Munson v. Milwaukee Bd. of School Directors

• Decision Date: 16 July 1992
• Docket Number: No. 91-1917,91-1917
• Parties: 76 Ed. Law Rep. 371 Carl MUNSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MILWAUKEE BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS, Raymond E. Williams, Assistant Superintendent and Robert Long, Assistant Superintendent, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 266

969 F.2d 266

76 Ed. Law Rep. 371

Carl MUNSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MILWAUKEE BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS, Raymond E. Williams,

Assistant Superintendent and Robert Long,

Assistant Superintendent, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 91-1917.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued Jan. 14, 1992.

Decided July 16, 1992.

John D. Uelmen, Fair Employment Legal Services, Milwaukee, Wis. (argued), for plaintiff-appellant.

Grant F. Langley, Stuart S. Mukamal (argued), Milwaukee, Wis., for defendants-appellees.

Before BAUER, Chief Judge, COFFEY and EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judges.

COFFEY, Circuit Judge.

Carl Munson alleged in his complaint filed in the district court that the Milwaukee Board of School Directors ("MBSD" or "the Board") and two of its assistant superintendents coerced his resignation as an MBSD principal and denied him reemployment as a teacher in retaliation for his involvement with the Administrators and Supervisors Council ("ASC"), an MBSD employee organization. Munson sued the MBSD and the two superintendents pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that their actions violated his freedom of speech and freedom of association rights under the first and fourteenth amendments of the United States Constitution. Munson also brought three state law claims against the defendants (defamation, invasion of privacy, and wrongful discharge), alleging that they arose from the same course of conduct; the district court exercised pendent jurisdiction over these claims. ¹ The defendants counterclaimed, arguing that Munson's complaint was frivolous, and contending that they were entitled to attorneys' fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 and Wis.Stat.Ann. §§ 814.025 and 895.50(6) (West 1991). The district court entered summary judgment against the plaintiff in the principal action and on the counterclaim and awarded the defendants $6,575 in attorneys' fees on the counterclaim. On appeal, Munson challenges only the district court's award of attorneys' fees to the defendants. We affirm.

I.

Carl Munson began employment with the Milwaukee Public Schools in 1967. On February 7, 1978, Munson was named an acting assistant principal, subjecting him to the MBSD residency requirement. The residency policy, in place since July 1, 1977, required that certain Milwaukee public school administrators, supervisors and employees maintain their bona fide residence in the City of Milwaukee. Under MBSD policy, violation of the residency requirement may result in the discharge of the offending employee. At the time of his promotion to acting assistant principal, Munson was living outside of the Milwaukee City limits in Brookfield, Wisconsin, but advised MBSD officials that he would take steps to comply with the residency requirement.

In 1985, the year he was promoted to principal, Munson became president of the ASC, the organization which represents administrative and supervisory employees in their employment bargaining with the MBSD. As president, Munson served as a member of the ASC negotiating team for the 1986-88 ASC/MBSD contract. During these negotiations, the ASC unsuccessfully bargained for the elimination of the residency requirement.

In August of 1986, MBSD officials began to investigate employees suspected of being the worst offenders of the residency requirement. From September 1986 through January 1987, two School Board Department of School Safety aides conducted residency investigations of Munson and four other MBSD administrative employees. The results of a search of numerous public records reflected that Munson was residing in Brookfield, Waukesha County, Wisconsin, not in the City or County of Milwaukee: Munson filed pleadings in a state circuit court listing a Brookfield home address; one of Munson's two cars was registered to a Brookfield address; Munson's credit report listed two addresses, both outside Milwaukee; and Munson's real estate broker's license listed a Brookfield address. Their suspicions heightened, the school safety aides commenced periodic surveillance of Munson's morning and afternoon commuting patterns, as well as of his Brookfield residence and his alleged Milwaukee rental address. Observations made during this surveillance, coupled with the public records evidence, persuaded MBSD officials that Munson resided in Brookfield, Waukesha County, Wisconsin, and that he was fraudulently claiming the City of Milwaukee rental address as his residence.

MBSD officials notified Munson of the investigators' findings, and told him that he could be dismissed if the residency information proved to be true. A conference was scheduled with MBSD officials for February 6, 1987. Munson appeared at the conference represented by the ASC executive director and an attorney. Copies of the surveillance and investigation reports were furnished to Munson, but he insisted that he was not in violation of the residency requirement. MBSD officials, unpersuaded by the denials, recommended to the superintendent of schools that Munson be terminated for failing to reside within the City of Milwaukee. Munson was informed that he could appeal any adverse decision made by the superintendent to the full Board of School Directors. On February 20, 1987, before the superintendent had acted on the termination recommendation, Munson wrote the MBSD stating that he wished to resign effective June 17, 1987. Munson's resignation letter was received and accepted by assistant superintendent Raymond E. Williams. Munson attempted to "withdraw" his resignation on May 29, 1987, but the MBSD refused his request, and the resignation became effective on the date Munson originally requested.

In late 1987 and early 1988, Munson unsuccessfully sought reemployment with the MBSD as a teacher. His application listed a Brookfield home address. In February 1988, Munson filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission arising from the circumstances leading to his resignation. The complaint was dismissed for want of jurisdiction because the ASC was not a "labor organization" nor was Munson considered a municipal employee within the meaning of the Municipal Employment Relations Act, Wis.Stat. § 111.70 et seq., under which he had sought relief. On February 6, 1989, Munson filed his complaint in this action.

II.

A.

Title 42, U.S.C. § 1988(b) provides, in pertinent part, that "[i]n any action or proceeding to enforce a provision of ... [42 U.S.C. § 1983] ..., the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party, other than the United States, a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the costs." The Supreme Court has held that a prevailing defendant may recover attorneys' fees under § 1988 if the plaintiff's action is "frivolous, unreasonable, or groundless, or ... the plaintiff continued to litigate after it clearly became so." Hughes v. Rowe, 449 U.S. 5, 15, 101 S.Ct. 173, 178, 66 L.Ed.2d 163 (1980) (quoting Christiansburg Garment Co. v. EEOC, 434 U.S. 412, 422, 98 S.Ct. 694, 701, 54 L.Ed.2d 648 (1978)); see also Leffler v. Meer, 936 F.2d 981, 986 (7th Cir.1991). Defendants are not required to show either subjective or objective bad faith on the part of the plaintiff in order to recover § 1988 attorneys' fees. Hamer v. County of Lake, 819 F.2d 1362, 1366 (7th Cir.1987) (citation omitted). Instead, the defendant must demonstrate that the plaintiff's action is "meritless in the sense that it is groundless or without foundation." Hughes, 449 U.S. at 14, 101 S.Ct. at 178. "[W]hen a civil rights suit is lacking in any legal or factual basis ..., an award of fees to the defendant is clearly appropriate to deter frivolous filings and to ensure that the ability of the courts to remedy civil rights violations is not restricted by dockets crowded with baseless litigation." Coates v. Bechtel, 811 F.2d 1045, 1050 (7th Cir.1987) (citation omitted).

Our role in reviewing § 1988 fee awards is sharply limited. "[I]t is well-settled that the district courts are given wide latitude to determine whether an award of fees to prevailing defendants is appropriate in a given case." Hamer, 819 F.2d at 1366. We will reverse a decision to award fees to a prevailing defendant pursuant to § 1988 only upon a showing of abuse of discretion by the district court. Vandenplas v. City of Muskego, 797 F.2d 425, 429 (7th Cir.1986); Leffler, 936 F.2d at 984; Coates, 811 F.2d at 1050. "This is appropriate in view of the district court's superior understanding of the litigation and the desirability of avoiding frequent appellate review of what essentially are factual matters." Vandenplas, 797 F.2d at 429 (quoting Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 437, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 1941, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983)). "An abuse of discretion warranting reversal occurs only when no reasonable person could take the view adopted by the trial court." Vandenplas, 797 F.2d at 429 (citation omitted); Leffler, 936 F.2d at 984.

B.

In the instant case, the district court awarded attorneys' fees to the defendants, finding Munson's amended complaint "without foundation, and therefore frivolous." The court concluded that Munson presented "no factual or evidentiary basis" for the central contention undergirding his lawsuit: that the MBSD forced him to resign because of his ASC activities. Munson agrees that in order to substantiate his § 1983 claim he was required to provide a basis for his assertion that the MBSD actions which led to his resignation were motivated, at least in part, by his ASC activities. Mere speculation is not enough to meet this burden.

After completing discovery, the only support Munson could offer on behalf of his claim that the MBSD acted with an unconstitutional motive were the following four allegations: (1) John Peterburs, the MBSD Secretary/Business Manager, was involved in the contract negotiations with the ASC and in the investigation of Munson's residency status; (2) the residency investigation was launched when Munson was bargaining for the elimination of the...