Ribeau v. Katt

• Decision Date: 11 June 2012
• Docket Number: No. 11–3205.,11–3205.
• Citation: 280 Ed. Law Rep. 637,33 IER Cases 1671,681 F.3d 1190
• Parties: David R. RIBEAU, Jr., Plaintiff–Appellant, v. Dean KATT; Richard Smith, Defendants–Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

681 F.3d 1190

280 Ed. Law Rep. 637

33 IER Cases 1671

David R. RIBEAU, Jr., Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.Dean KATT; Richard Smith, Defendants–Appellees.

No. 11–3205.

United States Court of Appeals,Tenth Circuit.

June 11, 2012.

Danielle N. Davey (Alan V. Johnson, on the briefs), Sloan, Eisenbarth, Glassman, McEntire & Jarboe, L.L.C., Topeka, KS, appearing for Appellant.

William A. Larson, Larson & Blumreich, Chartered, Topeka, KS, appearing for Appellees.

Before LUCERO, HOLLOWAY, and MATHESON, Circuit Judges.

MATHESON, Circuit Judge.

David R. Ribeau, Jr., appeals from the district court's order granting summary judgment to Dean Katt and Richard Smith (the “Defendants”). The district court dismissed Mr. Ribeau's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim alleging that the Defendants violated his right to procedural due process under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual History

1. Mr. Ribeau's Termination

Unified School District 290 (“USD 290”), located in Ottawa, Kansas, hired Mr. Ribeau as a maintenance mechanic in 1984. Over the years, he was promoted, assumed various job titles, and took on supervisory duties.

Mr. Smith was Mr. Ribeau's immediate supervisor. On February 27, 2008, Mr. Smith and Mr. Katt, USD 290's superintendent, decided to terminate Mr. Ribeau's employment based on his alleged poor work performance. Mr. Smith informed Mr. Ribeau of his termination that day.

When Mr. Smith told Mr. Ribeau of his termination, Mr. Smith stated that the USD 290 Board of Education (the “Board”) had already given its approval. About a week later, Mr. Katt also told Mr. Ribeau that the Board had approved his termination.

Due to the Defendants' representations, Mr. Ribeau believed he could not file a grievance because the Board had already approved his termination. The Board, however, had not yet given its approval. The Board did not approve Mr. Ribeau's termination until the second Monday or the fourth Monday of March 2008.¹

2. Mr. Ribeau's Employment Agreement

During Mr. Ribeau's employment, he signed 23 separate employment agreements. Each agreement stated that Mr. Ribeau was an at-will employee.

When Mr. Ribeau was terminated, his employment agreement stated that his “[e]mployment [could] be terminated by either party at any time, for any reason.” Aplt. Appx. at 60. It also stated that Mr. Ribeau “agree[d] to observe, enforce, and be directed by rules and regulations adopted by the Board.” Id.

The Board had adopted a Classified Staff Handbook (the “Handbook”), which included provisions on employee suspension, termination, and grievances. The Handbook's suspension provision granted the superintendent “the authority to suspend classified employees with pay until the suspension is resolved by [B]oard action.” Id. at 68. The termination provision stated, “The [B]oard may terminate a classified employee at any time, with or without cause.” Id. The grievance provision stated that “[a]ny employee may file a complaint with their supervisor concerning a school rule, regulation, policy or decision that affects the employee.” Id. Under this provision, the employee could appeal the supervisor's decision to the superintendent, whose decision would be final.

Mr. Katt testified at his deposition that before classified employees are terminated, “[t]hey are given an opportunity to present to myself and the [S]chool [B]oard.” Id. at 72. Mr. Ribeau similarly testified at his deposition that when he recommended employees in his department for termination, he told them that his recommendation “would be taken up at the next Board meeting” and that they had until “the next Board meeting to file a written grievance, [and] take it to the Superintendent.” Id. at 64.

B. Procedural History

In February 2010, Mr. Ribeau sued Mr. Katt and Mr. Smith. His 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim alleged that they had deprived him of his property interest in continued employment without due process of law, in violation of his rights under the Fourteenth Amendment.² Messrs. Katt and Smith moved for summary judgment on October 15, 2010.

The district court granted the Defendants' motion, holding that because Mr. Ribeau was an at-will employee, he did not have a protected property interest in his continued employment. See Ribeau v. U.S.D. No. 290, Nos. 08–2659–EFM, 10–2104–EFM, 2011 WL 1118515, at *6 (D.Kan. Mar. 25, 2011).

Mr. Ribeau moved to alter or amend the district court's judgment under Rule 59(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. He requested that the court address an “alternative property interest ... separate and distinct from his alleged property interest in his continued employment.” Aplt. Appx. at 126. This property interest was an implied “contract right to be heard by the Board of Education itself before the Board decided to terminate [Mr. Ribeau's] employment.” Id.

The district court denied Mr. Ribeau's Rule 59(e) motion on June 22, 2011. It explained that Mr. Ribeau “did not have an implied right to be heard by the [B]oard” because the Handbook “does not provide for the right to be heard by the [B]oard before termination.” Id. at 134.³ Mr. Ribeau filed a timely notice of appeal on July 19, 2011.

II. DISCUSSION

Mr. Ribeau appeals the district court's summary judgment order dismissing his procedural due process claim. He “does not appeal the district court's ruling as to the claim that he had a property interest in a right to continued employment.” Aplt. Br. at 8. Instead, he asserts that he was deprived of his “property interest in a right to be heard by the Board” before his termination. Id.

“We review the district court's summary judgment order de novo, and apply the same legal standards as the district court.” Doe v. City of Albuquerque, 667 F.3d 1111, 1122 (10th Cir.2012). “The court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). “When applying this standard, we view the evidence and draw reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.” Doe, 667 F.3d at 1122 (quotations omitted).⁴

A. Mr. Ribeau's Procedural Due Process Claim

The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits a state from, among other things, depriving a person of “property, without due process of law.” U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1. “Under the Due Process Clause, procedural due process ensures the state will not deprive a party of property without engaging fair procedures to reach a decision....” Nichols v. Bd. of Cnty. Comm'rs, 506 F.3d 962, 969 (10th Cir.2007) (quotations omitted).

“The Fourteenth Amendment's procedural protection of property is a safeguard of the security of interests that a person has already acquired in specific benefits.” Bd. of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 576, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972). “To have a property interest in a benefit, a person clearly must have more than an abstract need or desire for it. He must have more than a unilateral expectation of it. He must, instead, have a legitimate claim of entitlement to it.” Id. at 577, 92 S.Ct. 2701.

A legitimate claim of entitlement to a benefit is “created and [its] dimensions are defined by existing rules or understandings that stem from an independent source such as state law.” Town of Castle Rock, Colo. v. Gonzales, 545 U.S. 748, 756, 125 S.Ct. 2796, 162 L.Ed.2d 658 (2005) (quotations omitted). If state law gives rise to an entitlement, we still must determine whether the entitlement “constitutes a property interest for purposes of the Fourteenth Amendment.” Id. That question “is ultimately one of federal constitutional law.” Id. at 757, 125 S.Ct. 2796.

Accordingly, this appeal concerns whether (1) under Kansas law Mr. Ribeau had a legitimate claim of entitlement to a pre-termination hearing before the Board and (2) if so, whether that entitlement is a constitutionally protected property interest under the Fourteenth Amendment. Because we decide that Mr. Ribeau did not have a pre-termination hearing entitlement, we do not reach the second issue.

1. Kansas Law

Mr. Ribeau argues that under Kansas law he had an implied-contract right to a pre-termination hearing before the Board. This entitlement, he argues, was created by his express employment contract, the Handbook, and his and Mr. Katt's deposition testimony.

We conclude that Kansas courts would not recognize Mr. Ribeau's implied-contracttheory. Under Kansas law, Mr. Ribeau had an express employment contract, not an implied contract. In addition, Mr. Ribeau's express contract is unambiguous and does not provide a right to a pre-termination hearing before the Board.

a. Express and Implied Contracts

“Contracts are often spoken of as express or implied.” Hyland v. Dewey, 146 Kan. 797, 73 P.2d 1038, 1039 (1937) (quotations omitted). “Contracts implied in fact are inferred from the facts and circumstances of the case and are not formally or explicitly stated in words.” Atchison Cnty. Farmers Union Co-op Ass'n v. Turnbull, 241 Kan. 357, 736 P.2d 917, 922 (1987). In the employment context, “[t]he implied contract theory recognizes an implied obligation on the employer to not terminate an employee arbitrarily where a policy or program of the employer, either express or implied, restricts the employer's right of termination at will.” Allsup v. Mount Carmel Med. Ctr., 22 Kan.App.2d 613, 922 P.2d 1097, 1100 (1996) (quotations omitted).⁵

Where an express employment contract exists, however, Kansas courts have declined to consider implied terms outside the written contract. For example, in Dickens v. Snodgrass, Dunlap & Co., 255 Kan. 164, 872 P.2d 252 (1994), the plaintiff argued that “her continued employment with pay increases establishe[d] satisfactory performance and created an implied contract of continuing employment over and above the written contract.” Id. at 260 (emphasis added). In rejecting this...