Woods v. STATE OF MO. DEPT. OF MENTAL HEALTH, 83-0838-CV-W-1.

• Decision Date: 24 February 1984
• Docket Number: No. 83-0838-CV-W-1.,83-0838-CV-W-1.
• Citation: 581 F. Supp. 437
• Parties: Richard A. WOODS, Plaintiff, v. STATE OF MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH, KANSAS CITY REGIONAL DIAGNOSTIC CENTER, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Missouri

581 F. Supp. 437

Richard A. WOODS, Plaintiff, v. STATE OF MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH, KANSAS CITY REGIONAL DIAGNOSTIC CENTER, Defendant.

No. 83-0838-CV-W-1.

United States District Court, W.D. Missouri, W.D.

February 24, 1984.

John J. Yates, and Joseph A. Colussi, Gage & Tucker, Kansas City, Mo., for plaintiff.

John Ashcroft, Atty. Gen., Robert Presson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, Mo., Robert E. Jones, K.C. Regional Center, Dept. of Mental Health, Kansas City, Mo., for defendant.

ORDER

JOHN W. OLIVER, Senior District Judge.

I.

This is an action brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1871, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983. Currently pending in this case are defendant's motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and plaintiff's motion for leave to file a second amended complaint pursuant to Rule 15(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

II.

Defendant raises three separate grounds in its motion to dismiss. First, that plaintiff's second cause of action should be dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted because the Eleventh Amendment bars suit under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983 against the State of Missouri. Second, that plaintiff's first cause of action should be dismissed because plaintiff has failed to obtain a notice of right to sue from the Attorney General of the United States prior to the institution of this lawsuit as required by 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5. Third, that this Court lacks jurisdiction to consider the allegations raised in paragraphs 7(a), 7(b) and 7(c) of the plaintiff's complaint because those allegations were not in plaintiff's charge filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. We will consider these three grounds in order.

A. Eleventh Amendment

Defendant contends that defendant State of Missouri Department of Mental Health, as a state agency, is immune¹ from suit under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983 by virtue of the Eleventh Amendment.² Plaintiff in suggestions in opposition to defendant's motion to dismiss, does not dispute the State's contention. Plaintiff does, however, seek leave to amend his complaint by substituting Paul R. Ahr, Director of Department of Mental Health, and Max Mason, Director of the Kansas City Regional Center, for the Missouri Department of Mental Health as defendants in his cause of action under sections 1981 and 1983. In its reply, defendant, citing Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 94 S.Ct. 1347, 39 L.Ed.2d 662 (1974) and Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123, 28 S.Ct. 441, 52 L.Ed. 714 (1908), states that the motion for leave to amend the complaint, if granted, would cure the Eleventh Amendment defect raised in defendant's motion to dismiss.

We conclude that plaintiff's motion for leave to amend his complaint should be granted. Rule 15(a) provides that leave to amend a complaint "shall be freely given when justice so requires." In this case, allowing the amendment would not result in prejudice to defendant but a denial would cause plaintiff significant hardship since his section 1981 and 1983 count would be dismissed. See Buder v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., 644 F.2d 690, 694-95 (8th Cir.1981). Plaintiff will therefore be granted leave to amend his complaint.

In Count II of his amended complaint, plaintiff prays judgment against defendants Ahr and Mason for damages in excess of $10,000.00 for violations of rights guaranteed to plaintiff by 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983, and the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, for reinstatement, for costs, including all appropriate attorney's fees and expenses as authorized by the provisions of 42 U.S.C. § 1988, and for such other relief as the Court may deem appropriate. In light of this prayer for relief, and defendant's original claim of Eleventh Amendment immunity, it is appropriate to briefly discuss the relief that actually would be available in this case under sections 1981, 1983 and 1988.

The Eleventh Amendment does not prevent plaintiffs from bringing suits for money damages against state officials provided that the defendants are sued in their individual capacities. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). Damages would then be payable by the officer, not by the State, provided that plaintiff proved that the named individual defendant was personally responsible for the deprivation of plaintiff's federal rights. Id. at 237-38, 94 S.Ct. at 1686-87.

In the more likely event that any award against Ahr and Mason would actually be paid by the State of Missouri, the Eleventh Amendment would bar a recovery of a retroactive monetary award. Edelman v. Jordan, supra, 415 U.S. 651, 94 S.Ct. 1347, 39 L.Ed.2d 662. In determining whether a state official sued in his official capacity shares the Eleventh Amendment shield, "the key is who will pay for any judgment" rendered in favor of plaintiff. Miener v. State of Missouri, 673 F.2d 969, 980-81 (8th Cir.1982).

The Court in Edelman v. Jordan, made clear that in a suit under section 1983, an award of retroactive welfare benefits against a state for wrongful denial by state officials of previously accrued welfare benefits violated the Eleventh Amendment. The focus in that case was on whether the action was in essence one for recovery of money from the state, even though the State was not named as a defendant. The Court concluded that a section 1983 suit may be instituted against state officials but that a federal court's remedial power under the Eleventh Amendment is necessarily limited to prospective injunctive relief, and may not include a retroactive award which requires the payment of funds from the state treasury. 415 U.S. at 677, 94 S.Ct. at 1362.

In Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer, 427 U.S. 445, 96 S.Ct. 2666, 49 L.Ed.2d 614 (1976), the Court was faced with the question of whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 could authorize, consistent with the Eleventh Amendment, an award of money damages in favor of a private individual against a state government found to have subjected that person to employment discrimination under that Title. The Court analyzed the congressional authorization creating the Act and found that the Eleventh Amendment defense was being asserted in the context of legislation passed pursuant to Congress' authority under section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Noting that the Fourteenth Amendment, as ratified by the states after the Civil War, clearly contemplates limitations on the state's authority and grants Congress the power to "enforce" the substantive provisions "by appropriate legislation," the Court concluded that Congress may, pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment, provide for private suits against states or state officials as it did in the 1972 amendments to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Court again had to decide a conflict between the Eleventh Amendment and Civil Rights legislation in Hutto v. Finney, 437 U.S. 678, 98 S.Ct. 2565, 57 L.Ed.2d 522 (1978), which presented the question whether states could be liable for attorney's fees pursuant to the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act of 1976, 42 U.S.C. § 1988. Applying the rule made clear in Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer, that Congress has plenary power to set aside the state's immunity from retroactive relief in order to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment, the Court determined that the legislative history of the Act showed a clear intention on the part of Congress to authorize attorney's fees as part of costs to a prevailing party against a state.

In Quern v. Jordan, 440 U.S. 332, 99 S.Ct. 1139, 59 L.Ed.2d 358 (1979), the Court revisited the question of a federal court's remedial power under section 1983 in a suit against state officials. Unlike the statutes involved in Fitzpatrick and Hutto, the Court determined that section 1983 does not indicate on its face an intent to set aside the immunity of the States; nor does it have a history which shows that Congress considered and firmly decided to abolish the Eleventh Amendment immunity of the States. Thus, the Court reaffirmed its holding in Edelman.

It is therefore clear that, in the instant case, if plaintiff were to prevail on his claim against defendants Ahr and Mason under section 1983, and if any damages would actually be paid by the State of Missouri, Quern and Edelman would bar the damage recovery. See Miener v. State of Missouri, supra, 673 F.2d 969 at 980-81 (8th Cir.1982); Nevels v. Hanlon, 656 F.2d 372, 377-78 (8th Cir.1981). Plaintiff would, however, be allowed appropriate prospective relief under section 1983 and attorney's fees as part of costs pursuant to section 1988.

There remains the question of how the foregoing discussion affects the relief available under section 1981. In Taylor v. Jones, 653 F.2d 1193 (8th Cir.1981), the Eighth Circuit stated that:

It is also possible that the Quern and Edelman decisions, which analyzed the effect of section 1983 on the states' immunity to damage suits, are not controlling in a suit based on section 1981. The language, purpose and legislative history of section 1981 are not entirely comparable to that of section 1983; thus its effect and scope must be separately examined. 653 F.2d at 1205, n. 10 (citations omitted).

Section 1981 was originally derived from the Civil Rights Act of 1866. That Act was passed as a means to enforce the Thirteenth Amendment. Section 1983, on the other hand, has its roots in section 1 of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 and was passed primarily to enforce the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment. Runyon v. McCrary, 427 U.S. 160, 170, 96 S.Ct. 2586, 2594, 49 L.Ed.2d 415 (1976); District of Columbia v. Carter, 409 U.S. 418, 423, 93 S.Ct. 602, 605, 34 L.Ed.2d 613 (1972).

It is thus apparent that the wording of section 1981 as well as its legislative history must be separately analyzed to...