of attempting to bribe a judge, when, in fact, plaintiff had been acquitted of that charge and had been convicted of the lesser charge of attempting to influence an officer of the court and to obstruct justice. According to plaintiff, when he appeared before the Illinois licensing board, the board's chairman confronted plaintiff with Tormey's letter and accused plaintiff of lying to the Illinois authorities by not disclosing his conviction for attempted bribery. Plaintiff contends that this incident severely prejudiced plaintiff's credibility before the Illinois authorities and was instrumental in denial of licensure.
Plaintiff and his son testified that they had met with Tormey some time prior to the date of this letter and had requested that Tormey stop stating that plaintiff had been convicted of attempted bribery. Tormey testified that the mistake was inadvertent that he did not understand or appreciate the legal distinction between attempt to bribe a judge and attempt to influence an officer of the court and to obstruct justice. There also was testimony that, after being confronted with Tormey's inaccurate letter, plaintiff presented to the Illinois authorities a certified copy of a statement from the Clerk of Court stating correctly the charges of which plaintiff had been convicted.
After the denial of licensure following the 1964-65 events, plaintiff again petitioned the Medical Board of Illinois for licensure. Hearings were held in September, 1969. Shortly before the Illinois hearings, plaintiff and his son met with Tormey in Tormey's medical office to discuss the issue of an affidavit plaintiff had given to the Board in 1967. 4 At this meeting, Tormey agreed to, and did, execute a letter dated September 19, 1969 to the Medical Board of Illinois stating, inter alia, that the Board, not plaintiff, had first suggested that plaintiff file the affidavit promising not to practice in Wisconsin if a Wisconsin license were issued and used for purposes of securing an Illinois license. Tormey gave the letter to plaintiff for plaintiff's use in the following week's Illinois hearings.
Before those hearings were held, however, Tormey reconsidered his statement regarding the origin of the affidavit idea and concluded that, in fact, plaintiff, not the Board, was responsible for the affidavit idea. Tormey consulted with Dalton, legal counsel to the Board, regarding the proper way of correcting the error contained in the first Tormey letter. Tormey and Dalton agreed that a second letter to the Illinois authorities correctly stating Tormey's view of the 1967 affidavit incident was necessary. 5 Consequently, Tormey prepared a second letter stating that the affidavit idea originated with plaintiff or plaintiff's attorney. 6 This letter, dated September 24, 1969, was sent directly to the Medical Board of Illinois. Plaintiff never received a copy of the letter and was never informed of the corrections made by Tormey until confronted with the letter by the Illinois authorities after plaintiff had tendered the first Tormey letter. Plaintiff again claims that his credibility before the Illinois authorities was severely prejudiced and that he again was denied an Illinois license in large part because of this incident.
The case was submitted to the jury with seven special interrogatories. Interrogatories 1 and 2 asked whether Tormey had violated plaintiff's constitutional right to obtain a fair hearing in Illinois by sending the 1964 letter misstating plaintiff's convictions, and, if so, whether Tormey acted in bad faith or without a reasonable belief that his act was constitutional. The jury concluded that the 1964 letter did not violate plaintiff's rights and, consequently, did not reach the question of Tormey's good faith.
Interrogatories 3 through 7 asked whether the sending of the second 1969 letter violated plaintiff's right to obtain a fair hearing, whether Dalton participated in the drafting of this letter, and whether Dalton or Tormey acted in bad faith or without a reasonable belief that his act was constitutional. The jury answered all five interrogatories in the affirmative, concluding that plaintiff's rights had been violated.
On January 10, 1980, Judge Crabb issued an Opinion and Order granting defendants' motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict with respect to the 1969 incident. Judge Crabb reasoned that plaintiff's evidence failed to establish the prerequisites of the constitutional theory set forth in the pretrial order, and that, as a matter of law, that constitutional theory was erroneous. Plain...
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