Migra v. Warren City School District Board of Education

Citation465 U.S. 75,104 S.Ct. 892,79 L.Ed.2d 56
Decision Date23 January 1984
Docket NumberNo. 82-738,82-738
PartiesEthel D. MIGRA, Petitioner, v. WARREN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF EDUCATION et al
CourtU.S. Supreme Court
Syllabus

Petitioner was employed by respondent Warren, Ohio, Board of Education (Board) as a supervisor of elementary education on an annual basis under written contracts. The Board, at a regularly scheduled meeting, adopted a resolution renewing petitioner's employment for the 1979-1980 school year, and, upon being advised of this, petitioner accepted the appointment by letter. But shortly thereafter, the Board, at a special meeting at which four of its five members were present, voted 3 to 1 not to renew petitioner's employment, and so notified her in writing. Petitioner then brought suit in the Ohio Court of Common Pleas against the Board and the three members who had voted not to renew her employment. The complaint alleged two causes of action—a breach of contract by the Board and wrongful interference by the individual members with petitioner's employment contract. The trial court held that petitioner's acceptance of the employment proffered for 1979-1980 created a binding contract and that the Board's subsequent action purporting not to renew the employment had no legal effect, and awarded petitioner reinstatement and compensatory damages. The court granted petitioner's motion to dismiss without prejudice "the issue of conspiracy and individual board members' liability," which issue the court had previously "reserved and continued." The Ohio Court of Appeals affirmed, and review was denied by the Ohio Supreme Court. Thereafter, petitioner filed an action in Federal District Court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1976 ed., Supp. V), inter alia, against the Board, its members, and the Superintendent of Schools, alleging that because of her activities involving a desegregation plan for the Warren elementary schools and a social studies curriculum that she had prepared, the Board members determined not to renew her contract, and that the Board's actions violated her rights under the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments. She requested injunctive relief and compensatory and punitive damages. The District Court granted summary judgment for the defendants on the basis of res judicata, inter alia, and dismissed the complaint. The United States Court of Appeals affirmed.

Held: With respect to petitioner's § 1983 claim, which was not litigated in state court, petitioner's state-court judgment has the same claim preclu- sive effect in federal court that the judgment would have in the Ohio state courts. Pp. 80-87.

(a) In the absence of federal law modifying the operation of 28 U.S.C. § 1738—which provides that state judicial proceedings shall have the same full faith and credit in every court within the United States as they have in the courts of the State from which they are taken—the preclusive effect in federal court of petitioner's state-court judgment is determined by Ohio law. Having rejected in Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 101 S.Ct. 411, 66 L.Ed.2d 308, the view that state-court judgments have no issue preclusive effect in § 1983 suits, this Court must also reject the view that § 1983 prevents petitioner's state-court judgment from creating a claim preclusive bar in this case. Section 1738 embodies the view that it is more important to give full faith and credit to state-court judgments than to ensure separate forums for federal and state claims. Section 1983 does not override state preclusion law and guarantee petitioner a right to proceed to judgment in state court on her state claims and then turn to federal court for adjudication of her federal claims. Pp. 80-85.

(b) The case is remanded to the District Court for further proceedings. It appears that Ohio preclusion law has experienced a gradual evolution and that Ohio courts recently have applied preclusion concepts more broadly than in the past, but the District Court's opinion does not indicate whether it applied what it thought was the Ohio law of preclusion. It is the District Court, not this Court, that should, in the first instance, interpret Ohio preclusion law and apply it. Pp. 85-87.

703 F.2d 564 (CA 6 1982), vacated and remanded.

John R. Vintilla, Cleveland, Ohio, for petitioner.

James L. Messenger, Youngstown, Ohio, for respondents.

Justice BLACKMUN delivered the opinion of the Court.

This case raises issues concerning the claim preclusive effect 1 of a state-court judgment in the context of a subsequent suit, under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985 (1976 ed., Supp. V), in federal court.

I

Petitioner, Dr. Ethel D. Migra, was employed by the Warren [Ohio] City School District Board of Education from August 1976 to June 1979. She served as supervisor of elementary education. Her employment was on an annual basis under written contracts for successive school years.

On April 17, 1979, at a regularly scheduled meeting, the Board, with all five of its members present, unanimously adopted a resolution renewing Dr. Migra's employment as supervisor for the 1979-1980 school year. Being advised of this, she accepted the renewed appointment by letter dated April 18 delivered to a member of the Board on April 23. Early the following morning her letter was passed on to the Superintendent of Schools and to the Board's President.

The Board, however, held a special meeting, called by its President, on the morning of April 24. Although there appear to have been some irregularities about the call, see Brief for Respondents 19, n. *, four of the five members of the Board were present. The President first read Dr. Migra's acceptance letter. Then, after disposing of other business, a motion was made and adopted, by a vote of three to one, not to renew petitioner's employment for the 1979-1980 school year. Dr. Migra was given written notice of this nonrenewal and never received a written contract of employment for that year. The Board's absent member, James Culver, learned of the special meeting and of Dr. Migra's termination after he returned from Florida on April 25 where he had attended a National School Boards Convention.

Petitioner brought suit in the Court of Common Pleas of Trumbull County, Ohio, against the Board and its three members who had voted not to renew her employment. The complaint, although in five counts, presented what the parties now accept as essentially two causes of action, namely, breach of contract by the Board, and wrongful interference by the individual members with petitioner's contract of employment. The state court, after a bench trial, "reserved and continued" the "issue of conspiracy" and did not reach the question of the individual members' liability. App. 39. It ruled that under Ohio law petitioner had accepted the employment proffered for 1979-1980, that this created a binding contract between her and the Board, and that the Board's subsequent action purporting not to renew the employment relationship had no legal effect. Id., at 41-52. The court awarded Dr. Migra reinstatement to her position and compensatory damages. Id., at 52. Thereafter, petitioner moved the state trial court to dismiss without prejudice "the issue of the conspiracy and individual board member liability." Id., at 53. That motion was granted. Id., at 54. The Ohio Court of Appeals, Eleventh District, in an unreported opinion, affirmed the judgment of the Court of Common Pleas. Review was denied by the Supreme Court of Ohio.2

In July 1980, Dr. Migra filed the present action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio against the Board, its then individual members, and the Superintendent of Schools. App. 3. Her complaint alleged that Dr. Migra had become the director of a commission appointed by the Board to fashion a voluntary plan for the desegregation of the District's elementary schools; that she had prepared a social studies curriculum; that the individual defendants objected to and opposed the curriculum and resisted the desegregation plan; that hostility and ill will toward petitioner developed; and that, as a consequence, the individual defendants determined not to renew petitioner's contract of employment. Id., at 5-6. Many of the alleged facts had been proved in the earlier state-court litigation. Dr. Migra claimed that the Board's actions were intended to punish her for the exercise of her First Amendment rights. She also claimed that the actions deprived her of property without due process and denied her equal protection. Her federal claim thus arose under the First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments and 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985. She requested injunctive relief and compensatory and punitive damages. App. 11-12. Answers were filed in due course and shortly thereafter the defendants moved for summary judgment on the basis of res judicata and the bar of the statute of limitations. Id., at 13-24.

The District Court granted summary judgment for the defendants and dismissed the complaint. App. to Pet. for Cert. C17-C31, D32. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, by a short unreported order, affirmed. Id., at A-15. See 703 F.2d 564 (CA 6 1982).3 Because of the importance of the issue, and because of differences among the Courts of Appeals, see n. 6, infra, we granted certiorari. 459 U.S. ----, 103 S.Ct. 722, 74 L.Ed.2d 948 (1983).

II

The Constitution's Full Faith and Credit Clause4 is implemented by the Federal Full Faith and Credit Statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1738. That statute reads in pertinent part:

"Such Acts, records and judicial proceedings or copies thereof, so authenticated, shall have the same full faith and credit in every court within the United States and its Territories and Possessions as they have by law or usage in the courts of such State, Territory or Possession from which they are taken."

It is now settled that a federal court must give to a state-court judgment the same preclusive effect as would be given that...

To continue reading

Request your trial
3376 cases
  • Brewer v. Dist. of Columbia
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Columbia
    • May 22, 2015
    ...as would be given that judgment under the law of the State in which the judgment was rendered.” Migra v. Warren City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ.,465 U.S. 75, 81, 104 S.Ct. 892, 79 L.Ed.2d 56 (1984); see also28 U.S.C. § 1738(“Judicial proceedings ... shall have the same full faith and credit in ......
  • In re Professional Coatings (NA), Inc.
    • United States
    • United States Bankruptcy Courts. Fourth Circuit. U.S. Bankruptcy Court — Eastern District of Virginia
    • May 9, 1997
    ...court must apply the preclusion law of the state in which the judgment was rendered." Migra v. Warren City School District Bd. Of Educ., 465 U.S. 75, 81-85, 104 S.Ct. 892, 896-98, 79 L.Ed.2d 56 (1984); See U.S. v. Turner, 933 F.2d 240, 243 n. 2 (4th Cir.1991); In re Wizard Software, 185 B.R......
  • Verhovec v. City of Trotwood
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio
    • June 25, 2015
    ...rendering State. 28 U.S.C. §1738; Marrese v. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 470 U.S. 373 (1985); Migra v. Warren City School District Board of Edn., 465 U.S. 75 (1984); Kremer v. Chemical Constr Corp., 456 U.S. 461 (1982); Trafalgar Corp. v. Miami County Bd. Of Comm'rs, 519 F.3d ......
  • Abdulsalaam v. Franklin County Bd. of Com'Rs, Case No. 06-CV-413.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio
    • July 23, 2009
    ...of FCCS' attempts to keep the Abdulsalaam family together, this Court applies Ohio law. Migra v. Warren City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ., 465 U.S. 75, 81, 104 S.Ct. 892, 79 L.Ed.2d 56 (1984) ("It is now settled that a federal court must give to a state-court judgment the same preclusive effect ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
9 books & journal articles
  • Prisoners' Rights
    • United States
    • Georgetown Law Journal No. 110-Annual Review, August 2022
    • August 1, 2022
    ...already been litigated. See Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 98-99, 103-04 (1980); see also Migra v. Warren City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ., 465 U.S. 75, 84 (1984) (§ 1983 claim carries the same preclusive effect in federal court as it would in state court so breach of contract and wrongful inte......
  • Issues Relating to Parallel Litigation
    • United States
    • ABA Antitrust Library Business Torts and Unfair Competition Handbook Business tort litigation
    • January 1, 2014
    ...MANUAL FOR COMPLEX LITIGATION (FOURTH) § 20.3 (2004). 213. See Chapters IX and XII. 214. See Migra v. Warren City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ., 465 U.S. 75 (1984). Notably, the term res judicata is sometimes used by courts as interchangeable with claim preclusion, rather than a broad umbrella te......
  • Forum shopping for arbitration decisions: federal courts' use of antisuit injunctions against state courts.
    • United States
    • University of Pennsylvania Law Review Vol. 147 No. 1, November 1998
    • November 1, 1998
    ...raised in that action." Kremer v. Chemical Constr. Corp., 456 U.S. 461, 467 n.6 (1982); cf Migra v. Warren City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ., 465 U.S. 75, 77 n.1 (1984) (discussing the use of plain English terms, claim and issue preclusion, in lieu of res judicata and collateral (168) The Court ......
  • Miranda deconstitutionalized: when the Self-Incrimination Clause and the Civil Rights Act collide.
    • United States
    • University of Pennsylvania Law Review Vol. 143 No. 2, December 1994
    • December 1, 1994
    ...faith and credit in every federal court as they have in states from which they are taken); Migra v. Warren City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ., 465 U.S. 75, 85 (1984) (applying the doctrine of claim preclusion to state court judgments); Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 95-96 (1980) (applying the doc......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT