Carroll v. Clifford Township

21 F. Supp. 3d 398, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65518
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 13, 2014
DocketCivil Action No. 3:12-0553
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 21 F. Supp. 3d 398 (Carroll v. Clifford Township) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carroll v. Clifford Township, 21 F. Supp. 3d 398, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65518 (M.D. Pa. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

MALACHY E. MANNION, District Judge.

A trial on plaintiff police officer’s claim for interference with his First Amendment [400]*400right to freedom of association resulted in a verdict against defendants for one dollar. The jury also awarded punitive damages in the amount of $15,000.00 against defendant Clifford Township supervisor Chris Marcho and $15,000.00 against defendant Clifford Township supervisor Dennis Knowlton. At the “Charge” conference, defendant objected to the charge for punitive damages. The court reserved its ruling on the objection to punitive damages until after a verdict was reached. At issue now is whether the award of punitive damages can stand. The parties have briefed the appropriateness of the punitive damages award. (Docs.76, 77). The court has thoroughly reviewed the evidence presented at trial and has determined that the award of punitive damages must be DISMISSED.

I. BACKGROUND

In this case, plaintiff Clifford Township police officer Donald Carroll brought several claims against Clifford Township and two of its township supervisors, Dennis Knowlton and Chris Marcho, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The third township supervisor, Barry Searle, commissioner of the township police force, was not a defendant in the case. Plaintiffs claims for First Amendment retaliation were disposed of at the summary judgment stage, leaving only one issue for trial — whether the defendants had violated plaintiffs First Amendment right to association by failing to sign his application to become a member of the Fraternal Order of Police (“FOP”), a union for police officers.

At trial, the evidence showed that the plaintiff presented an FOP .application form to the township supervisors in February 2012 after a township meeting. The application form has a space for an officer’s mayor or supervisor to confirm that the applicant is employed, has passed his civil service exam, and has completed his probationary period. The township supervisors indicated to plaintiff that they would forward the form to the township solicitor for advice regarding whether to sign it or not. In the meantime, about three months later in May of 2012, the township police department was entirely disbanded for financial reasons. As a result, plaintiffs FOP application was never signed. Prior to the time of the department’s disbandment, the supervisors had not received advice from their solicitor regarding whether they should sign the FOP application. (Tr. 52:14-17; OO^).1

Evidence was brought out at trial that plaintiff had given an FOP application to non-defendant supervisor Barry Searle, either at Searle’s home or in plaintiffs office, in March of 2011. Defendant Chris Marcho was not a supervisor at that time, and defendant Dennis Knowlton testified that he did not recall seeing the 2011 application. (Tr. 55:2-5). This is supported by Mr. Searle’s testimony that he did not bring the 2011 application to the attention of Mr. Knowlton, (Tr. 172:21-22), and the plaintiffs testimony that he did not present the 2011 application to Mr. Knowlton, but gave it to Mr. Searle so he could “bring it up at the agenda of the township meeting.” (Tr. 154-55). The plaintiff also testified that he had presented an FOP application to the Clifford Township supervisors in 2007. (Tr. 153-154). Neither Mr. Searle nor Mr. Marcho were supervisors in 2007, and although Mr. Knowlton was a supervisor, the plaintiff did not speak to Mr. Knowlton about his application in 2007. Instead, he dealt with another supervisor. (Tr. 154: 3-8).

Mr. Searle testified that he wanted to sign the February 2012 FOP application, [401]*401but that Mr. Marcho and Mr. Knowlton “just wanted to make sure what the application meant.” (Tr. 184:7-13). Mr. Searle said that although the defendants did not respond to his requests to discuss the issue, he did not believe that they “didn’t want it,” rather that “they got too much else to worry about right now in their civilian jobs and they just haven’t gotten around to it.” (Tr. 184:7-20).

Mr. Marcho testified that he felt he had a “responsibility of this whole Township, and I believe whenever you sign your name to something, you are committing to something ... We didn’t understand what the commitment was.” (Tr. 40:19-24). He testified that he “paid very little attention to it. We were told that our attorney was going to look into it and find out if we really did need or have to sign it.” (Tr. 40-41). He stated that he did not sign the form at the March township meeting because “we were waiting for our attorney to come back with direction, and I don’t believe at that time he had an answer for us.” (Tr. 43:4-9). He also testified to not signing it in April, having just found out that the township had lost a lawsuit and being concerned about the attendant financial implications for the township. (Tr. 43:10-13).

Mr. Knowlton testified that he did not receive any type of training on constitutional rights from Clifford Township prior to 2012. (Tr. 53-54). He also testified, “You know, if you have to sign a paper that is going to affect the Township, if I don’t know what the paper is, I need a lawyer, yeah. I’m financially responsible. We were in financial trouble. I’m saying I just can’t go and sign anything.” When asked whether he had asked the solicitor about the status of the FOP form, he stated that there had been some talk about it, but that with the financial issues arising at the time, “it was just overwhelming and we didn’t get to that one.” (Tr. 61:7-14).

Both Mr. Knowlton and Mr. Marcho testified that they were aware of the existence of a First Amendment right to association. (Tr. 52:4-6; 54:3-6).

II. LEGAL STANDARD

“It is well established that there are procedural and substantive constitutional limitations” on punitive damage awards. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Campbell, 538 U.S. 408, 416, 123 S.Ct. 1513, 155 L.Ed.2d 585 (2003) (citing Cooper Industries, Inc. v. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc., 532 U.S. 424, 121 S.Ct. 1678, 149 L.Ed.2d 674 (2001)). “The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the imposition of grossly excessive or arbitrary punishments on a tortfea-sor.” Id. The determination of whether or not there is sufficient evidence to support an award of punitive damages is a question of law. Alexander v. Riga, 208 F.3d 419, 430 (3d Cir.2000). “[T]he terms ‘malice’ and ‘reckless’ ultimately focus on the actor’s state of mind.” Id., at 431 (citing Kolstad v. American Dental Assoc., 527 U.S. 526, 119 S.Ct. 2118, 144 L.Ed.2d 494 (1999)). Punitive damages may be awarded in a § 1983 action when the defendant’s conduct is “shown to be motivated by evil motive or intent, or when it involves reckless or callous indifference to the federally protected rights of others.” Id., at 430-31. The Third Circuit’s view is that “punitive damages in general represent a limited remedy, to be reserved for special circumstances.” Michel v. Levinson, 437 Fed.Appx.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Borrell v. Bloomsburg University
207 F. Supp. 3d 454 (M.D. Pennsylvania, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
21 F. Supp. 3d 398, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65518, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carroll-v-clifford-township-pamd-2014.