Alexander v. Michigan Adjutant General

860 F. Supp. 2d 448, 2012 WL 925955, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35832
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Michigan
DecidedMarch 16, 2012
DocketCase No. 1:10-cv-192
StatusPublished

This text of 860 F. Supp. 2d 448 (Alexander v. Michigan Adjutant General) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alexander v. Michigan Adjutant General, 860 F. Supp. 2d 448, 2012 WL 925955, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35832 (W.D. Mich. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION

HUGH W. BRENNEMAN, JR., United States Magistrate Judge.

This matter is now before the court on plaintiffs motion for summary judgment (docket no. 46), defendants’ cross motion for summary judgment (docket no. 48), and plaintiffs motion for leave of court to amend complaint (docket no. 52).

I. Background

A. Plaintiffs previous lawsuit in the Court of Claims

This is plaintiffs second federal court action filed to contest the termination of his employment as a National Guard technician (NGT). Prior to 1995, plaintiff was a member of the Michigan Air National Guard (sometimes referred to as the “Guard”) and employed as an NGT in Battle Creek, Michigan. In September 1995, plaintiff was terminated from his position as an NGT. Approximately six years later, plaintiff filed a lawsuit in the United States Court of Federal Claims to contest the decision to terminate his employment as an NGT. See Alexander v. United States, 52 Fed. Cl. 710 (Fed.Cl.2002). In this lawsuit, plaintiff sought an award of severance pay, reinstatement and back pay arising from the termination of his employment. Plaintiff alleged violations of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment; the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment as applicable to the Federal Government; and violations of the National Guard Technicians Act of 1968, 32 U.S.C. § 709 (the “NGTA”). Alexander, [450]*45052 Fed. Cl. at 712. In addition, plaintiff alleged that neither his employment termination nor his resignation from the Guard was voluntary, and he sought reinstatement and/or back pay under the Back Pay Act, 5 U.S.C. §■ 5596. Id. Alternatively, plaintiff sought severance pay under 5 U.S.C. § 5595(b). Id.

The court granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiffs claims for reinstatement and back pay for lack of jurisdiction. See Alexander, 52 Fed. Cl. 710. However, the court denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiffs claim for severance pay, noting that “National Guard technicians appointed to the Civil Service by the adjutants general explicitly are entitled by statute to make claims for severance pay.” Alexander, 52 Fed. Cl. at 711— 17 (citing 5 U.S.C. § 2105(a)(1)(F), (3)). Plaintiff appealed the dismissal of his claims for reinstatement and back pay, but the appeal was dismissed for lack of a final judgment. See Alexander v. United States, 50 Fed.Appx. 435 (Fed.Cir.2002).

On August 31, 2004, the United States Court of Claims entered a final judgment pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 58, stating that “plaintiffs claims for reinstatement and compensation under the Back Pay Act, 5 U.S.C. § 5596(2000) are dismissed, without prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction” and awarding him a judgment for severance pay in the amount of $10,280.43. Alexander v. United States, No. 01-540C (Aug. 31, 2004) (docket no. 1-9).

This judgment was affirmed in Alexander v. United States, 143 Fed.Appx. 340 (Fed.Cir.2005), cert. denied. 547 U.S. 1005, 126 S.Ct. 1464, 164 L.Ed.2d 250 (2006). The Federal Circuit’s decision is instructive, because it summarized the events which led to the present dispute:

Mr. Alexander was employed as an excepted service technician with the Michigan Air National Guard (“Guard”) as an instructor pilot. Based upon allegations that he had abused alcohol, the Guard suspended his security clearance. In July of 1995, Mr. Alexander’s commander ordered him to undergo a one month alcohol rehabilitation program at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. Mr. Alexander did not undergo treatment in the program, however.
On August 25, 1995, Mr. Alexander was notified that he would be terminated from his Guard position for failing to meet the required qualifications, namely, “failure to maintain [ ] flying status and required security clearance.” According to the SF-50 terminating Mr. Alexander, the Guard considered him to have resigned voluntarily.
On October 28, 1995, the Guard informed Mr. Alexander that if he did not receive alcohol rehabilitation treatment, he would be dishonorably discharged from his commission as an officer in the Guard, unless he voluntarily resigned first. Mr. Alexander submitted a resignation letter dated November 8, 1995. He was released from his position effective January 30,1996.
At the request of Mr. Alexander’s congressional representative, the Inspector General of the Department of Defense (“IG”) investigated Mr. Alexander’s case. The IG concluded that Mr. Alexander’s commander had exceeded his authority by ordering him to undergo alcohol rehabilitation at Wright-Patterson AFB. The IG also concluded that the commander did not have authority to suspend Mr. Alexander’s security clearance. Thus, the IG concluded that Mr. Alexander still maintained his security clearance and that his termination was not in accordance with pertinent regulations.
Mr. Alexander twice sought reinstatement with the Guard. On his second attempt, he submitted the IG’s report. [451]*451However, the Michigan Adjutant General (“AG”), Major General E. Gordon Stump, took the position that he was not bound by the IG’s report, and that the managerial errors noted by the IG did not show Mr. Alexander’s fitness for a position with the Guard.

Alexander, 143 FedAppx. at 341.

B. Plaintiffs present federal lawsuit

The present lawsuit is based upon the same operative facts as discussed in Alexander, 143 Fed.Appx. 340. While plaintiff seeks back pay under the Back Pay Act (as in his earlier lawsuit), the present lawsuit involves a different legal theory for obtaining back pay, i.e., plaintiff seeks “corrections to errors in his federal employee records as a National Guard technician” pursuant to the 5 U.S.C. § 552a (the “Privacy Act”). Compl. at ¶ l.1 Plaintiff has named three defendants (whom he sometimes collectively refers to as a single “defendant”): The Michigan Adjutant General (“AG”) in Lansing, Michigan; the United States Attorney, in Grand Rapids, Michigan; and the Office of the Attorney General in Washington, D.C. Id. at ¶ 2.b.

Plaintiff alleged that in 1995, he was a federal employee under the NGTA, 32 U.S.C. § 709. Id. at ¶ 6.a. At that time, he was a NGT in Battle Creek, Michigan, as well as a military member of the Guard and an A-10 Instructor Pilot. Id. The NGT position required plaintiff to maintain qualifications, including security clearance, flying status, and military membership. Id. In July 1995, plaintiffs “commander/supervisor” wrote two memoranda adverse to plaintiff.

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Bluebook (online)
860 F. Supp. 2d 448, 2012 WL 925955, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35832, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alexander-v-michigan-adjutant-general-miwd-2012.