Bricker v. Rockwell International Corp.

10 F.3d 598
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedOctober 25, 1993
DocketNo. 91-36153
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 10 F.3d 598 (Bricker v. Rockwell International Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bricker v. Rockwell International Corp., 10 F.3d 598 (9th Cir. 1993).

Opinion

CANBY, Circuit Judge:

Edwin and Cynthia Bricker appeal the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the defendants in the Brickers’ action alleging violations of their federal constitutional rights and various tort claims under Washington state law. We review de novo, Saul v. [599]*599United States, 928 F.2d 829, 832 (9th Cir.1991), and we affirm.

I. FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In August 1990, Edwin Bricker and his wife Cynthia filed this action against Rockwell Hanford Operations, a division of Rockwell International Corporation (“Rockwell”), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, and Westinghouse Hanford Company (“Westinghouse”). The Brickers’ complaint alleged violations of their First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights, and several pendent state law claims. These claims stemmed from Edwin Bricker’s employment at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation (“Hanford”), located in Washington State. Hanford is owned by the United States, but is managed by private corporations pursuant to a contract with the Department of Energy (“DOE”). Hanford therefore is known as a government-owned, contractor-operated (“GOCO”) nuclear facility. Rockwell operated certain portions of Hanford from July 1977 through June 28, 1987; Westinghouse became the management contractor on June 29, 1987. Bricker was employed at Hanford from July 1977 through August 1979, when he left to attend college. Bricker returned to work at Hanford in February 1983 and remained an employee there until November 1991.

The Brickers’ complaint alleged that, while Edwin Bricker was employed at Hanford, he became aware of safety, health, and environmental problems at the facility. He voiced his concerns about these matters to his supervisors, officials of Rockwell and Westinghouse, members of Congress, and the news media. The complaint further alleged that, in retaliation for his “whistleblowing” activities, Rockwell and Westinghouse subjected Bricker' to various forms of harassment, thereby violating Bricker’s federal constitutional rights and committing various state law torts. The Brickers’ constitutional claims were predicated on the Supreme Court’s decision in Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Fed. Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971).

In April 1991, Rockwell and Westinghouse filed a motion to dismiss the Brickers’ constitutional claims for failure to state a claim1 and asserted that there were “special factors” that precluded the judicial creation of a Bivens remedy. The district court granted the defendants’ motion and dismissed the Brickers’ constitutional claims with prejudice. Because the dismissal of the federal claims eliminated the independent basis for subject matter jurisdiction, the court also dismissed the Brickers’ pendent state claims without prejudice. This appeal followed.2

II. LEGAL FRAMEWORK

Whether a Bivens remedy can be implied for “whistleblowers” employed at GOCO nuclear facilities is a question of first impression in this circuit. Our analysis of this issue, however, is guided by the Supreme Court’s articulation of the factors that courts must consider when determining whether to create a Bivens remedy. In Bivens, the Supreme Court held that the victim of a Fourth Amendment violation committed by [600]*600federal officers acting under color of their authority could bring an action under federal law for money damages against the officers. 403 U.S. at 389, 91 S.Ct. at 2001. The Bivens Court observed that “[t]he present case involves no special factors counselling hesitation in the absence of affirmative action by Congress.” Id. at 396, 91 S.Ct. at 2004-05. The Supreme Court subsequently has allowed “Bivens actions” for money damages against federal officers who violate the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment, Davis v. Passman, 442 U.S. 228, 99 S.Ct. 2264, 60 L.Ed.2d 846 (1979), and the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment, Carlson v. Green, 446 U.S. 14, 100 S.Ct. 1468, 64 L.Ed.2d 15 (1980). “In each of these cases, as in Bivens itself, the Court found that there were no ‘special factors counselling hesitation in the absence of affirmative action by Congress,’ no explicit statutory prohibition against the relief sought, and no exclusive statutory alternative remedy.” Schweiker v. Chilicky, 487 U.S. 412, 421, 108 S.Ct. 2460, 2467, 101 L.Ed.2d 370 (1988) (citations omitted).

More recently, the Court has “responded cautiously to suggestions that Bivens remedies be extended into new contexts.” Schweiker, 487 U.S. at 421, 108 S.Ct. at 2467. In Chappell v. Wallace, 462 U.S. 296, 103 S.Ct. 2362, 76 L.Ed.2d 586 (1983), the Court refused to create a Bivens action for enlisted military personnel who alleged that they had been injured by the unconstitutional actions of their superior officers. Similarly, in Bush v. Lucas, 462 U.S. 367, 103 S.Ct. 2404, 76 L.Ed.2d 648 (1983), the Court unanimously refused to create a Bivens remedy for a federal employee who alleged that his supervisor had improperly disciplined him for exercising his First Amendment rights. In reaching this decision, the Court assumed that a First Amendment violation had occurred and acknowledged that “existing remedies do not provide complete relief for the plaintiff.” 462 U.S. at 388, 103 S.Ct. at 2416-17. The Court justified its refusal by explaining that Congress was in a better position to balance the competing policy concerns of “governmental efficiency and the rights of employees.” Id. at 389, 103 S.Ct. at 2417.

In Schweiker v. Chilicky, the Court refused to create a Bivens remedy for persons who were improperly denied Social Security disability benefits, allegedly as a result of due process violations by the federal officials who administered the program. 487 U.S. at 414, 108 S.Ct. at 2463. The Supreme Court acknowledged that “exactly as in Bush, Congress has failed to provide for ‘complete relief: respondents have not been given a remedy in damages for emotional distress or for other hardships suffered because of delays in their receipt of Social Security benefits.” Id. at 425, 108 S.Ct. at 2468. Nevertheless, Schweiker explained that:

the concept of “special factors counselling hesitation in the absence of affirmative action by Congress” has proved to include an appropriate judicial deference to indications that congressional inaction has not been inadvertent. When the design of a Government program suggests that Congress has provided what it considers adequate remedial mechanisms for constitutional violations that may occur in the course of its administration, we have not created additional Bivens remedies.

Schweiker, 487 U.S. at 423, 108 S.Ct. at 2468;

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