Mosley v. Bowen

• Decision Date: 06 February 1989
• Docket Number: Civ. No. C-1-87-0968.
• Parties: Phyllis MOSLEY, Plaintiff, v. Otis BOWEN, M.D., Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio

703 F. Supp. 1288

Phyllis MOSLEY, Plaintiff, v. Otis BOWEN, M.D., Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, et al., Defendants.

Civ. No. C-1-87-0968.

United States District Court, S.D. Ohio.

January 6, 1989.

As Amended February 6, 1989.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Jennifer Bishop and Stephen Olden, Legal Aid Soc., Cincinnati, Ohio, for plaintiff.

Alan Schwepe, Asst. Atty. Gen., Columbus, Ohio, Thomas Deye, Cincinnati, Ohio, for defendants.

Donna Morros Weinstein, Chief Counsel, Region V, Ted K. Yasuda, Asst. Regional Counsel, Dept. of Health and Human Services, Chicago, Ill., for defendant Bowen.

ORDER

CARL B. RUBIN, Chief Judge.

This matter is before the Court on cross-motions for summary judgment. The parties have submitted supporting and opposing memoranda, affidavits, documents and a stipulation of facts (doc. nos. 25, 37, 42, 47, 48, 50, 51, 52, 53, 57 and 60). An oral hearing has been held on the pending motions. For the reasons set forth below, summary judgment is hereby granted in favor of plaintiff.

Facts

The material facts are not in dispute. Plaintiff Patricia Mosely is the mother of five minor children on whose behalf she receives payments through the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Defendant Patricia Barry is the Director of the Ohio Department of Human Services and is responsible for administration of the AFDC program in Ohio. Defendant Donald Thomas is the Director of the Hamilton County, Ohio Department of Human Services. Defendants Robert A. Taft, II., Norman A. Murdock, and Joseph DeCourcy were Hamilton County Commissioners at the time this lawsuit was instituted. Defendant Otis T. Bowen is the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Pursuant to a state court order, plaintiff's ex-husband, Sonny Hibbard, is required to pay to her biweekly child support in the amount of $60. These payments are deducted from Mr. Hibbard's wages by his employer on a biweekly basis. Plaintiff has assigned her right to receive such child support payments to the state as a condition of receiving AFDC payments.

Although an AFDC recipient is entitled to receive the first $50 of child support payments as are collected periodically which represent monthly support payments, plaintiff has been denied such payments for the following five months: October, 1986; March and August, 1987; and January and February, 1988. Child support payments for these months were not remitted to the collecting entity, the Title IV-D Agency for Hamilton County, in the months for which the payments were owed.

Summary Judgment

The summary judgment procedure under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 is designed to secure a just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of any action. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 327, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2555, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Rule 56(c) permits the Court to grant summary judgment as a matter of law if "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any" demonstrate the absence of any genuine issue of material fact. Id at 323, 106 S.Ct. at 2553.

Governing Law

At the time plaintiff instituted this lawsuit, 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(26)(A) provided that the State may require as a condition of eligibility to receive AFDC payments that the recipient assign to the State any rights to support from any other person the recipient may have on behalf of any family member for whom the recipient receives aid. Title 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(8)(A)(vi) provided that in determining the needs of a recipient in a given month, the state shall disregard the first $50 of any child support payments received in such month. Title 42 U.S.C. § 657(b)(1) outlined the following distribution scheme:

the first $50 of such amounts as are collected periodically which represent monthly support payments shall be paid to the family without affecting its eligibility for assistance or decreasing any amount otherwise payable as assistance to such family during such month.

Monthly support payments in excess of $50 which are collected periodically shall be retained by the state to reimburse it for assistance payments to the family during such period. § 657(b)(2).

The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (hereinafter Secretary) has promulgated regulations which define the date of collection under § 657(b)(1) as the date the payment is received by the Title IV-D Agency or state entity making the collection on behalf of the IV-D agency. 45 C.F.R. § 302.51. If the amount collected includes the required support payment for a prior month, the family is entitled to receive only one $50 pass-through payment that represents the support obligation for the month in which the support was collected. Id.

The United States Congress recently passed legislation that amends §§ 657(b)(1) and 602(a)(8)(A)(vi). Section 657(b)(1), as amended, provides that:

of such amounts as are collected periodically which represent monthly support payments, the first $50 of any payments for a month received in that month, and the first $50 of payments for each prior month received in that month which were made by the absent parent in the month when due, shall be paid to the family.

Section 602(a)(8)(A)(vi) has been amended to provide that:

the state shall disregard the first $50 of any child support payments for such month received in that month, and the first $50 of child support payments for each prior month received in that month if such payments were made by the absent parent in the month when due.

The report accompanying the United States Senate Bill which adopted these amendments, S. 1511, states that the first $50 received in a month that was due for a prior month must be disregarded in calculating entitlement if such payment was made by the absent parent in the month when due, regardless of whether there is a delay in processing of the payment by the state agency. S.Rep. No. 100-377, 100th Cong., 2d Sess, U.S.Code Cong. & Admin. News 1988, p. 2776. The report accompanying the House Bill, H.R. 1720, states that whenever a parent makes a timely payment, it will be disregarded irrespective of the time it takes the state agency to process the payment. H.R.Rep. No. 100-159, 100th Cong., 1st Sess.

Following the proposal of the above amendments, the Secretary revised § 302.51(a) to provide that the date of collection is the date the support payment is received by the authorized IV-D agency or legal entity of the State or other political subdivision actually making the collection, whichever is earlier. 53 F.R. 21642 (June 9, 1988).

Claims of the Parties

Plaintiff claims that defendants have (1) violated the Social Security Act, specifically 42 U.S.C. §§ 602(a)(8)(A)(vi) and 657(b)(1), by promulgating regulations which are inconsistent with those provisions in that the regulations allow AFDC recipients to receive a pass-through payment only for current child support payments; and (2) have violated the equal protection clause by arbitrarily distinguishing between those for whom support payments are not timely made and those for whom such payments are timely made. Plaintiff requests as relief that the Court declare the regulations inconsistent with the Social Security Act and violative of the Equal Protection Clause; (2) determine that plaintiff is entitled to receive $50 for each month for which she receives support; and (3) award plaintiff damages of $50 for specified months for which her ex-husband fulfilled his support obligation but she was denied a pass-through payment.

Defendants contend that § 657(b)(1) clearly provides that in order for an AFDC recipient to receive a pass-through payment, two conditions must be met. First, child support must be received by the state on a timely basis, and second, the recipient may receive only one pass-through payment per month. Defendants claim that because the state did not receive child support payments by Mr. Hibbard in the months for which they were owed, and because plaintiff is entitled to only one pass-through payment per month, she is not entitled to payments for the months in question. Defendants also claim that this Court lacks jurisdiction over the complaint and that plaintiff's suit is barred under the Eleventh Amendment.

Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Defendants contend that this Court does not have subject matter jurisdiction over plaintiff's claims of violations of the Social Security Act. When a constitutional claim presented in a complaint is of sufficient substance to support the exercise of federal jurisdiction, the Court has the power to consider other claims that may not confer jurisdiction if the constitutional claim is not obviously without merit or is not rendered frivolous by previous decisions. Ball v. Harris, 498 F.Supp. 110, 113 (S.D.Ohio 1980) (Hogan, Sr. J.). Plaintiff has raised an equal protection claim that is neither obviously without merit nor rendered frivolous by previous decisions. Such claim is sufficient to confer jurisdiction over plaintiff's remaining claims.

Furthermore, one of the asserted jurisdictional bases of plaintiff's claims is 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Section 1983 encompasses claimed violations of the Social Security Act. Maine v. Thiboutout, 448 U.S. 1, 100 S.Ct. 2502, 65 L.Ed.2d 555 (1980); Ball v. Harris, 498 F.Supp. at 112. Therefore, this Court has jurisdiction over plaintiff's claims.

Eleventh Amendment

The Eleventh Amendment bars an action for damages that seeks a retroactive award requiring the payment of funds from the state treasury. Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 94 S.Ct. 1347, 39 L.Ed.2d 662 (1974). The Eleventh Amendment does not bar the federal court from enjoining state officials to conform their future conduct to requirements of federal law, even though such an injunction may have an ancillary effect on the state treasury. Quern v. Jordan, 440 U.S. 332, 99 S.Ct. 1139, 59 L.Ed.2d 358 (1979)....