Winans v. Iowa Dept. of Educ.
| Decision Date | 09 September 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 4:04 CV 00703.,4:04 CV 00703. |
| Citation | 385 F.Supp.2d 917 |
| Parties | David P. WINANS, Plaintiff, v. IOWA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, Judy A. Jeffrey and Lana Michelson, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Iowa |
Gordon E. Allen, Department of Justice, Des Moines, IA, Mark Hunacek, Iowa Department of Transportation, Ames, IA, for Iowa Department of Education, Judy A. Jeffrey, Lana Michelson, Defendants.
James L. Sayre, James L. Sayre, PC, Clive, IA, for David P Winans, Plaintiff.
Before the Court are the parties' cross motions for summary judgment. Plaintiff filed a Motion for Summary Judgement (Clerk's No. 7) on June 29, 2005. Defendants filed a Motion for Summary Judgment (Clerk's No. 9) on July 20, 2005. Plaintiff filed his Complaint on December 16, 2004, asserting claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Iowa state law. Plaintiff alleges that Defendants violated his constitutional due process and equal protection rights when they did not provide him with a hearing prior to his termination from the Iowa Department of Education. The parties entered a Joint Stipulation of Material Facts (Clerk's No. 7). Defendants filed a Resistance to Plaintiff's Motion and the deadlines for all other responsive pleadings have expired. The matter is fully submitted.
The parties have stipulated to the following material facts. Plaintiff, David P. Winans ("Winans"), is a citizen of the United States and a resident of Des Moines, Iowa. The Defendant, Iowa Department of Education, is an agency of the State of Iowa, organized and existing pursuant to Chapter 256, Code of Iowa (2003), with its principal place of business in Des Moines, Iowa. Individual Defendant, Judy A. Jeffrey ("Jeffrey"), is a resident of Polk County, Iowa, and at all times material herein was the Interim Director of the Iowa Department of Education. Individual Defendant, Lana Michelson ("Michelson"), is a resident of Polk County, Iowa, and at all times material herein was the Chief of the Bureau of Children, Family and Community Services of the Iowa Department of Education and the Plaintiff's direct supervisor.
Plaintiff was employed by the Iowa Department of Education from October 22, 2001 through September 30, 2004. Plaintiff's first position at the Iowa Department of Education was as Chief of the Bureau of Instructional Services. On or about January 9, 2003, Plaintiff became an Educational Program Consultant within the Bureau of Children, Family and Community Services of the Iowa Department of Education. Plaintiff held the position of Educational Program Consultant until his termination on September 30, 2004. As an Educational Program Consultant, Plaintiff was a member of the Iowa Department of Education's "professional staff," employed pursuant to Iowa Code, Section 256.10 (2003). As a member of the professional staff, the following statute applied to Plaintiff and reads in pertinent part:
The professional staff shall serve at the discretion of the director. A member of the professional staff shall not be dismissed for cause without appropriate due process procedures including a hearing.
Iowa Code § 256.10(2). The preceding statute was in effect at the time of Plaintiff's termination, was referenced in Plaintiff's termination letter, and is the basis of Plaintiff's denial of due process claims.
On August 25, 2004, Jeffrey notified the Plaintiff in writing that his employment with the Iowa Department of Education would be terminated effective September 30, 2004. The termination letter, signed by Jeffrey states:
Per the provisions of Subsection 256.10(2) of the Code of Iowa, I am notifying you by this letter that your employment with the Iowa Department of Education will be terminated effective September 30, 2004, which is the conclusion of the General Supervisions Enhancement Grant. The General Supervision[s] Enhancement Grant has been the funding source for your position as project manager.
Judy Chambers will be contacting you regarding the submission of any necessary paperwork and return of your electronic building pass, identification and other property of the State of Iowa.
Ex. A. After Plaintiff received this letter, a request was made on Plaintiff's behalf for due process procedures, including a hearing, in the context of the termination of the Plaintiff, and the request was denied by Jeffrey. Plaintiff was not accorded or given any hearing regarding the termination of his employment with the Iowa Department of Education. At all times, Defendants, Jeffrey and Michelson, were acting within the scope of their employment with the State of Iowa and both were directly involved in the facts alleged herein. Additionally, Jeffrey and Michelson were, at all times material herein, acting under "color of state law," as that term is defined in § 1983. At the time of his termination on September 30, 2004, Plaintiff's annual salary was $69,388.80, in the amount of $2,668.80 every two weeks. Plaintiff was also provided benefits through the Iowa Department of Education, which included IPERS, at an annual value of $3,989.86, health insurance at an annual value of $9,334.80, dental insurance at an annual value of $242.28, life insurance at an annual value of $7.20, and disability insurance at an annual value of $133.32.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c) provides for summary judgment, "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Summary judgment "is an extreme remedy, and one which is not to be granted unless the movant has established his right to a judgment with such clarity as to leave no room for controversy and that the other party is not entitled to recover under any discernible circumstances." Robert Johnson Grain, Co. v. Chem. Interchange Co., 541 F.2d 207, 209 (8th Cir.1976) (citing Windsor v. Bethesda Gen. Hosp., 523 F.2d 891, 893 n. 5 (8th Cir.1975)). Summary judgment is properly granted when the record, viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and giving that party the benefit of all reasonable inferences, shows that there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Hunt v. Cromartie, 526 U.S. 541, 549, 119 S.Ct. 1545, 143 L.Ed.2d 731 (1999); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Walsh v. United States, 31 F.3d 696, 698 (8th Cir.1994); United States v. City of Columbia, 914 F.2d 151, 153 (8th Cir.1990). In motions for summary judgment, the court must identify what are the issues of law in the case in order to identify what are the material facts.
42 U.S.C. § 1983 provides for civil relief when an individual is deprived "of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws" when that deprivation is done "under color of law." 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff claims that he was deprived of his due process rights secured by the Fourteenth Amendment. The due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provides that no state "shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law." U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1. There are two types of rights secured by the due process clause: procedural due process rights and substantive due process rights. Winans claims the Defendants violated both his substantive and procedural due process rights, however, his arguments support only a claim for denial of procedural due process.1 Specifically, his procedural claim is that he was deprived of a hearing prior to his termination, which resulted in a deprivation of his employment interests without due process of law.
The purpose of procedural due process rights "is straightforward: the Due Process Clause provides that certain substantive rights — life, liberty and property — cannot be deprived except pursuant to constitutionally adequate procedures." Cleveland Bd. of Edu. v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532, 541, 105 S.Ct. 1487, 84 L.Ed.2d 494 (1985). To establish a claim, a plaintiff must first show that the defendants infringed on a cognizable protected interest and then show that he or she was deprived of that interest without sufficient process. Swipies v. Kofka, 419 F.3d 709, 710 (8th Cir.2005). The current case arises in the context of an employment relationship. In an employment situation it is possible for there to be both cognizable property interests and cognizable liberty interests. The property interest concerns an individual's "right to keep [his or her] job for a certain period of time." Singleton, 176 F.3d at 431. "The liberty interest concept refers to the interest in [his or her] own reputation, and embodies the right not to be stigmatized at the time of discharge, unless some sort of fair procedure establishes that the stigma is appropriate." Id. In other words, a liberty interest is at issue when the government imposes a "stigma or other disability that foreclosed [an individual's] freedom to take advantage of other employment opportunities." Bd. of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 573, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972). The present case does not concern a liberty interest since Plaintiff's reputation was not tarnished by the Iowa Board of Education's decision to terminate Plaintiff for budgetary reasons. Instead, in the present case, Plaintiff's argument is that he was deprived of a property interest in continued employment without due process. The Court must first determine whether Plaintiff held a property interest in continued employment.
"Property interests are not...
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