Medical Soc. of New Jersey v. Herr
| Citation | 191 F.Supp.2d 574 |
| Decision Date | 21 March 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV.A. 01-2003(JWB).,CIV.A. 01-2003(JWB). |
| Parties | THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF NEW JERSEY; and John Doe, M.D., Plaintiffs, v. Mark S. HERR, Individually and in his official capacity as Director of the State of New Jersey, Department of Law and Public Safety, Division of Consumer Affairs; and The State of New Jersey, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey |
Kern Augustine Conroy & Schoppmann, By Robert J. Conroy, Esquire, Bridgewater, NJ, or Plaintiffs.
William J. Farmer, Jr., Attorney General of New Jersey, By Jeffrey C. Burstein, Senior Deputy Attorney General, Division of Law, Newark, NJ, for Defendants.
This matter comes before the Court on defendants' motion to dismiss the Complaint on several grounds. Plaintiff John Doe, M.D., a physician with a record of substance abuse, sought certification from the state licensing board to practice medicine in New Jersey without limitation. When the board forwarded his application to the Director of Consumer Affairs for his approval, plaintiff and a private organization representing medical practitioners filed suit alleging violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the constitutional guarantee of equal protection of the law. Presently, before the Court is defendants' motion to dismiss certain claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and others for failure to state a claim.
This Court's subject matter jurisdiction is founded on 28 U.S.C. § 1331.
Founded in 1766 and incorporated in 1877, plaintiff Medical Society of New Jersey ("MSNJ") is a New Jersey corporation that serves as the State's primary organization of physicians. MSNJ seeks to promote the quality of health care and health services for all citizens of the State and to supply leadership and assistance to its physician members. To fulfill this mission, MSNJ regularly participates in important issues in the judicial, legislative, and regulatory arenas. (Compl., ¶ 3).
Plaintiff John Doe, M.D. ("Doe") is a physician licensed to practice medicine and surgery in the States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, residing in Monmouth County, New Jersey, and is a member of MSNJ.1 (Compl., ¶ 4).
Defendant Mark S. Herr is the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs of the Division of Law and Public Safety of the State of New Jersey. (Compl., ¶ 5).
This action involves the efforts of plaintiff Doe, a physician who has suffered from substance abuse problems, to secure from the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners ("the Board") an unrestricted medical license. As part of the Division of Consumer Affairs, the Board is charged with maintaining standards for the practice of medicine that are consistent with law and public safety. Although substance abuse by a physician is a serious concern of the Board, in practice, many cases of dependency are treated outside of public disciplinary proceedings through a program funded and sponsored by MSNJ. This program, dubbed the Physicians' Health program ("PHP"), is a comprehensive rehabilitation program that serves physicians with substance abuse problems. (Compl., ¶¶ 10, 11). With respect to past physicians who have been treated successfully under the PHP, the Board has granted them medical licenses that are ostensibly unrestricted, but have been subject to conditions contained in a so-called private letter of agreement between the physician and the Board. Thus, the final issuance of a private letter of agreement has commonly been a necessary condition to the grant of a medical license to a physician with a record of substance abuse.
The Complaint alleges the defendant Herr has adopted a policy of reviewing all such private letters of agreement to be issued by the Board and refusing to permit these letters to be issued "in any case involving a disability caused by abuse of and/or addiction to prescription medications and/or controlled dangerous substances." (Compl., ¶ 14). Instead, plaintiffs allege, he has determined that such cases must be treated as matters of public record. In particular, they allege that Mr. Herr interfered with the Board's administration of plaintiff Doe's application for an unrestricted medical license by holding up the issuance of a private letter of agreement. This treatment amounts to discrimination, they assert, because it differs from that accorded to physicians who have transgressed disciplinary standards not concerning substance abuse. Concerning those physicians, Mr. Herr does not intercede in the Board's granting of licenses contingent upon private letters of agreement. (Id., ¶ 16). Plaintiffs assert that Mr. Herr is without legal authority to take such actions, which they deem to be an interference with the Board's functions. (Id., ¶ 15).
It is further alleged that Doe has been subjected to potential discipline by the Board by reason of a disability connected to substance abuse problems, notwithstanding his successful completion of the PHP. A private letter of agreement containing conditions pertaining to the ongoing monitoring was to be issued by the Board concerning Doe, but such was withheld by defendant Herr and accompanied by a threat of public disclosure. As a result, Doe is alleged to have been placed in professional limbo. (Id., ¶¶ 18, 19).
On the basis of these allegations, the Complaint advances three claims. Count I is asserted against Mr. Herr and the State under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12131 et seq. ("ADA"), alleging discrimination toward Doe and disabled physicians, generally. Count II is asserted under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and alleges that Mr. Herr deprived plaintiff Doe of the equal protection of the law. Count III is a claim brought directly under the Constitution against both defendants and alleges violation of the equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.2 Count I contains no claim for damages, only declaratory and injunctive relief in addition to costs and fees. Compensatory damages, as well as declaratory and injunctive relief, are sought in Counts II and III.
Defendants have moved pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil procedure 12(b)(1) for dismissal of certain claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. As discussed in greater detail below, the particular issues raised in this aspect of defendants' motion are properly considered as attacking the existence of subject matter jurisdiction. Before proceeding to the substance, however, it is worthwhile to review the proper standard to be applied to a Rule 12(b)(1) motion.
In recognition of the confusion courts have faced over the standard to be applied to a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, the Third Circuit has devoted substantial discussion to distinguishing 12(b)(1) motions from other dispositive motions, particularly those made pursuant to Federal Civil Rules 12(b)(6) and 56. In Mortensen v. First Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n, the court of appeals sought to clarify the issue by dividing Rule 12(b)(1) motions into two categories: facial and factual. 549 F.2d 884, 891 (3d Cir.1977). A facial attack on jurisdiction is directed to the sufficiency of the pleading as a basis for subject matter jurisdiction. "In reviewing a facial attack, the court must only consider the allegations of the complaint and documents referenced therein and attached thereto in the light most favorable to the plaintiff." Gould Electronics Inc. v. United States, 220 F.3d 169, 176 (3d Cir.2000). Thus, a facial challenge to jurisdiction offers to the plaintiff similar safeguards to those related to Rule 12(b)(6) and 56 motions.
In stark distinction is the factual 12(b)(1) motion which, not surprisingly, calls into question the essential facts underlying a claim of subject matter jurisdiction. "Because at issue in a factual 12(b)(1) motion is the trial court's jurisdiction[,] its very power to hear the case[,] ... the trial court is free to weigh the evidence and satisfy itself as to the existence of its power to hear the case." Mortensen, 549 F.2d at 891; see Carpet Group Int'l v. Oriental Rug Importers Ass'n Inc., 227 F.3d 62, 69 (3d Cir.2000). Thus, the court may proceed in a way it cannot under Rules 12(b)(6) and 56; moreover, no presumptive truthfulness attaches to plaintiff's allegations of jurisdictional facts. Robinson v. Dalton, 107 F.3d 1018, 1021 (3d Cir.1997) (citing Mortensen, 549 F.2d at 891). When resolving a factual challenge, the court may consult materials outside the pleadings, and the burden of proving jurisdiction rests with the plaintiff. Gould Electronics, 220 F.3d at 176, 178. In general, when a Rule 12(b)(1) motion is supported by a sworn statement of facts, the court should treat the defendant's challenge as a factual attack on jurisdiction. See International Ass'n of Machinists & Aerospace Workers v. Northwest Airlines, 673 F.2d 700, 711 (3d Cir.1982).
Turning to the substance of the instant motion, defendants argue that plaintiff MSNJ lacks standing to pursue any of the claims in the Complaint. Under Article III, Section 2 of the United States Constitution, the exercise of judicial power depends upon the existence of a "Case" or "Controversy." U.S. Const. art. III, § 2; DeFunis v. Odegaard, 416 U.S. 312, 316, 94 S.Ct. 1704, 40 L.Ed.2d 164 (1974). This limitation on federal judicial authority is the source of the court's standing jurisprudence. Standing is comprised of both constitutional and prudential components. The Third Circuit recently articulated the constitutional requirements of standing as follows:
(1) the plaintiff must have suffered an injury in fact—an invasion of a legally protected...
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...nor a quasi-suspect class" for the purposes of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.19 Med. Soc'y of New Jersey v. Herr , 191 F.Supp.2d 574, 582 (D.N.J. 2002) ; see Bowers v. Nat'l Collegiate Athletic Ass'n , 475 F.3d 524, 553 (3d Cir. 2007) ("[T]he disabled are not a sus......
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