Seegmiller v. Laverkin City

• Decision Date: 10 June 2008
• Docket Number: No. 07-4096.,07-4096.
• Citation: 528 F.3d 762
• Parties: Kim SEEGMILLER, Plaintiff, and Sharon Johnson, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. LAVERKIN CITY; Doug Wilson, Defendants-Appellees, and Heath D. Johnson, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

528 F.3d 762

Kim SEEGMILLER, Plaintiff, and Sharon Johnson, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. LAVERKIN CITY; Doug Wilson, Defendants-Appellees, and Heath D. Johnson, Defendant.

No. 07-4096.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

June 10, 2008.

Submitted on the briefs:^*

Justin D. Heideman, Ascione, Heideman, and McKay, LLC, St. George, Utah, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

David L. Church, Blaisdell and Church, P.C., Salt Lake City, Utah, for Defendants-Appellees.

Before TYMKOVICH, BALDOCK, and EBEL, Circuit Judges.

TYMKOVICH, Circuit Judge.

This case requires us to consider whether a municipality's decision to privately reprimand a police officer for her off-duty sexual conduct violated the Constitution. Because we conclude the reprimand was reasonably related to police department policies, we find no constitutional violation.

Sharon Johnson was an officer with the LaVerkin City, Utah, police department. During an out-of-town training seminar paid for in part by the City, she had an affair with another officer who was not a member of her department. Her husband, incensed by the City's failure to discipline her for this conduct, falsely accused her of also having an affair with the City's police chief, Kim Seegmiller. This resulted in a suspension for her and the Chief and adverse publicity for the department. After the truth came to light, the City ended the suspension. The City, however, later issued Ms. Johnson an oral reprimand arising from the earlier incident, concluding her personal life interfered with her duties as an officer. She alleges this reprimand led to lost employment opportunities and to her eventual resignation from employment with the City.

Ms. Johnson and Mr. Seegmiller brought a variety of federal civil rights and state tort claims against the City and the City Manager. The district court granted summary judgment against Ms. Johnson on all claims. Her appeal concerns only two of them: a substantive due process claim alleging the reprimand violated her federal constitutional rights; and a negligence claim alleging that the City breached a state law duty of confidentiality regarding her employment.

Because Ms. Johnson failed to show that the City's actions infringed on a fundamental right, we affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment on her substantive due process claim. We also affirm summary judgment on her negligence claim.

I. Background

Ms. Johnson worked as a police officer for the City, and was also employed as a member of the SWAT team for Washington County, Utah. In March 2003, she separated from her husband and initiated divorce proceedings. Mr. Johnson reacted by threatening to kill himself and to kill Ms. Johnson. He also violated the terms of a protective order she had obtained.

While her divorce proceedings were pending, the City sent Ms. Johnson to a training conference in Midway, Utah, to refresh and improve her abilities as a police officer. During the conference, after training sessions had ended for the day, Ms. Johnson had a brief affair with an officer from another department who was also attending the conference.

Her estranged husband somehow learned of the affair. In response, he falsely reported to her supervisors in the department that she had been raped while attending the conference. Her immediate supervisor, Police Chief Kim Seegmiller, investigated the allegation and quickly learned from Ms. Johnson that the affair had been consensual.

At this point, Chief Seegmiller took no disciplinary action against Ms. Johnson for her conduct at the conference. His failure to do so apparently frustrated Mr. Johnson, who made a second false allegation— that Ms. Johnson and Chief Seegmiller had also engaged in a sexual relationship. This allegation was communicated to a LaVerkin City Council member. Mr. Johnson also filed a written complaint with the City in which he alleged that because of their affair, Chief Seegmiller was favoring Ms. Johnson with regard to job rules and procedures and was unjustly pursuing domestic violence charges against him.

During a subsequent closed-door meeting in July 2003, the City Council voted to place Ms. Johnson and Chief Seegmiller on administrative leave while it independently investigated the allegations. Washington County also asked Ms. Johnson to step down from her SWAT Team position until the matter was cleared up. News of the matter leaked, however, and a story about the Council's action was printed on the front page of the local newspaper. Ms. Johnson alleges that stories concerning the City's action also appeared in other newspapers, and were broadcast on radio and television stations throughout the state of Utah.

On July 23, 2003, four days after the Council voted to place Ms. Johnson and Chief Seegmiller on administrative leave, Mr. Johnson recanted his allegations and notified a councilman and the City Manager that they were false. Despite his recantation, Ms. Johnson and Chief Seegmiller remained on administrative leave until the Council's August 6, 2003, meeting. During that meeting, Mr. Johnson stood up and publicly apologized for the false allegations. The Council then reinstated Ms. Johnson and Chief Seegmiller.

That did not end the matter, however. Based on its own investigation into Mr. Johnson's allegations, the Council learned of Ms. Johnson's affair at the training conference. The Council's investigator recommended that Ms. Johnson receive a written reprimand over the incident, to which the Council agreed. The City Manager was ordered to issue the reprimand.

When the City Manager met with Ms. Johnson to discuss the matter, she refused to sign the written reprimand. Deciding not to push the matter, the City Manager tore up the written reprimand, and instead issued an oral reprimand with essentially the same terms.

Although it was not formally recorded, the parties do not dispute the content of the reprimand. First, it was based on a provision in the law enforcement code of ethics requiring officers to "keep [their] private life unsullied as an example to all and [to] behave in a manner that does not bring discredit to [the officer] or [the] agency." Aplt.App., Vol. II, at 337. On this basis, the reprimand stated Ms. Johnson had allowed "her personal life [to] interfere with her duties as an officer by having sexual relations with an officer from Washington County while attending a training session out of town which was paid for in part by LaVerkin City." Id., Vol. I, at 166. Second, it admonished Ms. Johnson to "avoid the appearance of impropriety" and to "take care to conduct [herself] in the future in a manner that will be consistent with the city policies and the police department policies." Id. (depo. p. 82). Finally, it warned her that "[f]urther violations will lead to additional discipline up to and including termination." Id.

Upon reinstatement with the City, Ms. Johnson also sought reinstatement with the Washington County SWAT Team. As a condition of reinstatement, the County required her to obtain a letter stating that she was in good standing with the City and was no longer on administrative leave. The City, however, only supplied a letter that stated she was no longer on administrative leave. [Id. at 28 ¶ 105.] Upon receiving this letter, Washington County decided not to reinstate Ms. Johnson as a member of its SWAT team.

A few months later, believing that her credibility as a police officer had been seriously undermined by the City's actions, Ms. Johnson resigned her position with the LaVerkin City police department.

Ms. Johnson brought this action against various Defendants, including the City and the City Manager, alleging various causes of action under state law and violations of her federal constitutional rights. She appeals only from the district court's order granting summary judgment (1) on her claim that the City's actions in issuing the reprimand violated her right to substantive due process, and (2) on her negligence claim.

II. Analysis

Ms. Johnson claims the City violated her constitutional rights by orally reprimanding her for private, off-duty conduct and breached its state law duty of confidentiality to her by negligently leaking information about the conduct to the local press.

A. Standard of Review

"We review de novo the district court's summary judgment decision, applying the same standard as the district court." Butler v. Compton, 482 F.3d 1277, 1278 (10th Cir.2007). Summary judgment is appropriate "if the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). We examine the record and all reasonable inferences that might be drawn from it in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Antonio v. Sygma Network, Inc., 458 F.3d 1177, 1181 (10th Cir.2006). Finally, we may affirm on any basis supported by the record, even though not relied on by the district court. Felix v. Lucent Techs., Inc., 387 F.3d 1146, 1163 n. 17 (10th Cir. 2004).

B. Substantive Due Process Claim

1. Legal Standard

The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits a state from "depriv[ing] any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." U.S. Const., amend. 14, § 1. As the Supreme Court has explained, the Due Process Clause "guarantees more than fair process." Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702, 719, 117 S.Ct. 2258, 138 L.Ed.2d 772 (1997). The Clause "cover[s] a substantive sphere as well, barring certain government actions regardless of the fairness of the procedures used to implement them." County of Sacramento v. Lewis, 523 U.S. 833, 840, 118 S.Ct. 1708, 140 L.Ed.2d 1043 (1998) (quotation omitted). In its substantive mode, the Fourteenth Amendment provides protection against arbitrary and oppressive government action, even when taken to further a legitimate governmental objective. Id. at 845-46, 118 S.Ct....