Springs v. Stone, CIV.A.2:04CV216.

• Citation: 362 F.Supp.2d 686
• Decision Date: 31 March 2005
• Docket Number: No. CIV.A.2:04CV216.,CIV.A.2:04CV216.
• Court: United States District Courts. 4th Circuit. United States District Court (Eastern District of Virginia)
• Parties: Thomas E. SPRINGS, II, Plaintiff, v. David M. STONE, in his Official capacity as Acting Administrator, Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Defendant.<SMALL><SUP>1</SUP></SMALL>

362 F.Supp.2d 686

Thomas E. SPRINGS, II, Plaintiff, v. David M. STONE, in his Official capacity as Acting Administrator, Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Defendant.¹

No. CIV.A.2:04CV216.

United States District Court, E.D. Virginia, Norfolk Division.

March 31, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

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Thomas Francis Hennessy, Norfolk, VA, for Plaintiff.

Lawrence Richard Leonard, United States Attorney's Office, Norfolk, VA, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

DOUMAR, District Judge.

Plaintiff brought suit alleging that he was unlawfully terminated from his position as a lead security screener with the Transportation Security Administration at the Norfolk International Airport in Norfolk, Virginia. He contends that his termination violated various provisions of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, the Veterans' Preference Act of 1944, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the United States Constitution. Defendant has filed a Motion to Dismiss or, in the Alternative, a Motion for Summary Judgment. For the reasons that follow, Defendant's Motion is GRANTED and Plaintiff's claims are DISMISSED.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Reduction in Force by the Transportation Security Administration

On September 11, 2001, terrorists breached this Nation's civil air transportation system. Masquerading as civilian air travelers, they carried box cutter knives aboard commercial airplanes without detection by airport security. They used the knives to hijack four commercial planes, three of which they managed to convert into guided missiles to attack New York City and Washington, D.C.

Two months later, on November 19, 2001, Congress enacted the Aviation and Transportation Security Act ("ATSA"), Pub.L. No. 107-71, 115 Stat. 597 (2001), as codified in 49 U.S.C. § 114 et. seq., a legislative initiative designed to strengthen national security through the federalization of the civil transportation system. See H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 107-296, at 53 (2001). The cornerstone of the ATSA is the creation of the Transportation Security Administration ("TSA"), a federal agency charged with overseeing every aspect of civil transportation security in this country. See § 101, 49 U.S.C. § 114. The most essential aspect of civil transportation security addressed by the ATSA, and for which TSA is accountable, is improving airport security to prevent a reprise of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. See id.; see also H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 107-296, at 55. To that end, Congress directed TSA to recruit, employ, and train a sufficient number of federal airport security screeners to screen every passenger and all property aboard airplanes departing from United States airports within one year of the ATSA's passage. ATSA § 110(c)(1), 49 U.S.C. § 44901 note. The ATSA's legislative history, structure, and purpose are discussed in greater detail below. See infra Part II.B.

To satisfy the airport security screening benchmarks established by the new law, TSA launched a "dynamic, high-pressure roll-out" of federally employed airport screeners in airports throughout the country. Pl.'s Mot. to Dismiss, Exh. 1, Decl. of Richard A. Whitford ("Whitford Decl.") ¶ 6.² The TSA contracted a human resource services provider to aid in employee recruitment, which between March and November 2002 processed 2,198,505 on-line applications and assessed some 340,000 eligible candidates for screening positions. Id. ¶¶ 3-4. This resulted in the hiring of more than 62,000 screening personnel by TSA between April and December 2002. Id. ¶ 5. As a consequence of what must have been either haphazard or ill-planned deployment of personnel, approximately 400 airports were equipped with security screening staffs that were either too large so as to be unwieldy, or too small so as to be inadequate. Id. ¶ 8; see also Pl.'s Mot. to Dismiss, Tab A to Exh. 1, Memorandum from Administrator Loy to TSA Screeners April 30, 2003 ("Loy Memorandum"); TSA Press Release (May 30, 2003) ("Press Release"), quoted in Pl.'s Compl. ¶ 17, available at http://www.tsa.gov/public/di splay? theme=44 & content=090005198002b7cb (last viewed March 30, 2005).

TSA therefore undertook to "right-size" the screener workforce in early 2003. Id. at ¶ 8. Simultaneous to the right-sizing efforts, TSA was informed that it had to reduce its screening workforce by approximately ten percent due to budget constraints. Id. at ¶ 9; see also Loy Memorandum. To achieve the necessary reorganization and reduction, TSA formed a Screener Workforce Right-Sizing Team ("SWRT") and an accompanying Guidance Team to oversee its efforts. Id. ¶ 11. The Guidance Team developed a two-phase plan for right-sizing and reduction, hereinafter referred to as the "reduction in force" ("RIF").³ Id. ¶ 12. Phase I aimed to reduce the screening workforce by 3,000 personnel by the end of May 2003. Id. at ¶ 9; see also Loy Memorandum. Phase II aimed to achieve an equal reduction by the end of September. Id.

According to TSA, involuntary dismissal would only be utilized during either phase of the RIF in the event that normal employee attrition, transfers, and conversions to part-time status did not achieve the necessary results. Id. at ¶¶ 14-17; 33. It was apparent to the Guidance Team, however, that the necessary staff reduction could not be achieved through these measures alone. Id. ¶ 18. Furthermore, the Guidance Team concluded that a seniority-based approach, as well as other reduction techniques based on factors other than merit alone, were not feasible due to how recently staff for the newly formed TSA had been hired. Id. ¶¶ 20-21. Thus, as most similarly situated organizations would do, TSA established competency-based criteria for implementing the RIF. Id. ¶¶ 18-22.

The Guidance Team concluded that a competency-based approach was particularly appropriate given "that the Screener position is critical to national security and requires highly skilled, highly trained employees ..." Id. ¶ 19. To implement the competency-based approach, the Guidance Team formed a Screener Competency-Based Reduction Team ("CBRT"), which developed a RIF plan "designed to retain the most skilled, highest performing Screeners to ensure the security and customer service required by the traveling public." Id. ¶ 19, 22. TSA described the approach in a press statement:

Whenever possible, normal attrition, including resignations and retirements, is being used for rightsizing at individual airports. Employees may be terminated for cause, including criminal background, failure to pass drug and alcohol tests, and falsification of employment documents. Beyond that, the actual reductions in force are based on job performance.

Qualified screeners at airports with too large a work force may seek transfers to airports needing screeners. A partial relocation stipend is available for screeners who transfer to certain airports. Screeners also have the opportunity to transfer from working full-time to working part-time, and TSA will soon start making such transfers.

Press Release, see citation supra.

The competency-based approach required that screeners take examinations and participate in evaluations to measure performance and customer service. Id. at ¶¶ 19-25; see also Pl.'s Mot. to Dismiss, Tab D of Exh. 1, Screener Competency-Based Reduction Information Flyer ("Competency Flyer"). Specifically, the approach consisted of two examinations, an Image Proficiency Review ("IPR") measuring a screener's capacity to identify prohibited items on x-ray images of luggage, and a Standardized Proficiency Review ("SPR") measuring a screener's knowledge of standard operating procedures for screening. Id. ¶¶ 23-24; see also Competency Flyer. The competency-based review process also consisted of a conduct checklist designed to evaluate prior performance. Id. ¶ 25; see also Competency Flyer. Screening personnel were provided with a flyer describing the components of the competency-based review, explaining how the examinations would be scored, and providing advice on how to prepare. See Competency Flyer.

Due to time constraints, TSA relied only on the conduct checklist to complete Phase I of the RIF. Id. ¶ 25. The checklists were completed by management officials at overstaffed airports and forwarded to a Review Panel that did not include airport managers from the airports where the checklists were completed. Id. ¶ 26. The Review Panel apparently made final decisions about which employees would be terminated. See id. Approximately eight-hundred TSA employees were terminated via letters from TSA on May 23 and May 30, 2003. Id. ¶ 27. The necessary remaining reduction of 2,200 screening personnel was achieved by attrition. Id.

B. Plaintiff's Employment with TSA

Among the eight-hundred airport screeners laid off in Phase I was Plaintiff Thomas E. Springs ("Springs"), who was an airport lead security screener at the Norfolk International Airport in Norfolk, Virginia from August 19, 2002 until his termination. Pl.'s Compl. ¶ 3. Springs' received a termination letter on May 30, 2003 indicating that his "separation [was] due to over staffing resulting from budget allocation and [was] not for cause." Def.'s Opp. to Mot. to Dismiss, Aff. of Thomas E. Springs, II ("Springs Aff."), Exh. B (emphasis in original). The January prior to his termination, Springs had received a favorable evaluation of his work performance. Springs Aff., Exh. A.

During the course of his employment, Springs claims to have made a complaint concerning the hiring of a supervisor who was hired to fill a position for which Springs had an active application. Pl.'s Compl. ¶ 3; Springs Aff. ¶ 1. Springs claims to have been told that, as a current employee of TSA at the time he filed the application, he would be given preference over individuals who were not TSA employees. Id. The person eventually hired to fill the position, according to...