Salguero v. City of Clovis

• Decision Date: 06 May 2004
• Docket Number: No. 03-2120.,03-2120.
• Citation: 366 F.3d 1168
• Parties: Gilbert SALGUERO, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The CITY OF CLOVIS, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

366 F.3d 1168

Gilbert SALGUERO, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The CITY OF CLOVIS, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 03-2120.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

May 6, 2004.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Eric D. Dixon of Portales, NM, for the Plaintiff-Appellant.

Jerry A. Walz, (Anthony (T.J.) J. Trujillo with him on the brief), Walz and Associates, Cedar Crest, NM for the Defendant-Appellee.

Before LUCERO, BALDOCK and TYMKOVICH, Circuit Judges.

LUCERO, Circuit Judge.

Gilbert Salguero, a former City of Clovis police officer, was terminated from his employment after an investigation uncovered his involvement in obtaining illegal access to satellite television. He filed suit in federal district court alleging that the City of Clovis (the "City"): (1) breached his employment contract by terminating him without just cause; (2) dismissed him without due process of law in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983; and (3) intentionally discriminated against him on the basis of race in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981. The district court granted the City's motion to dismiss as to several of Salguero's claims and granted summary judgment to the City as to the remainder. Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we AFFIRM.

I

In April 2001, the City of Clovis Police Department ("CPD") received information that police officers were involved in obtaining cards to access satellite television illegally. CPD initiated a criminal investigation and interviewed all officers with satellite televisions. Based on the investigation, CPD concluded that although several officers were involved in illegally obtaining satellite television, Salguero's involvement was the most severe. In an interview on August 18, 2001, after being read his Miranda rights, Salguero admitted that: (1) he obtained illegal satellite access cards from Canada; (2) he gave cards to a relative, two friends, and Officers Keith Farkas and Roger Dial; and (3) it was common knowledge in CPD that he could assist others in obtaining cards. The CPD police captain recommended that Salguero be terminated due to the severity of his involvement in the satellite scheme. Although Salguero appealed the police captain's recommendation to the deputy chief and the chief of police, he was terminated in September 2001. Salguero brought post-termination appeals before the city personnel director and the assistant city manager, both of whom upheld the termination.

Having been denied relief on both his pre- and post-termination appeals, Salguero requested a hearing before the city grievance board, which he received on January 18, 2002, before a five-member board. At the hearing, he was represented by counsel and was informed of his right to call and question witnesses and to present other evidence. Salguero argued before the board that his termination was disproportionate compared to the discipline received by other officers, and that it was a result of discrimination. Specifically, he claimed that he was the only Hispanic officer involved in the illegal satellite access scheme and the only officer to be terminated despite the involvement of seven other officers.

Testimony heard by the board included statements that only Salguero and one other officer, Keith Farkas, had distributed cards or received any money for the cards, and that only Salguero had sent money orders out of state to obtain cards and searched at pawnshops for cards to reprogram. Salguero himself admitted that he did not know of anyone in CPD with greater involvement in the illegal activity than his, and that he did not know of any other officers who supplied cards to other officers. In addition, he testified that he provided illegal cards to four officers, conducted one transaction while on duty, had an agreement with another individual who would reprogram cards for Salguero, and informed others how to obtain cards.

On January 25, 2002, the board issued a decision upholding Salguero's termination. Its findings included the following: (1) Salguero knew his actions violated both state and federal law; (2) no other CPD employee was involved in reprogramming or obtaining illegally reprogrammed cards; (3) only one other employee distributed illegal cards as a conduit for Salguero on one occasion; (4) all other employees involved in the use of illegal satellite access cards were end-users or conduits for Salguero; and (5) Salguero was the organizer and solicitor of illegal reprogramming activities.

On March 21, 2001, Salguero filed a complaint in federal court against the City alleging: (1) a state law claim that CPD breached his employment contract by wrongfully terminating him without just cause; (2) a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 that CPD dismissed Salguero, inter alia, without due process of law; and (3) a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 that CPD intentionally discriminated against him on the basis of race. The City filed a motion to dismiss, or in the alternative, a motion for summary judgment on all of Salguero's claims.

In a Memorandum Opinion and Order, the district court denied all of Salguero's claims. With respect to the breach of contract claim, the district court determined that under the doctrine of collateral estoppel, a New Mexico court would give preclusive effect to findings by the grievance board that Salguero was terminated for just cause; accordingly, it granted summary judgment to the City. As to Salguero's § 1983 claims, the district court dismissed under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) every theory but Salguero's alleged procedural due process violations. On that claim, it granted summary judgment to the City because Salguero failed to establish a violation of his rights to notice and an opportunity to be heard.

Finally, the district court granted summary judgment to the City on Salguero's § 1981 intentional discrimination claim. It also granted summary judgment to the City on Salguero's § 1983 equal protection claim to the extent that it stated a claim. The district court reasoned that under the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework, Salguero's "conclusory statements in his own affidavit that [] other employees engaged in conduct of comparable seriousness" failed to demonstrate that the City's legitimate reasons for his termination were pretextual. Salguero v. City of Clovis, No. 02-319 WJ/LCS, slip. op at 33 (D.N.M. April 22, 2003).

Salguero appeals on two grounds: (1) the grievance board was not an adjudicative body that presented him with a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue of just cause; and (2) he presented genuine questions of fact establishing that the City's reasons for his termination were pretextual.

II

We review a summary judgment grant de novo and apply the same legal standard used by the district court. McCowan v. All Star Maint., Inc., 273 F.3d 917, 921 (10th Cir.2001). Drawing all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, see Simms v. Oklahoma ex rel., 165 F.3d 1321, 1326 (10th Cir.1999), summary judgment is appropriate "if the pleadings ... show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). We also review de novo the district court's application of the doctrine of collateral estoppel. Dodge v. Cotter Corp., 203 F.3d 1190, 1197 (10th Cir.2000); see also Gonzales v. Hernandez, 175 F.3d 1202, 1204 (10th Cir.1999) (similarly reviewing de novo a grant of summary judgment on the ground that the claims were barred under the doctrine of collateral estoppel).

A

With respect to his contract claim, Salguero argues that the doctrine of collateral estoppel should not bar him from litigating his claim in federal district court. Salguero raises two primary challenges on appeal: (1) that the decision of the grievance board should not be granted preclusive effect because the board was not acting in a judicial capacity; and (2) that the board did not afford him a full and fair opportunity to litigate his breach of contract claim.

Applying the principles of collateral estoppel, or issue preclusion, to decisions of state administrative bodies serves to promote federalism, conserve judicial resources, and encourage parties to minimize the expense and burden of repetitive litigation. See Univ. of Tenn. v. Elliott, 478 U.S. 788, 798, 106 S.Ct. 3220, 92 L.Ed.2d 635 (1986). Thus when a state agency (1) acts in "a judicial capacity"; (2) resolves "disputed issues of fact properly before it"; and (3) the parties have had "an adequate opportunity to litigate" the issue, we will grant the state agency's decision preclusive effect to the extent that it would have received preclusive effect in state court. Id. at 799, 106 S.Ct. 3220 (quotation omitted).

Therefore, if a New Mexico state administrative hearing satisfies Elliott's three requirements, we look to New Mexico law to determine whether issue preclusion is proper. New Mexico courts apply collateral estoppel to administrative hearings provided: "(1) the party against whom collateral estoppel is asserted [was] a party in or in privity with a party to the original action; and (2) the two cases [] concerned the same ultimate issue of fact, which was (a) actually litigated, and (b) necessarily determined in the first suit." DeLisle v. Avallone, 117 N.M. 602, 874 P.2d 1266, 1269 (1994). If the party invoking the doctrine provides sufficient evidence to meet all elements of this test, it establishes a prima facie case. See Shovelin v. Central New Mexico Electric Cooperative, Inc., 115 N.M. 293, 850 P.2d 996, 1000 (1993). At that point, the "burden shifts to the party opposing collateral estoppel to show that he or she was not afforded a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue in the prior proceeding." Padilla v. Intel Corp., 125 N.M. 698, 964 P.2d 862, 865 (1998).

Salguero's first challenge on appeal concerns the predicate under Elliott that state administrative bodies must act in a "judicial...