Presson v. Slayden
| Decision Date | 07 June 1983 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. C80-314A. |
| Citation | 570 F. Supp. 842 |
| Parties | Nancy Lee PRESSON, f/k/a Nancy Lee Jansen, Plaintiff, v. Robert M. SLAYDEN, Joan E. Anderson, Harlan B. Groover, Richard Teipel, William W. Lewis, Jr., Alfred Camp and Arthur Simpson, each sued individually; and, Secretary of the Army, in his official capacity only, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia |
Ray Norvell, Decatur, Ga., for plaintiff.
Nina Hunt, Atlanta, Ga., for defendants.
Plaintiff, a former member of the United States Army, filed this action on February 26, 1980 for alleged violations of her constitutional rights and for torts allegedly committed by the defendants. Defendant Robert Slayden was the post psychiatrist at Fort McPherson, Georgia during all times relevant to this lawsuit. Defendant Joan Anderson was WAC Co. Commander during this period, and was defendant Harlan Groover's immediate superior. Defendant Richard Teipel was the Post Information Officer and plaintiff's duty supervisor. Defendant William Lewis was the Post Commander, defendant Alfred Camp was the Post Sergeant Major, and defendant Arthur Simpson was Patient Administrator at the base hospital.
Plaintiff's first amended complaint, filed June 30, 1981, contains two counts. Count One seeks damages against the individual defendants for violations of amendments 1, 4, 5, 8 and 9 of the U.S. Constitution and for certain alleged torts. The complaint essentially alleges that defendant Slayden prescribed Stelazine for the plaintiff without her knowledge and consent in order to make her "function more appropriately in the military" and to "induce symptoms of psychosis". Plaintiff contends that defendant Slayden initially prescribed Stelazine before he had seen her, that he never informed her about the "dangerous" nature of the drug Stelazine and that he has attempted to conceal the fact that he issued a prescription prior to having seen her. Defendant Anderson allegedly "administered" the Stelazine to plaintiff, stating that it was "cold medicine".
Plaintiff contends that all of the Count One defendants except Camp considered her to be "mentally ill" and contributed to the forced administration of mind-altering drugs. She claims that the defendants sought to control her mind, modify her behavior, punish her for exercising her constitutional rights and deter future similar conduct.1 In sum, Count One alleges that the defendants willfully, fraudulently and in bad faith secretly administered, ordered, forced and coerced plaintiff to take drugs, including Stelazine and LSD, so as to induce symptoms of schizophrenia to create a basis for discharging plaintiff from the army. Plaintiff states that these acts violated several criminal statutes,2 the Uniform Code of Military Justice,3 Ga.Code Ann. § 84-916 () and several Army regulations in addition to the U.S. Constitution. She claims to have suffered temporary and permanent physical, emotional, and economic injury and seeks $1,000,000 in general and special damages, $2,000,000 in punitive damages and attorney's fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988.
Count Two alleges that all of the defendants have continuously conspired to violate plaintiff's constitutional rights and to tortiously injure her. She seeks an additional $3,000,000 for the injuries allegedly sustained as a result of this purported conspiracy, reserving her claims against defendant Secretary of the Army under Count Three.
Plaintiff amended her complaint a second time in March of 1983 to add Count Three.4 Plaintiff seeks to have her military records corrected pursuant to the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1346(a)(2). Specifically, she requests that all references to defendant Slayden's diagnosis of schizophrenia be deleted from her records, that she be given an honorable discharge, that all records of her psychiatric discharge be destroyed, and that she receive back pay and attorneys fees in accordance with the Act. The lengthy allegations in Count Three primarily focus on plaintiff's due process claims (also set forth in Count I). She argues that she was denied all of her rights under AR600-20, § 5-29 et seq., and AR635-200 prior to and after her psychiatric discharge from the army.
This case has a lengthy procedural history which need not be set forth in detail for the purposes of this order. There are several motions pending at the present time, including: plaintiff's motion for summary judgment on the issue of liability against defendant Slayden, the defendants' cross motion for summary judgment, defendants' motion to dismiss the case based on the Feres doctrine and absolute immunity, defendants' motion for a psychiatric examination of the plaintiff, plaintiff's motion to strike the affidavit of Chaplain Donald Jansen, plaintiff's motion to compel discovery and plaintiff's motion to deny cross-dispositive motions and proceed to trial or to defer ruling pending the Supreme Court's decision in Wallace v. Chappell, 661 F.2d 729 (9th Cir.1981). After a thorough review of the record in this case, the court finds it necessary to examine only the dispositive motions. Before proceeding to do so, the pertinent facts will be set forth.
Plaintiff enlisted in the Army in October of 1973 and worked as an "information specialist". She had some "personal problems" during this time, which led to difficulties getting along with her co-workers and room-mates, as well as run-ins with superior officers.5 In June of 1974 defendant Joan Anderson became the WAC Commander at Fort McPherson. The plaintiff approached her immediately and continuously with requests for a recommendation to Officer Candidate School. Eventually Captain Anderson determined that in her opinion the plaintiff was not officer candidate material, and that she did not consider the plaintiff to be suitable for military service. She referred the plaintiff to the psychiatric clinic for a mental status evaluation in order to determine whether a "Chapter 13" or "unsuitability" discharge was appropriate. (A.R. 635-200)6
The plaintiff's first visit to the psychiatric clinic was in June of 1974, when she met with base Chaplain Jansen. On July 22, 1974 she had an appointment at the clinic with a staff member.7 On August 16, 1974 medication was prescribed for the first time. The prescription was for Stelazine, which plaintiff was instructed to take three times a day. During this period several psychological tests were done. Defendant Slayden met with her for her first formal evaluation on October 15, 1974, after which he diagnosed plaintiff as paranoid schizophrenic. She did not "improve" or respond to the medication according to Dr. Slayden, and on November 19, 1974 he recommended that she be discharged from the service for medical reasons. Plaintiff was informed of the intended psychiatric discharge on November 21, 1974 by defendant Simpson.
The plaintiff was processed for discharge under AR40-3, Chapters 7 & 8 which cover medical board action and separation for physical or mental impairments. A medical board proceeding was held on December 11, 1974. The three board members, all Medical Corps officers (including Defendant Slayden) recommended presentation of the case to the Physical Evaluation Board (PEB) and separation of the plaintiff. At plaintiff's request, a second psychiatric opinion on her condition was obtained. Dr. David Armitage issued his evaluation on December 17, 1974, which essentially concurred with Dr. Slayden's diagnosis.
The formal hearing before the PEB was held on April 1, 1975. Plaintiff was present, with counsel, and submitted several written statements on her own behalf. She argued that she was capable of performing her duties, and that the diagnosis of schizophrenia was in error. The PEB found her to be physically unfit due to "schizophrenic reaction, paranoid type", and recommended separation from the military. On May 19, 1975 this separation was effected.
The plaintiff sought a review of these findings pursuant to 10 U.S.C. § 1552, which authorizes the Army Board for Correction of Military Records to correct any military record if it deems this necessary. On January 9, 1980 the Board denied plaintiff's request, finding that she failed to submit sufficient evidence to warrant a formal hearing. Count III of the present complaint seeks review of this finding. The present lawsuit was filed on February 26, 1980.
In response to the numerous allegations in the complaint, the defendants make several arguments. Essentially it is argued that no torts occurred, but that even if plaintiff's allegations are true, the defendants are immune from suit. Defendant Slayden is said to be absolutely immune from suit under the Feres doctrine.8 All of the defendants argue that they are not liable for common law torts under this doctrine, despite the allegation that they were intentionally committed. They contend that even if plaintiff has stated a constitutional tort action, and even if absolute immunity is not available, she could not carry her burden of showing malicious intent since the defendants were acting pursuant to their duties and within the scope of their authority. Further, they argue that the action is barred by the two-year statute of limitations on personal injury actions under Georgia law. Another defense is that plaintiff failed to exhaust her administrative remedies and that therefore this case is not subject to judicial review.9
The court has concluded that the essence of this dispute is the legal question of whether the plaintiff may state a cause of action for constitutional violations against her superior officers, and if so, whether she has stated such a case. This threshold question must be addressed before examining the actual allegations and the evidence in this case. The parties have each provided substantial authority to support their respective positions...
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Presson v. Slayden
...determining that Presson's constitutional allegations Counts 1 and 2 amounted to "nothing more than state law torts." Presson v. Slayden, 570 F.Supp. 842, 848 (N.D.Ga.1983). Under the Feres doctrine, the "Government is not liable under the Federal Tort Claims Act [FTCA] for injuries to serv......