Demming v. Housing & Redevelopment Authority, of Duluth, Minnesota

66 F.3d 950
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 29, 1995
DocketNo. 94-3674
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 66 F.3d 950 (Demming v. Housing & Redevelopment Authority, of Duluth, Minnesota) 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
Demming v. Housing & Redevelopment Authority, of Duluth, Minnesota, 66 F.3d 950 (8th Cir. 1995).

Opinion

JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge.

Barbara Ruth Demming appeals from an order of the district court1 entering summary judgment in favor of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority of Duluth, Minnesota and its commissioners2 on her claims arising out of her termination as the Housing Authority’s Executive Director. In her claim, Demming sought relief for a violation of her equal protection and due process rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1985 on the basis of discrimination because of her medical condition or failure to make reasonable accommodation of her disability, and relief based on numerous counts arising under Minnesota law, over which the court declined to exercise jurisdiction. On appeal, she argues that the district court erred in determining that she had received due process and that there was no evidence of discrimination. We affirm the judgment of the district court.

The Housing Authority hired Demming as Executive Director of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority of Duluth on July 1, 1990, for a two-year term. The contract provided that she could be terminated only for cause. She received a favorable evaluation and a salary increase in February 1991, but in April 1991, troubles began after the board chair received an anonymous letter attacking Demming. The board received a second anonymous letter in November 1991. The board held a special meeting on January 7,1992, in which employees completed evaluation forms of Demming. Shortly thereafter, at a regularly scheduled meeting, the board again discussed whether Demming should be fired. On February 14, the board held another meeting, “closed” pursuant to Minnesota statute, to determine the procedures to be followed in evaluating Demming’s perfor-manee. On February 24, the board met with Demming and discussed an evaluation form they had completed rating her performance in forty-nine areas. Demming was not given a copy of the evaluation until she arrived at the meeting. When asked if she wanted to respond, she said, “No.” The board continued to discuss the evaluation and after discussion of six of the forty-nine questions on the evaluation form, Demming stated that she did not “want to go through the rest.” Shortly before that she had stated that “if this is just plain not working[,] and I will say it probably isn’t[,] than [sic] I will just let [ ] me find a new job and I will be gone.” The board asked her if she would like to resign, and she said, “I am saying I will immediately begin a job search.” Thereafter, the board determined that she was a serious threat to the welfare of the Housing Authority and terminated her immediately. She then brought this action.

The district court held that Demming had a property interest in her job, but held that under Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill 470 U.S. 532, 546, 105 S.Ct. 1487, 1495, 84 L.Ed.2d 494 (1985), she received adequate pretermination due process. Because she “chose not to pursue the grievance procedure provided under Minnesota law, she did not elect the stricter requirements that apply to post-termination hearings.” The court ruled that because Dem-ming had notice and an opportunity to respond as required by Loudermill, the Housing Authority and board were entitled to summary judgment. With respect to her claims under the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794, the court held that Demming failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to whether she was an individual with a disability, failed to offer evidence to show that her medical condition prevented her from performing any of her major life activities, and failed to show she was adversely treated solely because of her disability. With respect to her claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1985, nothing in the record supported her claim of discrimination or failure to make [953]*953accommodation. The district court also dismissed her equal protection claim, and declined to exercise jurisdiction over her state-law claims.

I.

We review the granting of summary judgment de novo. Post v. Harper, 980 F.2d 491, 493 (8th Cir.1992). We apply the same standard as the district court and affirm when the record viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party shows “that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e); Post, 980 F.2d at 493.

Demming argues first that she failed to receive the required procedural due process during the course of her dismissal.3 “Procedural due process imposes constraints on governmental decisions which deprive individuals of ‘liberty" or ‘property’ interests within the meaning of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth or Fourteenth Amendment.” Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 332, 96 S.Ct. 893, 901, 47 L.Ed.2d 18 (1976). It is uncontested that Demming had a property interest in her position as the Executive Director of the Housing Authority. Therefore, we must decide whether the district court correctly concluded that Demming received adequate procedural due process.

Before a public employee may be terminated, a pretermination hearing must be provided. Loudermill, 470 U.S. at 541, 105 S.Ct. at 1492-93. “The need for some form of pretermination hearing ... is evident from a balancing of the competing interests at stake. These are the private interest in retaining employment, the governmental interest in the expeditious removal of unsatisfactory employees and the avoidance of administrative burdens, and the risk of erroneous termination.” Id. at 542-43, 105 S.Ct. at 1493 (citing Mathews, 424 U.S. at 335, 96 S.Ct. at 903). “The essential requirements of due process ... are notice and an opportunity to respond” before being discharged. Id., 470 U.S. at 546, 105 S.Ct. at 1495.

There is no requirement that the pretermination hearing be a formal adversarial hearing. Riggins v. Board of Regents, 790 F.2d 707, 710 (8th Cir.1986). The pretermination hearing provides an initial cheek against mistaken terminations. Loudermill, 470 U.S. at 545, 105 S.Ct. at 1495. It ensures “there are reasonable grounds to believe that the charges against the employee are true and support the proposed action.” Id. at 546, 105 S.Ct. at 1495.

The crux of Demming’s due process argument is that she did not have an opportunity to respond to the charges brought against her. However, as the district court properly concluded, Demming received both notice and an opportunity to respond.

Demming learned of the first anonymous letter when it was shown to her shortly after the board received it.

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Bluebook (online)
66 F.3d 950, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/demming-v-housing-redevelopment-authority-of-duluth-minnesota-ca8-1995.