David J. Westbrook v. City of Omaha

231 F. App'x 519
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedMarch 30, 2007
Docket06-1935
StatusUnpublished

This text of 231 F. App'x 519 (David J. Westbrook v. City of Omaha) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
David J. Westbrook v. City of Omaha, 231 F. App'x 519 (8th Cir. 2007).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

David J. Westbrook, Jr., sued the City of Omaha, Alan F. Pepin, Timothy W. Cavanaugh, James A. Roberts, and Cecil Hicks, Jr., under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming violation of the Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments. All parties moved for summary judgment. The district court 1 granted summary judgment to Omaha and the individual defendants. Westbrook appeals. Having jurisdiction under 12 U.S.C. § 1291, this court affirms.

I.

In 2003, Westbrook, an Omaha police officer, arrested Darrel Williams. After Williams’ release from custody, he submitted a citizen’s complaint, alleging that Westbrook took $106 from him at arrest and did not return it. Internal affairs investigated, as well as a criminal investigator. In the criminal investigation, the city prosecutor preliminarily decided not to prosecute Westbrook and, later, reexamined whether prosecution was warranted.

During the internal affairs investigation, witnesses agreed that Williams had money at the time of arrest. Williams and West-brook were interviewed. Westbrook was asked about a casino wager of $120 he made the day after Williams’ arrest. Westbrook stated that he usually took $100 to $200 in cash to a casino, after stopping at an ATM. Westbrook was ordered to submit his bank records for two dates, the day of the arrest and the day of the wager. Westbrook complied, submitting a bank statement that showed no pertinent withdrawals.

Upon completion of the internal investigation, Westbrook received a letter stating that Williams’ complaint of mishandling or theft of $106 had been investigated, that Williams’ polygraph showed truthful responses, and that his polygraph exhibited deception about the cash. Further, the investigation found evidence that Williams’ money was mishandled and converted by Westbrook to his possession. The letter also noted that Westbrook acknowledged the existence of the money, but was not truthful about its whereabouts. The notice concluded that Westbrook violated enumerated rules of conduct, operating procedures, and the collective bargaining agreement in mishandling prisoner’s property, false reporting, and theft of money. The letter recommended dismissal from employment. After receiving the letter, Westbrook was contacted by local media seeking his comment.

At a pre-termination hearing, West-brook was represented by counsel, and had the opportunity to present his side of the story. After the hearing, Westbrook was discharged. He then participated in post-termination arbitration. At arbitration, Omaha had the burden of proof on all charges. Numerous witnesses testified. After the post-termination hearing and review of all evidence, the arbitrator found “good cause” to terminate Westbrook’s employment.

Westbrook now sues the City of Omaha and defendant police officials, asserting un *522 lawful search and seizure, and violation of due process springing from his employment termination. After losing on summary judgment, Westbrook appeals.

II.

This court reviews the grant of summary judgment de novo, applying the same standard as the district court and viewing the record most favorably to the nonmoving party. Herring v. Canada Life Assurance Co., 207 F.3d 1026, 1029 (8th Cir. 2000). “Summary judgment is appropriate when no genuine issue of material fact remains and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Rifkin v. McDonnell Douglas Corp., 78 F.3d 1277, 1280 (8th Cir.1996); Fed.R.Civ.P. 56.

Westbrook first contends the department’s order directing him to submit bank records for the two days in question, without a warrant, violated his possessory and privacy interests under the Fourth Amendment. He also asserts that the entanglement between the department’s law-enforcement function and its employer status requires strict application of the Fourth Amendment’s standard of reasonableness. He further claims that because the bank records were requested from him, and not the bank, they are private records entitled to Fourth Amendment protection. At issue is the department’s policy governing employees subject to an internal affairs investigation that states: “An employee may be requested to submit to a financial disclosure statement.”

“Searches and seizures by government employers or supervisors of the private property of their employees ... are subject to the restraints of the Fourth Amendment.” O’Connor v. Ortega, 480 U.S. 709, 715, 107 S.Ct. 1492, 94 L.Ed.2d 714 (1987); see Lesher v. Reed, 12 F.3d 148, 150-51 (8th Cir.1994) (“A government employer’s seizure of property possessed by an employee is clearly subject to Fourth Amendment restraints”). Therefore,

public employer intrusion on the constitutionally protected privacy interest of government employees ... for investigations of work-related misconduct, should be judged by the standard of reasonableness under all the circumstances. Under this reasonableness standard, both the inception and the scope of the intrusion must be reasonable ....

O’Connor, 480 U.S. at 725-26, 107 S.Ct. 1492. “The search will be permissible in its scope when ‘the measures adopted are reasonably related to the objectives of the search and not excessively intrusive in light of ... the nature of the [misconduct]’ ” Id. at 726, 107 S.Ct. 1492 (quoting New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325, 342, 105 S.Ct. 733, 83 L.Ed.2d 720 (1985)) (alteration in original).

In this case, Omaha’s intrusion began with a citizen complaint that Westbrook took money and wagered at a casino the next day, considered with his assertion of usually withdrawing money from an ATM before wagering. The scope of the intrusion was an order for two-days’ record of Westbrook’s banking, to which he complied. Under these circumstances, neither the inception nor the scope of intrusion was unreasonable. The investigation’s purpose was to determine employee, work-related misconduct, and not criminal prosecution. See Uniformed Sanitation Men Ass’n, Inc. v. Comm’r of Sanitation, 392 U.S. 280, 284, 88 S.Ct. 1917, 20 L.Ed.2d 1089 (1968) (citing Garrity v. New Jersey, 385 U.S. 493, 87 S.Ct. 616, 17 L.Ed.2d 562 (1967), and stating “that testimony compelled by threat of dismissal from employment could not be used in a criminal prosecution of the witness”).

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Bluebook (online)
231 F. App'x 519, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/david-j-westbrook-v-city-of-omaha-ca8-2007.