Ewers v. Board of County Commissioners

802 F.2d 1242, 1 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 857
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedOctober 2, 1986
DocketNos. 84-2437, 84-2477
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 802 F.2d 1242 (Ewers v. Board of County Commissioners) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ewers v. Board of County Commissioners, 802 F.2d 1242, 1 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 857 (10th Cir. 1986).

Opinion

BARRETT, Circuit Judge.

The Board of County Commissioners (Board) of the County of Curry,1 Anita Merrill (Merrill), and Michael Gattis (Gattis), hereinafter collectively referred to as appellants, appeal from a jury verdict and judgment in favor of Walter Ewers (Ewers). Ewers cross-appeals the dismissal of one of his claims.

Ewers was hired in August, 1977, as the county’s first road superintendent to supervise road maintenance and advise the Com[1244]*1244missioners generally. As a county employee, Ewers could only be terminated for good cause or if his job was abolished and he was answerable to the County Commissioners. Throughout the course of his employment as road superintendent, Ewers met with the County Commissioners twice a month at their regular meetings and he had regular contact with the Commissioners by telephone. Ewers also acted as a liaison for the County Commissioners, fielding complaints from citizens of the county and reporting such complaints back to the Commissioners.

As road superintendent, Ewers was heavily involved with cooperative road projects between the county and the State of New Mexico. Co-op projects allowed local governments to work with the State Highway Department on various road work. The Highway Department provided approximately 50% of the cost of a project in the form of funds for the purchase of materials. The local government provided approximately 50% of the cost of the project in the form of men and equipment.

In November, 1980, Gattis and Merrill, two of the appellants herein, were elected to the Board. Prior thereto, Gattis ran on a platform that called for a more efficient county government and better county roads; Merrill had determined, after attending a number of Commission meetings as a private citizen, that the county did not need a road superintendent and that the Commissioners could do that job themselves. Both Gattis and Merrill assumed the office of County Commissioner on January 1, 1981.

The first meeting of the Board to include newly elected commissioners Gattis and Merrill was held on January 5, 1981. They served with Charles Stockton (Stockton), the incumbent commissioner. Ewers did not attend the meeting due to illness. At this meeting, Stockton was elected Commission Chairman and the Board rehired all of the county’s road employees except Ewers. The Board determined that it wanted to discuss the road department with him.

The next meeting of the Board occurred on January 12, 1981. During this meeting, which Ewers attended, considerable discussion was devoted to the county roads. Both Gattis and Merrill stated that they believed more attention should be given to the county’s roads. At no time during the meeting, however, did the Board give Ewers any new directives as road superintendent.

The Board met next on January 19,1981. At this meeting, the Board engaged in a lengthy discussion with Ewers about co-op projects and the time it took to complete them. Ewers was subsequently excused from the meeting. The Board thereafter, on a 2-1 vote, with Stockton in the minority, abolished the job of road superintendent effective March 1, 1981. During the evening of the same day, Stockton telephoned Ewers and related that: the Board had terminated his position; he did not believe that Merrill liked Ewers; and although Merrill wanted to fire Ewers as of that day, the Board ultimately agreed that his termination would be effective February 28, 1981.

In the six weeks that Ewers remained employed as road superintendent, the Board held two additional meetings of significance. On February 2, 1981, the Board discussed in detail with Ewers its concern over the time it was taking to complete certain co-op projects. Although Ewers attempted to explain co-op projects, the Board apparently remained confused on the operation of co-op projects. Thereafter, and at the suggestion of Ewers, the Board agreed that it would be beneficial to invite several employees of the State Highway Department to a special meeting to discuss co-op projects.

In accordance with this decision, a special Board meeting was held February 10,1981. During the course of the meeting, Merrill expressed concern that someone was “dragging out” the co-op projects and “padding the books.” Ewers responded that the statement was a lie. A State Highway Department employee stated that [1245]*1245he did not believe that anyone had been dishonest.

Ewers’ last day as county road superintendent was February 28, 1981. Thereafter, Ewers spent considerable time looking for a job but was unable to find work. Although Ewers testified that he felt he had been defamed, he acknowledged that his age, poor health, and limited education were all factors in his inability to find work.

After abolishing the job of road superintendent, the Board created the job of county manager. Although the Board failed to formally adopt a job description for the position of county manager, it is clear that the position of county manager required a college degree or the equivalent in experience. The county manager was assigned tasks by the Board, many of which were the same Ewers had performed. He was also required to supervise the courthouse service staff, perform purchasing and some budget preparation. Additionally, the Board selected a road crew employee in each district to serve as a working foreman.

Ewers subsequently sued appellants alleging that: his position as road superintendent was abolished as a pretext to terminate him in retaliation for the exercise of his First Amendment right to free speech; the Board had conspired to deprive him of equal protection of the law; the Board had deprived him of a liberty interest in his reputation; the Board had deprived him of a property right without due process of law. Within their answer, the appellants alleged that they had acted properly in eliminating the job of road superintendent in an effort to enhance the efficiency of the county.

The Board moved for summary judgment. The court subsequently entered an order in which it granted appellants’ summary judgment on Ewers’ claims of denial of equal protection, conspiracy, and deprivation of a property interest. The court then, after finding that Ewers had engaged in constitutionally protected speech, ruled that the case would proceed to trial on Ewers’ claims of violation of First Amendment rights to free speech and deprivation of liberty interest without due process of law.

During trial, Ewers testified that: the Board abolished his job in retaliation for the exercise of his First Amendment right to free speech; the Board’s decision to abolish his job was merely pretextual; and he was stigmatized by the manner in which his employment with the county was terminated and by Merrill’s comments at the February 10, 1981, meeting. The Board moved for a directed verdict on Ewers’ claims at the close of the in-chief case and again at the close of all evidence. In each instance, the Board argued insufficiency of the evidence. Both motions were denied. The jury subsequently returned a general verdict in favor of Ewers in the amount of $160,000. The jury also assessed punitive damages against Merrill and Gattis in the amount of $5,000 and $2,500 respectively. These punitive damages were set aside by the court because the jury did not assess compensatory damages against either Merrill or Gattis. The court awarded Ewers attorneys’ fees of $39,500.

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802 F.2d 1242, 1 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 857, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ewers-v-board-of-county-commissioners-ca10-1986.