Mason v. Board of Educ., School Dist. No. 209

• Decision Date: 05 July 1990
• Docket Number: No. 89-1065-C.,89-1065-C.
• Citation: 741 F. Supp. 879
• Parties: Jones MASON, Plaintiff, v. BOARD OF EDUCATION, UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 209, William H. Preheim, Individually and as a member of the Board of Education, U.S.D. 209, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Kansas

741 F. Supp. 879

Jones MASON, Plaintiff, v. BOARD OF EDUCATION, UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 209, William H. Preheim, Individually and as a member of the Board of Education, U.S.D. 209, Defendants.

No. 89-1065-C.

United States District Court, D. Kansas.

July 5, 1990.

E.L. Lee Kinch of Ratner, Mattox, Ratner, Kinch & Brimer, Wichita, Kan., for plaintiff.

David Steed of Turner & Boisseau, Wichita, Kan., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

CROW, District Judge.

The case comes before the court for ruling on two dispositive motions. Plaintiff, Jones Mason (Mason), was employed as an elementary principal and high school counselor at Moscow, Kansas, for Unified School District No. 209 from the spring of 1983 through the spring of 1988. Defendant, the Board of Education, Unified School District No. 209 (Board), did not renew plaintiff's contract for the 1988-1989 school year. Plaintiff brings this civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging the Board's nonrenewal of his contract as a teacher violated K.S.A. 72-5436 et seq. and thereby denied him of due process.

The Board first has filed a motion for summary judgment (Dk. 21) arguing that plaintiff has post-deprivation remedies under state law which adequately redress him for any denial of procedural due process. Because of these available state remedies, the Board seeks to have plaintiff's § 1983 claim dismissed on the strength of Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527, 101 S.Ct. 1908, 68 L.Ed.2d 420 (1981), overruled on other grounds, Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327, 330-31, 106 S.Ct. 662, 664-65, 88 L.Ed.2d 662 (1986), and Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517, 104 S.Ct. 3194, 82 L.Ed.2d 393 (1984). The Board and defendant, William H. Preheim (Preheim), join in the second motion for summary judgment (Dk. 72) arguing that the plaintiff must show the Board's actions were taken as a result of a practice or policy of the Board, that defendant Preheim is entitled to good faith immunity, and that punitive damages can only be recovered against defendant Preheim in his individual capacity. Plaintiff opposes both motions on several grounds.

In ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the trial court conducts a threshold inquiry of the need for a trial. Without weighing the evidence or determining credibility, the court grants summary judgment when no genuine issue of material fact exists and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2511, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Essentially, the inquiry is "whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 251-252, 106 S.Ct. at 2511-2512.

An issue of fact is "genuine" if the evidence is significantly probative or more than merely colorable such that a jury could reasonably return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. at 2510. An issue of fact is "material" if proof thereof might affect the outcome of the lawsuit as assessed from the controlling substantive law. 477 U.S. at 249. Factual inferences are drawn to favor the existence of triable issues, and where reasonable minds could ultimately reach different conclusions, summary judgment is inappropriate. See Riley v. Brown & Root, Inc., 896 F.2d 474, 476-77 (10th Cir.1990).

The movant's initial burden under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 is to show the absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case. Windon Third Oil and Gas v. Federal Deposit Ins., 805 F.2d 342, 345 (10th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 947, 107 S.Ct. 1605, 94 L.Ed.2d 791 (1987). The movant must specify those portions of "`the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with affidavits if any,'" which demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of fact. Windon, 805 F.2d at 345 (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)). It may be sufficient for the movant to establish that the alleged factual issues are without legal significance. Dayton Hudson Corp. v. Macerich Real Estate Co., 812 F.2d 1319, 1323 (10th Cir.1987).

The opposing party may not rest upon mere allegations or denials in the pleadings but must set forth specific facts supported by the kinds of evidentiary materials listed in Rule 56(c). Anderson, 477 U.S. at 250, 106 S.Ct. at 2511. The nonmoving party's evidence is deemed true and all reasonable inferences are drawn in his favor. Windon, 805 F.2d at 346. More than a "disfavored procedural shortcut," summary judgment is an important procedure "designed `to secure the just, speedy and inexpensive determination of every action.' Fed.R.Civ.P. 1." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 327, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2555, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

Procedural due process under the Fourteenth Amendment is triggered when one is deprived of an established property or liberty interest. Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 569, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 2705, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972). Property interests are derived and defined from a source other than the Constitution, such as state law. Id. at 577, 92 S.Ct. at 2709. What process is due in the taking of a constitutionally protected property interest is a question of constitutional law. Cleveland Board of Educ. v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532, 547-48, 105 S.Ct. 1487, 1496-97, 84 L.Ed.2d 494 (1985). Whether a property interest has been conferred is generally a question of state law, while what minimum procedural requirements must be followed before that interest is adversely affected is a question of constitutional law.

Considering first the Board's motion (Dk. 21) on the adequacy of post-deprivation state law remedies, the court agrees with plaintiff that the rule from Parratt and Hudson has been narrowly applied without reaching the situation of an employee's termination. In Parratt v. Taylor, an inmate brought a § 1983 suit to recover the value of some hobby materials which he claimed the prison officials negligently lost in handling the receipt of the mail-ordered package. The Supreme Court concluded that no due process violation had been alleged and that state law tort remedies adequately redressed the inmate. The Supreme Court reasoned:

The justifications which we have found sufficient to uphold takings of property without any predeprivation process are applicable to a situation such as the present one involving a tortious loss of a prisoner's property as a result of a random and unauthorized act by a state employee. In such a case, the loss is not a result of some established state procedure and the State cannot predict precisely when the loss will occur. It is difficult to conceive of how the State could provide a meaningful hearing before the deprivation takes place. The loss of property, although attributable to the State as action under "color of law," is in almost all cases beyond the control of the State. Indeed, in most cases it is not only impracticable, but impossible to provide a meaningful hearing before the deprivation.... The prior cases which have excused the prior-hearing requirement have rested in part on the availability of some meaningful opportunity subsequent to the initial taking for a determination of rights and liabilities.

451 U.S. at 541, 101 S.Ct. at 1916. The Supreme Court extended the reasoning in Parratt to an intentional deprivation of an inmate's property. Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. at 531-37, 104 S.Ct. at 3202-06. The rationale behind this post-deprivation remedy rule is that it is impracticable, if not impossible, to provide a hearing before the deprivation caused by the random and unauthorized act of a state employee.

If the State is in a position to provide predeprivation process or, stated another way, if it is practicable and possible for the State to conduct a hearing before the property interest is affected, the holdings in Parratt and Hudson are inapplicable. Wolfenbarger v. Williams, 774 F.2d 358, 363 (10th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1065, 106 S.Ct. 1376, 89 L.Ed.2d 602 (1986) (It was practicable and possible for the State to provide predeprivation process, since such procedures existed by statute). In the present case, the State is undeniably in a position to provide predeprivation process, since it has done so under the Teachers' Due Process Act, K.S.A. 72-5436, et seq., and the Administrators' Act, K.S.A. 72-5451 et seq. See Pitts v. Bd. of Educ. of U.S.D. 305, Salina, Kansas, 869 F.2d 555, 557 (10th Cir.1989) (Teachers' Due Process Act satisfies the due process clause), and Peterson v. Unified School Dist. No. 418, 724 F.Supp. 829, 834 (D.Kan.1989) (Administrator's Act adequately protects the property interest of school administrators). Consequently, post-deprivation remedies under state law alone do not sufficiently protect the plaintiff's property interest in employment. Moreover, the Supreme Court in Loudermill held that some form of prior hearing is necessary before an employee may be terminated. The Court found that the balance favored the employee's significant interest in retaining "the means of livelihood" and in having the opportunity to present his position on the matter, rather than the State's interest in immediate termination. 470 U.S. at 542-44. For these reasons, the Board's motion for summary judgment (Dk. 21) is denied.

Going to the second motion for summary judgment (Dk. 72), the defendants are correct that a suit against an official in his or her official capacity is merely another way of pleading an action and imposing liability against the entity of which the officer serves as an agent. Eastwood v. Dept. of Corrections of State of Okl., 846 F.2d 627, 632 (10th Cir.1988). Defendants, however, are mistaken in their argument that the plaintiff must allege and prove that the Board's denial of his due process rights was the result of an existing Board practice or custom, instead of an isolated act or decision. Defendants apparently misapprehend the purpose...