Richardson v. Rhode Island Dept. of Educ.

• Decision Date: 28 May 2008
• Docket Number: No. 2007-155-Appeal.,2007-155-Appeal.
• Parties: Simon RICHARDSON v. RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION et al.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

947 A.2d 253

Simon RICHARDSON v. RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION et al.

No. 2007-155-Appeal.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

May 28, 2008.

Simon Richardson, pro se, Plaintiff.

Anne T. Turilli, Esq., Providence, for Defendant.

Present: WILLIAMS, C.J., GOLDBERG, FLAHERTY, SUTTELL, and ROBINSON, JJ.

OPINION

Chief Justice WILLIAMS, for the Court.

The plaintiff, Simon Richardson (plaintiff), appeals pro se from an entry of summary judgment in favor of the defendants, Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE); Kathleen Murray, a RIDE hearing officer, (hearing officer); and Peter McWalters, the RIDE Commissioner (commissioner).¹ In granting summary judgment, the trial justice first found that the hearing officer enjoyed quasi-judicial immunity from suit for actions taken in her capacity as a hearing officer; she also ruled that the plaintiff had not exhausted his administrative remedies before bringing suit in the Superior Court. This case came before the Supreme Court for oral argument on May 7, 2008, pursuant to an order directing the parties to appear and show cause why the issues raised in this appeal should not summarily be decided. After hearing the arguments and examining the memoranda filed by the parties, we are of the opinion that this appeal may be decided at this time, without further briefing or argument. We affirm.

I Facts and Travel

The plaintiff was employed as a teacher with the Providence public schools in 1995. The behavior at issue in this case, however, began shortly after plaintiff was transferred to Classical High School in September 2002. Prior to this transfer, plaintiff had been considered an above-average teacher with no documented misconduct. School administrators alleged that, after his transfer, plaintiff's conduct and his pedagogical choices in the classroom became inappropriate. In response to plaintiff's classroom behavior, he was placed on leave with pay.

School administrators further alleged that plaintiff violated the terms of his leave by returning to school premises after he was instructed to stay away. Finally, plaintiff allegedly made inappropriate contact with one of his former students. On May 13, 2003, the superintendent of schools informed plaintiff that she intended to recommend to the school board that he be dismissed, citing plaintiff's inappropriate behavior, both before and after his suspension. On May 20, the Providence School Board held a hearing. The board subsequently voted to terminate plaintiff for inappropriate conduct, inappropriate student contact, and insubordination. On December 26, 2003, plaintiff filed an appeal with the commissioner, and the case was assigned to the hearing officer. The hearing officer held evidentiary hearings in the spring of 2004.

On May 25, 2005, the commissioner issued a decision affirming the board's dismissal of plaintiff. The hearing officer included the following findings of fact in the decision. On October 18, 2002, plaintiff instructed his ninth-grade students to read a work entitled The Fashion Book, a book that contained partial nudity. On the same day, plaintiff showed his tenth-grade class portions of "The Exorcist," an R-rated film. The plaintiff also distributed a syllabus to his two tenth-grade English classes that included assignments such as "Hammer Day," "Bell Day," and "Handgun Day." On November 14, in accordance with the syllabus, plaintiff's students brought hammers to school, which they used to break rocks in a nearby field. According to the hearing officer's findings the students did not wear protective eye gear during this exercise.

Then, on November 18, 2002, when Classical High School was scheduled to receive a visit from an accrediting agency, plaintiff spray-painted the words "Welcome to the Happy Place" on a school wall. During the accreditation visit, plaintiff distributed balloons to his students and instructed them to decorate them with what the hearing officer's decision described as "anti-establishment slogans." That same day, plaintiff was placed on leave and restricted from being "physically present on Providence School Department property." According to the hearing officer's findings, plaintiff subsequently visited both Hope High School and Mount Pleasant High School. From November 26, 2002, to December 4, 2002, plaintiff briefly was hospitalized.

According to the hearing officer's findings, while on leave, plaintiff also engaged in a series of inappropriate meetings with a student. On December 6, 2002, plaintiff went to a female student's workplace and spoke with her for approximately forty-five minutes. During this conversation, plaintiff discussed his negative opinion of a school administrator and offered to find the student a better job. The student described plaintiff as standing "uncomfortably close" during this encounter. Later that evening, plaintiff returned to the same student's workplace and left an envelope for her. The envelope contained several pictures of plaintiff in "sexually suggestive poses" with a female. The next day plaintiff returned to the same student's workplace, at which time the student's manager notified the police. The student later reported that she remained fearful of plaintiff for several months after the alleged incident.

The hearing officer submitted her recommendation to the commissioner for approval. The commissioner issued a decision affirming the board's decision to terminate, and plaintiff appealed to the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education (Board of Regents). On May 24, 2006, before the Board of Regents rendered its decision on his pending appeal,² plaintiff filed the instant action in the Superior Court.³ The defendants thereafter filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(c) of the Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure, arguing that the hearing officer was protected by quasi-judicial immunity and that plaintiff had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies. On February 6, 2007, a hearing was held before the trial justice at which time she granted defendants' motion on both grounds. An order granting partial final judgment under Rule 54(b) of the Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure was entered on March 2, 2007. The plaintiff timely appealed the trial justice's ruling to this Court.

II Analysis

The plaintiff appeals the trial justice's decision granting defendants' motion for summary judgment on two grounds. First, plaintiff argues that the trial justice erred in holding that RIDE hearing officers are protected by quasi-judicial immunity, both because hearing officers are employees of the executive branch and because the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) abrogated sovereign immunity. Second, because he alleges civil rights violations, plaintiff argues that the trial justice erred in holding that he was required to exhaust his administrative remedies.

A Standard of Review

"When this Court reviews a grant of a summary-judgment motion, we conduct a de novo review, applying the same standards as the motion justice." Carrozza v. Carrozza, 944 A.2d 161, 164 (R.I.2008) (citing Franklin Grove Corp. v. Drexel, 936 A.2d 1272, 1275 (R.I.2007)). "Summary judgment is proper if no genuine issues of material fact are evident from `the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any * * *.'" Angell v. Union Fire District of South Kingstown, 935 A.2d 943, 945 (R.I.2007) (quoting Super. R. Civ. P. 56(c)).

B Quasi-Judicial Immunity

The plaintiff argues that quasi-judicial immunity does not apply in this case because RIDE hearing officers are employed in the executive branch and because his claim alleges a civil rights violation. We address each argument in turn.

Applicability to RIDE Hearing Officers

The plaintiff alleges that RIDE hearing officers are government officials employed in the executive branch, and therefore quasi-judicial immunity should not apply to them. The plaintiff's argument misconceives both the nature and applicability of quasi-judicial immunity.

To determine whether an agency hearing officer is shielded by quasi-judicial immunity, this Court employs an analysis patterned after the federal system that looks to "the nature of the function performed" by the hearing officer. Mall at Coventry Joint Venture v. McLeod, 721 A.2d 865, 869 (R.I.1998) (citing Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. 478, 508-16, 98 S.Ct. 2894, 57 L.Ed.2d 895 (1978)). Accordingly, an agency hearing officer who is acting in a role that is "functionally comparable to that of a trial judge" will enjoy quasi-judicial immunity from suit for those actions. Id. (citing Butz, 438 U.S. at 513, 516, 98 S.Ct. 2894).

Furthermore, we have held that quasi-judicial immunity attaches to "agents of the state" who perform an official function comparable to that of a trial judge, not just members of the judiciary. McLeod, 721 A.2d at 869; Psilopoulos v. State, 636 A.2d 727, 727 (R.I.1994). Once attached, quasi-judicial immunity affords immunity from suit, rather than mere immunity from damages. Estate of Sherman v. Almeida, 747 A.2d 470, 474 (R.I.2000) ("judicial immunity is not overcome by allegations of bad faith or malice") (quoting Mireles v. Waco, 502 U.S. 9, 11, 112 S.Ct. 286, 116 L.Ed.2d 9 (1991)). This admittedly expansive form of immunity ensures that hearing officers will "be allowed to render decisions free from fear that they might face an action for damages from litigants who might be dissatisfied with the agency's action in * * * deciding a proceeding." McLeod, 721 A.2d at 869 (citing Butz, 438 U.S. at 516, 98 S.Ct. 2894); Calhoun v. City of Providence, 120 R.I. 619, 631, 390 A.2d 350, 356 (1978) (stating that judges must be able to function "freely, independently, and untrammeled by the possibilities of personal liability").

It is clear that RIDE hearing officers enjoy quasi-judicial immunity from suit for actions taken in their role as hearing officers. They schedule...