Williams v. Roche
| Decision Date | 08 January 2007 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No:. 00-1288. |
| Citation | 468 F.Supp.2d 836 |
| Parties | Roynell J. WILLIAMS v. James G. ROCHE, Secretary of the Air Force. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Louisiana |
John Bennett Wells, Law Offices of John B. Wells, Slidell, LA, for Roynell J. Williams.
Sandra Ema Gutierrez, U.S. Attorney's Office, New Orleans, LA, for James G. Roche.
ORDER AND REASONS
Before the Court are the parties' cross motions for summary judgment based on the administrative record in this matter. For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS defendant James G. Roche's motion for summary judgment and DENIES plaintiff Roynell J. Williams' motion for summary judgment.
Plaintiff Roynell J. Williams held a dual-status position with the United States Air Force at the Naval Station/Joint Reserve Base in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was an Air Reserve Technician and a reservist in the Air Force with a rank of Technical Sergeant. Plaintiff challenges his discharge from his civilian position with the Air Force and from his military position in the Air Force Reserves.
On January 12, 1997, plaintiff underwent a urinalysis test that tested positive for cocaine. The test was administered while he was in military status. As a result, plaintiff was notified that the Air Force had initiated separation proceedings to remove him from his military position in the Air Force Reserves. In addition, because of his drug use, the Air Force began proceedings to remove plaintiff from his civilian position. In December of 1997, the Air Force removed plaintiff from his civilian position. In January 1998, an administrative discharge board found that plaintiff committed misconduct as a result of his cocaine use and that he should be discharged from his military position in the Air Force Reserve. In March of 1998, board ordered plaintiffs discharge from the Air Force Reserves.
Following the loss of his civilian and military positions, plaintiff set out on two tracks to rectify the adverse actions taken against him. To remedy the loss of his civilian position, plaintiff filed an appeal of his removal with the Merit Systems Protection Board. (MSPB). On appeal, plaintiff asserted that the Air Force failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he used cocaine and that the Air Force's decision to terminate him was in retaliation for his filing an earlier Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint. The Air Force filed a motion in limine to preclude the MSPB from relitigating the issue of whether plaintiff used cocaine because the issue had been fully litigated before the administrative discharge board on the military side. The MSPB administrative law judge granted the agency's motion. The MSPB ALJ then issued an initial decision to sustain the Air Force's decision and to uphold plaintiffs removal. The MSPB ALJ found that the agency sufficiently demonstrated that plaintiff used cocaine and that plaintiffs discrimination claim was without merit because the agency had a legitimate reason to remove plaintiff that outweighed any motive to retaliate against plaintiff for his earlier filing of an EEOC complaint. The MSPB denied plaintiffs petition for review and issued a final order affirming its earlier decision to uphold plaintiffs removal. Plaintiff then filed an appeal of the MSPB's discrimination decision to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC concurred with the decision of the MSPB on March 30, 2000.
On a second front, in an attempt to rectify his military discharge, plaintiff filed an application to correct his record with the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records (AFBCMR) on April 16, 2000. Plaintiff sought to set aside the results of the administrative discharge board based on alleged procedural and constitutional violations.
On April 28, 2000, plaintiff filed a lawsuit in this Court in which he challenged his civilian discharge as discriminatory under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5, and he alleged that his military discharge violated the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 702. Defendant moved to dismiss plaintiffs Title VII claim and to stay the proceedings as to plaintiff's APA claim pending the outcome of plaintiff's appeal before the AFBCMR. On October 12, 2000, this, court granted defendant's motion to dismiss plaintiff's Title VII claim. In addition, the Court stayed the rest of the case pending the decision of the AFBCMR.
On January 31, 2001, the AFBCMR denied plaintiff's application for review. In response, plaintiff filed an amended complaint in this Court. Plaintiff sought review of the MSPB decision on his civilian discharge under 5 U.S.C. § 7703 and dropped the now-dismissed Title VII claim. Plaintiff also challenged the AFBCMR decision on his military discharge. In response, defendant filed a motion to dismiss plaintiff's challenge of the MSPB decision for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, or in the alternative, to transfer the Section 7703 claims to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. On July 16, 2002, this Court denied defendant's motion to dismiss, or, in the alternative, to transfer. See Williams v. Roche, 2002 WL 1585568 (E.D.La. July 16, 2002).
The defendant was then ordered to produce an administrative record for this case, which it subsequently did on December 31, 2002. The administrative record included a letter from Lt. Col. James Swaby dated October 15, 1997, explaining that Dr. Vincent Papa, who both testified as an expert witness at the administrative discharge board hearing and filed an affidavit concerning the laboratory procedures used in this case, previously had been removed from his position as chief of the Forensic Sciences Branch at the Brooks Air Force Base drug laboratory. Plaintiff's counsel was not made aware of this development before Williams' January 1998 administrative discharge hearing. On June 23, 2003, Williams filed a request for reconsideration to the AFBCMR based on new evidence. On March 23, 2004, the AFBCMR denied plaintiff's petition. Upon the denial of reconsideration, the Court re — opened Williams' case. He now moves for summary judgment on the basis that the decisions of both the MSPB and the AFBCMR were arbitrary, capricious, in bad faith, unsupported by substantial evidence, or contrary to law, regulation, or mandatory published procedure of a substantive nature. Defendant opposes plaintiff's motion and cross moves for summary judgment on the basis that the administrative' were not arbitrary, capricious," of unsupported by substantial evidence.
Summary judgment is appropriate when there are no genuine issues as to any material facts, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See FED.R.CIV.P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). A court must be satisfied that no reasonable trier of fact could find for the nonmoving party or, in other words, "that the evidence favoring the nonmoving party is insufficient to enable a reasonable jury to return a verdict in her favor." Lavespere v. Niagara Mach. & Tool Works, Inc., 910 F.2d 167, 178 (5th Cir.1990) (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)). The moving party bears the burden of establishing that there are no genuine issues of material fact.
Final decisions made by the boards for correction of military records, such as the AFBCMR, are "subject to judicial review and can be set aside if they are arbitrary, capricious or not based on substantial evidence." Chappell v. Wallace, 462 U.S. 296, 303, 103 S.Ct. 2362, 76 L.Ed.2d 586 (1983); see also Hodges v. Callaway, 499 F.2d 417, 422-23 (5th Cir. 1974). Specifically, 5 U.S.C. § 706 of the Administrative Procedures Act governs the standard of review for AFBCMR decisions. See Kreis v. Sec'y of Air Force, 866 F.2d 1508, 1513-14 (D.C.Cir.1989); see also 5 U.S.C. § 706(2) (). The Fifth Circuit has stated that "under this deferential standard, a court reviewing an agency action may not substitute its own judgment for that of the agency." La. Envtl. Action Network v. U.S. E.P.A., 382 F.3d 575, 582 (5th Cir.2004). Under 5 U.S.C. § 706, the, court's review is limited to an examination of the administrative record before it. Fla. Power & Light Co. v. Lorion, 470 U.S. 729, 744, 105 S.Ct. 1598, 84 L.Ed.2d 643 (1985). The reviewing court will find an agency action arbitrary or capricious "if the agency has relied on factors which Congress has not intended it to consider, entirely failed to consider an important aspect of the problem, offered an explanation for its decision that runs counter to the evidence before the agency, or is so implausible that it could not be ascribed to a difference in view or the product of agency expertise." Id. quoting Tex. Oil & Gas Ass'n v. E.P.A., 161 F.3d 923, 934 (5th Cir.1998). Otherwise, "administrative action is upheld if the agency has considered the relevant factors and articulated a rational connection between the facts found and the choice made." Sierra Club v. Glickman, 67 F.3d 90, 97 (5th Cir.1995).
Furthermore, courts accord a higher level of deference to decisions by boards for correction of military records than to decisions by other administrative agencies. Kreis, 866 F.2d at 1514-15; see also Niles v. Ball, 872 F.2d 491, 495 (D.C.Cir.1989) (). In reviewing a military correction...
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...U.S.C. § 7703(c)(1)-(3); see also Aldrup v. Caldera, 274 F.3d 282, 287 (5th Cir.2001). 73 5 C.F.R. § 1201.56(c)(1); Williams v. Roche, 468 F.Supp.2d 836, 843 (E.D.La.2007). 74 Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)(2); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Littl......