Rini, In re, 84-3676

• Decision Date: 30 January 1986
• Docket Number: No. 84-3676,84-3676
• Citation: 782 F.2d 603
• Parties: In re Paul RINI; Janet Matuscak; Melanie Savage, Grievants. Paul RINI; Janet Matuscak; and Melanie Savage, Grievants-Appellees, v. CLERK, UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 603

782 F.2d 603

14 Bankr.Ct.Dec. 151

In re Paul RINI; Janet Matuscak; Melanie Savage, Grievants.

Paul RINI; Janet Matuscak; and Melanie Savage, Grievants-Appellees, v. CLERK, UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 84-3676.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued Dec. 13, 1985.

Decided Jan. 30, 1986.

Joseph Patchan, Elliott S. Azoff (argued), Baker & Hostetler, Constance M. Iskin, Cleveland, Ohio, for defendant-appellant.

Frank P. Giaimo, David Roloff (argued), Cleveland, Ohio, for grievants-appellees.

Before KENNEDY and KRUPANSKY, Circuit Judges, and SUHRHEINRICH, District Judge. ^*

CORNELIA G. KENNEDY, Circuit Judge.

The Clerk of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio (the clerk) attempts to appeal from an order of the Honorable George W. White United States District Judge, Northern District of Ohio, reinstating three deputy clerks of the Bankruptcy Court. The clerk contends that Judge White did not have jurisdiction to entertain the grievances of these deputy clerks.

The factual setting of this case is, briefly, as follows. Janet Matuscak and Paul Rini (grievants) were deputy clerks of the Bankruptcy Court. During February 1984, the court began training certain employees to use a new computer system. The system was designed to automate the process of compiling docket sheets and sending out court notices. Grievants were included among the persons to be trained. During this training period, grievants and two other deputy clerks practiced by typing fictional notices and letters into the system. It was their understanding that nothing they entered into the computer would be mailed out. Due to a clerical mistake in the Washington office of the court, some of the fictional notices, which contained offensive material, were mailed to attorneys and debtors.

Grievants were discharged in May 1984 by the clerk and with the approval of the bankruptcy judges sitting in Cleveland. ¹ The reason given by the clerk was "gross neglect of duty and misuse of government property." The clerk informed grievants that they could request a hearing before the Bankruptcy Court. Initially, grievants requested a hearing by filing grievances with the clerk. Before the matter was set for a hearing before the Bankruptcy Court, grievants withdrew their grievances from the Bankruptcy Court and filed them with the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, under a grievance procedure established for the District Court. On May 23, 1984, the Chief Judge assigned the matter to District Judge White.

On June 18, the bankruptcy clerk moved for dismissal of the proceedings based on the District Court's lack of jurisdiction over Bankruptcy Court grievances. On June 29, 1984, the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, Pub.L. 95-598, 92 Stat. 2549 (1978), expired, and for a brief period of time there were no bankruptcy courts, as such. On the same day, the District Court for the Northern District of Ohio entered an order asserting jurisdiction over the Bankruptcy Court. ²

On July 10, President Reagan signed into law the Bankruptcy Amendments and Federal Judgeship Act of 1984, Pub.L. 98-353, 98 Stat. 333 (1984), restoring the bankruptcy courts. Meanwhile, on July 10 and 11, Judge White conducted a hearing to consider the instant grievances. On July 11, the clerk again asserted his motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. On July 23, Judge White entered what he termed a "Final Nonappealable Administrative Order," denying the motion to dismiss and ordering the clerk to reinstate the grievants and place each on six-months probation. Judge White based his order on a finding that, although the grievants had exercised poor judgment, they had good work records and did not cause irreparable damage.

The clerk filed a notice of appeal from the order of Judge White. He contends that the District Court erred when it asserted jurisdiction over the matter and substituted its judgment for that of the clerk with respect to a personnel matter solely within the province of the Bankruptcy Court.

Before considering the merits of the clerk's appeal, we first must determine whether we have jurisdiction over this matter. The clerk relies on 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291, which grants this court jurisdiction "of appeals from all final decisions of the district courts." ³ Grievants contend that because the grievance here is an internal administrative matter of the court, it is not the sort of "final decision" from which Congress intended to permit appeals to the United States courts of appeals.

Whether the decision of the District Judge is within the scope of our power to review by direct appeal is a difficult question. We begin by noting that, as statutory courts, our jurisdiction may not exceed that granted to us by Congress. Wooten v. Bomar, 266 F.2d 27, 28 (6th Cir.1959). Thus, the question for us to decide is whether section 1291 permits review of this sort of matter.

The legislative history of section 1291 provides little guidance. The language of that section has remained substantially the same since the official revision and codification of Title 28 in 1948. ⁴ The relevant predecessor section, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 225(a) (1940), stated that "[t]he circuit courts of appeal shall have appellate jurisdiction to review by appeal final decisions--First. In the district courts, in all cases save where a direct review of the decision may be had in the Supreme Court under section 345 of this title." The other three provisions for appellate review of final decisions permitted review in either "all cases" or certain types of cases (depending on the subject matter) from certain district courts (e.g., Hawaii and Puerto Rico). According to the Reviser's Notes, the new section--section 1291--"rephrases and simplifies" these and other sections. See H.Rep. No. 308, 80th Cong., 1st Sess. A109 (1947). No mention is made of the omission of "cases" in section 1291, despite the fact that such a word seems to bear upon the courts of appeals' power to review administrative actions of district courts, and despite the opportunity for interpretational issues to arise with the passage of time. ⁵ The inescapable conclusion is that the drafters of the statute did not consider the question whether appellate courts could review such administrative actions. The paucity of case law on the question supports that conclusion.

Despite the absence of case law or legislative history, the issue is both important and difficult. If the words "final decisions" are given their full meaning, section 1291 would give the courts of appeals the power to directly review the full litany of administrative decisions made by district courts and district judges acting in their official capacities. These decisions relate to a whole range of matters including personnel, facilities, equipment, supplies, budgeting, accounting, security, rulemaking and public relations. It would strain the meaning of section 1291 to say that a final decision on one of these matters is directly appealable to a court of appeals. Thus we conclude that purely administrative decisions of a district court or district judge may not be appealed under section 1291.

This is not to say that such decisions may not be challenged on the basis that they are contrary to some constitutional, statutory, or common law rule. Indeed, this case involves a challenge to the District Court's statutory authority to act as it did. Thus, the question we face here is not whether some right has been violated or whether relief is available; rather, the question is what procedural device must the aggrieved party (in this case, the clerk) use in seeking relief. ⁶ Applying that question to the facts of this case, we must decide whether Judge White's decision fits within the class of administrative decisions outside the scope of section 1291 review.

In determining whether Judge White's decision was administrative, we reject the grievants' suggestion that we rely on Judge White's characterization of his final order as administrative and nonappealable. Such an approach would be inconsistent with our duty to determine independently whether the district court exceeded its jurisdiction. United States v. Corrick, 298 U.S. 435, 440, 56 S.Ct. 829, 831, 80 L.Ed. 1263, reh'g denied, 298 U.S. 692, 56 S.Ct. 951, 80 L.Ed. 1410 (1936). The approach that we adopt is to determine, based on the objective facts, whether Judge White was acting in an administrative capacity or whether he was acting in a judicial capacity. See Application of L.B. & W. 4217, 16 Alaska 277, 238 F.2d 163, 165, 166 (9th Cir.1956) (holding that its appellate jurisdiction does not extend to the adjudication of administrative or legislative issues or controversies, but rather only to decisions of a judicial character).

Judge White's hearing was conducted pursuant to a grievance procedure adopted to govern employees of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. The grievance procedure permits appeal of a dismissal action by way of petition to the Chief Judge of the District Court. The Chief Judge may designate another judge to determine whether a hearing is required. In this case, the Chief Judge designated Judge White, and Judge White chose to hold a hearing. The clerk repeatedly protested that the District Court did not have jurisdiction over the dismissal of grievants.

A careful examination of the relevant statutory provisions reveals that the District Court was not acting within the scope of its administrative power. Before the District Court hearing in this case was completed, and well before its decision was announced, President Reagan signed into law the Bankruptcy Amendments and Federal Judgeship Act of 1984, supra. Section 104(a) of that Act reestablished the bankruptcy courts. One of the provisions of the Act gives the clerk of each bankruptcy court the power to appoint and...